Editor’s Notebook -- Danette Goulet

On Monday, it begins.

The gates open on the race for four of Huntington Beach’s seven

council seats.

Residents hoping to make a difference can pick up papers for the

thankless job as of Monday morning.

After serving two consecutive four-year terms council members Ralph

Bauer, Peter Green and Shirley Dettloff will all vacate their seats and

move on as they have each reached their term limits. Grace Winchell, who

was elected by the board to take Dave Garofalo’s place after he stepped

down in December prior to his January disgrace in court, will step down

after a 10-month stint back in office.

Winchell said in February that she would not fight to keep the seat

this fall.

At this point there is no indication that she will change her mind.

This mass exodus will leave Councilwoman Pam Julien Houchen the senior

member with six years experience. Both Mayor Debbie Cook and Connie

Boardman, have served only one year thus far.

So who will emerge this time around? When Garofalo’s seat opened up

after his felony conviction, 36 residents vied for that position. I

expect we will see many of them back for another go.

Several, in fact, left Huntington Beach Central Library that Saturday

morning Winchell was appointed promising to nab the seat in November.

Vocal environmentalist Joey Racano and 2000 City Council candidate and

high school teacher Diane Lenning will be among the hopefuls, you can be

sure.

What of the other 34?

Former council candidates Norm Westwell, Bill Borden, Gerald Chapman

and James Young didn’t promise a return, but there’s a good chance that

they will emerge.

Other familiar faces we might see include former Planning Commissioner

Tom Livengood, a longtime Amigos de Bolsa Chica leader, and Planning

Commissioner Jill Hardy. Former Independent columnist Ron Davis said in

February that he would not run this fall.

Ah, the speculation could go on, but we shall know soon enough. Let

the games begin.* DANETTE GOULET is the city editor. She can be reached

at (714) 965-7170 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .