Development Curb, Industry Tax Hot Issues in El Segundo

A hotly contested ballot measure that would clamp down on commercial development and another measure that would levy a new tax on industry have become the focal points of El Segundo’s April 12 municipal election.

Six candidates are vying for three seats on a City Council whose present members have spent much of their time in recent years grappling with a dwindling city treasury and rampant industrial development on the city’s east side.

Two candidates also are seeking the city clerk’s job.

Mayor Jack Siadek and Councilman Keith Schuldt decided to not seek reelection. Thomas Jolly, an inventor and mechanical designer, has dropped out of the race for health reasons, but his name will still appear on the ballot.

Of the council candidates, four of them--Nestor Synadinos, Jim Clutter, incumbent Carl Jacobson and Scot Dannen--are considered “pro-resident” by the El Segundo Residents Assn., a community group that is at odds with the present council majority over development issues.

Steve Edlefsen, who heads the group, said the association is fearful the four candidates could splinter votes, paving the way for candidates J. B. Wise or Gary R. Shultz to be elected. The association, which does not make formal endorsements, considers both Wise and Shultz pro-development.

Finding new sources of money has become a preoccupation of city officials since 1982, when the local Chevron USA refinery lost a major contract and the city’s sales tax revenues plummeted by millions of dollars annually. In the intervening years, the city has been forced to dip into its reserves to balance its operating budget, which this year will total about $25 million.

$2.3 Million Deficit

Jose Sanchez, the city’s finance director, said the deficit for the 1987-88 fiscal year will be between $900,000 and $1 million and is expected to increase to $2.3 million next year. The city’s general fund reserves at the end of this year will total only $1.6 million, he said.

Simultaneous with the decline in city revenues has been a flurry of development on the city’s east side that has turned El Segundo into one of the county’s major employment centers--and contributed to its budget woes by increasing the need for police and fire protection. A 1983 study commissioned by the city estimated that 63% of El Segundo’s services went to industry.

“Industry is kind of our errant child at this point,” said council candidate Dannen, a Planning Commission member for the past four years.

The search for new money has prompted the present council to place Measure D on the ballot, which would impose a 2% utility tax on industry and boost city revenues by as much as $2 million annually. The tax, which council members have called a stop-gap solution to the city’s budget problems, would expire in 1991.

The measure was placed on the ballot after voters last fall overwhelmingly defeated a proposition that would have levied a 4% utility-user tax on both business and residents. Measure D, which requires a simple majority of votes for passage, has stirred up little controversy and is expected to pass.

Measure C, however, the proposal aimed at controlling development, has provoked a flurry of debate and is being opposed by several of the city’s biggest corporations, including Hughes Aircraft Co., Rockwell International Corp. and Chevron.

The initiative was drafted by Group United for Residential Rights, a local political action committee whose co-chairman is council candidate Synadinos. The group, which gathered the petition signatures needed to place the measure on the ballot, was formed in 1986 to fight a proposed office complex and was successful in getting it scaled back.

The measure would require de The measure would require developers to include above-ground parking structures when calculating a building’s total square footage. It would also prohibit a developer from circumventing existing density limits through zone changes or development agreements with the city unless approved by voters. If it becomes law, the measure would be retroactive to February, 1987, although the impact of that is unclear, city officials say.

“The City Council has given away the city to developers over the years,” Synadinos said, adding that the present council majority “owe their political lifeblood” to builders and real estate interests.

“Those are the people they serve, they don’t serve the residents,” Synadinos said.

Three council members, Bob Anderson, Alan West, and Siadek, have come out against the measure. They contend it could face legal challenges and would not limit building height or significantly reduce density.

PAC Contributions

The measure also faces intense opposition from the El Segundo Chamber of Commerce, which is raising money to defeat it through its political action committee, Community Outreach. Rockwell has already contributed $10,000 to the committee, according to campaign disclosure reports filed last week, and spokesmen for both Hughes and Chevron said they expect their companies to contribute money.

“We think it is the most serious issue we have ever faced in El Segundo,” said Jim Hurt, director of public affairs for Hughes. Among other things, Hurt said, the company is concerned that Measure C, if passed, would hamper the company’s efforts to upgrade existing buildings or rebuild after a catastrophe such as fire or earthquake.

Here are profiles of the candidates and their positions:

Carl Jacobson, who was first elected to the council four years ago, has often disagreed with other council members on growth issues, usually favoring less development. While he said he is an advocate of controlled growth, he said he will not take a public stand on Measure C.

The 40-year-old Jacobson, who owns a small electronics manufacturing firm, said he supports the utility user tax. But he said that, unlike the other present council members, he does not favor imposing a trash collection fee on residents in exchange for exempting them from the utility tax. Council members are scheduled to discuss such a fee at their meeting Tuesday. If elected, Jacobson said, he would work to increase the city’s retail sales tax base and promote harmony among council members. “What I would like to do is to get the council to address the needs of the town and not be quite so divisive,” he said.

Scot Dannen, a 37-year-old manager for a distributor of industrial products, said he believes the present council has been shortsighted in its approach to development. Even though the city has imposed new taxes on industry in recent years--for example, an employee “head tax” was imposed on business in 1986--Dannen said he believes the council “should take a look at the entire tax structure for industry.”

“We are the second largest employment center in Southern California, yet we are going broke and Los Angeles is not,” Dannen said. “Why?”

Dannen, saying he is concerned about Measure C’s retroactive clause, said he has not decided how he will vote. However, he said that if he is elected he will introduce his own controlled-growth ordinance that would reduce density levels of new office buildings by 40%. Dannen said he would vote for the utility user tax but is against charging residents a trash collection fee.

Jim Clutter, who works for an airline passenger services department, said he will vote for both ballot measures but is concerned about whether Measure C can withstand legal challenges.

The 57-year-old Clutter said that if he is elected he will work to establish traffic assessment districts to solve congestion problems brought about by the city’s rapid commercial growth. Under his plan, Clutter said, fees imposed on major employers would be spent to solve traffic problems.

At present, Clutter contended, El Segundo’s city government is controlled by “people who will profit from fast development.”

“The faster we develop, the bigger our deficit seems to grow,” Clutter said.

Nestor Synadinos, in addition to favoring the controlled-growth initiative, said he would vote for the utility user tax, even though he believes it should be higher. A utility user tax of 4% or 5%, he said, would solve most of the city’s money problems.

“The first thing we have got to do is eliminate the budget deficit situation,” Synadinos said. “And I think we should stop trying to tax the residents, because it is not their fault.”

The 58-year-old Synadinos, who owns a vending machine company, defended Measure C, saying it closes loopholes and ensures that present building and zoning codes are enforced.

“Philosophically, I am not wishy-washy,” Synadinos said. “I think even my opponents admit I get things done, and they respect me for it.”

J. B. Wise, an electrical contractor, said he is opposed to Measure C because he believes its retroactive clause is unfair to property owners and could be challenged in court. If he is elected, Wise said, he would work to promote development aimed at increasing the city’s sales tax base.

Wise, 43, said he favors the utility user tax but is against imposing a trash fee on residents. He also said he believes the city should take a closer look at its spending habits.

“If we are bringing in $24 million, then that is all we have to spend,” Wise said.

Wise rejected the pro-development label given to him by some other council candidates. “I have heard my opponents say I am backed by big business, and I just haven’t seen it,” he said.

Gary Shultz a 47-year-old insurance broker who has lived in El Segundo for 10 years and has been involved in Chamber of Commerce activities, said he is also against Measure C because of its retroactive clause. “I think it would create an untold number of lawsuits,” he said.

Although he will vote for the utility user tax, Shultz said, he considers it a “bandage approach” to the city’s fiscal problems. He said El Segundo needs to create incentives for developers to build projects that will boost the city’s retail tax base.

Shultz said he considers himself pro-development. “But it needs to be controlled, to be realistic,” he said.

In the race for city clerk, incumbent Ron Hart, who was appointed to the $600-a-month, part-time post in 1984 after Valerie Burrowes resigned, said he wants to reinstate the city’s records management program. The program was curtailed 14 years ago when the city made the clerk’s job a part-time position, he said.

At present, Hart said, many of the city’s old documents are stored in haphazard fashion in the City Hall basement. By reinstating the program, the records could be organized and unneeded ones thrown away, he said.

Hart also said he would work to update the city’s conflict of interest codes for city officials. The codes were adopted in 1984 and have not been updated since, even though the city has added staff positions not covered by the codes, he said.

Hart’s opponent, Richard Fennell, said he believes his experience as a notary public would be an asset for the clerk’s office. Fennell, who owns an insurance business, said he, too, believes the city’s methods for storing old documents should be improved.

“Other than that, I don’t plan to do a lot of changes,” Fennell said. “I’d be a fool to say I did.”

City Treasurer Louise Eckersley is running unopposed for a third consecutive term.