Revenue Base, Not Wetlands, Shaping Up as Key Issue

Citizen participation has never been a problem in this municipal hotbed of activists and grass-roots organizations.

A dozen candidates are seeking election to three City Council seats in November, including three incumbents seeking to remain on the seven-member council.

And yet the number seems small compared to the dizzying assortment of 22 candidates on the ballot two years ago when the fate of the Bolsa Chica wetlands was still up in the air. But most candidates say the election this time around is more about dollars than development.

In fact, some candidates are faulting incumbents for being preoccupied with the preservation of the Bolsa Chica wetlands while sales tax revenue sags, fueling a $4-million budget shortfall.

“We have had a council that focuses on a single issue--Bolsa Chica,” said Pam Julien, a 39-year-old furniture company vice president and candidate who counts a growing number of businesses critical of city government.

Candidate Susie Newman, 53, agrees that the Bolsa Chica debate has delayed economic development efforts in the city.

“The last three councils have exclusively focused on Bolsa Chica,” Newman said. “In the meantime, everything else has suffered.”

Most candidates say the city must aggressively recruit large retailers to the bedroom community to boost sales tax revenue needed for everything from police services to pothole repairs. It is a common campaign theme, punctuated with familiar anecdotes.

One of the most repeated is the story of the city’s rejection of a proposed Price Club in the mid-1980s over a shortage of parking available at the proposed site.

The huge retailer built the store in neighboring Fountain Valley instead.

“It’s mistakes like this that have cost the city millions and millions of dollars in revenues,” said candidate Lou Baker, 58, a used car and truck dealer in the city. “The Price Club brings about $3 million a year in sales tax revenues to the city of Fountain Valley.”

Candidate Roy H. Richardson, 68, a retired medical company vice president, calls the Price Club rejection a “classic example” of city government’s insensitivity to business development.

“They should have found some way to alleviate the parking problem, rather than throw the whole thing out,” Richardson said.

But incumbents counter that the city is now moving in the right direction, pointing to several economic development plans the council has launched in the last two years.

Councilman Tom Harman, a 55-year-old attorney, cites the coming of Sharp Electronics to the city and ongoing talks with Wal-Mart to develop the closed Crestview school site on Beach Boulevard and Talbert Avenue.

“It’s easy to walk into the City Council and say we haven’t been doing anything, but we’ve done a lot,” Harman said.

Candidate Thom Doney, 34, vice principal of Liberty Christian School, believes the city is doing a little too much in some areas, citing the $300-a-year fee for outdoor dining imposed on downtown-area restaurants earlier this year.

“They spent hours and hours debating this thing, which will raise about $4,000 or $5,000 a year,” Doney said. “What a waste of time.”

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Despite claims by some candidates that the city’s sales tax revenue is in a “free fall,” city officials are projecting an $800,000 increase in sales tax revenue for the 1995-96 fiscal year, rising to an estimated $17.4 million from $16.6 million recorded for the 1994-95 fiscal year.

During the 1993-94 fiscal year, the city earned $16.2 million in sales tax revenue, said Bob Franz, the city’s administrative services director.

But a number of candidates say modest revenue growth is not enough to pay for the $700-million cost projected for repair of the city’s crumbling streets, pipelines and public places. Some sewer lines in the city are 90 years old.

Candidate Clint Olivier, a 21-year-old hotel clerk and college student, believes part of the answer lies in “holding the line” against employee unions.

“The money needs to come from the city employees’ salaries,” Olivier said.

Mayor Dave Sullivan, a 59-year-old orthodontist seeking a second four-year term, promises that rapid revenue growth is coming.

“Within the next couple of years, we’ll have an increase of $4 million to $6 million in the sales tax” and hotel tax, Sullivan said. “And that will be a result of the plan we have put into place.”

Councilman Victor Leipzig is even more optimistic.

“We’re going to see a real turnaround in 1997,” he predicted. “The local economy is already turning around.”

But some challengers are angry that the city resorted to fee increases to help balance the recently adopted $199-million budget for the 1996-97 fiscal year.

“There are other ways to raise revenues,” said Kevin Koder, 34, owner of a Placentia electronics company. “We should be trying to bring in more tourism.”

While at times short on specifics, many of the candidates challenging the three incumbents have pledged to be more aggressive in recruiting new businesses.

“We should be conducting an advertising blitz to market this city,” said Chuck Downing, 39, owner of a Tustin business insurance agency. “Not enough has been done.”

Michael DuBrock, a 28-year-old controller for a hotel chain, is the only candidate who believes higher revenue is not the answer.

“A lot of people think we don’t have enough money. I think we have plenty,” DuBrock said. “We just need to go through the budget and reallocate from other areas. They [council members] will say they spent nine months deliberating over this budget, but I don’t think they were nine good months.”

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Council Candidates

A dozen candidates, including three incumbents, are seeking the three City Council seats at stake in Huntington Beach. A quick look at all 12:

Lou Baker

Age: 58

Occupation: Owns Trucks n’ Toys used vehicle dealership

Background: Twenty years of experience in business, including work as a general contractor and licensed auctioneer

Major issue: Develop a long-term financial plan to increase city revenue

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Thom Doney

Age: 34

Occupation: Vice principal of Liberty Christian School

Background: Nine years as a private school administrator; U.S. Coast Guard reservist

Major issue: Reestablish the city’s spending priorities and expand business

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Chuck Downing

Age: 39

Occupation: Owns J.A. Blake Insurance Services in Tustin

Background: Ten years of experience developing insurance business

Major issue: Aggressively market the city to attract new businesses

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Michael DuBrock

Age: 28

Occupation: Controller for Choice Hotels International, a hotel chain

Background: Four years of financial management experience

Major issue: Make better use of existing city funds

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Tom Harman

Age: 55

Occupation: Attorney

Background: Two-year City Council incumbent; co-founder and former president of Huntington Beach Tomorrow; past president of the Huntington Youth Shelter; past president of Huntington Beach Rotary Club

Major issue: Continue business development programs approved by the council last year

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Pam Julien

Age: 39

Occupation: Vice president of Catalina Furniture in La Mirada

Background: Ten years experience in furniture business

Major issue: Encourage business development by determining why existing businesses are dissatisfied with city government

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Kevin Koder

Age: 34

Occupation: Owner of PIC Inc. electrical manufacturing company in Placentia

Background: Owner of a business for eight years

Major issue: Reduce fees to residents and make the downtown area safer for families

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Victor Leipzig

Age: 48

Occupation: Teaches biology at Golden West College

Background: Four-year City Council incumbent; former president of Amigos de Bolsa Chica; former Planning Commission member for six years

Major issue: Follow through on the council’s business development programs and continue to monitor the planned Bolsa Chica development

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Susie Newman

Age: 53

Occupation: Criminologist and former restaurant owner

Background: Former Planning Commission member for six years; former business owner

Major issue: Delve more deeply into the financial condition of the city and put all city expenditures on the table when budgets are cut

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Clint Olivier

Age: 21

Occupation: Front desk clerk at Hyatt Regency in Anaheim; Orange Coast College student

Background: U.S. Marine Corps reservist

Major issue: Fund repair of city’s basic services in part by limiting employee wage and benefit increases

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Roy H. Richardson

Age: 68

Occupation: Retired, former vice president for CUI International medical device company

Background: Former Planning Commission member; chairman pro tem of PRIDE Foundation, fund-raising organization for DARE program; member of Amigos de Bolsa Chica; board member of Project Self-Sufficiency; member of city’s Citizens Advisory Board

Major issue: Improve the content and accuracy of information presented to city decision-makers

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Dave Sullivan

Age: 59

Occupation: Orthodontist

Background: Current mayor and four-year City Council incumbent; former president of Huntington Beach Tomorrow; legislative representative for the Orange County Dental Society; member of the Central Park master plan task force

Major issue: Expand new business development programs and build a convention center

Source: Individual candidates; Researched by RUSS LOAR / For The Times