What is the biggest issue facing the...

What is the biggest issue facing the city?

Shortage of revenues to pay for the quality infrastructure and

services Huntington Beach residents demand.

Considering such issues as the sports complex lawsuit and

improperly converted condominiums, do you agree with criticism that

the city has been mismanaged?

The sports complex issue is very disappointing. It seems more than

one or two members of our ordinarily competent staff dropped the ball

on this one.

I do not think it is fair to make a sweeping statement concluding

from these two issues that the city is, generally speaking,

“mismanaged.” Further, two of the most senior staff (i.e., department

head and city administrator) that were in charge at the time the

contractor was hired are no longer with the city, so we must look at

the timeline and see who was in charge at the time in question. In

any case, we have a new city administrator, and I don’t think we

should be pointing the finger at her and saying the city is

mismanaged, at least not as it relates to any issues to date.

As for the condo-conversion issue, I don’t see this as a

reflection on how our city is managed at all. I don’t know any more

than what I have read in the newspaper, but this seems to be clearly

the fault of one or more private sector individuals (e.g., property

owners, real estate agents, title companies). I do not see how staff

dropped the ball on this, as nothing was processed through the city

for staff to address.

How would you run the city better?

One of the best assets I would bring to the City Council is my

uniquely diversified business viewpoint, which includes both public

and private sector experience. I will be a very quick study and be

able to ask staff all the relevant and sometimes hard questions, and

will settle for nothing less than an answer that addresses all of my

concerns. My interaction and communication with the city

administrator, staff and fellow council members will always be

professional, courteous, and any criticisms must be constructive in

tone. The City Council must do its very best to articulate what its

policies are to staff and the community as a whole, and it is

critically important that we achieve buy-in from both, enhancing the

chances of successful implementation. It is important that the

council demands excellence from staff, but to make such a demand, we

must also create a work environment that is positive. Employee

bashing is not constructive and only leads to less productivity.

Given that the future of the Bolsa Chica still is unclear, what is

your position on development on the upper portion of the mesa and

other environmental issues facing the city?

My hope is that the state successfully executes the purchase of

the lower mesa ASAP and that the developer then makes the changes

necessary to make their upper mesa proposal conform to the Coastal

Act. This would allow staff, the council and many residents to focus

on the issue of how we generate revenues to pay for needed

infrastructure and services over the next 20-plus years.

What direction do you think development -- such as the Strand,

Pacific City, Bella Terra and a third hotel proposed between the

Hilton Waterfront and Hyatt -- should be headed in the city?

Forward I hope!

My understanding is the Strand, Pacific City and Bella Terra are

all approved projects and are heading toward commencement with the

goal of completion, which when finished will provide Huntington Beach

with new sales, property and transient occupancy tax revenues. I am

confident the proposed hotel to be located between the Hilton and

Hyatt will come before the city as soon as the marketplace

demonstrates it can support another hotel in that location, which

again will provide more transient occupancy tax revenues. All of

these projects, of course, also generate new jobs in Huntington

Beach.