McIntosh named fire chief

The City Council approved the nomination of a new fire chief at its meeting Monday.

Orange County Fire Authority Deputy Fire Chief Patrick McIntosh will take the helm of the Huntington Beach Fire Department on Jan. 27.

“I’m honored and, quite frankly, humbled to have the opportunity to serve as your next fire chief,” McIntosh said.

Fire Chief Duane Olson is retiring today after 39 years of service to the city. McIntosh was chosen out of a pool of 70 applicants.

“Chief McIntosh was selected from a very qualified group of candidates who were gathered from a national recruitment,” City Administrator Fred Wilson said in a statement. “He is certainly capable of leading the Fire Department, and I look forward to him joining the executive team.”

McIntosh was one of the first executive fire officers in the nation to receive Chief Fire Officer Designation in 2000.

He started with the Orange County Fire Authority in 1982 as a firefighter and, during his nearly 28 years there, moved up through the ranks as assistant chief, division chief and battalion chief before reaching deputy fire chief in 2007.

Before joining the Orange County Fire Authority, McIntosh was a firefighter for the city of San Gabriel for three years.

McIntosh completed a Harvard University program for senior executives in state and local government and has a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Chapman University and a bachelor’s degree in fire protection administration from Cal State Los Angeles.

He graduated from the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program.

The 51-year-old San Gabriel native lives in Laguna Niguel with his wife and two daughters.

“Let me be the first to welcome Chief McIntosh to the city of Huntington Beach,” Wilson said.

The council also approved a conceptual project for a community garden and will send a letter of support on its behalf to get the project going.

The project by the Beach Community Garden Assn. would create a 2.5-acre community garden on Atlanta Avenue at the Santa Ana River. The land is owned by Southern California Edison, but the city is in negotiations with the company for a lease.

The city approved sending a letter to Edison to expedite the review and approval process.

The association and city staff are also working on a memorandum of understanding between the association and the city and the city and Edison.

The memorandums must come before the City Council for approval.

The city still has to work out issues relating to the financial aspect of the project concerning water, yearly fees and trash.

Downtown businesses with entertainment permits are going to have to toe the line more strictly now that the council unanimously approved an increase in the fine schedule for violators.

Fines were doubled for the first and second violations, and a five-day suspension for the second violation and a 15-day suspension of the permit for the third and subsequent violations was added.

The permit can also now be revoked by the chief of police after the fourth violation.

“I think this is a great start and hopefully with this, we can curb some of the problems that are going on down there,” Councilman Devin Dwyer said.

The changes were suggested by the Downtown Image Ad Hoc Committee, which found the current fines ineffective.

The City Council decided in a closed-door session to appeal a Superior Court judge’s decision to stop construction of a new $22-million senior center in Huntington Central Park.

The appeal was approved 5 to 2 with Mayor Cathy Green and Mayor Pro-Tem Jill Hardy voting against it.

Judge David C. Velasquez found the city to be in violation of its general plan and two state environmental acts and ruled the city can’t use the entire $22 million on the project.

Makar Properties was going to develop the project instead of creating new open space for its Pacific City Project, a 31-acre multiuse site, but the court ruled using all the money violates the state’s Quimby Act to protect open space and park land.

The center was to be built on a 5-acre section of Huntington Central Park, but the Parks Legal Defense Fund, a citizens group, filed a lawsuit against the city in March 2008 challenging the project.

The facility would have replaced the Michael E. Rodgers Seniors’ Center in April 2011 with a 45,000-square-foot, one-story center in April 2011.