Hermosa Council Candidates Offer Views on Improving the City

John Bowler, 47, is a tavern owner who serves as vice president of economic development for the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce.

A founding member of the Hermosa Beach Restaurant and Tavern Owners Assn., Bowler says he will bring “business-based leadership” to the city to help attract upscale, sales-tax-producing restaurants and retail stores to town.

He would seek to revamp licensing and conditional-use procedures and would develop a joint partnership with the Chamber of Commerce to market the city to new businesses. He also promises to help make the City Council more responsive to the concerns of residents and business owners.

“We have to learn how to roll out the red carpet in this community instead of the red tape,” Bowler says.

He is is endorsed by the Hermosa Beach Police Officers’ Assn. and the Hermosa Beach Firefighters Assn.

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Christian Burke, 27, is an entrepreneur who soon will open a combination vegetarian restaurant, coffeehouse and art gallery in downtown Hermosa.

A lifelong resident of Hermosa Beach, Burke decided to run for office after hearing other prospective entrepreneurs talk about the problems they face trying to start a business in the city.

Burke, whose campaign slogan is “Debate, Decide, Do it,” says he would form business district committees to attract new business and to help existing businesses find ways to help themselves.

“I would get these groups together to discuss what can be done to improve them--whether it’s new paint or new signs,” Burke says. “We could hold a forum, take pictures and then put slides up to show what’s wrong with these businesses and put the pressure on (the owners) . . . to improve them.”

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The youngest candidate is 26-year-old Roger Carlson, an aerospace engineer who served as student body president at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont in 1989. Carlson, whose campaign posters proclaim “Time For a New Face,” says he is trying to “capitalize on being young” because, if he doesn’t, “it will look like I’m trying to hide it.”

Carlson is critical of the town’s image: “We’re the poorest, most ridiculous looking city in the South Bay. We’re grungy looking.”

To improve the downtown area, he would make it easier for local businesses to receive renovation permits, he says. To raise money to build a parking lot behind Hermosa Avenue, he would either sell off city-owned property or call for a bond issue.

Being an outsider to city politics, he says, will make it easier for him to build consensus among warring political factions.

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An architect who chairs the city’s Planning Commission, Joseph DiMonda, 42, says he will bring “sorely needed” expertise to city land-use issues.

DiMonda, who also serves on the board of directors of the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce, says he would give immediate priority to improving the downtown area and to renovating the city’s pier. In his campaign flyers, he promises to work to create a “pedestrian-friendly downtown commercial area.” To help get vacant storefronts rented, he would try to ease downtown businesses’ parking requirements.

He would also try to streamline business licensing procedures and provide “closer scrutiny of bids and bidding procedures.”

“Hermosa Beach is like a house that needs a painting,” DiMonda says. “The council now . . . doesn’t know how to do it. But anyone with a little common sense, a little nerve, can do it.”

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Gene Dreher, 43, is president and founder of a software consulting company who waged an unsuccessful bid for the City Council in 1991. With a campaign logo consisting of the words “Control Freaks” in a circle with a line through it, Dreher says his most important qualification for office is that he is a good listener.

He promises to seek consensus in determining how to maintain city services with shrinking budgets. He says he would set performance standards for city staffers, but would avoid micro-managing them.

A registered Libertarian, Dreher says Americans--and Hermosa Beach residents, in particular--”suffer from too much regulation.”

“I’m not going to tell people how to fix things,” he says. But he promises he will “require that things get fixed.”

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Jeanette Jones, 38, a homeowner, a mother of two preschool-age children and a retail business adviser, pledges to quit her job for a year if she is elected to the City Council. That way, she says, she could make a full-time commitment to city affairs.

Jones, who recently resurrected the city’s Neighborhood Watch program, promises to make public safety and economic growth her top priorities. She would establish a blue-ribbon citizens’ committee to attract new businesses to the city and would open a visitors’ bureau to improve the city’s image.

She would also try to ensure that the city is receiving all of the state and county funding it deserves.

“I don’t think we’re doing everything we can to get our fair share of the pie,” says Jones, a licensed gemologist. “Right now, we’re not taking full advantage of the county services that we’re entitled to.”

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Though he has garnered more contributions so far than any other candidate, attorney Thomas Loversky, 32, is a newcomer to city politics who says he ran for office to counter the “bickering and animosity” on the City Council.

As a councilman, Loversky says he would foster economic growth, increased public safety and responsible leadership. He says he would improve the city’s business climate by cutting red tape and beautifying the city. He also says he would consider cutting city spending on recreational activities to free up money for police.

Loversky, who says he hired a political consultant “because I didn’t know the first thing about campaigning,” says current council members put their own interests above that of the community.

“There is a leadership vacuum right now in the city,” says Loversky, who is endorsed by the Hermosa Beach Firefighters Assn.

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Peter Mangurian, a 66-year-old retired physician and restaurant owner, wants to “clean up the town” and “stop the corrupt contracts.” Mangurian, who lost a bid for office two years ago, says city officials are wasting taxpayer money by awarding contracts to undeserving bidders.

“I want all contracts issued at auction (to the lowest bidder) . . . to remove that loss of revenue from the city,” says Mangurian.

At a recent candidates’ forum, Mangurian complained that downtown Hermosa Beach has turned into “a slum.” He says that police are “not permitted to enforce the laws in downtown Hermosa Beach” and that some officers are “protecting the drug-pushing business” there.

When he was later asked to be more specific, he declined to clarify his remarks, saying, “You’re not stupid. You know exactly what’s going on.”

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Architect Julie Oakes, 38, is the second member of the Planning Commission to seek election to the City Council. Oakes says she decided to run because “it’s an interesting time in the community, and I think it’s ripe for some new blood.”

She accuses Councilmen Sam Edgerton and Robert (Bergie) Benz of “lacking in professionalism” and says it is up to the voters to “come up with some strong visionary leaders who have the ability to lead.” To encourage the city’s economic growth, she says, she would run the city the way she runs her own business.

“I would look at what the staff is doing and (consider) strategies to bring in new revenue,” says Oakes, who is endorsed by the city’s Police Officers’ Assn. “I would also work with the real estate industry to define the types of business we would want to come in to the downtown area.”

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“Between fishing and golf,” begins Phil Pennington’s biography, “there’s plenty of time for public service.” Pennington, 57, recently retired as director of the real estate management program for Los Angeles County.

Pennington, who is endorsed by the city’s police officers’ and firefighters’ associations, as well as his onetime boss, former county Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, says his experience with the county would allow him to serve as a bridge between the city and other governmental agencies.

To counter complaints about the city’s stringent parking rules, Pennington proposes that officers issue warnings instead of parking tickets once a month on an unannounced basis. He also plans to ask the council to add a brief word of prayer at the beginning of its meetings.

“I’m not an overly religious person,” he says. “But I think it would start our meetings off in an upward direction.”

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J.R. Reviczky, 44, is an electrical supervisor and former Parks and Recreation Commissioner who quips that his initials stand for Just Right for Hermosa Beach City Council.

He says he is known for making fair and level-headed decisions, and he promises to “bring some problem-solving ability to the council.”

Reviczky says he would pay close attention to how the city spends its money and would try to generate more funds by increasing the city’s tax base. “We need to fill those vacant storefronts so we can offset the reduction in property tax revenue with some sales tax revenue,” he says.

He also promises to be a good listener and to treat all the city’s residents with respect.

“I don’t feel this council listens to the community,” Reviczky says. “I don’t think that’s the way the democratic process works.”

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Albert Wiemans, 52, elected to the City Council four years ago, is serving a one-year rotation as mayor. Frequently at odds with Councilmen Robert (Bergie) Benz and Sam Edgerton, he had considered retiring from the council, but reconsidered when Councilwoman Kathleen Midstokke announced she would not run again.

“You need a couple middle-of-the-roaders,” he says. “We cannot just all deal in extreme positions.”

To Wiemans, being moderate means not allowing the city to spend beyond its means. That is why, he says, he has refused to agree to give the city’s police and fire employees a raise this year. The associations representing firefighters and police officers are campaigning against him.

Wiemans disagrees that wooing new businesses to town will improve city finances. Instead, he wants to strengthen the city’s residential base by encouraging residents to build single-family homes in the city.