Council rejects date change

City sticks to Jan. 9 for Poseidon meeting, but schedule conflicts could push controversial vote back even further.It was a meeting about a meeting, a plea to reconsider a reconsideration.

One week after the City Council voted 5-1 to again postpone the Poseidon hearing to Jan. 9, the seven members of the council were back in chambers Tuesday, considering a request by Councilman Keith Bohr to move the date back to Dec. 19.

“I don’t think it’s fair for anybody to say we didn’t give them enough opportunity on this issue,” Bohr said.

In the end, Bohr’s request narrowly lost, and the council’s definitive decision on the hearing date only led to more ambiguity. The Jan. 9 hearing could easily be pushed back again because Councilwoman Cathy Green will likely be out of town performing relief work with the Red Cross in the Gulf States.

Council members Dave Sullivan, Debbie Cook, Jill Hardy and Don Hansen rejected Bohr’s request to return the hearing to December, arguing the date was too close to the holidays and could stifle participation in one of the most controversial public debates in years.

“The problem indeed is the appearance of this; it appears we are doing this for our own convenience as opposed to the citizen’s convenience,” Sullivan said.

At issue is whether Connecticut-based Poseidon Resources should be allowed to construct a $250-million ocean water desalination plant behind the AES power plant at Newland Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway.

Backers of the project argue the facility will create 50 million gallons of drinking water per day for parched Southern California communities, whereas opponents argue the project will further industrialize the already besieged southeast Huntington Beach neighborhood.

The Poseidon hearing has already been delayed several times: In September, the council certified an environmental impact report on the project but delayed the permit hearing until October. The meeting was pushed back again in October because council members didn’t have enough information about the project’s economic benefits, and then again in November because Councilman Don Hansen was going to be out of town. Last week, Sullivan voted to move the meeting from Dec. 19 to Jan. 9 because the hearing fell too close to the holidays.

At the time, Bohr went along with Sullivan’s vote, but he appealed the decision at Tuesday’s special meeting. About 13 people spoke at Tuesday’s hearing, all opposed to returning the meeting date to December.

“What is the hurry for this vote?’ said anti-Poseidon activist Eileen Murphy. “If the members are not going to be here for the January vote, please move the vote back.”

Several audience members complained that City Atty. Jennifer McGrath had not promptly responded to their public information requests for all documents relating to current negotiations between Poseidon and the city.

McGrath responded that the documents were part of ongoing negotiations and still confidential, arguing that they would be released to the public the same time they were released to the council. Typically, public documents are released four to five days before a scheduled public hearing, regardless of when the documents are actually completed.

Anti-Poseidon activist John Earl said the small window limited the amount of time members of the public could review records. He also said McGrath had been slow to respond to his own groups requests, first asking for a 14-day extension to gather the documents and later cutting off communication with the group.

McGrath said she had made a mistake by not promptly responding to the request.

“Quite simply and honestly, I apologize,” she said.