Election 2018: Meet the candidates for Huntington Beach City Council

By Priscella Vega

Oct. 4, 2018 8 AM PT

Voters will select four candidates from a pool of 15 on Nov. 6 to serve on Huntington Beach’s seven-member City Council.

Mayor Mike Posey, Mayor Pro Tem Erik Peterson and council members Barbara Delgleize and Billy O’Connell are running for reelection.

The Daily Pilot sent a questionnaire to all council candidates on the ballot to get a better idea of who they are, why they’re running and what issues they feel are most pressing. Some responses have been edited for formatting, brevity or clarity.

O’Connell, Peterson and candidate Ron Sterud did not respond.

Brian Burley

Age: 25

Professional occupation: Information technology analyst

Education: Bachelor’s degree in political economy, USC

Time lived in the city: “I first came to Huntington Beach in 2007. I have lived in other areas as well though over the years.”

Neighborhood in which you live, and how long you’ve lived there: Sunset Beach, three years

Public service, activism and volunteerism: USC funding delegate, Recover HB, Huntington Beach Senior Center, Project Self-Sufficiency

Immediate family members: Father Brian Burley, sister Elizabeth Byers, mother Tracie Spencer-Burley (deceased)

What are the three issues you believe are the most important facing the city and why?

1. High-density development: I will put an end to future high-density development. I have signed a pledge against HDD and I have taken on the biggest special interest in the city, which is the Chamber of Commerce PAC, aka the chamber of developers.

2. Homelessness: In my platform, HB2050 (brianburley.com/hb2050), I outline how we only have two officers dedicated to the homeless issue that are tasked with responding to complaints as well as getting homeless individuals into contact with nonprofits that can provide help. My platform shows what is needed for our city to afford more homeless-specialized officers.

3. Infrastructure: I am calling for an infrastructure spending increase. My platform shows how we can do this specially, and I will never raise any taxes but instead reallocate existing city resources.

Kim Carr

Age: 48

Professional occupation: Former media sales manager

Education: Bachelor of Arts, Cal State Fullerton (major in American studies)

Time lived in the city: 20 years

Neighborhood in which you live, and how long you’ve lived there: Seacliff, 20 years

Public service, activism and volunteerism: Huntington Beach Public Works Commission (2012 to present), Huntington Beach General Plan Advisory Committee; PTA, Girl Scouts of Orange County, Huntington Beach Junior Lifeguards, Huntington Beach Community Garden, Huntington Beach High School Model United Nations, various youth sports organizations, including AYSO and Ocean View Little League

Immediate family members: Husband Steve, son Ian, daughter Rachel

What are the three issues you believe are the most important facing the city and why?

1. Homeless: Our homeless population has exploded in the past few years and we need to do more and take immediate action to address this issue. We must utilize the services and funding of the county, state and federal governments as well as creating more partnerships with nonprofits to adequately help the homeless and restore safety in the community.

2. Public safety: Crime is up year to year in our city and we need to make sure our first responders are getting the tools and funding needed to do their job to the best of their ability. Our first responders are being tasked with doing more each day and for longer periods of time. We need to make sure our police and fire departments are managed properly, efficiently and with transparency.

3. Infrastructure: Most of our city’s infrastructure was built over 50 years ago and we can’t defer maintenance and repairs any longer on some of our most critical systems. The city must prioritize infrastructure because having safe and reliable water, sewer and transportation systems are imperative to Huntington Beach residents’ quality of life.

Barbara Delgleize (incumbent)

Professional occupation: Real estate broker and property management business

Education: “College; no actual degree but loads of self-education.”

Time lived in the city: Did not answer

Neighborhood in which you live, and how long you’ve lived there: Summerlane, since 2000

Public service, activism and volunteerism: Huntington Beach City Council, 2014 to present (mayor, 2017); Orange County Transportation Authority; Santa Ana River Flood Protection Agency; Orange County Sanitation District; Stop the Jet Noise; Assn. of California Cities, Orange County; Huntington Beach Planning Commission; Orange County Assn. of Realtors; Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce; Huntington Beach Centennial Commission; Huntington Beach Infrastructure Committee; City Council liaison to Homeless Solutions Task Force

Immediate family members: None locally

What are the three issues you believe are the most important facing the city and why?

1. Homelessness

2. Fewer state regulations such as Prop. 47 and 57 and AB 109

3. Revenue sources to maintain our park system, especially Central Park, possibly creating a foundation or conservancy

Darren Ellis

Age: 51

Professional occupation: Business owner

Education: Associate of Arts degree

Time lived in the city: 40 years

Neighborhood in which you live, and how long you’ve lived there: Area of Yorktown Avenue and Newland Street, 15 years

Public service, activism and volunteerism: Sunset Beach Art Festival, Sunset Beach Community Assn. Chili Cook-off, beach cleanups, American Legion Post 555

Immediate family members: Father James, brother Christopher, daughter Kayla

What are the three issues you believe are the most important facing the city and why?

1. Traffic congestion due to overdevelopment and high-density housing needs to be addressed. This has a major negative impact on the quality of life for our Huntington Beach residents. I would like to see a smart, radar-based traffic signal system that can adapt immediately to changes in traffic conditions.

2. Homelessness is becoming an increasingly urgent issue that we need to address. There needs to be coordination between the federal, state, county, city, local businesses and charities to help this population transition into safe permanent housing. The Homeless Task Force officers need to be increased so that one can be designated to Sunset Beach.

3. I believe that as a beach community we are obligated to be the conservators of our ocean and wetlands. I am proposing a complete ban on Styrofoam single-use products. I also would like to work with local manufacturers of vegetable-based single-use products so local businesses can have alternative resources other than the oil-based, high-polluting products that are so invasive to our environment.

Kevin “KC” Fockler

Age: 61

Professional occupation: Retired from various business management positions; high school and junior high history teacher

Education: Bachelor of Arts in history, Cal State Long Beach (concentration in ancient Rome and U.S. history)

Time lived in the city: 35 years

Neighborhood in which you live, and how long you’ve lived there: Southeast Huntington Beach, 28 years

Public service, activism and volunteerism: “One Team One Fight” event for fallen Navy SEAL Matt Mills; various school events; Surfrider Foundation, Open Hearts for Purple Hearts, STEAM Foundation (aka Foundation of Innovation and Learning)

Immediate family members: Wife Beth, daughter Michelle, son Matt

What are the three issues you believe are the most important facing the city and why?

1. Economic stability: We need to stabilize our budget so we can fund future liabilities without impacting the lifestyles of the people who live in our beach community. Through a program of increasing revenue and trimming the budget, we can make sure we have funding for our safety personnel, which will make our town safe for visitors and our citizens for years to come.

2. Ocean stewardship: The ocean is our economic engine, so we need to take care of it for future generations to enjoy, and this is possible through ocean awareness and stewardship programs. Huntington Beach has turned into a tourist destination, so we need to use the ocean as our base for deriving future revenue, but managed in a way that does not stress the beaches or the citizens in our town.

3. Youth: By servicing the youth and by providing job internship programs and a coordinated city citizenship program at the school level, our youth will be engaged in their town, which will make them productive citizens in the future. By attracting tech companies back to H.B., our citizens can find high-paying jobs and we will be providing a revenue stream that will help stabilize our budget, which in turn will help fund the needs of H.B. for the future.

Amory Hanson

Age: 21

Professional occupation: “I am an involved citizen.”

Education: Diploma, Halstrom Academy

Time lived in the city: 20 years

Neighborhood in which you live, and how long you’ve lived there: Beach View Villas, less than a year

Public service, activism and volunteerism: Candidate for Huntington Beach City Council in 2016

Immediate family members: Father Stefan, mother Amy

What are three issues you believe are the most important facing the city and why?

Improving our infrastructure, increasing public safety and bringing an end to the threat of homelessness.

Dan Kalmick

Age: 36

Professional occupation: Information technology management consultant

Education: Bachelor of Science in electrical and computer engineering, UC Berkeley

Time lived in the city: 13 years

Neighborhood in which you live, and how long you’ve lived there: Northeast Huntington Beach, 13 years

Public service, activism and volunteerism: Huntington Beach Planning Commission for past five years; Huntington Beach Mobile Advisory Board; OCTA Citizens Advisory Committee; Huntington Beach General Plan Advisory Committee; Bolsa Chica Land Trust; Huntington Beach Fire Department senior home inspection program; Huntington Beach Senior Center Senior Tech Club; reserve firefighter/EMT with Orange County Fire Authority; Algalita Marine Research and Education

Immediate family members: Wife Alison Kalmick, father Joe Kalmick, mother Adrienne Kalmick, half brother Chris Barth

What are the three issues you believe are the most important facing the city and why?

1. High-density development: HDD has caused major quality-of-life issues for residents. It has changed the character of our town.

2. Changes in federal law: Changes in the Affordable Care Act and with the Federal Aviation Administration have created unregulatable sober-living homes (contributing to our homelessness) and low-flying jets creating major noise issues for residents under their flight paths.

3. Pension liability: Over the next 10 years, the city will be required to pay nearly $60 million more to fund our CalPERS pensions. Without proper fiscal prudence, this will have significant impacts on our ability to deliver services to residents.

Don “DK” Kennedy

Age: 57

Professional occupation: Business development consultant

Education: Did not answer

Time lived in the city: Arrived in 1962

Neighborhood in which you live, and how long you’ve lived there: Did not answer

Public service, activism and volunteerism: Coaching youth sports; supporting charities such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, Make-A-Wish Foundation and Project Cat

Immediate family members: Did not answer

What are the three issues you believe are the most important facing the city and why?

1. Public safety: With a 28% rise in violent crime, we need to support our law enforcement and strive to meet appropriate staffing needs.

2. Infrastructure: We need to do a better job allocating funds and prioritizing projects.

3. Onslaught of sober-living houses and increasing homeless population: Although they are separate issues, there is some overlap with these two topics. Active engagement and new perspectives are needed to deter both.

Shayna Lathus

Age: 43

Professional occupation: Teacher

Education: Master’s degree in education, Bachelor of Arts in family and consumer sciences with an emphasis on child development and family studies

Time lived in the city: More than 20 years

Neighborhood in which you live, and how long you’ve lived there: North Huntington Beach for most of that time

Public service, activism and volunteerism: Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training program, St. Baldrick’s Foundation

Immediate family members: Husband Steve, teenage son

What are the three issues you believe are the most important facing the city and why?

1. Homelessness and housing availability/affordability: Like many in Orange County, Huntington Beach is feeling the housing crunch while balancing how to keep the culture that makes it great. On the council I will work to make sure we have an increased housing stock while keeping our past culture.

2. Budget shortfall: Huntington Beach faces many important decisions, and we must find ways to boost revenue to maintain vital services to residents such as police, fire, infrastructure maintenance, etc.

3. Sustainability: We must protect and keep our beaches, open space, wildlife and resources vibrant and sustained for future generations and to keep our quality of life.

Billy O’Connell (incumbent)

Did not respond.

Erik Peterson (incumbent)

Did not respond.

Mike Posey (incumbent)

Age: 59

Professional occupation: Area manager for Italian machinery manufacturer

Education: Studied administration of justice but pursued a business career

Time lived in the city: 20 years

Neighborhood in which you live, and how long you’ve lived there: Did not answer

Public service, activism and volunteerism: Huntington Beach City Council, 2014 to present (mayor, 2018), Huntington Beach Planning Commission

Immediate family members: Wife Jeannie, two children

What are three issues you believe are the most important facing the city and why?

1) Pensions: I voted on the establishment of the Trust 115 account, which sets aside pension prepayments in an interest-bearing account. I also co-authored the COIN (Civic Openness in Negotiation) transparency ordinance. I wrote an editorial calling attention to the Environmental Social Governance investment strategy employed by CalPERS. ESG is the divestment of coal, oil, gas, etc., to use public pensions to drive social policy. CalPERS has recognized that this is not a winning strategy.

2) Homelessness: I support expansion of Huntington Beach’s Homeless Task Force, as we are delivering results that are the envy of other cities. H.B. is working on an emergency shelter partnering with the county, Westminster and American Family Housing.

3) High-density housing: This battle is now being fought in Sacramento. The Legislature has declared that there is a housing crisis and to solve it passed 12 bills in 2017 and is expected to pass an additional 17 by year end. The most onerous of the bills from last year is Senate Bill 35, which removes Planning Commission, City Council and public review of development projects in cities than do not meet the Regional Housing Needs Allocation, which is our assignment for affordable housing units. Another is Senate Bill 828, which is expected to pass by year end. That bill will recalculate RHNA to 125% of the municipality’s assigned number. I sent a letter of opposition to SB 828 to the Senate.

Charles “CJ” Ray

Age: 36

Professional occupation: Attorney

Education: Juris doctorate

Time lived in the city: 36 years, except for two years total while attending Cal Poly Pomona

Neighborhood in which you live, and how long you’ve lived there: Peterson tract, largely since age 12

Public service, activism and volunteerism: None

Immediate family members: Parents Pam and Chuck

What are the three issues you believe are the most important facing the city and why?

1. Homelessness (contributed to by sober-living facilities): A growing issue that will continue to grow with recent court decisions and acts taken by neighboring cities.

2. Pension/unfunded liabilities: Currently the city is well behind on benchmarks to meet the required contributions. Proposals for additional funds to contribute need to be made that will not negatively affect residents’ pockets, especially with the high level of tourism.

3. High density: The current city plan calls for and permits development in areas that cannot support it (more importantly, residents are unhappy). The whole plan and what makes sense for the residents (and their wants) must be revisited and at a minimum revised.

Michael Simons

Age: 74

Professional occupation: Semi-retired podiatrist

Education: Bachelor of Science in zoology, Master of Science in medical education, Doctor of Medical Education

Time lived in the city: 44 years

Neighborhood in which you live, and how long you’ve lived there: Seacliff, 25 years

Public service, activism and volunteerism: Huntington Beach Union High School District board for 27 years; California Department of Consumer Affairs Board of Podiatric Medicine; Huntington Beach Community Services Commission; Huntington Beach Infrastructure Advisory Committee; Memorial Health Systems Institutional Review Board; Robinwood Little League; Huntington Beach Union High School District Educational Enrichment Foundation; Michigan State University Orange County Alumni Assn.; Congregation B’nai Tzedek

Immediate family members: Wife Judy, sons Brad and Benjamin, stepson Jeff, stepdaughter Jennifer, seven grandchildren

What are three issues you believe are the most important facing the city and why?

1. Today the issues that have risen to the top of importance to the citizens of Huntington Beach reflect the many situations that impact and infringe on quality of life on a daily basis. These include high-density development and the traffic issues it causes, the negative impact that sober-living homes and short-term rentals have on neighborhoods, the continuing rise of homelessness and noise pollution from commercial aircraft.

2. There is concern that the adverse effect of rising public employee pensions on Huntington Beach’s finances prevents the city’s ability to maintain and improve public safety and emergency response times. Huntington Beach needs to be able to retain and hire more police officers, firefighters and paramedics.

3. Retaining local control is very important to this community. Sacramento should not tell us how many homes Huntington Beach needs, and Washington, D.C., should not force us to accept oil drilling off our coastline.