THE RACE FOR HUNTINGTON BEACH CITY COUNCIL

Tariq Malik

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- At 41, Norm Westwell does not want to be a

politician.

He is campaigning for City Council as a resident, with the hope of

making Huntington Beach the best place for him and his family to live.

Most City Council meetings find Westwell at the speaker’s lectern

pleading with the council to repeal the city’s fireworks ban for the sake

of children, beach curfews and street sweeping tickets -- items he said

he would address as a city official.

The ideal city government is one that is invisible to residents, and

Huntington Beach’s is not, he said.

Westwell also said the city should address its infrastructure needs to

revamp streets, sewers and bland cinder block walls that surround many

housing developments.

“These are the biggest problems that we face now as a city,” he said.

“We have trees that have no business growing in our neighborhood parkways

and are tearing up sidewalks. They need to be fixed. We need to repair

street potholes and all other infrastructure problems before anything

else.”

BIO

NORM WESTWELL

* Age: 41

* Family: Wife Kris, son Matthew and daughter Alexis

* Community Activities: Speaking at City Council meetings

* Contact: (714) 842-4075 and o7 votehb@modernpublic.comf7

NORM WESTWELL ON:

* REDEVELOPMENT

“The city is far too aggressive in its redevelopment plans. The free

market approach works in America, and we should let it be.”

Self-sustaining redevelopment, he said, will occur on its own without

government intervention.

“However much our city leaders believe they have all the answers,

central planning did not work in the Soviet Union, and there is no

business to believe it will work any better here.”

* BIGGEST CHALLENGE FACING THE CITY

The city’s infrastructure is in such a state that it will be an

ongoing, major concern in Huntington Beach, Westwell said.

“The costs involved in this are so tremendous that we have to start

now with the system that is the worst off, as determined by the city’s

Infrastructure Advisory Committee, and keep on it until we can address

the entire problem.”

Infrastructure repairs, he added, have been neglected in this city for

far to long, causing the problem to escalate into a long-term process of

repairs. NORM WESTWELL

* Age: 41

* Family: Wife Kris, son Matthew and daughter Alexis

* Community Activities: Speaking at City Council meetings

* Contact: (714) 842-4075 and o7 votehb@modernpublic.comf7