The Monday, March 28, 2022, Seal Beach City Council meeting was the first in-person meeting in more than two years. A review of council video archives shows the previous in-person public meeting was held March 9, 2020. Masking was optional for both the public and city officials.
The majority of participants in an online Sun poll voted that the return to in-person meetings was “way overdue.”
“We’re happy to be back in person,” said District One Councilman/Mayor Joe Kalmick.
The meeting lasted a little more than an hour. The Consent Calendar was approved without discussion.
There was no report from the city manager. The city attorney had nothing to report.
There were no discussion items; no public hearings.
Staff gave three presentations: one about a division program for low-level misdemeanor offenders, one honoring Virginia Haley’s 105th birthday and her 100 years spent living in Seal Beach; and another marking National Public Safety Telecommunications Week.(Alas, we don’t have room for everything this week.)
The council thanked staff for their work during the pandemic. The police chief thanked the council for their work and support during a difficult period.
“I think that as a whole all the departments did a great job,” Varipapa said.
He said the city wasn’t always working at 100% capacity.
He said if you have complaints, “We’re the people to tell,” gesturing at his fellow council members and himself.
District Four Councilwoman Schelly Sustarsic also thanked the City Clerk’s Department. She then thanked all the city departments.
Kalmick also thanked staff. “The fact the city operated for two years with folks not being well themselves, with City Hall having to be closed, with people working from home, with people working here in person, and still managing to get the work out,” he said.
“This was a pretty tough time and I don’t think that our residents realize what is going on in just trying to keep things going here,” Kalmick said.
Prior to giving the first presentation of the night, Police Chief Phil Gonshak said it felt odd not to address the fact that it had been almost two years since they sat in the Council Chambers, trying to develop a COVID response action plan.
He credited City Manager Jill Ingram with leading the plan, describing her as “wonderful and tremendous.”
Three months later, he said, police officers were being asked to work 12 hours on, 12 hours off, every day, for several months in a row, as calls for police reform, peaceful demonstrations and even riots echoed not just in Seal Beach but throughout the nation.
“With that, with all that is in me personally and professionally, and on behalf of the Seal Beach Police Department, we cannot thank each of you enough, for your unwavering support of us, our families, and all of our Police Department staff during those trying times,” Gonshak said.
According to the city website, which continues to provide regular updates on COVID numbers, as of noon, Monday, March 28, there had been 2,900 overall cases in Seal Beach and 69 deaths in Seal Beach.
There were some negative remarks during the meeting. “Welcome back from a two-year vacation,” said Bill Ayres during the public comment segment of the meeting.
Ayres was the first resident to speak to the council directly in about two years.
Half the seats in the Council Chambers were reserved, apparently for staff, dignitaries and guests.
Ayres said he thought the residents who pay taxes were the dignitaries.
Ayres complained about the condition of the sign outside the old City Hall building on Eighth and Central. He described it as a disgrace. He also raised concerns about trucks on local streets and the condition of local sidewalks. He also complained about dangerous sidewalks in Seal Beach.
Joyce Parque told the council: “Welcome back.”
Parque, a long-time council critic, addressed multiple issues. Among them, Pareque wanted to know what the city was going to do about the empty space on Main Street that has been proposed as a potential real estate office.
Parque said no notice about the public hearing on the permit published in the Sun. (As a matter of fact, last Thursday, the Sun told the city officials about the omission of notice. See the related story on page 1.)
In all, four people spoke during the public comment segment.
During council comments, Councilman Mike Varipapa thanked City Clerk Gloria Harper and staff for their work during the pandemic. He said they did a tremendous job, scheduling live meetings. “Coordination of the Zoom meetings has been a lot of hard work,” Varipapa said.
“Everybody’s home, and we’re all in this pandemic mode—it was tough,” he said.
