Signal Hill : Councilman Bellis Resigns

Councilman David J. Bellis, a one-time insurgent who presided over major changes in Signal Hill city government, including a shake-up in the Police Department, resigned from office Tuesday night.

Bellis, 43, who was first elected to the council in 1980 and reelected in 1984, said he is resigning because he is moving to Lake Arrowhead. He has accepted a job as an associate professor in public administration at California State University, San Bernardino.

In 1980, Bellis led a successful effort to recall two incumbent council members. Bellis survived another recall campaign in 1981, and with the help of other newly elected council members, oversaw a change of administration in the Police Department following the death of Ron Settles. Settles, a college football player who was stopped for speeding, died in 1981 in the Signal Hill jail.

Bellis also oversaw the city’s redevelopment efforts, which brought the Price Club to the city and a new warehouse and office building for Eastman Inc. Both buildings are now under construction on Willow Street.