Bixby Ranch Plan Dominates 1 of 2 City Council Campaigns

City Council elections in this small seaside community have been a relatively private affair until this year.

Seal Beach was the only city in the state to have an election on the last Tuesday in March until the Legislature voted in 1993 to move the state’s presidential primary elections from June to March.

So the four candidates competing for two seats on the five-member council are working feverishly to remind local voters that their names are also on the lengthy March 26 ballot.

In one of the two council races, Seal Beach voters will choose between two different philosophies of development.

Candidates Patricia E. Campbell and Phillip K. Fife are running for the seat now held by Frank Laszlo, an avid slow-growth advocate who is stepping down because of term limits.

Laszlo’s College Park East neighborhood has been in turmoil over the Bixby Ranch Co.’s proposed 223-home mixed-use development, which was rejected by the city Planning Commission. Bixby withdrew the project within days of scheduled public hearings.

Campbell, chair of the Planning Commission, voted against the project, which she thinks could prompt the eventual closure and development of the nearby Los Alamitos Armed Forces Reserve Center.

Fife, a former planning commissioner, said the city would gain valuable revenue from the project and would be worse off with the alternative, an all-commercial development that would not require any zoning changes.

The other council race has been relatively quiet, with incumbent George Brown facing challenger Jeff Christ, a Los Angeles police detective.

Brown, who represents College Park West and a section of Leisure World, cites his business and government experience. Christ says he would employ his police know-how to make the city safer.

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Council Contenders

Four people are running in the March 26 election to fill two openings on the Seal Beach City Council.

DISTRICT 2

College Park West, eastern section of Leisure World and a section of Rossmoor

George Brown

Age: 71

Family: Married, four children, two grandchildren, one great-grandchild

Education: Bachelor’s degree in business, UCLA

Occupation: Retired accountant; chairman of finance committee for Orange County Sanitation Districts

Background: Born in Long Beach, studied electrical engineering at Caltech, served in the Navy during World War II; worked as a corporate accountant for financial and aerospace firms; running for second council term

Quote: “There is a long-range plan that must be carried through in order to solve the financial problems facing the city. With my financial and business background, I have the experience.”

Jeff Christ

Age: 46

Family: Married, three children, one grandchild

Education: Attended various colleges, graduated from the Los Angeles Police Academy

Occupation: Narcotics detective for the Los Angeles Police Department

Background: Born in Pennsylvania, moved to California in 1967; served as an Army military policeman, 1969-71

Quote: “Sometimes criminal activity is just a symptom of a major problem. I’m a problem solver, and I want to get to the root of the problem and not just continually treat symptoms.”

DISTRICT 4

College Park East

Patricia E. Campbell

Age: 54

Family: Married, three grown children

Education: Bachelor’s degree in business accounting from Pace University, New York; master’s degree in business administration, Cal State Long Beach

Occupation: Chair of city Planning Commission

Background: Born in New York, came to California in 1969; formerly an accountant for IBM

Quote: Campbell voted against the Bixby Ranch Co.’s proposed 223-home mixed-use development in College Park East. “What this campaign should be about is who will best represent the issues of College Park East. The residents came here for the quality of life, and they don’t want to see this area changed.”

Phillip K. Fife

Age: 56

Family: Married, five grown children

Education: Master’s degree in electrical engineering, University of Michigan; law degree, Loyola Marymount

Occupation: Attorney

Background: Born in Michigan, moved to California in 1963 to work in the aerospace industry at TRW and Hughes Aircraft; city planning commissioner, 1988-93

Quote: Fife supports Bixby Ranch Co.’s proposed 223-home mixed-use development in College Park East. “It is a very attractive proposal for the community, certainly when compared to the realistic alternative that Bixby will simply develop its already commercially zoned properties.”

Source: The candidates