Voter's Pipeline; City Spotlight: Huntington Beach
- Transcript
Channel 50 now presents voters pipeline a program designed to keep voters in touch with the people they vote into office. The program alternates each week in dialogues with Orange County elected officials in Washington Sacramento county government and one of the counties 26 cities. And deals with officials who represent Orange County people in city government. It presents candid conversations on current issues. And now here's a post Jim. Throughout the 1960s Huntington Beach was the fastest growing city in the nation. It moved from 11000 to one hundred and fifty two thousand today. Now the county's third largest city Huntington Beach wants to slow things down a little bit and think things over. Today we listen to what they're really thinking about. Allan Cohen is the mayor of Huntington Beach a local attorney. He was first elected to the city council in April 1066 and to his first term as mayor in 1968 is Mr. Cohen's
third term as mayor. Though the terms have not been consecutive the controversial real estate transfer tax was passed during the coming administration that summer and we're going to talk about that a little bit to. Dr. Henry Kaufman has been a fixture in Huntington Beach politics since 1944. He was then appointed to the Planning Commission. He served two terms on the city council from one thousand sixty six to nine hundred seventy when he chose not to run again. Dr. Cochran is a retired optometrist Diane Reed is managing editor of the Huntington Beach independent. She started as a reporter 964 took some time off to do some public relations for the Huntington Beach and returned to The Independent in January 1974 twice secretary of the Orange County Press Club Diane has won more than 200 awards for journalism. Busy girl. Let's take a little trip Donington Beach we have some some interesting pictures and let's chat about them and what we're looking at and what the Huntington Beach today has really become. I know this is the pier and what a beautiful coastline you have who want to talk about this beautiful
coastline and honey being on the pier bisects term about eight and a half miles of beach a mile of which is under city ownership and one of the next slides you'll see will pick some of the improvements which we made on the balance of the beaches operated and controlled by the state of California understand four and a half million people use it every year. That's right. There's a bike trail that's defacing to our people using it very definitely has this integrated with the system throughout the city. Eventually I remember the old Huntington Beach where the main street now we have big malls like I think just one kind of end of Westminster to the north. Very popular shopping center and I think the boardwalk the boardwalk is that popular too kind of a local service center really commercial district. Over here this is an ascetic center. Million dollars to build a separate complex
but it was designed with people in mind and I think that's so important. What about the library what are the dedicated Fifth and this is a formal invitation. And that was on the council in the library and parks were instituted. And I think you must be very proud to see that because you did achieve. We'll talk about that a bit to Sly's depicting a kind of mode of life in the community from residential sample Harbor and I had again as a water oriented community. But I this is one of our tract homes well-kept homes and it's. This is a modern apartment complex I think probably signals maybe a new way of life here and of course that magnificent sunset I don't know any place you can claim I think we have a lot of people who live there and to me to just to see sunsets like that how lovely that a trip to an
interesting place to conceive of a city that had to generate all the facilities to go from eleven thousand two hundred fifty two thousand and in one generation is incredible for a lot of cities that had to do that as more women. But it's much easier to say for instance like Irvine to start from scratch than it was from Huntington Beach to start with an old city and old downtown and try to revitalize the city and spread because of course and incredibly increase facilities. Everything that I have a lot of the original city had about four and a half square miles of that. And it wasn't until about 90 58 or 59 that we started all the major panic stations so in many ways we had some of the opportunities that Irvine had was starting in the city. We had mainly agricultural land and. Very few buildings in the what is now approximately 28 or 29 square miles
with a bean field with a lot of oil properties to a lot of multiple ownership problems and I mean to me because of the Encyclopedia lots there what is the time now that property in Huntington Beach is very expensive but there was a time when rats were given away here for the purchase of encyclopedias and we had a lot of money using multiple multiple ownership so I kind of are very colorful. I think in between the old parade used to take place in a flamboyant character going to build gallery in the world right in the market. Marcellus Macau Yes they were quite a pair the drive to apparate is one of a field in the state were trying to get accredited to be the bicentennial parade for the state of California. You know we're going to have the parade on channel 50 right. We had many many comments about having covered your parade the second largest parade second only to the Rose Parade in California where the largest plates in the way.
It was difficult to judge whether we did a good job. So I'm going to say Most cities have to lecture any other city in the country usually had the luxury of time so that these changes these social changes occur over 40 50 60 years and you have had to accommodate those social and lifestyle changes in the 10 15 years. I remember one night on the beach on the Planning Commission. Yes we approved. Thirty two hundred lots and one incredible and of course I suppose people could criticize Well why weren't you a little more careful about this or why couldn't be more careful about that rather cut where the curve is right where the gutter is right where the street lights right where the proper drainage was or the pipes or sewage in contrast to that statement Ted Bartlett who's also on our council and has what 18 to 19 here in the 40s. He said that when they had one home built in the city it was cause for celebration that was kind of overwhelming really what we faced was. Besides the magnificent setting the Howard Beach has you had oil. Let's
talk about oil. Who wants to make some comments on how oil has shaped the character of the sea and how it's been both a positive and negative aspect of the community. Well there's good news and bad news for you not about I'll talk about the bad news first what's bad about well the early development of honey and beach was held back by oil development. There was one to it was a time in our history when you couldn't get an FHA loan if you were within sight of an oil well and that was in the original city there were very few restrictions on how the oil was to be developed and distracted from ground. There's a difference of opinion as to whether or not they really paid their share of the taxes because of the assessed valuation of the mineral rights. That's a long complex subject we will get into that I think the city recognize that eventually by imposing a barrel tax which I understand is up to about 8 cents you know I think you know this. Visually of course it was not very good for the for the
community. And they did contribute many things however I don't want to make it all all negative it was what was positive in many ways they were not. It's a fact of life isn't it. You have to write one of the things that's been done here that's quite outstanding in the area of development with respect to development of a nature with oil wealth and then the property has been done by the need to be to company which is develop the Seacliff area of homes in what was once an oil field that was literally a forest of Derrick's and now beautiful homes surround the wells which are screened and landscapes and so forth. I don't seem to really bother you Diane you said there was good and bad about it well now it don't help but what do you think she is the bad part of it as the bad part of the problem. A great deal of land being tied up in the communities that will never be available to. Commercial developments up with or residential because of the fact that it is involved with oil and leases and so forth so I see has holes
in it where other cities are able to drill here and be more attractive in appearance. There's a cotton argument tied somewhere I would think and you're going to hear from you if the argument is that this X is a land bank. That's right. That event when oil was depleted finally in it right has to be at some time at that time then this land will be available for use on average that could be put to use if you want to come in the exam. That's exactly my point too. We have about six or seven hundred acres more than that may be left in the city under the control of Ramadi boiler or form of the signal and that is currently unincorporated it's near the hydrant harbor area and that's been covered with oil and that's pretty good of them for really developing that as they would like to have the council taking any stand on offshore drilling by the way as we have. We took a stand that was exactly the same position that the kind of took and which is that we're not opposed to offshore drilling but we're quite dissatisfied with the manner in which the federal government in the state of California is approach the problem.
So you want tighter. What we want to be sure is that the appropriate protection is given to the environment and the environment. You know the city has put up with the oil and dealt with oil for many more years than most cities in California. Yes that's true and I think we have a unique point of view in this respect that we know how to deal with it we're not afraid of the problem and we know what must be assured us in order to protect us and there's the wisdom of an experience that many cities don't have that sort of living with oil will say you know I think we're still the third largest field in California were probably Signal Hill where they were the biggest they could feel it was or been part of your life 20 or 21 years in prison. Discovery Well let's talk about another problem that you have that is unique to each city certainly unique to. The beach and that is people. On an average summer day this population of one hundred fifty two thousand is almost doubled
with another hundred fifty two thousand who just drop in to town. Now this is an incredible facility demand. Most 98 percent of the cities in the United States wouldn't conceive of that. I was city of one hundred fifty thousand having to accommodate a visiting hundred fifty thousand. So what what about this whether one of the problem is somewhat unique in another respect too and that we only operate as a city one mile of the state and have miles of beach yet in the state. Asked Are you going to be I would assume responsibility for responding to any problems that occur in the States. Part of your chest until this year is the fact the council resources or at least problem you were there were worried that it was costing us like a million to a million through a year to do that and I mean because of financial problems that we face we we've taken action from above the council and transmitted to the state of California advising them that effective forthwith we will not longer be doing what we've been doing that there be have so we've shifted especially the right of that and services and maintenance in some
point. Very costly and it was this year too. There was some legislation passed at the state level to bring some tax relief to the big cities in order to be more appropriate for the bird. Much of it is that it is definitely a state resource resource fire facility or something medical you have to have some kind of medical problem down there. And just the maintenance you know there was a time when Beach was known as tin can beach and most of us would really like to forget that image and I think weve done a great deal to overcome it. But the maintenance of the beach the cleaning up of the tin cans in the trash is a very active proposition. Yes much more than an average city 120000 in the county. They had to have magic formula to know for example one policeman for every thousand or ten thousand or whatever the formula is and you have to have more policemen than that.
Well I don't quite a sophisticated financial analysis in this legislation that made reference to was vetoed by the former governor it was passed by a committee that would have returned to the city three or four hundred thousand dollars that only our city but others have yet to a smaller degree but each would have it that kind of legislation because it's really unfair for a city to have to foot the bill for people who come from the San Fernando Valley to visit our beaches or who come from and you have eight and a half miles within your city limits regardless of whether the state worries about a segment and you worry about it. How do you feel about this enormous influx of tourists. Just to respond to that in a moment. I'm sure good idea. We have to capitalize out of the council has as always had the attitude that we can't stop him from coming in from Israel take advantage of them being here and with that in
mind we've we've made efforts over the past nine or ten years to to encourage redevelopment of our downtown area. This is the area where we're most people will shop and most spend their money if there are opportunities to do that using the parents kind of that I've been intimately involved in that as a platter and as a councilman and he's recently toured by that outbound revitalization. Yeah I'll let you recap some of the programs that have been proposed for downtown you've been involved in in them and then we have to go back a long way. You started with the federal renew program in about 64. And that didn't get off the ground because at that time the idea of using federal funds wasn't the exactly accepted in Orange County and we went from that to an Urban Land Institute study which indicated that the beach area was the greatest asset that hunting beach had and that we should be taking advantage of that. From that evolved plan known as a top of the pier plan
and that went along for a few years. I was adopted by the council. Some properties were acquired and then for one reason or another that too did not succeed. Then there was more than that like a lot of municipal proposals that were the pros and the cons Yes well a lot of you know discussion of the problems that we have in downtown honey Beach are the same problems that all downtowns have throughout the country. We in addition we have multiple ownership for parking facilities. Absentee absentee only ship in the area that never really was a true central business district. The major city that we know is the old main street right back up in a Coast Highway right now never had health facilities never had health facilities. But what you're saying is ready to let us drop out of that piece of real estate in the entire coastline where is around Main Street and how do you know we've got that marvelous speech. Yes so there have been various schemes. We went through all that would take too long. Yeah. But the emphasis has to be
for many reasons not only because a state policy requires that people must be allowed to use the beach as their asset meaning in terms of development of the city of Huntington Beach. It's the greatest asset we have in attaining a higher sense valuation and a better tax base. But I want to do that we must make this a tourist area and we have to make this a destination point not only for one day but for a longer period of study which means accommodations accommodations of various kinds perhaps a convention center and other kinds of attractions. We have a you know we have the potential here and that's the way we have to go. The difficulty is that there aren't very many good techniques available to city governments to accomplish these kinds of programs whether it's through their area whether whether the redevelopment every project or renewables or whatever you want to. That's right. And you must always exercise the right of eminent domain which always gets into very difficult controversial yet really. So where does that leave you right now with any of these. Well you understand now the city is now
has a working arrangement with a firm called DTM which is doing some studies and has a plan which is where he's trying to announce in the US which is going to be submitting more specific concrete proposals back to the count back to the councils that are interested in this plan can visit an office on Main Street I think it's two or five seconds where they can review the plans and proposals of BT and pointed out that the downtown and citizen then put is really being solicited at this time all right let's do it again for listening to our five minute Rolf I mean. And they can see what their plans and proposals have put in their two cents about what they would like to see the downtown because a plan I thought would be really like another word like the concept connotes a more specific and what they really are doing at this point is trying to get citizen input trying to find out what the people want to have downtown and to respond to their wishes and I think that's a very admirable thing I think this council should be commended and the council did authorize the
relocation of our economic development director from City Hall to this to this location so that he can be there to respond more accurately to some of the questions I don't think this idea that you just hit on Diane about citizen involvement it gets right into the thing that we're going to talk about next ties perfectly with I can remember going to Huntington Beach as a newsman many years ago 15 17 years ago and you could pop in and talk to Bill Dahlia and you can go over to see the late Jim Farquhar or chat with him at the desk of country A typical complection of a country slumbering delightful little village Frank or would know everybody and you could talk to the mayor who might be the barber also going to the gas station it or the gas station owner or something else. And there was a kind of a rapport at least everybody knew what was happening what was going on and there was a sort of a consensus I suppose you could use about many things. Now you have this depersonalisation when you have an enormous influx 150000 people who don't even know their next door neighbors many of them let alone who's on the
Planning Commission and who in the world is the mare and it was very rich and and fought for five different newspapers coming in to the area that serves them so how do you approach the problem of a sense of identity a sense of community for how you can beat. Well I guess that's a social question. Well I think the council through the last number of years at least has actively invited citizens to participate both in structured and unstructured forms committees or quasi official committees and that type of thing. Many points and there are lots of boards and lots of commission guys write to advisory. Really isn't it. Yeah I think it's healthy yes. And almost by by osmosis draws a lot of people into writing and that's what I think also the system of parks that's been developed in the city has had a great deal to do with pulling people out of their tracks and getting them together and helping them to explore other parts of the city that they might not see just about every
track in the city has a neighborhood park and we have numerous community center and park type and are now have in this area is a nice college where we are today. You have a television. We have the ride to the city park. And I'm going to count on your library is standing but it's absolutely exciting. Of course I suppose you hope that will become more than just a city library a cultural center a cultural center for all of the country and there were hopeful that that some branch of channel 50 would actually situate there at least some closer because their point of view and I know I was speaking to one of our library this warning that classes will be held under the auspices of the grotesque I was soon at the library. Again that's good. And that's an all day open are people Huntington Beach Odyssey there but it's there and we've made every effort to make them aware of what's happening. When are you going to get that many newspaper service in your area we also have our own
brews which is a city newspaper stored under under the direction of a public information office that goes out to the residents and the community and we have a writer billing which allows us to insert flyers from time to time making the work and they also do so I mean it was discussion about a sense of identity. It's a very difficult thing to achieve. I know it is in all of the suburban communities of California that have the same identical problem because geographically maybe years even aggravated because you had to assimilate these great numbers of people who weren't even sure where Main Street is if you're over there or work in Los Angeles or other parts of southern California mobility able to. That's around they don't establish roots. They come to live in your community or the next community for X number of years and then they move on. So it's very difficult to get that old fashioned feeling that you were describing before which I'm I'm afraid that's just pure nostalgia. Yes I'm no longer in existence is not a question of whether you like the growth or not it's what you do about it knowledge is right. You're going to think back to happen made a good point about people moving into the city and moving out of the city. And
now earlier said we were trying to capitalize on our tourism business and I think that the council this year has taken a step to try to count capitalize on the mobility of people in and out of Huntington Beach to know that you know state transfer tax. I'm sure that everything is not with peaches and roses and you probably have some pretty good municipal scrap certainly one of the ones that generated a lot of discussion with the real estate transfer tax which would cause a person selling a house when the transfer takes place to pay what is it what's the percent to the one half of one percent half of 1 percent of the sale of the House who want to talk about why it didn't or white man started out because we believe the back of how it evolved. It was proposed by our city administrator is one of a number of opportunities to raise additional revenue to to offset our proposed deficit. Part of the reason we needed additional money was the level of service that we had established in the community but with paramedics and fire and police protection park maintenance in
particular because. About a 12 month period the library has come on board so to speak in the civic center has been developed and has come about in Central Park and all these venture capital improvements as you pointed out something that would have normally evolved over a lifetime of a community have come into being in one year's celebration opted out and there really is a transfer tax rather than increasing the property tax rather than imposing additional utility tax rather than putting in a trash collection that was Honor's of all the taxes and it's been the most controversial What is the status of this as of right today for German thanks to a charter revision or a tremendous worth. I think so. Spearheaded by the realty people in the Senate. Those people that have opposed the tax since the very beginning have argued that the amount that money that will be generated by the tax could be
saved by trimming the budget I think that the Saudi minister asked made initially that the tax would raise about one point three million dollars a year and quite. Interestingly that exact amount was just trimmed from the city budget by some judicious budget heading and I don't know how you feel about this album in the community I have heard some very interesting comments regarding that. Well that initially when realty people were arguing against the imposition of the tax. Their argument was you don't need the tax you could cut at least a record of it and that's understandable. Time at the time they were told no where already have a bare bones budget by the minister. We cannot possibly trim any more and yet at the council's instruction to get things moving financially and the staff was able to trim exactly one point three million dollars from the budget you really have to
look into that statement. We appointed of an advisory commission of individuals in the community who had a great deal of business expertise and they were acting as an economic advisory commission to the council there. Sweat and tears the staff didn't cut this and that it was more by way of attrition you know not hiring people who should have been hired I just heard capital acquisitions and maintenance of theirs that this was going to catch up to us that where that came from well it's been interesting to me that everything that first figure was brought up that the figure seems to come up time and again when we turned over the beach to the state this year that was also the amount that we were allegedly going to say but I think in the lead up here tonight I'd like to comment about the attacks I wasn't here when the when they put that on I was on the train you like it or don't you like it and I would have preferred to do the kind of time to just get my own philosophy about taxation is going more and more towards usual kinds of tax and I'm supposed to like kind of the position I served as a
commissioner on the Orange County Housing Authority for a while. One of the problems that always comes up and to determining where you have a cut off amount for people to be able to afford housing at certain levels. I'm opposed to trying to do anything but raise the cost of housing. And this is one small increment but it does that as well. Would this make I can be the only one in that setting the county would have the kind with us. That's wrong as it is something California. This is an issue that will be coming up in May and people can make up their minds in just one of the problems. Certainly we've enjoyed this conversation of a city that had to undergo incredible acceleration of all kinds of economic and social development in a few years that many cities could have half a century to do if you have any ideas for voters pipeline for your elected officials you may write me at. Voters pipelined TV channel 15. Huntington Beach California zipcode 1 2 6 4 7. I'm Jim
Cooper. Thanks for being with us on borders.
- Series
- Voter's Pipeline
- Episode
- City Spotlight: Huntington Beach
- Contributing Organization
- PBS SoCal (Costa Mesa, California)
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip/221-83kwhmsg
If you have more information about this item than what is given here, or if you have concerns about this record, we want to know! Contact us, indicating the AAPB ID (cpb-aacip/221-83kwhmsg).
- Description
- Episode Description
- In this episode of Voter's Pipeline host Jim Cooper talks with officials from Huntington Beach about their city.
- Series Description
- Voter's Pipeline is a talk show hosted by Jim Cooper and featuring conversations with politicians and experts about local and state politics.
- Created Date
- 1975-02-13
- Genres
- Talk Show
- Rights
- Copyright 1975
- Media type
- Moving Image
- Duration
- 00:28:52
- Credits
-
-
Guest: Kaufman, Henry
Guest: Coen, Alvin
Guest: Reed, Diane
Host: Cooper, Jim
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
-
KOCE/PBS SoCal
Identifier: AACIP_0895 (AACIP 2011 Label #)
Format: VHS
Generation: Master
Duration: 00:30:00
If you have a copy of this asset and would like us to add it to our catalog, please contact us.
- Citations
- Chicago: “Voter's Pipeline; City Spotlight: Huntington Beach,” 1975-02-13, PBS SoCal, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed November 20, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-221-83kwhmsg.
- MLA: “Voter's Pipeline; City Spotlight: Huntington Beach.” 1975-02-13. PBS SoCal, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. November 20, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-221-83kwhmsg>.
- APA: Voter's Pipeline; City Spotlight: Huntington Beach. Boston, MA: PBS SoCal, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-221-83kwhmsg