At its Aug. 22 meeting, the Signal Hill City Council, in a joint exercise-of-power agreement with the Signal Hill Housing Authority, adopted a resolution establishing the Signal Hill Municipal Financing Authority to assist the City in financing public improvements.
The council also considered state Senate Bill (SB) 415, which could change the date of city elections from March to November, to correspond with statewide election dates. Such a change requires an amendment to the city charter, however, and would have to be approved by voters.
Before these items were discussed, though, Mayor Edward Wilson spoke about the Aug. 12 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, VA that left one protester dead, asserting that such hatred has no place in America.
Financing authority
Both the city council and the Signal Hill Housing Authority (which consists of the same members as the council) adopted resolutions authorizing the execution of a joint exercise-of-powers agreement between the City and the housing authority in order to create the Signal Hill Municipal Financing Authority.
Once fully established with bylaws, the new legal body will be an instrument through which the City can make financial decisions, such as entering into contracts, issuing bonds and constructing public capital improvements.
Members of the city council and staff will serve as board members and officers of the new entity.
City Attorney Dave Aleshire underscored the usefulness of the financing authority in the wake of the dissolution of the Signal Hill Redevelopment Agency, which had such an authority.
“The City has an ordinance for doing economic-development activity. We have properties that can be usefully developed,” Aleshire said. “The finance authority gives the potential of the City to still [be] able to do the sort of projects that have gotten the City to the economic condition that it’s in now. Though the library is a project that could obtain money, and [this is] an economically productive way to do this project, there are other facilities and projects off in the future.”
Brittany Batiste, new recreation coordinator with the Signal Hill Community Services Department, during the city council meeting on Aug. 22 after being introduced by Mayor Edward Wilson (right)
City Manager Charlie Honeycutt presented the council with a report on SB 415, the California Voter Participation Rights Act, which requires some cities to consolidate their municipal elections with statewide elections. A plan to do so is required by Jan. 1, 2018, and implementation must be no later than Nov. 8, 2022.
“The California State Legislature felt that consolidating local elections with statewide elections will result in higher voter turnout in comparison with stand-alone city elections held in off years,” Honeycutt said.
Currently, the City’s general municipal election is held in March in odd-numbered years while statewide elections are held in June and November in even-numbered years.
Under this new law, cities, including charter cities like Signal Hill, will have to align election dates with statewide dates if voter turnout in municipal elections has been at least 25 percent below the average of that city’s turnout in the past four statewide general elections.
Signal Hill’s voter turnout for the last municipal election was 20.76 percent, Honeycutt reported, compared to a 56.9 percent average over the last four statewide elections.
Since that is more than a 25-percent difference, the City would have to comply with the mandate. (Voter turnout in the municipal election would have to have been about 43 percent for the City to avoid being affected by this law.)
Honeycutt further explained that the City should consider consolidating with the November 2020 statewide election date in order to prevent incumbent councilmember terms, which are four years, from being overextended.
“The City will hold its [March] 2019 election but will consolidate the re-election date for those elected in 2019 with the statewide [Nov.] 2022 election,” Honeycutt explained. “Such a plan would result in shortening the terms of office for the 2017 and 2019 incumbents by four months.”
A charter amendment is required to effect this change, which must be approved by Signal Hill voters during the March 2019 municipal election.
The council directed staff to prepare a voter participation encouragement plan for Signal Hill that explains how voting dates would be consolidated. The City will need to adopt this plan by Jan. 1, 2018 to comply with the new law. After that, a charter amendment would be prepared and added to the ballot for the March 19 general municipal election.
Resident Maria Harris spoke in support of consolidating the municipal and statewide elections dates because it would increase minority voter participation.
“Because the minority vote is most highly impacted by having these off-year, off-cycle elections, there is an effective impact upon having their voice heard,” Harris said.
However, Councilmember Lori Woods expressed her concern that consolidation would result in local Signal Hill matters getting lost in larger state and national issues, and therefore local voters would not be as informed about them.
“While we may get a greater turnout, it will be a less educated vote,” she said.
In answer to Wilson’s question about what happens if the charter amendment is voted down, Aleshire explained that it would result in judicial challenges since the City has to follow the will of the voters but also the mandates of the state.
“Certainly a charter city at least has an argument for home rule, but on the whole, when the legislature makes a big issue about something, there have been a number of exceptions, which the courts have approved,” Aleshire said.
Charlottesville response
Wilson paused council business before it even started to share his thoughts about an event on Aug. 12, when rallying white nationalists in Charlottesville, VA, were met with protesters, resulting in violent conflict and the death of one of the protesters from a car driven by a white nationalist.
“I feel compelled to speak. I don’t believe silence is an option,” he said.
Wilson questioned the intentions of the white nationalists.
“When have you ever witnessed what is a so-called peaceful [rally] where the participants came armed with clubs, shields, pepper spray and guns?” Wilson asked. “That’s hardly peaceful. They’re not nice people.”
Wilson recalled being shown a picture of a Ku Klux Klan rally on the top of Signal Hill when he was first elected to the council and feeling grateful that times had changed.
“What I didn’t think about was that these groups still exist throughout the country,” Wilson said. “Maybe not here, but they still exist. And as we stated in the Pledge [of Allegiance], each time, we are one nation, [!] not two political parties, not individual states, [!] and under that, everybody should be free, and free of being terrorized.”
Wilson also condemned those who minimize the actions of groups that seek to curb others’ freedoms.
“It is a big deal. This country and the Constitution [were] not built on that,” he said. “An example of what happens when that goes unchecked is Nazi Germany.”
Wilson cited his family’s military service and his own pride in being American that inform his stance.
“I would hope, and I do pray, that our leaders in D.C. and around the country would stand up and be unequivocal about it,” Wilson said. “This is something that you don’t kind of whitewash, for lack of a better term. It is important to the fabric of this country, and if we’re going to have a country, and maintain it, we need to make sure that that’s not a part of it.”
New coordinator
Wilson introduced Brittany Batiste, the new recreation coordinator overseeing youth and family programs in the Community Services Department.
Batiste has 11 years of experience in recreation, Wilson said, including for the cities of Downey and Santa Monica. She graduated from California State University, Dominguez Hills, focusing on an interdisciplinary degree with an emphasis in environmental science.
“I’ve just been absolutely blown away from the sense of community and the support that I’ve received from everybody,” Batiste said. “So I’m really, really excited to be here, and grateful that I got so lucky to work for such a great city.”
Hilltop concern
Two residents shared with the council their observations about the confluence of pedestrian and vehicular traffic surrounding Hilltop Park at night, hoping that something can be done to regulate both.
“It’s just an accident waiting to happen,” one of the residents said.
The next Signal Hill City Council meeting will take place Tuesday, Sept. 12, at 7pm in the council chamber at 2175 Cherry Ave.
