By: Cory Bilicko
Managing Editor
[The following is the third part of a three-part story.]
The nine candidates seeking to fill three open seats on the Signal Hill City Council were in attendance at a Feb. 9 forum that the Signal Hill Chamber of Commerce hosted in the council chamber.
Those nine running for city council are Jason Aula, Tom Benson, Larry Blunden, Carol Churchill, Robert Copeland, Maria Harris, Keir Jones, Ed Wilson and Lori Woods.
Bart DeLio, a local insurance agent and former two-term chamber president, moderated the event, which included four segments. In the first segment, each candidate had two minutes for opening statements. [For more on those remarks, see the first part of this story in the Feb. 17 issue.] In the second part, each candidate had one minute to answer a question DeLio presented. In the third, each candidate was given one minute for closing remarks. Lastly, because time allowed, each was given the opportunity to ask any other candidate a question.
The final question DeLio posed to the candidates was, “If elected, what would you do to help increase stagnant property values?”
Lori Woods, an incumbent who is finishing her first term as mayor, said she has been a real-estate professional for about 15 years.
“Signal Hill was the last community in this area for their property values to lower after the 2008 economy crash,” Woods said. “And it was the first community in this whole area to bounce back quickly. So, there is value here in Signal Hill […] there’s a lot that we can do, but we’re dependent on the entire region, as far as economic trends, as far as real-estate trends.”
Ed Wilson, the only other incumbent, spoke next, saying that one of his goals in his first term was to “put million-dollar homes on top of this hill.”
“We did that,” he said. “That was a big feat, and it did raise the property values throughout the city. So, I’ve always been focused on that. It is a part of what we wanted to do. We wanted to raise everyone’s property value.”
Wilson added that the way to maintain those values is to engage the business community and “brand” the city.
“In fact, Signal Hill is currently seen as one of the most desirable cities to live in, to work in,” he said. “No offense to anyone else that’s up here, but the fact is, that is a fact— that people want to live here, they want to work here and they want to play here.”
Keir Jones disagreed with Wilson’s remarks.
“I think people come to Signal Hill, and they’re not even sure that they’re in somewhere different than Long Beach,” he said. “And I think we need to make sure they know that they entered our city. This is really one of the main reasons I’m running for city council […] we can really connect the city and finish areas that are uncompleted, and we can make those spaces great spaces that include public space, commercial space, residential space to raise property values, increase property tax, increase sales tax, increase revenue to the city, but, above all, complete the city and unify it together from north to south and make it a special place that everyone recognizes as they enter.”
Robert Copeland, who is currently serving as city clerk, said he believes property values can be increased through strategic development in working with property owners and potential retailers to bring more business to the city.
“Another idea is that we might think about showcasing the city to […] realtor groups or perhaps corporate relocation groups,” he said. “That would get more and more people interested in the city and really showcase the incredible location of Signal Hill between Orange County and Los Angeles.”
Larry Blunden, who serves as city treasurer, said he has lived in the city since 1984. He said that, although the million-dollar homes are beautiful, their property values have increased very little.
“I think part of it is because there’s no place for people that live here to shop and go to in Signal Hill,” he said. “They all take their money and go outside Signal Hill. So, the draw to move into this community is very limited because, why move here [when you can] go to Belmont Shore and you can just walk down the street and do what you need to do? I just think we need to develop a town center. I think we need to add value to our shopping experiences here in the city— something to make people want to be here besides beautiful homes and beautiful views.”
Tom Benson said he does not necessarily believe property values are indeed stagnant but that a focus should be placed on public safety and community development. In particular, he said, more attention should be placed on the hill itself to attract more walking-trail enthusiasts.
“The other thing that really does affect property values— and we mentioned the youth factor [and] younger people coming in— is the school ratings,” he said. “If you go on to Zillow or you go on to Trulio, we’re rated at a 3 or a 4, instead of a 5 for the school ratings. We need to get that up because parents aren’t going to move here.”
Maria Harris said that, as a homeowner, she has noticed property values increase, but at a very slow rate compared to other communities. She said she attributes this slow progress to the housing stock just south of Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach, where buildings are slowly deteriorating.
“You’ll see broken windows. You’ll see heavy doors that have holes in them,” she said. “You’ll see duct tape on windows. You’ll see bottles out on the front yard, trash on the curbs. It’s not a beautiful sight.”
She acknowledged that EDCO, a local waste-collection service, does a good job, but that it is not that company’s issue alone.
“There’s something going on in our neighborhoods, on the borders, that needs more City attention,” Harris said.
Carol Churchill said she would “piggyback” on Harris’s comments.
“For the last six months, I’ve been sending photos of trash-dumping on the street to the city staff, and it took six months to get a public-service announcement out to the community that they could call in EDCO and get their trash picked up for free,” she said.
She also added that criminal activity needs to be reduced. While pointing out that she was not criticizing the police department and that the city council does fund police adequately, she said there has been a huge increase in calls for service.
“The perception from the community is that they don’t have adequate police visibility to prevent this type of criminal invasion, such as theft,” she said.
Jason Aula said that, overall, he agreed with the other candidates’ comments but that his strategy would be a bit different. He cited Measure F, which will be on the March 7 ballot, as a way to increase property values. He explained that Measure F would generate a 10-percent tax on cannabis use, 2.5 percent of which would be dedicated to police and another 2.5 percent to schools in Signal Hill.
“When you’re sending more revenue into law-enforcement and schools, that’s obviously going to increase people’s property value,” he said, adding that fiberoptic Internet access should also be brought to the city.
