When I first ran for the Seal Beach City Council, it was with several goals in mind. Paramount among them was to ensure that the residents of the 5th District would receive city services comparable in value to what the residents of the other four districts received.
When I became mayor, I continued to pursue those goals and objectives. Plus, I had three new goals to achieve as mayor.
One—forge a Settlement Agreement with Bay Cities Partners to get the Bay City Partners’ property situation out of the courts, thereby saving the city of Seal Beach tens of thousands of dollars.
My second goal was to bring a grocery/variety store back to the Leisure World shopping center.
And my third major goal was to improve the safety of traffic entering and leaving Leisure World’s main entrance. The number of collisions in that intersection had become completely unacceptable. And because most of the victims of those accidents were seniors, survival rates were low.
It has taken a while, but my constituents are now getting their money’s worth for the taxes they pay. And thanks so much to our amazing city hall staff—and the cooperation of my fellow council members—I’ve reached my goals.
The Bay City Partners project, greatly reduced in size and thus far more acceptable to this community, will shortly be on its way to the California Coastal Commission.
The Dollar Tree, while short on groceries, is long on customers, provides convenient shopping for my Leisure World neighbors, and is a welcome addition to our city’s commercial strength.
And shortly after the first of the year, Leisure World’s main entrance will undergo a substantial improvement in traffic safety, with new street lighting, new traffic control signals, and realigned traffic lanes.
A fourth project, unexpected when I became mayor, was to fight CalTrans and prevent the San Diego Freeway from becoming a toll road. I can’t tell you how many hours our city staff, Councilman Miller and I fought the good battle. But, aided by the mayors of the other affected cities, we did it! At least for the near future, the state will not take away our car-pool lanes and charge us up to $15 to use our freeway.
Two other events have occurred during my tenure as mayor, one far more tragic than the other. Both have had and continue to have a profound affect on this city, and thus on you, our citizens.
Anger, frustration, a raging hatred, all led to an unimaginable loss of life in this city a little more than a year ago. Today, plans for a memorial are being finalized, and Seal Beach is coming to grips with its loss.
The other event was equally unexpected. And while far less tragic on a personal level, it nevertheless affects every one of us in Seal Beach. In a move that can only be characterized as throwing out the baby with the bath water, our governor single-handedly destroyed our Redevelopment Agency.
Folks in this city who relied upon the agency for rental assistance now have no idea whether they will have a place to live come next year. Infrastructural improvements for which the agency was designed are now equally in doubt.
There was one true glorious highlight over my two terms as mayor, and that was signing my name on the contract for Orange County’s finest city manager, Jill Ingram.
Jill, you and your incredibly professional staff have made the job of mayor, if not a delight, at least a lot less of a chore. Thank you.
And thank you to my council comrades. We didn’t always agree, but we always disagreed professionally.
And, to all of us, Happy Hanukkah, a very merry Christmas, and a far better New Year.
Michael Levitt is a resident of Seal Beach Leisure World who served two terms as mayor of Seal Beach.
