[The following is the second installment of a two-part story. The first is available at tinyurl.com/y5qq9yo6.]
In advance of the general municipal election in Signal Hill on March 5, the City and the Signal Tribune co-sponsored a Feb. 13 candidate forum that included the participation of all three individuals seeking to fill the two open seats on the city council. The three candidates are also all currently serving as officials in the city and include Mayor Tina Hansen, City Clerk Keir Jones and Planning Commissioner Christopher Wilson.
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At the forum in City Hall that night, they answered questions posed by Signal Tribune Publisher Neena Strichart about how to generate revenue for the City beyond the sales tax, attract businesses that fulfill residents’ needs and address the health and well-being of those citizens.
Among the questions Strichart posed was, “With the City being 70-percent reliant on sales-tax dollars for revenue, what other sources would you suggest be utilized to build the city’s coffers?”
It was Wilson’s turn to answer first, and he said that, moving forward, it is necessary to “reimagine” the city. He said officials should participate in a “listening tour” to find out residents’ needs and that it is important to support small businesses.
“I want to be able to go to every business in Signal Hill and say, ‘Hey. What do you need?’ Because we need to make sure we continue to excite businesses to want to be able to relocate here,” Wilson said. “We can’t have ghost towns here. We need to make sure that when people come to Signal Hill, they [know] they’re in Signal Hill, and not just a community of Long Beach.”
Hansen, who has served on the city council since 1994, said generation of revenue is a topic that the governmental body has faced the entire time she has served on it.
“We have a lot of barriers to construction here because of the oil industry, because of the contamination, and so we’ve consistently looked for ways to broaden our base,” she said. “One of the things we’ve done in the last– I want to say eight or nine years– is open our doors to EDCO. EDCO is our trash company. […] If you don’t know, EDCO has a trash-transfer station up on California [Avenue], and what they do is, the trucks go out from there, they bring the trash back, and then they sort it there.”
Hansen explained that the City gets tipping fees as a result of residents from outside Signal Hill utilizing EDCO’s services.
“Additionally, we would very much like to expand our transit occupancy tax, which would be a tax on hotels,” she said, adding that two more hotels are expected to join the city.
Jones mentioned that, in addition to its dependence on sales tax, the City also relies on the Office Depot distribution center and car dealerships.
“My goal would be to continue through creating a vision for the city and to look for ways to diversify our revenue sources,” he said. “So, looking at where we’re going in the future, with shopping, entertainment, restaurants, and then, as we look to develop the remaining parcels that we have in Signal Hill, making sure that we’re fully utilizing them for their potential.”
Strichart then asked the candidates to indicate what the city needs in terms of retail, restaurants and services and how to attract those businesses.
Hansen said what officials have desired is for residents to feel that they don’t need to travel out of the city to find what they need, whether it is groceries, gas or coffee.
“The thing is, in this day and age, it’s very difficult for a stand-alone retail business to come into the city, especially if they have to start building from scratch, because– as I said– we have a lot of contamination, we don’t have a lot of small pads,” she said. “And that’s why I think, [we should look] at projects such as Heritage Square on Cherry [Avenue], which would bring together restaurants and retail and services– a dry cleaner, a drug store– things that we don’t have yet.”
She also mentioned the development of Spring Street and Atlantic Avenue as “a mix of retail and restaurants,” and she emphasized the benefits of commercial variety and a strong infrastructure that lures in large development companies.
Jones stressed the need to provide “experiential” opportunities that act as signature events unique to the city.
“And, by creating that as a city, then we’ll attract the type of independent retailers– we’ll get the restaurants– we need,” he said. “We do just need basic services, like more dry cleaners, hair places, drug stores– and, through that, really creating that vision of the special place that Signal Hill is, we’ll be able to be at the cutting edge of what we’re looking to in the next 10, 20, 30 years, as far as retail, restaurants and those types of things go, because we’ll be creating the sense of place here in Signal Hill.”
Wilson began his response by mentioning that the 405 Freeway runs through the city and that officials need to continue stimulating new opportunities in Signal Hill, such as a boutique corridor of small businesses on Spring Street that would perhaps include a high-end movie theater and outdoor mall. He also said he is a proponent of having a drug store in the city.
“But the question is not whether a city should provide incentives and subsidies to attract businesses, which should still be part of the conversation, but it should be also whether a city is diversifying its economic portfolio enough to address both a short-term and long-term outlook,” Wilson said. “We must all continue to renew ourselves as a city, both when our population is growing but particularly when our population is in decline, to make sure that, as spending habits and society changes, we change along with it.”
The next question was, “What do you think the City could do to further enhance the health and welfare of our residents?”
Jones emphasized the need to continue providing access to outdoor space, especially as residents become more interested in fitness and air quality.
Wilson said he agreed with Jones and added that there should be more diversity in the types of recreational opportunities available, including mindfulness of the “21st-century economy. He also cited fast emergency-response times and the use of technology, including free Wi-Fi access in parks, as areas of important attention.
Hansen said the primary focus in assuring the health and well-being of residents should be on the availability of safe and affordable workforce housing, such as Zinnia and Las Brisas I and II. She also remarked on how the new library will provide more recreational opportunities for youth– particularly after school– and seniors.
The final question was, “When it comes to recreation for our residents, in what areas are we lacking, and how can those matters be addressed?”
Wilson replied that there should be a health-and-fitness event and more exercise centers that cater to senior residents. He also said that he has spoken to local youth who have requested more recreational opportunities.
Hansen spoke highly of the City’s programs and trail system but reiterated that there are residents who are not being reached, such as the elderly, those of other cultures who may not feel welcome and families preoccupied with everyday activities who are not aware of the City’s services.
Jones, who said he has been attending the Department of Parks and Recreation’s master-plan meetings, commented that the City should address the needs of residents who have indicated that they are seeking a place to connect, particularly teens and senior citizens.
More information on the election, including the two unopposed candidates and the two competing charter amendments, is available at cityofsignalhill.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=495.
