Shaw in council bid

Huntington Beach downtown businessman Joe Shaw, a vocal opponent of the city’s plan to close Main Street, has announced plans to run for City Council this fall.

“City Hall and some of our City Council members like to tell people what to do,” Shaw said. “I get frustrated that city leaders aren’t listening to my voice.”

Shaw, a former journalist, said he was spurred on to run for City Council after working with City Hall on the plan to turn Main Street into a pedestrian mall.

Shaw also started a website, https://hbdowntown.typepad.com, detailing his opposition to the proposal. It has received hits from all over the country, including Sacramento and Washington, D.C., he said.

He disputes some residents’ view that “downtown is broken.” Downtown Huntington Beach is actually thriving and doing well, Shaw said.

Downtown is doing good business in summer and winter, and one of the busiest times is in December, Shaw writes on his website joeshawforhb.com. Shaw has own plan for closing Main Street.

“We’re not hurting on any weekend, but weekdays in winter are slow,” he said.

Instead of closing the street off on weekends, the city should test the plan by closing it on a weekday so businesses can judge whether the closure attracted more people, Shaw suggested.

“I’m not against closing Main Street, I just want what’s best for downtown,” he said.

Huntington Beach is a big city but it has a hometown atmosphere, and Shaw wants to keep it that way, said Karen Pederson, a Shaw supporter.

Pederson, vice chair of the Fourth of July executive committee that oversees the parade, said she’s known Shaw for about five years. “I think he’s a really good person,” she said.

Shaw, 46, is a member of the Downtown Huntington Beach Business Improvement District, a volunteer for an animal rescue organization and a public relations committee member of the Huntington Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau.

“We’re the experts on downtown,” he added. “We’re here every day for 12 hours or more, so the city should use our input.”

Shaw owns two retail gift stores in downtown: the California Greetings store and the HB Store, selling memorabilia and T-shirts.

“We have very few council members who know what it takes to run a business,” he said.

Shaw’s candidacy is supported by the downtown business improvement district.

“I think Joe Shaw says it like it is,” said Stephen Daniels, president of the Downtown Huntington Beach Business Assn. “He has his own convictions, and he’ll make a good candidate.”

Shaw said he’ll work to strengthen Huntington Beach’s business credentials, but he also doesn’t mince words when it comes to supporting open spaces and a clean ocean.

He wants the city to conserve open space, which has him questioning the need for a senior center in Central Park.

“It’s a quality-of-life issue,” he said of the center, which also will be before voters in November.

The debate on the proposed senior center in Central Park is “pushing everybody apart,” Shaw said.

The city needs more than one senior center so seniors don’t have to do a lot of traveling, he said.

Another major part of Shaw’s campaign, he said, is to expedite the time it takes to process permits for businesses, remodeling homes or any building project.

He proposes to put the permit process online so people can check the progress of their permit on the Web.

Setting up neighborhood councils and allowing neighborhoods to have a direct say in their area is another priority in Shaw’s campaign.

He plans to meet with Bolsa Chica protection groups to learn more about the city and its issues. Bolsa Land Trust founder and planning commissioner Flossie Horgan, who also is a candidate for the council, said, “the more, the merrier,” of Shaw’s candidacy.

Shaw also said he’s against the proposed Poseidon desalination plant in Huntington Beach and admitted the aging AES power plant is an eyesore on the city’s coastline.

“[A] semi-functioning AES plant on a portion of our beautiful coast is not good for us,” he said.

“It’s best for business to have open spaces, great parks and clean beaches in this town.”

Mayor Dave Sullivan, who disagrees with Shaw on the closing of Main Street and the senior center, said, “I would wish any candidate good luck.”

“I think he’s on the wrong side of both issues,” Sullivan said.

QUESTION

What will be the most important issue in the City Council election, and why? Call our Readers Hotline at (714) 966-4691 or send e-mail to hbindependent@ latimes.com. Please spell your name and include your hometown and phone number for verification purposes.hbi.13-shaw-CPhotoInfoBO1SS2N720060713j29lyuncCredit: Caption: (LA)Joe Shaw