Thank you for the annual opportunity of outlining the coming year through my eyes. This year, being my last on the Council, is the year I am working to finish the projects most near and dear to the hearts of my constituents.
First, it was a great pleasure to facilitate the change in ownership of the Bay Theater. The renovation has begun and this coming Thursday, Jan. 18, at 3 p.m., the new owner, Paul Dunlap, and I will be holding a coffee chat at Crema Café on the patio. All are welcome to join us and get the latest on the renovation and progress of restoring our beautiful gem to its former glory. This is a priority for my final year: the grand re-opening of the Bay Theater!
The City Park at River’s End is another item I’ve worked on since being elected. This is the year to open the park to our residents and let everyone enjoy the serene open space overlooking the ocean, river and skyline. There will be a new children’s playground, walking trails, a bike trail and picnic area. Bay City Partners has donated the land and the fully turnkey park to the residents of Seal Beach. There will be no City money used to purchase or improve this new parkland. I am hopeful that all the permitting will be complete and the park constructed by year’s end.
Also, though due to the many governmental agencies involved, the pier reconstruction won’t be finished by the end of my term, making sure that it stays on course and comes in on time and on budget will be another project needing oversight.
Some more good news is that we have hired a new city arborist/maintenance supervisor. With his help, Main Street will continue to be a priority. Main Street is the soul of our town and what sets us apart from all other beach communities. Ours is a charming downtown filled with small businesses rather than chain developments and it is an important priority of all of us to be sure it stays small, quaint and inviting. Our arborist/maintenance supervisor has taken on that task personally.
As far as challenges go, there are some large budget issues looming this year. However, it seems the economy is rallying and hopefully we will see robust recovery at the city level as well. But, with the ever increasing PERS (retirement) costs and the rising costs of maintaining Fire Service along with the need for more police officers to keep us safe, the City will need to continue to cut expenses where possible and fund basic priorities first, but then we must find new revenues to cover escalating costs over which we have no control?like many unfunded mandates from the state (such as needing to now pay prevailing wages on public works projects), ever increasing retirement and public safety costs, etc. It is a priority for me to see that we determine if there is oil revenue owed us. If there is, it may be the silver bullet we need. If not, we need to know now before the City gets into crisis mode like so many of the cities around us. There is hope ahead both from possible oil revenue recovery and the fact that the economy seems to be moving in the right direction.
Another challenge facing us is the widening of the 405 Freeway and its impact on our residents and our budget. We are currently negotiating with OCTA to help offset and mitigate the impacts of both the construction itself as well as the long term effects of six lanes going down to four lanes right in the middle of our city. OCTA says their modeling shows that people will take alternate routes, like the 605 to mitigate the impasse on their own, but I, along with our city engineers and others, believe they will use our residential and arterial streets to bypass the congestion. We need help to offset that inevitable stress on our infrastructure.
A bigger picture challenge that will be faced by all of us in the future is the continuing development of the big cities on either side of us?Long Beach and Huntington Beach. It will take all of us, electeds, residents, business owners and City staff to hold those cities accountable. Recently an elected official from Long Beach told me the solution was for Seal Beach to develop hotels here. Sometimes it is just impossible to communicate what small town living means to us. So, we will need to stand in solidarity to preserve our own quality of life.
To conclude on a positive note, I’d like to thank you for the years you have allowed me to serve. These years have enlarged my perspective, given greater life purpose and a lot of satisfaction. I hope that in turn you feel that you have been represented responsively, fairly, and diligently.
My number one priority for this year is to leave our city better off when I leave than when I was first elected. To mention just a few items that contribute to our town being better off now than before are: getting all our employees to pay their share of their retirement costs (when I was elected, our City, like much of Orange County, paid the employer AND the employee costs.) Seal Beach was a pioneer in Orange County, being one of the first to get pension reform); installing new street lights and upgrading Main Street; saving the historic cottage for posterity; maintaining our representation on the Fire Authority; negotiating for a beautiful new park at no cost to our City; and bringing back the Bay Theater. This has been accomplished as a team effort with all of us working together to better our town. Here’s to a great 2018!
Ellery Deaton is the councilwoman for Old Town and Surfside.
