Building a city administrator

A handful of Huntington Beach residents gathered to design the

perfect city administrator on Monday at a community forum.

It was one of the first steps in replacing City Administrator Ray

Silver, who will retire in May.

Silver, who has been in the post for 13 years, took over as city

administrator in 1997 after serving seven years as assistant to

former City Administrator Michael Uberuaga. Before coming to

Huntington Beach, Silver served as city manager in the cities of

Coronado and Upland and as director of planning and land use for San

Diego County.

Eric Middleton, director of executive search firm Maximus, which

was hired by the council in December, led a group of six residents in

a discussion on who could best lead the city of Huntington Beach.

The list of qualifications community members came up with was long

and daunting. Necessary characteristics included experience, a

long-range vision for the city and a firm grasp of the issues that

dominate the seaside city.

People agreed that they wanted somebody who is honest and

accessible and a good listener, attuned to the needs of both the

community and the city’s employees.

“We want somebody who doesn’t feel that every idea has to be

invented by its own city administration,” Huntington Beach resident

Monica Hamilton said.

Preserving the sense of community is crucial, as is expanding Surf

City’s revenue base, Hamilton said. Fiscal responsibility, labor

skills and private sector experience were also listed as important,

as were innovation, creativity and technological savvy.

Dean Albright, Surf City resident and local activist, said that

the new city administrator would need to be equipped to deal with the

heavy economic difficulties plaguing the city.

“The main thing is accountability,” Albright said. “He has to be

accountable to the City Council.”

Also topping the list were good labor negotiation skills and the

ability to delegate.

“Now that we’ve described God, can you bring him in?” Middleton

joked at the end of the meeting.

Eleven community members chosen by the City Council also met with

Middleton for lunch on Monday to voice their thoughts on the search.

People in attendance included Flossie Horgan, executive director of

the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, Ed Kerins, president of the activist

group Huntington Beach Tomorrow, Shirley Dettloff, former mayor and

coastal commissioner and Ron Shenkman, senior vice president of

Rainbow Disposal.

Maximus officials will use the input from the City Council and the

community to create a profile, with a list of desired

characteristics. The profile will be made available to the public

sometime next month, Middleton said.

OCWD moves ahead with desalination plans

The Orange County Water District is soliciting interest from

construction companies in hopes of building a desalination plant in

the same spot Poseidon Resources Corp. tried to build one.

The proposed plant would be built adjacent to the AES power plant.

It would pull water from the plant’s outfall pipe and treat it to

produce 50,000 acre feet of potable drinking water annually.

Poseidon Resources Corp.’s plans fell through when the council

rejected its environmental report in December.

Unlike Poseidon’s proposal, a plant proposed by the Orange County

Water District would not require approval from the Huntington Beach

City Council. It would need approval from the California Coastal

Commission, the state Department of Health Services and the Santa Ana

Regional Water Quality Control Board.

“We’re sending [letters] out to about 10 companies on the list who

have been involved with desalination,” said Wes Bannister, an Orange

County Water District board member. “Basically what we’re saying is

we’d like to investigate the financial situation as far as putting

desalination on coast. We’ll assist with financing, and when it’s

finished, we’ll take over the plant.”

Bannister thinks that the city is sorely in need of the water that

the plant would provide.

Huntington Beach is more vulnerable than inland cities because it

needs water not only for drinking but to replenish the saltwater

barrier, which keeps seawater from intruding into its groundwater

supply.

The water district’s proposed plant would benefit Huntington

Beach.

“It would be an added reliability to [the Orange County Water

District] and added reliability to the people of Orange County,”

Bannister said.

But many local environmental activists have maintained that

Huntington Beach is the wrong location for a desalination plant.

“We’re dealing with a contaminated surf zone and dealing with

contaminated beach,” said Jan Vandersloot, one of the founders of the

activist Ocean Outfall Group. “Desalination is something that could

make things worse.”

Vandersloot feels that the source of beach pollution should be

determined before another plant is erected, which could worsen the

problems.

“We’re talking about the most contaminated area of Huntington

Beach, and we’re talking about a city that depends upon tourism and

clean beaches for its economy,” Vandersloot said.

Letters are due back to the Orange County Water District by May 1.

The plant could be in operation by 2006 or 2007, Bannister said.

“I’m afraid we’re not going to get this off the ground,” Bannister

said. “To me, it’s the most logical and economical way to add supply

to our water supply in California.”