Controversy a Growth Issue in Seal Beach Council Race : Election: The incumbent says developers are trying to take over. His challenger, a real estate broker, says the city is stagnant.

The calm sea breezes of this coastal community of 25,000 people belie the political storms that have blown since the last City Council election two years ago.

So heated were the debates at City Hall--particularly over the failed citywide referendum on the Mola Development Corp.’s proposal to develop the 149-acre Hellman Ranch property--that one council member quit last year and another threatened to resign.

With the Mola development issue still pending in court, the council has also been confronted with other issues during the past two years: an Orange County Grand Jury report critical of the Police Department, the continuing depletion of the city reserve fund and the inability to find an affordable plan to stop beach erosion.

With these and other issues facing them, the city’s District 4 voters will go to the polls March 31 to select their representative for a four-year term on the City Council. District 4, known as College Park East, is in the northeastern section of the city, between Lampson Avenue and the San Diego Freeway.

The two candidates running for the seat are the incumbent, Mayor Frank Laszlo, who believes the political tension has lessened and that the city is on the road to recovery, and his challenger, real estate broker Marilyn Spiegel, who argues that the city is stalled and its troubles could worsen if they are not addressed.

Laszlo defines the election as a debate over growth and whether developers or citizens will control the city.

Spiegel says the issue is the lack of fiscal control by the council and points to a perilously low reserve fund coupled with recent budget cuts that eliminated police officers and recreation services.

Laszlo, who previously served on the council from 1976 to 1984 before returning in 1988, is a “no-growth” advocate and part of the 3-2 council majority that strongly opposed the Mola project.

And with the Mola issue in mind, Laszlo said he is poised to fight another proposed development now undergoing environmental review--the 212-acre Bixby Old Ranch Golf Course Development Plan on the southern edge of the Los Alamitos Armed Forces Reserve Center.

Laszlo said the development may be unsafe because it would be at the end of the base’s runway and it would also worsen automobile traffic.

“She is pro-development,” Laszlo said of his opponent. “And I expect that if the council all of a sudden starts giving in to the developer like they did in the past, the city will be in turmoil again.”

Spiegel vehemently disagrees with Laszlo’s characterization of her position and describes herself as being for “controlled growth.”

“I am not a developer, I am not with the developers, I am a residential resale specialist of homes in the area, and I think there’s a big difference,” Spiegel said. Her College Park East home, she added, is her “biggest asset.”

Laszlo “is not in favor of any kind of changes whatsoever, and he’s telling people that our city is doing fine,” Spiegel said. “And I am telling you that our city is not doing fine.”

The most critical issue, she said, is the city budget, which has seen its reserve fund shrink from $2.1 million in 1987 to $160,000 last year.

A midyear budget revision brought the reserve fund back up to about $750,000, but Spiegel argues that it was bolstered by a onetime cash infusion that will not be available when the council begins work on next year’s budget.

Pointing to the city’s low bond rating by an independent agency, Spiegel said that if it drops one more notch, “we are like junk bonds, so how good can we be? How financially healthy can this city be?”

She said she opposes further program cuts but believes the city can trim administrative costs to bolster the city treasury.

Laszlo disagrees, arguing that a hiring freeze and the recent increase in the reserve fund have left the budget “in pretty good shape,” healthy enough to afford a 3% pay raise for most city workers that will take effect in July.

Included in the Police Department’s staffing cuts were one captain and two sergeant positions that were vacant. He said the positions had created a top-heavy management in the department and were not needed.

“When the (new) budget comes next July, we don’t expect to have any more personnel cuts because we have done that already,” Laszlo said.

Two other council seats and the city clerk’s position, which also were scheduled to be on the March 31 ballot, were recently filled by council appointment because only one candidate had filed to run in each race.

George Brown was appointed to the District 2 seat to replace Councilwoman Edna Wilson, who was ineligible to run again because of the city’s two-term limit.

William J. Doane was reappointed to District 5 seat. He was first appointed to the seat last year when Councilman Joe Hunt resigned.

City Clerk Joanne M. Yeo, who has held the office since 1980, also was reappointed by the council.

Times correspondent Malaika Brown contributed to this report.

Seal Beach City Council Election

Here are the candidates running for the District 4 seat on the City Council in Seal Beach’s March 31 election:

Frank Laszlo

Age: 65

Occupation: Incumbent; semi-retired educator

Background: Serving as mayor of Seal Beach; previously served two consecutive, four-year council terms, sat out a term and rejoined the council after running unopposed in 1988; member of the board of directors of the Orange County Sanitation Districts; alternate member of the Orange County Airport Land Use Commission.

Issues: Is anti-growth; opposes the Bixby Ranch development; defends recent midyear budget cuts as a way to begin stabilizing the city’s fiscal state, but believes no other program cuts will be needed when next year’s budget is considered.

Marilyn Spiegel

Age: 56

Occupation: Real estate broker

Background: Served as president of the West Orange County Assn. of Realtors in 1988; served on the California Assn. of Realtors board of directors and the Seal Beach Housing Element Review Committee.

Issues: Favors controlled growth; is undecided on the proposed Bixby Ranch development; opposed recent budget cuts in Police Department staffing and parks and recreation programs, but supports other spending cuts to increase the budget reserve balance.