4 Signal Hill Challengers Seek New Council Course

Councilman Gerard Goedhart remembers well what he calls “the bad old days” in this town.

Those were the days in 1981 when the city was roiled by the disturbing jail house death of college football player Ron Settles. It was a time of fiscal uncertainty as the oil industry, long the economic lifeblood of Signal Hill, began to wane. It was a period marked by the seemingly unchecked development of high-density condominiums.

Goedhart and fellow Councilman Louis Dare defeated two Old Guard councilmen in 1982 on the promise that they would make a change. Goedhart and Dare say that--with the help of three reform-minded colleagues elected in 1984--they have done just that, overseeing an extensive overhaul of the Police Department, establishing stricter controls on housing density and unveiling redevelopment projects that could yield up to $6 million a year in sales tax revenues.

Nonetheless, with the April 8 council election drawing near, the incumbents are being matched against four challengers who contend that the council needs to chart a new course. They argue that Goedhart, 34, and Dare, 66, have had a spendthrift attitude while mishandling the city’s redevelopment efforts and other key matters.

The challengers are Sara Dodds, 43, an interior design consultant; Frank McCoy, 42, a former Signal Hill police sergeant who retired in 1980 after injuring his back; Richard Love, 47, a housing consultant, and Clyde Key, 50, a former painting contractor who now owns and runs a 13-unit apartment complex in Signal Hill.

Several of the candidates have already begun walking door-to-door in an effort to woo votes in what is expected to be a low-spending, grassroots-style election. So far Dodds has garnered $120, McCoy has raised about $500 and Dare has about $550. None of the other candidates report having raised any campaign funds.

Walking for a Month

Of the challengers, Dodds has had perhaps the most visible campaign so far. A resident of the city since 1984, Dodds has been walking precincts for about a month and has frequented council meetings. In particular, Dodds was a vocal opponent last year during a battle over a Price Club discount store planned near Willow Street and Junipero Avenue that ultimately won council approval.

As Dodds sees it, the council has failed to adhere to a focused development plan for the future, instead approving a “crazy quilt” of projects throughout the city.

That is a theme McCoy has also taken up, pointing to the Price Club as an example.

McCoy and Dodds say land slated for the department store should have been used as a “town center” composed of four office buildings and a grocery store. Such an office complex was originally proposed for the site, but the council opted for the Price Club when approached by a developer.

While all the challengers agree that redevelopment is vitally needed to lure revenue-producing businesses to Signal Hill, they question the council’s current tack.

Hiring Consultants

McCoy, Key and Dodds all criticized the council for spending $2.9 million during the 1984-85 budget year on engineering consultants and other experts to help with planning. Most of that money came from the city’s 5-year, $60-million capital improvement budget.

“They seem to hire a consultant for anything that comes up,” McCoy said.

Dodds also complained that the council, in its rush to woo developers, is making too many concessions, such as spending city money to provide sidewalks, street lights and landscaping for commercial projects.

“I don’t think our small town should accept this free-spending attitude,” she said.

The incumbents, however, say that such steps are vital to fuel the city’s redevelopment efforts. Goedhart insisted there is “nothing wrong” with providing incentives to lure developers, noting that it is a common practice among cities throughout the state.

In addition, both Goedhart and Dare said the $2.9-million bill for consultants was necessary to get the city’s redevelopment efforts rolling. Money paid to consultants, they said, will pale when compared to the funds that will ultimately come from new businesses--such as the Price Club and a planned auto mall.

“When you consider the number of projects we have on stream, we’d be foolish to try to do all these things in house,” said Dare, who has had a tool and die business in Signal Hill for 32 years. “Besides, that money is going for experts. If you built a house, you’d be foolish to design it yourself.”

Rusty Tap Water

McCoy, Key and Love also questioned whether the council is moving fast enough to cure problems with the rusty water that flows from many a faucet in Signal Hill, a situation caused by the city’s deteriorating, 60-year-old system of water pipes.

“It’s uncalled-for,” said Key. “You wouldn’t even want to take a shower in this city--the water comes out brown.”

The incumbents said steps already have been taken to solve that problem, noting that in early February the council began appropriating money for a $19-million, five-year project to upgrade the system and replace 20 miles of pipe.

Love, meanwhile, complained that the city is not doing enough to enforce its housing codes, a situation he maintains has produced an abundance of substandard housing where low-income families live.

A resident of the city for about a year, Love also said that the city’s police have failed to adequately deal with crime, especially that being committed by youth gangs.

The incumbents countered that the city’s police have improved dramatically in both training and image in recent years. Those improvements, Goedhart and Dare contend, came after the current council hired a new police chief and ordered changes that resulted in a turnover of nearly half the department’s uniformed officers.

McCoy and Dodds also criticized Goedhart, Dare and the rest of the council for being unreceptive--and sometimes downright ornery--to residents presenting opposing viewpoints at council meetings.

‘Intimidating to Speak’

“I feel strongly that this city should have an open exchange of ideas with all the people involved,” Dodds said. “It’s intimidating enough for someone to get up in front of the council to speak without getting abused once they’re there.”

Goedhart and Dare chafed at those assertions.

“We treat people respectfully when they come before us,” said Goedhart, who is director of administrative services for the City of Los Alamitos. “I think the council has always been very open, allowing the public to speak on every item during a meeting. We handle them a lot like town hall meetings.”

As proof that they’re getting the job done, Dare and Goedhart like to point to a slate of other achievements, including establishing a free dial-a-ride program for the elderly, spearheading an effort to defeat a pro-gambling ballot measure in 1982 and initiating a ban on fireworks sales in June, 1985.

Such accomplishments have the two incumbents preening.

“We were the change, Goedhart said. “We were in the aftermath of Ron Settles and all the things that incident exposed about the operation of the city and its police. There were a lot problems. We have taken care of those problems.”

Police maintained that Settles, 21, resisted arrest when he was stopped for a speeding violation on June 2, 1981, and hours later hanged himself while being held in the city jail. A coroner’s jury ruled his death a homicide, but the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office decided there was insufficient evidence to file homicide charges against the officers on duty.

Treasurer Challenged

Besides the council race, the April 8 election will decide who sits for a four-year term as city treasurer, a part-time position that involves overseeing general accounting and financial matters while handling the city’s investment portfolio.

Gayle Girard, 49, an instructor in human and community services at Long Beach City College who has held the treasurer’s post for one term, is being challenged by Edward Williams, 43, a former city planning commissioner who is director of security for the Los Angeles-area offices of Mitsui Manufacturers Bank.

Meanwhile, City Clerk Kris Beard, 30, is unopposed for the position he has held for one four-year term. Beard is an administrative analyst for the Orange County Community Services Agency.