Voting booths at the Signal Hill Community Center are set up for registered voters during the Nov. 4 statewide election. During the March 3, 2015 general municipal election in Signal Hill, voters will choose two new City Council members, a city clerk and a city treasurer.
-Staff Writer-
Candidates running for city clerk, city treasurer and two open Signal Hill City Council seats in the City’s general municipal election on March 3, 2015 have until 4:30pm on Dec. 5 to file nomination papers. The filing period began on Monday, Nov. 10.
So far, as of press time on Thursday, Nov. 13, four potential candidates have pulled papers to run for the two open Council seats: incumbent and Vice Mayor Larry Forester; incumbent Tina Hansen; Tom Benson, a local business owner and chair of the Signal Hill Planning Commission; and Triphina Moore, a 13-year resident of Signal Hill and a high school educator for the Long Beach Unified School District.
Hansen, who was first elected to the Council in 1994 and whose fifth Council term expires next year, confirmed with the Signal Tribune that she plans to run for a sixth term.
“I feel like I still have more things to accomplish, including the new library,” she said in a phone interview. “So I’m going to run for re-election.”
Forester, who has served on the Council since 1998, confirmed by phone that he plans to run for a fifth term in next year’s election.
“There are many things that still need to be done,” Forester said. “I think I’ve done a good job for the city, and I want to see the city move forward as we move out of this recessionary climate.”
He said a recent “debacle” over racial remarks he made to a Signal Hill resident regarding a charter school proposed by the Conservation Corps of Long Beach, of which he is a board member, “almost” forced him not to run.
The resident, Andrea Webster, who is against the charter school and said she was offended by comments Forester made to her at a local restaurant, brought up the issue last month with Mayor Ed Wilson, who then requested a code of conduct and civility for elected and appointed officials.
However, Forester said, “I believe so much in the city that I’m going to move forward for the city’s needs. I have great things to finish in the next four years.”
He said his top priorities will be to address issues regarding: building a new library; LBUSD’s new high school near Signal Hill; water and environmental issues;Â the health and safety of the city; and maintaining the City’s fiscal responsibility.
Reached by phone, Benson, who owns Bud’s Beach Cities, Inc., an auto-customization shop in Signal Hill, said he hopes to be an additional benefit to the Council. “I think the City does a great job,” he said. “I think I can bring some additional energy, knowledge and performance to the City.”
Larry Blunden, a 30-year Signal Hill resident who was appointed interim city treasurer to fulfill the term of Emerson Fersch, is running for city treasurer, and Robert Copeland, who was appointed interim city clerk to fulfill the term of Kathleen Pacheco, is running for city clerk.
“It will be great to have the opportunity to be elected to the position,” Copeland said in an email. “I have learned a lot since I was appointed and hope to continue to do my part for the residents and the city.”
All four elected positions, including city clerk, city treasurer and City Council, are for a full term of four years.
According to the City’s election code, candidates for all elected positions must obtain a minimum of 20 signatures from Signal Hill registered voters that will be verified by the Los Angeles County Recorder’s Office.
In addition, a staff report notes that, if nomination papers for an incumbent are not filed by Friday, Dec. 5, the voters will have until Dec. 10 to nominate candidates other than the incumbents. The extension is not applicable where there is no incumbent eligible to be elected.
Consulting firm Martin & Chapman Co. has been selected by the Council to provide election supplies and consultant services at a cost not to exceed $27,093. According to a staff report, the City has budgeted $55,000 for the general election.
The Council, on Oct. 21, approved three polling locations, including the Signal Hill Community Center near City Hall, Burroughs Head Start facility on 33rd Street and Discovery Well Park.
