HUNTINGTON BEACH : Gun Range Lease Proposal Rejected

A majority on the City Council and the politically powerful Huntington Beach Police Officers Assn. are at loggerheads over a proposed lease for a gun range.

The council voted 4 to 3 Monday to reject the association’s proposal for a 20-year lease for the existing gun range in Central Park. The range is used to train police in firing weapons, and private gun owners are also permitted to use the facility.

After weeks of negotiating with the police association, city officials drafted a proposed long-term lease for the range. The item was placed on the City Council’s “consent calendar,” among non-controversial items that are normally approved unanimously, without discussion.

But the gun range proposal was taken off the consent calendar and debated during Monday night’s council meeting. Council members opposed to the proposed lease argued that the police association was not being required to specify when it would improve and upgrade the range.

The council opponents also argued that the lease did not clarify how profits from the range would be used.

Supporters of the proposed lease contended that the city was getting a good deal in having the police association maintain and operate the range.

Councilman Jim Silva, who supported the proposal, noted that gun owners use the range for training and instruction. “Gun sales today are at an all-time high,” said Silva. “We need a facility here in Huntington Beach where people can be trained under professionals.”

Councilwoman Grace Winchell, who opposed the proposal, contended that the police association has given “no assurances that improvements (to the gun range) will ever occur.” Councilman Dave Sullivan, another opponent of the lease, said the lease is not clear about disposition of profits.

Silva, Mayor Linda Moulton-Patterson and Councilman Earle Robitaille voted in favor of the lease. Winchell, Sullivan and Councilmen Ralph Bauer and Victor Leipzig opposed the lease and voted to return the proposal for more negotiations.

The Huntington Beach Police Officers Assn. has a political arm that usually endorses candidates in city elections. The association’s political work has often been the deciding factor in close races.