During a fractious Monday meeting that lasted nearly three-and-a-half hours, the Seal Beach City Council delayed a decision on allowing live music at Seal Beach businesses, reimbursed the city manager for her legal fees and approved a new lease for the Red Car Museum.
Music hearing continued
Mayor Ellery Deaton continued a public hearing on the issue of allowing live amplified music in city businesses. The issue comes back to the council in two weeks for public comment as the city attorney reviews legal options.
Currently, the city code doesn’t allow live amplified music entertainment. A proposed ordinance would allow the director of Community Development to issue entertainment permits.
Several residents spoke against changing the code to accommodate one business.
Planning Commissioner Patty Campbell and others objected to the development director issuing the entertainment permits because the process lacked transparency.
Deaton opposed using conditional use permits to allow entertainment because they are nearly impossible to revoke.
Councilman Michael Varipapa proposed issuing a permit just for Taco Surf.
However, the city attorney and the development director both said city law does not allow that.
Legal fees
The council agreed to reimburse City Manager Jill Ingram for more than $26,000 in legal fees she incurred while defending herself against an Orange County District Attorney’s Office investigation of her relationship with a city consultant who has multiple contracts that Ingram approved.
District Four Councilman Gary Miller asked that the second section of the resolution approving the reimbursement be removed because he objected to the phrase “false allegations.” Miller had item pulled from the Consent Calendar, specifically citing his objection.
A recent letter from the DA’s Office said there was no evidence of criminal conduct that could be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
Many residents also objected to the phrase “false allegations,” citing concerns that it was intended to discourage citizens from questioning public officials. One resident questioned the reasonableness of the fees. Miller said the previous city manager had made multiple accusations against him and he had hired an attorney. “Attorneys don’t come cheap,” Miller said.
Ingram left the room during the vote because she had a financial interest in the issue.
Historical committee
The Seal Beach City Council appointed the first five members of the newly formed Historic Preservation Committee.
The committee was created following the relocation of the little blue beach cottage to Heritage Square, the area on the Greenbelt adjacent to the Mary Wilson Library. The committee is charged with preserving the history of Seal Beach.
The members are:
District One—Kathy Cunningham
District Two—Les H. Cohen
District Three—Libby Applegate
District Four—Patty Campbell
District Five—Anthony Tupas
Red Car Museum lease
The City Council approved a new lease for the land on which the Red Car Museum now stands. The Seal Beach Historical Society has a $1-a-year lease for land under and near the Red Car on the Greenbelt. The Historical Society owns the Red Car. The new lease reduces the footprint of the leased land to the area under the Red Car and a small patch of grass next to the museum.
As of Monday night, the Historical Society had not signed the agreement. If the agreement is not signed by next week, the city attorney will send the society a 30-day notice to terminate the current lease. After that, the lease would run on a month-to-month basis.
Deaton said she opposed ordering the removal of the Red Car.
Representatives of the Historical Society could not be reached for comment.
