Working his way up the coast

Asst. City Administrator Bill Workman may soon be leaving Huntington

Beach for northern shores.

On Nov. 30, the City Council of Redondo Beach is expected to

appoint Workman as its new city manager, a position similar to city

administrator, Redondo Beach’s Mayor Pro Tem Chris Cagle said.

Workman was selected by Redondo Beach after a four-month search to

replace retired former City Manager Lou Garcia. He will oversee 500

employees.

“I’ve made a lot of wonderful friends here and I’m sad that I

won’t be able to see them on a daily basis,� Workman said.

Workman has served in Huntington Beach since 2000. He was the

city’s numbers man, charged with spreading out diminishing budget

dollars to a city that didn’t want to lose services, but didn’t want

to pay extra taxes either. He spoke out against Gov. Arnold

Schwarzenegger’s repeal of the Vehicle License Fee, and cautiously

approved a deal with the state to hand over money in the short term

for financial stability in the long run.

Workman helped usher in a compromise deal with the city’s

employees to fight soaring health care costs and fought a plan to

reassess the AES power plant so it could pay lower property taxes. He

also helped put together the city’s strategy for paying back about

$27 million in property taxes after a court ruled the city had

overcharged residents.

“We had all sorts of situations that were roller coaster rides,�

he said.

Before Huntington Beach, Workman spent 10 years with the city of

Corona, first as its assistant city manager and later as its city

manager. He has also served the Yorba Linda Water District, Oceanside

and Glendora. He has a bachelor’s degree from Cal State Fullerton and

a master’s from USC. He is married and has two children.

Mayor Cathy Green appointed to OCTA

Huntington Beach has its first representation on the Orange County

Transportation Authority in nearly 20 years.

Mayor Cathy Green was appointed to the transportation authority’s

board of directors Nov. 18, following the passage of a new state law

expanding the board from 11 to 17 members.

The board makeup now includes all five of the county supervisors,

two members of the public and 10 city representatives, two from each

of the five supervisorial districts.

The change, introduced by Santa Ana’s Democratic Assemblyman Lou

Correa and signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sept. 10, was a

means of getting more densely populated cities on the transportation

authority, which oversees road, freeway and public transit projects

throughout the county.

“In the past large cities simply weren’t represented,� Green said.

“Now, this way, the entire county is better represented.�

Green will serve a two-year term with the OCTA, expiring near the

same time as her first term on the Huntington Beach City Council. She

said she hopes to help the transportation department rethink the way

it allocates funding and selects projects.

“Right now the more congestion you have, the more funding you get,

and that is not very helpful to Huntington Beach because we don’t

have a lot of congested areas,� she said. “We do however, have a

problem with aging infrastructure and I’d like to see if we can

prioritize projects according to those concerns.�

Flu shots available for seniors

Huntington Beach Senior Services and the Orange County Health Care

Agency will host a free flu shot clinic from 8 a.m. to noon Dec. 10

at the Michael E. Rodgers Senior’s Center at 1706 Orange Ave.

The clinic will have 1,000 doses available, which will be

administered on a first-come first-serve basis. Flu shots are

available to people 65 and older, or people with serious health

conditions such as diabetes.

“We’re going to try and take care of everyone we can,� said Jerry

Watson of the Senior Center. For more information, call the senior

center at (714) 536-9387.