Seal Beach City Council Election Is Today

In the seaside community of Seal Beach, the clash between new development and the city’s old-fashioned charm is the issue facing voters who will elect three City Council members today.

Parking in the downtown area and development throughout the city were the key issues mentioned by six candidates running for three seats.

In District 1, which includes downtown and the Surfside area, the key issue has been a city program allowing developers to build without providing additional parking. Developers pay into an “in lieu of parking” fund based on the size and type of project. The fund will be used for creating parking, according to City Manager Dan Joseph.

Councilman Victor Grgas, who is seeking a second term, supports the program, while challenger Charles Antos, a former city planner, is opposed.

Antos said, “If you can’t provide enough parking, then build it smaller.”

3,032 Voters in District

Grgas is director of development planning for the Los Angeles County Community Development Commission. Antos is a planner in the Orange County Environmental Management Agency. The district includes 3,032 voters.

In District 3, the 3,384 registered voters will choose between Mayor Joyce Risner, who seeks a second term, and Marjorie Ary, a homemaker. The district includes the southerly tip of the Seal Beach Leisure World retirement community and a northeast residential area known as “the hill.”

Risner is a field representative of the U.S. Department of Commerce and a representative of the California League of Cities. She said that she wants to encourage low-density development in her district and that the city should identify where it wants to build a parking lot to alleviate congestion downtown.

“We have half a program, where we are collecting money, but have not identified where we will be acquiring land,” she said.

Challenger Ary said she wants to see the city clean up the downtown area, especially for the summer months when tourists flood the city. “We’ve got to have a little bit of order down there,” she said.

In District 5, which covers most of Leisure World, Joseph Hunt, a city Planning Commission member, and Robert Jaeschke are fighting a low-key race for the seat left vacant by Oscar Brownell. Jaeschke has served on two of the community’s self-governing boards for six years.

Against Parking Deck

Hunt said he is against building a parking deck downtown because that would detract from the city’s quaint atmosphere.

But both candidates, recalling a fatal traffic accident in which a car driven by an unlicensed elderly man struck a pedestrian in a shopping area at Leisure World, said the district’s 4,925 voters are more concerned with improving driving safety within the community.

Hunt said he supports a program in which those who are unfit to drive would give up their licenses voluntarily, but Jaeschke said he would like to allow city police into the walled community to enforce the motor vehicle code.

Jaeschke said many are driving without licenses inside the confines of the community, which has its own security staff. “Just the threat of it (presence of city police) would take care of the problem,” he said.

City Clerk Joanne Yeo said officials are expecting a 35% turnout from the three districts’ 11,341 voters. For information on polling places, call (213) 431-2527.