Districting, desalination and more

City could be divided into five council districts

1A battle over the structure of city government and how council

members are elected has consumed and divided Huntington Beach.

The controversial measure that would divide the city into five

City Council districts and reduce the governing body’s number from

seven to five with its members elected by district was first

introduced in March 2002 by former Assemblyman Scott Baugh. But the

battle really began to heat up in January when Huntington Beach City

Atty. Jennifer McGrath advised the city to sue City Clerk Connie

Brockway to invalidate a controversial initiative.

McGrath said that by suing Brockway -- along with the initiative’s

author, Baugh -- a court judge could order the city clerk to remove

the measure from a March 2004 ballot.

In July, a Superior Court judge ruled that the initiative is not

legally flawed as the council alleged and so it would be on the

ballot.

In an effort to fight the measure, Councilman Dave Sullivan in

November introduced a plan to put a competing measure on the ballot

that would slice the city into seven council districts, with members

elected by district.

The plan would compete with an initiative already on the ballot,

known as the Fair District Initiative. Either measures, if approved

by voters, would eliminate residents’ ability to vote for members at

large. Sullivan said that while he ultimately supports the status

quo, he considered the seven-district plan be vastly superior to five

districts, which he felt was not enough members to get the job done.

Ultimately, the council decided against adding the second measure.

And so, in December, a residents’ group kicked off a grass-roots

campaign to fight the Fair District Initiative.

Organizers of the Huntington Beach Concerned Voter’s Coalition

plan to educate the public on the dangers of creating council

districts and to encourage volunteers to join the battle against

districts.

And the battle rages on.

Another plant for

the Southeast area

2A proposal to build the nation’s largest desalination plant in

Huntington Beach was snuffed out by the City Council in early

December, but it could return, revamped, to the dais as early as this

spring.

The council’s decision marked a resounding victory for the

hundreds of residents who packed the council chambers during six

months of Planning Commission and City Council meetings, tirelessly

speaking out against the plant.

The $250-million project would draw seawater from the AES power

plant and treat it to produce 50 million gallons of fresh drinking

water daily, enough to quench the thirst of 112,000 families. The

potable water would then be sent through a 10-mile transmission

pipeline from Huntington Beach to the Mesa Consolidated Water

District in Costa Mesa. From there, it would be delivered to other

parts of the county.

Advocates claimed that the additional water the plant would bring

to the region is sorely needed in the face of shrinking resources and

drought. The project, they argued, would bring revenue to the

cash-starved city and visually improve the site with modern buildings

and tasteful landscaping.

Critics of the plant said it would be harmful to marine life and

an eyesore to an already over-industrialized area. They feared that

it would worsen water quality in an area already plagued with high

levels of bacteria.

Mayor Debbie Cook, who cast a dissenting vote, also argued that

the city could lose all tax revenue if the plant was purchased by a

public agency, such as the Orange County Water District.

December’s council decision dealt a harsh blow to Poseidon

Resources Corp., the company proposing the plant, but its officials

say they won’t be deterred. Billy Owens, Poseidon’s senior vice

president, says the company plans to return soon with an updated

environmental report.

State budget crisis calls on City Hall

3The budgetary ax cut deep into Surf City’s coffers this year,

claiming more than two dozen employee positions and several city

programs as casualties.

The City Council voted July 7 to cut 37 positions and several

programs to cover an $11.5 million shortfall caused by state losses,

increasing mandates and a sluggish economy.

Funding was pulled from the beloved Sister City program, the

concert band and the city’s cable TV station. Funding to engineering

services, safety programs, education programs and the senior outreach

program was reduced.

The Public Works Department suffered the greatest blow. It lost

15% of its operating budget and was forced to scale back upkeep of

city parks and trees, building maintenance operations, weed abatement

and street repairs.

While much had to go, the City Council and residents managed to

save certain positions and programs, considered vital to the city.

At a June 30 meeting, they rescued a fire engine station, two code

enforcement officers, a marine safety officer and two satellite

library branches from the chopping block. Then, in September, the

council approved a rash of fee increases, which will bring in an

additional $3 million annually. The new fees cover a variety of

services, ranging from high-rise inspections to junior lifeguards to

room rentals at the community center.

Of the new fees, an estimated $1 million comes from public works,

$700,000 from the Police Department, $550,000 from the Planning

Department, $200,000 from the Fire Department, $200,000 from

Community Services, and $20,000 from the city clerk’s office.

Cutting $11.5 million from the budget and laying off more than two

dozen employees was the council’s most challenging task this year,

former Mayor Connie Boardman said.

Tax refund could cost Surf City $27 million

4Huntington Beach has agreed to pay as much as $27 million in

refunds for a tax it collected illegally to help pay for employee

pensions.

The City Council, in August, finally accepted a court ruling that

the tax violated state law, but only after a four-year legal battle.

In 1999, local government watchdog Chuck Scheid and the Howard

Jarvis Taxpayer’s Assn. challenged the city’s authority to override a

cap on property taxes. Scheid and the association accused the city of

violating Proposition 13, an initiative passed by voters in 1978 that

capped the tax cities could levy on a property at 1% of its assessed

value.

For about 40 years, the city charged an additional 0.5% override

to pay for employee retirement benefits, citing an exception that

allowed cities to override the limit for debts incurred before

Proposition 13 was passed. The city stopped collecting the tax in

July 2001.

A superior court judge sided with the taxpayers group in 2001, and

this summer, an appellate court upheld the ruling.

The city must now pay millions of dollars to residents who paid

the tax between 1997 and 2001.

The verdict was a harsh financial blow to the city, coming only

weeks after the City Council slashed $11.5 million from its general

fund by eliminating programs and laying off employees.

More than 39,000 property owners have already filed claim forms

for refunds, which the city plans to finance by issuing bonds.

At the urging of Councilman Dave Sullivan, notices were sent out

in the city’s water bill to inform residents about the refund. His

proposal to put advertisements in the Huntington Beach Independent

and the Huntington Beach Wave failed.

The city is now collecting and reviewing requests and hopes to

begin issuing checks by summer 2004. Jan. 4 is the deadline to submit

claim forms.

The air up there is crowded and noisy

5Ongoing frustrations over flight activity from the Long Beach

Airport intensified in Surf City this year as the number of flights

began to soar.

The number of daily flights crossing over Huntington Beach have

more than doubled since JetBlue Airways grabbed all available slots

for commercial flights in August 2001.

As activity has grown, residents have become increasingly

irritated.

Residents aired their complaints at a series of meetings held by

Long Beach Airport officials.

The biggest complaint at the meetings was of noise pollution from

the planes, which some residents claim are lower and louder than they

were in years past. Some Huntington Beach homeowners said they were

forced to halt conversations as planes passed overhead.

Many residents left the meetings feeling that little had been

accomplished.

Airport officials insisted that planes are flying at or above the

required altitude and are no louder or lower than they were before,

just more frequent.

Since August 2001, the number of daily flights for planes that

weigh more than 75,000 pounds has jumped from 14 to 41. Of these,

three are cargo aircraft; two are UPS, two Fed-Ex and one Airborne

Express. The rest are commercial flights.

All flights are forced to comply with a strict ordinance, which

was finalized in May 1995. The ordinance is based on a point system

in which varying noise levels are allowed at different hours. Less

noise is allowed at night, for example, than in the middle of the

day.

Airport workers frequently check the 18 noise monitors positioned

around the perimeter of the airport to ensure that planes are

adhering to rules for allowable noise levels.

The airport exceeded its allowable noise cap for 2003, and

therefore, no new flights will be added this year.

Public TV station stays the course

6A high-priced bidding war ended this year when the Coast

Community College District decided to sell KOCE-TV to the station’s

foundation for $32 million.

In October, trustees voted 4 to 1 to sell Orange County’s only

local news station to the KOCE-TV Foundation, a nonprofit private

corporation that exists to raise and spend money on behalf of the

station, rejecting offers from various religious broadcasters and

other private entities.

Many feared that a sale to another bidder would change the

station’s format of local news and educational programming. KOCE has

been the county’s only local news source since the Orange County News

Channel went under in September 2001.

While stations have made unsuccessful bids for KOCE in the past,

it was not until the college district felt the blow of major budget

cuts last year that it decided it could no longer foot the $2 million

of the station’s $7.9-million annual budget.

KOCE-TV initially entered a $10-million joint bid with Los Angeles

affiliate, KCET-TV, the lowest bid in the original round. Religious

broadcasters Daystar Television Network and Costa Mesa’s Trinity

Broadcasting Network came in with the initial high bids of $25

million each.

The partnership dissolved, however, because of time constraints.

Foundation members called on local leaders in business and education,

including Broadcom Corp. Chairman Henry Samueli and Peter Ueberroth,

former Major League Baseball commissioner and organizer of 1984

Olympics in Los Angeles, to gather support and funds. The KOCE

Foundation then submitted the $32-million sweetened bid, with $8

million up front and the rest in a long-term note, just before the

Oct. 8 deadline.

Trustees chose the foundation, the only bidder promising to keep

the station’s PBS format, as the highest responsible bidder at their

Oct. 15 meeting. Almavision Hispanic Network had submitted a slightly

higher bid, but the trustees could not agree that the broadcaster had

proof it had the money.

In December, the college district board cast its final vote to go

ahead with the sale of the station to the foundation, keeping it a

public broadcasting channel.

Fireworks don’t top off the Fourth of July

7Although the famous Fourth of July parade was as grand as ever,

Independence Day was not the same in Surf City this year.

Once the floats had gone by and the trumpets and trombones were

packed away, residents were left with no finale to their celebration.

It was a year without fireworks.

With Huntington Beach High School’s field being renovated, the

evening’s fireworks display had to relocate. The city’s Fourth of

July Commission had studied the various options. Marina High School

was considered, but lacked the parking to support the anticipated

crowds. Central Park West, Golden West College and Boeing were also

considered, but deemed unsuitable.

Undeterred, the committee came up with what it thought was the

ideal solution, one that would allow for grandest display in the West

Coast and the second-largest fireworks show in the country, they said

-- the beach.

The City Council, however, decided by a narrow margin in February

to reject the commission’s request and cancel the fireworks display

in 2003.

Many residents were shocked and appalled. The council had nixed

the idea because it feared a repeat of civil disturbances. Despite

assurances from Police Chief Ken Small, some council members did not

think authorities could control crowds at the beach.

The decision stuck despite residents’ complaints. While many

people reported leaving the city that night and heading to watch

displays to the north, south and inland, the sounds of illegal

fireworks rocked many neighborhoods. And when the morning of July 5

dawned, streets were littered with debris from bottle rockets and

other fireworks not permitted by law in Huntington.

Parents are paying for a little less class

8A group of parents in the Huntington Beach City School District

decided they wanted their children’s class sizes small and expressed

their willingness to pay for it.

Nearly 100 parents showed up for a November meeting held by a

committee of district parents called the Community for Class Size

Reduction. The committee asked parents in the district to donate $200

for each child attending its eight schools, regardless of the grade.

If $200 came in for every one of the district’s 5,000 students, then

the committee would raise $1 million. They’ll be happy with half of

that, committee member Joe Churilla said, but $920,000 would fully

restore the 20-1 student-to-teacher ratio in kindergarten through the

third grade.

The group needs to raise $205,000 only to retain small class sizes

in the first and second grades.

By the end of the meeting, parents had pledged $13,600. After

another meeting three weeks later that attracted about 25 parents,

the group had raised more than $20,000.

The group needs to raise the money by mid-April to ensure the

district has enough notice to be able to retain its teachers. If the

goal is not met, the group, which is holding the funds through the

Huntington Beach Education Foundation, will roll over the money and

try again next year, officials said.

Parents in the group have said that even if they do reach any of

their financial goals for small class sizes, the issue will return

annually because of the state budget crunch.

“Unfortunately, this is just year one,” Churilla said.

Hyatt opens on altered coastline

9It created hundreds of job and promises to bring in millions for

the city of Huntington Beach. The Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach

Resort & Spa, which opened in January after a two-decade process,

also altered the city’s coastline forever.

Steve Bone, who owns the resort and conference center with

hotelier Robert Mayer, came up with the vision for the low-rise

15-acre Andalusian-style seaside resort after the 20-story hotel

tower he had first proposed for the site two decades ago met with

opposition.

On Jan. 30, the 15-acre luxury resort held its grand opening at

last.

With 517 guestrooms -- most of which offer views of the Pacific

Ocean -- 110,000 square feet of meeting and function space, a

20,000-square-foot spa and fitness center, three restaurants and an

on-site retail plaza, it is said to be one of the largest resort and

conference centers on California’s coast between San Diego and Santa

Barbara.

The $120-million resort also promises what city leaders want --

tourism and new business in Surf City, as well as a wealth of direct

financial benefits.

City leaders grappling with a budget crunch are expecting annual

revenue from the bed tax on the resort to come in at $700,000 in this

first year it was open, $1.8 million in 2004 and $2 million in 2005.

It was also expected to bring in $1 million in annual revenue

because the resort is in a redevelopment area and pays 100% of its

property taxes to the city. The resort was also expected to generate

approximately $125,000 a year in sales tax. Additional streams of

revenue include annual rent payments to City Hall of $25,000 in 2003,

and then $75,000 and $150,000 in the next two years, respectively.

The city’s Redevelopment Agency owns the land.

Pacific City still just a vision for Downtown

10The first bullets of opposition were fired at a sprawling

development project that, if approved, would transform the face of

Downtown Huntington Beach.

A neighborhood group formed this year to serve as watchdogs for

the proposed Pacific City project, slated to be built on the 31-acre

field bordered by Pacific Coast Highway, Atlanta Avenue, and

Huntington and First streets.

The massive project would include a luxury resort, 516 residential

townhouses, upscale shopping, restaurants and office space. Plans

show the area spotted with swimming pools, parks and tree-lined

pedestrian walkways that would lead to the retail promenade and to

Downtown Huntington Beach.

Pacific City’s residential district would have two-, three- and

four-story condominiums, and the retail section would offer specialty

food outlets, outdoor dining, a day spa, a yoga center and a live

entertainment venue.

The residential and commercial portions would include two levels

of subterranean parking.

The Pacific City Action Coalition, a group of homeowners who live

close to the proposed site, have banded together to raise concerns

about the project’s effects on health, the environment and the

surrounding neighborhood’s quality of life.

Group members say they have no bone to pick with the project

itself but want all potential health and safety hazards addressed.

Nearly two dozen oil wells were removed years ago, leaving traces

of oily residue in their place.

The group’s primary concern is the site, formerly a Chevron oil

field, isn’t contaminated with toxins that could be inhaled by nearby

residents, once grading and construction begins.

The Chevron Corp. is responsible for thorough testing and cleanup

of the property, which will be overseen by the Huntington Beach Fire

Department.

City officials have assured residents that development won’t begin

until testing is complete and a full cleanup plan has been drafted by

Chevron and approved by the city.

The group also fears that increased traffic from Pacific City will

clog surrounding streets and take up residential parking spaces.

City planners said that cleanup at the site will begin early this

year.

The project still needs to be approved by the Planning Commission

and the City Council.