GAINS & LOSSES

GAINS

MALL FACE LIFT

After an Irvine developer finalizes its purchase of most of the

Huntington Center mall, serious negotiations will begin with the city

about how to subsidize a long-overdue renovation. City officials hope the

stagnant center at the corner of Edinger Avenue and Beach Boulevard will

find new life now that Ezralow Retail Properties LLC has taken charge. To

encourage Ezralow to build the best possible mall, the city will consider

giving some tax money to the developer, which may spend $50 million on

upgrades. Although the cash-strapped city won’t hand over any money up

front, it might repay part of the project’s costs with interest from

anticipated tax revenues, the city’s economic development director said.

CITY RECEIVES GRANTS

The city has received about $15 million in state and federal grants. The

money will be used to provide equipment and services ranging from

improving infrastructure to hiring 10 police officers. Among these

projects are repairs and upgrades to the Slater Flood Control Channel;

Waterfront Hilton Expansion cleanup; repairs to Downtown sewer lines; new

reflective lane markers on the streets and signals at five intersections.

BALLOT SIGNATURES

A group determined to suspend the city’s power to purchase Downtown

residential properties by force collected enough signatures to qualify

for a ballot initiative, organizers said. Huntington Beach Cares turned

over to the City Clerk about 18,000 names of registered voters, nearly

double the amount required for a referendum. But the group’s achievement

is marred by controversy, as proponents of Downtown redevelopment through

eminent domain accused petition gatherers of misleading residents into

believing that hundreds of homes are threatened. If the allegations are

true, a court may remove some names from the petition.

LOSSES

STRIP CLUB RISING

The future Flamingo Adult Theater is quickly taking shape, with the

foundation already poured and the building’s outer frame nearly complete

at 18121 Beach Blvd. The sex-oriented business may open its doors as

early as January. Concerned about attracting prostitution and drug use,

the city had fought since 1996 to keep the club out. But judicial

decisions protecting an adult entertainment’s constitutional freedom to

operate forced the city to settle out of court in June.

PRICE FOR PARTY

The price for a holiday party for city employees, initially estimated at

$10,000, has ballooned to more than $20,000. To try to quell the

controversy surrounding the party, the city has collected about $3,500

from anonymous donors to cover the mounting cost. The bill doubled

because the city didn’t realize the number of hours its employees would

have to spend fixing up a room in the vacant Broadway building at the

Huntington Beach Mall, where the party is scheduled to be held Dec. 9.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY

Steven “Scotty” Lang, a 16-year-old junior at Fountain Valley High

School, died after collapsing during football practice. Out of respect

for lineman Scotty, Fountain Valley High School’s varsity team considered

dropping out of Friday’s playoff game with top-ranked Long Beach Poly.

But after members of Scotty’s family met with the athletes, the team

decided to play. Fountain Valley played well but lost to Long Beach.