WHAT HAPPENED: By a narrow margin, the...

WHAT HAPPENED:

By a narrow margin, the City Council voted to lower the value of

gifts that elected or appointed officials can accept from any single

source in the course of a year from $340 to $150.

WHAT IT MEANS:

At a June 2 meeting, the City Council asked the city attorney to

prepare documents to make the city’s code of ethics consistent with

state law, which prohibits the acceptance of gifts exceeding $340.

At last night’s meeting, council members Dave Sullivan, Jill

Hardy, Debbie Cook and Pam Julien Houchen said they felt $340 was too

high.

In was like an auction in the council chambers, with members

tossing seemingly arbitrary numbers back and forth.

Houchen supported $250, Cook supported $50, and Sullivan supported

$100. In the end, a limit of $150 was approved by a narrow margin,

with Cook, Green and Houchen opposed.

Council members and any other elected or appointed officials are

now forbidden by law to accept gifts exceeding $150 in value from a

single source in the course of a year.

WHAT HAPPENED:

City Administrator Ray Silver appointed Duane Olson to the

position of fire chief, and the council unanimously approved him for

the job.

WHAT IT MEANS:

Acting fire chief since January, Duane Olson officially takes the

top spot in the department.

He began his career in Huntington Beach in 1970 as a lifeguard in

the city’s marine safety division. In 1974, he started working as a

firefighter. Since, he has served as a fire fighter paramedic, fire

protection specialist, fire captain, deputy fire marshal, battalion

chief and division chief.

WHAT HAPPENED:

The City Council denied a resident’s request for a variance to

city codes that would allow him to add a third story to his

Huntington Harbour home.

WHAT IT MEANS:

Neighbors were pitted against neighbors in a debate on whether

Huntington resident Allen Todd should be allowed to build a third

story in an area that is zoned as low density. The coastal

development permit for the project was approved by the Planning

Commission on May 13, which recommended the City Council approve the

request arguing that the addition would be compatible with the

surrounding neighborhood.

A handful of Huntington Harbour residents asked that the council

help preserve their low-density neighborhoods and argued that

granting Todd a variance to exceed the code limits would be giving

him special privilege denied to other property owners.

Variances are only given under strict circumstances, Councilwoman

Debbie Cook said, and Todd’s conditions do not warrant a variance.

The council voted 6 to 1 to deny the coastal development permit.