SEAL BEACH : Fight Looms Over Ranch Golf Course

A battle is brewing over whose City Council district should include the Old Ranch Golf Course property, which the Bixby Ranch Co. is proposing to develop.

Councilman Frank Laszlo has suggested moving the land, east of Seal Beach Boulevard and north of the San Diego Freeway, from Mayor Edna Wilson’s district to his. Laszlo said his constituents in College Park East are more affected by what happens to the property than are those in Wilson’s, who primarily live in Leisure World.

“This is a problem that has bothered all of College Park East for 20 years,” Laszlo said. Though initially he also discussed the possibility of shifting Rossmoor Center into his district, he said his primary target is the Bixby property.

Because there are no residents on the disputed land, the boundary shift would not change the number of voters in either district.

While Laszlo said he wants to make the change as soon as possible, Wilson and Councilman Joe Hunt said they would rather wait to make any changes until after data from the 1990 census is available to the council later this month.

“A committee elected every 10 years determines how many people should be in each district,” Wilson noted.

To alter districts now, Hunt said, “a few months before the new census data is coming out, indicates there is personal motivation in it. I have no objection if part of the vacant property next to Frank’s area is in his district, but to stretch it down in a gerrymandering fashion where it is encapsulated by another district is a case of pure spite and an act of anger.”

The city attorney said the council must consider whether the change would be fair and logical, and he and other city staff members will prepare an analysis for the council, which will decide on the issue in the next month or two.