Huntington Beach City Council members extend health benefits to their families

Huntington Beach City Council members voted Monday night to extend their health benefits to their family members, a reversal from a policy that granted those benefits only to the council.

The council split on the change, approving it on a 4-3 vote, with members Lyn Semeta, Mike Posey and Erik Peterson dissenting.

Councilman Patrick Brenden requested the action, contending it “doesn’t make sense” to not allow council members the option of adding their families to city health plans.

Brenden said he talked to insurance professionals about the ban. He said they told him it’s rare for companies to restrict health benefits only to employees.

City officials said any premium increases for family members will be borne by the council members, not the city.

Peterson said being on the council is a part-time job and that many companies don’t provide health benefits for part-timers. Huntington Beach shouldn’t either, he said.

Peterson said council members don’t need “more perks.”

“I don’t even know why we need insurance in the first place,” he added.

Before 2012, Huntington Beach council members had health insurance and expense accounts. That year, however, they voted to remove those benefits for future council members because of the economic recession.

By 2015, however, the council had restored them, with the limitation of providing health benefits only to council members, not their spouses or dependents.

Review of 1905 house relocation effort delayed

The council postponed to Nov. 6 a review of a Huntington Beach preservationist’s request to move a historical home once owned by John and Martha Hearn, a couple with ties to the city’s beginnings.

In June, the Planning Commission denied Joseph Santiago’s request for variances to relocate the nearly 2,000-square-foot home, built in 1905 and noted for its Colonial Revival and Victorian architectural touches, from a storage lot to a property at 506 Seventh St.

Santiago’s plan has faced some opposition from neighbors who argue that the Hearn house is too big to squeeze onto the Seventh Street lot, which already contains a house and detached garage.

bradley.zint@latimes.com

Twitter: @BradleyZint