Who’s King of the Hill? : As Oil Dwindles, Summit Land Becomes City’s Prime Resource; Candidates Split on Development

As the black gold dries up in the once oil-rich town of Signal Hill, a controversial development project has become the focal point of the upcoming City Council election.

The project, at one point, would have created about 1,200 homes for an area once blanketed by oil wells. But the council drastically scaled back the project destined for the area locals fondly call “the hilltop.”

Three incumbent council members proudly note that they helped curtail the development, which would have increased the city’s population of 8,371 by 50% and transformed the bedroom community that does not even have its own supermarket.

Council members Jessie M. Blacksmith, Richard Ceccia and Louis A. Dare said they are seeking reelection, in part, to see their lower-density plan through.

But four challengers seeking those three seats in the April 14 election criticize the council’s handling of the development project, saying the city could have gotten a better deal.

Sara Dodds Hanlon, Bill Miller, Mike Noll and George E. Papadakis said that if elected, they would consider reopening negotiations with the developers to increase the number of homes and condominiums to about 800.

That possibility has prompted charges by the incumbents and their supporters that pro-development forces are trying to take over the town, which is so small that candidates working weekends for a month can knock on every registered voter’s door.

Much of the criticism is targeted at Orange County-based Southwest Diversified Inc. Although the development company has distanced itself from the election, it has aggressively campaigned for its project for more than two years.

Since 1989 when Southwest Diversified bought 125 acres on the top of Signal Hill, it has sponsored forums, thrown parties, donated to the schools’ anti-drug program and given out free T-shirts. The Irvine developer also helped start a newspaper in town. And the company’s community relations director, Don Jarman, moved to Signal Hill and joined numerous groups, including the Signal Hill Chamber of Commerce, where he will become president this summer.

“They started putting money in the community as soon as they arrived,” said Mayor Blacksmith, one of three incumbents who question the company’s role in the election.

Pike Oliver, a Southwest Diversified spokesman, acknowledged that his company has attempted to engender goodwill in the tiny town that is an island in the middle of Long Beach. But he denied that Southwest Diversified wants to control the city and its politicians.

“I think that developers become a convenient whipping boy in these things. I’ve never known of a situation where a developer can decide the fate of a city,” Oliver said.

City officials have said that the company stands to reap about $40 million in profit with the current development plan, which is scheduled for groundbreaking next year. The agreement allows the company, which owns 80% of the hilltop area, to build about 450 dwellings and permits other landowners to build another 75 units. The company stood to gain $97 million under a 798-unit proposal rejected by the council.

Asked whether the company plans to resubmit a larger plan if a new council is elected, Oliver said: “At this point, there would have to be a strong sense that’s something the city wants.”

Thomas K. Allen, publisher and owner of The Signal newspaper, also balked at suggestions that his publication, which received a start-up loan and heavy advertising from Southwest Diversified, is a tool of the developer.

“Southwest is not involved at all in this newspaper,” Allen said. “This paper is my paper.”

Allen wrote about the loan in a front-page editorial published in the first edition of The Signal, which has grown to a free circulation of about 21,000.

But Councilwoman Carol Churchill cited The Signal as an example of how the development company has tried to influence local opinion.

“There is no doubt in my mind that the election will be bought by the developer,” Churchill wrote in a March 9 letter to the Fair Political Practices Commission and the secretary of state. Churchill has asked for a review of the company’s role in the election. The commission would neither confirm nor deny whether a review is being done, but the secretary of state’s office is looking into the matter.

Among other things, Churchill, the incumbents and other residents have questioned whether the development firm is funneling money to a group called Concerned Citizens of Signal Hill, which favors a larger-density development.

“Concerned Citizens of Signal Hill are putting on their own election. We don’t know who they are. They’re sending out mailers, putting up signs, campaigning. . . . And they refused to disclose who was paying for it all,” said Ceccia, one of the incumbents running for reelection.

Larry Forester, president of Concerned Citizens, said his group of more than 200 residents is not connected to the development company and has abided by all laws. “We are basically a neighborhood organization,” he said.

Company officials said Southwest Diversified is not connected to the citizens group.

According to campaign statements filed in City Hall last week, the group has received $6,390 since March 1. Most of the donations were under $100 and not itemized by donors. The largest contributor was the Signal Hill/Long Beach Area Independent Oil Producers, which donated $1,000, according to the documents.

The group is sponsoring an absentee ballot drive, which has been so successful that some observers said it could determine the race. City officials have received about 600 applications for absentee ballots, according to Deputy City Clerk Nancy Shepard. During the last election, when 1,123 residents voted, 137 absentee ballots were cast.

Last week, Concerned Citizens of Signal Hill endorsed three of the challengers: Dodds Hanlon, Noll and Papadakis.

All four challengers complained that the incumbents have pictured them as “puppets of evil and despotic developers,” in the words of Miller, a property manager and first-time council candidate.

The challengers said they oppose the development plan approved by the council in part because it does not have some of the amenities included in the larger proposal. The current plan, for example, calls for a two-acre park instead of the four-acre park that was in the 798-unit proposal.

“Now . . . the developer is going to do just what he has to do and no more. And why should he? The city is just sticking it to them,” said candidate Papadakis, who served on the council from 1972 to 1984.

“I wasn’t happy (with the council-approved plan) because it wasn’t a master plan,” said Dodds Hanlon, a commercial designer and former councilwoman. She lost her reelection bid two years ago to Churchill, who ran on a slow-growth platform.

All four challengers, in addition to accusing the incumbents of bungling the Southwest Diversified project, also criticize the current council for spending too much money on consultant fees and deals that help big businesses.

“They gave the Price Club a $1.6-million wall,” said Noll, a realtor and former Planning Commission member. “We need to negotiate a little better.”

But the incumbents argue that their agreements have lured businesses to town and their consultants’ fees helped pave the way for revenue-generating projects.

Dare cited several examples including the Price Club, “which provides $1 million a year to our general fund.”

Blacksmith, Ceccia and Dare also said that unlike other surrounding communities, Signal Hill expects to end the fiscal year with $800,000 in its general reserve fund.

As for the Southwest Diversified development, Blacksmith said: “(Southwest) can build quality development and when they build on the top of the hill, they will. But before that, they will try to control everything.”

Signal Hill City Council

Signal Hill population: 8,371

Election: April 14

On the ballot: Seven candidates for three seats

INCUMBENTS

Jessie M. Blacksmith

Age: 56

Occupation: Elementary schoolteacher

Remarks: “I’m running because we have developers who own 80% (of the hilltop) . . . . I’m very concerned that the money and the time and the effort we’ve put in (into the hilltop development plan) would be wasted.” Blacksmith, who is running for her third term, participated in a push to shrink the proposed development on the hill, which started at 1,200 dwellings and now is down to 525. She said she also has worked to retain big businesses, such as the Price Club, in town, and to lure auto dealers to the city’s new auto center. If reelected, she said she would continue to work on the Towne Center West project, which would include the city’s first supermarket.

Richard Ceccia

Age: 36

Occupation: Attorney

Remarks: “(My) top priority is getting the top of the hill done. . . . I want to finish off the projects we’ve got going.” The projects he cited include the Signal Hill Auto Center, which is expected to generate about $2 million a year in sales tax revenue once it is completed. Ceccia, who is running for his third term, said the city is projected to end the fiscal year with about $800,000 in its general reserve fund. “Given the fact that we’re in a recession, the fact that we’re looking at growth is incredible.”

Louis A. Dare

Age: 72

Occupation: Tool and die maker

Remarks: “I think we’re at a crossroads. . . . My opponents are not for low-density (development). I feel that if I didn’t run, my last nine years would be wasted. Any new council can change what an old council did.” Dare, who has served nine years on the council, cited the new auto mall and the city’s tax revenues as part of the council’s achievements. If reelected, his goals include increasing the amount of affordable housing in the city. He said he would also continue to work on luring a supermarket to town and improving the water system, which has undergone some renovations in recent years.

CHALLENGERS

Sara Dodds Hanlon

Age: 50

Occupation: Commercial designer

Remarks: “The incumbents have turned this into a one-issue campaign. . . . The density issue is a smoke screen.” Instead, she said, the major issue in the city is a “people issue.” The council, she said, has focused on “big business and subsidizing big business.” Hanlon, a councilwoman from 1986 to 1990, would not say which hilltop development plan she would support. But she has criticized the council’s decision to approve the lower density proposal, saying that it is not a “master plan” because it is missing a number of amenities. If elected, Hanlon said she would be open to looking at new proposals.

Bill Miller

Age: 50

Occupation: Property manager

Remarks: “It was time for me to get involved. What pushed me over the edge was the way the council reacted to the Southwest Diversified proposal. (The council) kept changing the rules, changing the rules, changing the rules on those poor guys. It’s clear they have a personal agenda regarding developers.” Miller said that if elected, he “absolutely” would resurrect the higher-density project rejected by the council. “I would have gone with the 798. It seemed to me that it was the best compromise.” He said his goals as councilman would include cracking down on prostitution along Pacific Coast Highway and improving the city’s infrastructure, such as the water system.

Mike Noll

Age: 50

Occupation: Realtor

Remarks: Saying he is unhappy with the current plan, Noll said he is open to renegotiating the development for the hilltop if it means more amenities to the city. “I don’t want any more units than we absolutely have to have, but I want the parks and trails and streets and oil (wells removed). . . .” Noll said he favors low-density projects and worked to reduce the number of units in the hilltop project during his four years on the Planning Commission. He was fired from that post in 1990--an action he said was politically motivated. If elected, Noll said he would work to widen Pacific Coast Highway, crack down on prostitution and improve the water system.

George E. Papadakis

Age: 64

Occupation: Retired elementary school principal

Remarks: “I would have voted for the 798 (unit project) with adjustments. That’s the plan that would have given us a planned community.” Papadakis said that if elected, he would “open up that plan and start renegotiating.” He served on the Signal Hill City Council from 1972 to 1984, when he lost a reelection bid, and he was on the Planning Commission for 10 years before that. In 1984 he was the subject of a conflict-of-interest investigation by the city attorney’s office but was cleared of any wrongdoing for serving as the contractor on a condominium project built by his sister. His priorities include the Towne Center West project and improving the city’s water system.