Giving the council race a jolt of faith

Deirdre Newman

Faith is an integral part of Sam Clark’s life.

The City Council candidate earned a degree in pastoral ministry

and has served in pastoral positions at Harbor Christian Fellowship

and as a licensed minister with the Assemblies of God denomination.

“Anyone who says what they believe doesn’t influence what they

decide is naive; therefore, my faith does impact the decisions I

make,” he said. “I’m not running on the grounds of being a Christian,

but it is part of who I am.”

He is running on a platform of fiscal responsibility -- a concept

he extols when he speaks at City Council meetings, which he has been

attending for the past eight months.

“I’m kind of a put-up or shut-up kind of guy,” he said. “I’m tired

of seeing the city spend tax dollars in ways I didn’t like.”

Clark grew up in San Diego. He and his wife moved to Costa Mesa to

attend Vanguard University in 1986.

“We stayed because Costa Mesa is a great community to live in --

that’s important,” he said. “We have too much big development and

industry that don’t lend themselves to the community.”

His management skills were honed working as a controller for two

companies in the wholesale perfume-distribution business. He was

responsible for restructuring and reorganizing the financial

operations to make them more efficient and was also in charge of

operations for the companies.

Nine years ago, he joined a consulting business as a partner after

briefly doing some consulting on his own. The company, 2000Soft, LLC,

sells and services accounting software.

“I got out of the corporate world because I don’t like doing the

same mundane thing every day,” he said “With consulting, every day I

go to a client and have new problems to solve.”

He isn’t happy with the way the city has been spending residents’

money, but he is running for the council this year because he finally

has the time, he said. His wife received a marriage and family

therapy license recently, and his kids have moved out, he added.

“I recognize the City Council takes time -- you have to do your

homework and know the issues, and I haven’t had time [before],” he

said.

His experience with controlling and accounting has prepared him to

tackle the city’s fiscal issues, he said.

“[It] allows me to read and understand the budget, and management

helps with leadership skills to listen to the public and my

subordinates,” he said. “Those who don’t have power may have ideas.”

As a member of California Victory Church in Fountain Valley, he

and some other congregants formed the American Family Action

Coalition, a group that monitors political issues that affect the

church. The group is nonpartisan, and its goal is to report back to

the congregation the status of various issues from a faith-based

position, he said.

“The church being involved in politics is very important, because

much of the problems we see in society today have to do with a lack

of some faith in our society,” he said. “Faith has been extricated

from our society.”