Senator drops ‘Surf City, USA’ bill

A truce has been declared in the “Surf City” war.

Democratic state Sen. Joe Simitian has dropped a resolution

recognizing Santa Cruz as Surf City after lobbying by Huntington

Beach Assemblyman Tom Harman.

“I thought Tom [Harman] made a really good case,” Simitian said.

“I decided to hold off and give the two cities a chance to work this

out, maybe find some common ground.”

The bill was believed to be just days away from a Senate floor

vote. If passed, the resolution would have meant that the California

Senate recognized Santa Cruz as Surf City, USA.

That would have been a major blow to Huntington Beach, where

tourism officials have sunk $250,000 into a campaign to market the

community as Surf City, USA, and have gone as far to trademark the

title.

While it’s doubtful that the Senate resolution would have hampered

the federal trademark efforts, the resolution would have been an

embarrassment to the city and could have slowed enthusiasm about the

Surf City campaign, said Doug Traub, president of the Huntington

Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau.

“I think it’s great,” Traub said upon hearing that the resolution

had been shelved. “I’m thankful for Mr. Harman’s efforts on behalf of

the city, and we hope it won’t be an issue again.”

Simitian agreed to shelve the issue for now but has until the end

of 2006 to reintroduce the legislation, he said.

For decades, Huntington Beach and Santa Cruz have quibbled over

which city is the true Surf City, but things heated up last year when

Huntington Beach officials announced plans to trademark the name and

begin marketing a “Surf City, USA” product line that included beach

towels, cruiser bikes and swim wear.

The move upset Santa Cruz Mayor Mike Rotkin, who eventually

lobbied Simitian to introduce the Aug. 16 resolution. Days later, the

bill was approved by the Senate Rules committee in a straight

party-line vote and was scheduled to be voted on by the full Senate

in coming days.

Traub and Mayor Jill Hardy flew to Sacramento to lobby against the

bill. Tuesday, Simitian announced he was pulling the resolution from

the Senate floor.

“I think that given the many other problems that are presently

facing the State of California, it simply does not make sense to have

the Legislature get involved in what is essentially a local dispute,”

Harman wrote in a recent press release.

Quiksilver opens facility in Utah

Quiksilver Inc. announced Tuesday that it will establish a

Mountain Center in Park City, Utah, to unify the operations of its

winter sports businesses and advance the position of its lifestyle

brands.

The facility will house the U.S. headquarters for Rossignol and

Dynastar, currently located in Burlington, Vt., as well as some

operations of Quiksilver’s snowboard businesses in Washington state.

The new Park City facility will combine and integrate all U.S.

operations of Rossignol, Dynastar, Lange and Look.

It will also house U.S. operations for the newly-announced Roxy

ski business, a collaboration with Dynastar to make a full line of

alpine ski products targeted to young women.

In addition, a variety of functions for the company’s Lib

Technologies, Gnu and Bent Metal snowboard brands will be based at

the Mountain Center.

DC Shoes, which has been part of the Quiksilver group since 2004,

will play an integral role in this initiative.

The company will also establish a distribution facility in the

nearby Salt Lake City area. Many of Rossignol’s administrative

functions, such as treasury, human resources and legal, will be

consolidated with Quiksilver’s existing infrastructure in Huntington

Beach.

Quiksilver expects to begin the relocation of the various

facilities and personnel connected to the new Mountain Center in the

spring of 2006.

The company anticipates that it will take an estimated $5 million

to move Rossignol’s and Dynastar’s operations from Vermont.

Local student gets SBC scholarship

The SBC Foundation -- the philanthropic arm of SBC Communications

Inc. -- announced that a Huntington Beach student will receive a

scholarship to attend college this fall.

To help offset the rising college tuition rates for the coming

year, the SBC Scholarship program awarded more than $5 million in

college scholarships to more than 2,000 children of SBC employees and

retirees.

Scholarship recipient Brooke Hugron of Huntington Beach attends

San Diego State University, where she majors in psychology and child

development. While at Edison High School, Brooke served as a

Character Coalition Award winner, a National Honor Roll member, and a

Golden Key Award nominee. Brooke will receive $2,500 from the SBC

Foundation for her education this year.