SEAL BEACH : Citizen Group Will Tackle Park Project

Like most cities, Seal Beach has suffered its share of hard times--from the 1983 storms that struck its landmark pier to this year’s severe budget problems.

But through it all, the city has been able to rely on the generosity of its residents, who time and again have opened their pocketbooks to help pay for repairs and improvements that would not have been possible without their help.

“We have a village atmosphere here. Citizens get involved because they want this city to be what it should be,” said Joyce Risner, a former city councilwoman and longtime civic activist. “We have a lot of different people and organizations around who are trying to make this place a better place to live.”

The City Council recently voted to form a citizen committee that will look into ways of raising a portion of the money needed to complete renovation of a park.

The price tag is $50,000, but the city can only afford to pay $30,000 for the project.

“This is the only method left to us,” said Councilman George Brown. “Our budget is very tight now. There’s no other logical way of making the repairs” than by asking the public for help.

Such requests have worked in the past.

The city’s most successful fund-raising effort came after the municipal pier was all but destroyed by a series of fierce winter storms in 1983. A group of residents collected about $200,000, offering to place the name of donors on a plaque that stands on the newly reconstructed pier.

When a portion of the pier was burned in a fire earlier this year, residents jumped into action again. So far, they’ve raised $10,000 and plan to keep on soliciting money in 1993. They hope to pay as much of the city’s $100,000 insurance deductible as possible.

“I think we have grateful residents living here,” Risner said. “They love Seal Beach, and they want it to succeed in all ways.”