Kalmick to run for City Council seat

Dan Kalmick remembers some of the criticism of his unsuccessful run for Congress as a 25-year-old businessman: “Why don’t you run for City Council instead?”

Now he is. Kalmick announced Wednesday he is running for City Council, citing a base of support from his congressional run that demanded he get into the race. The four-year Huntington Beach resident and homeowner said he hopes to represent a new perspective from a younger generation.

Three seats will be up for grabs in November, including the one Mayor Debbie Cook — his former primary opponent — will leave behind because she is termed out.

Kalmick described his major concerns as similar to those he raised in his run for Congress: a better transportation system, environmental protection, and preparing for economic lean times.

With gas prices rising, the city needs to look seriously at helping out alternatives to cars and making it easier to get around without one, Kalmick said.

“I’d like to see trams down Beach Boulevard,” he said. “And for another example, since gas got to $5 a gallon, everyone’s pulling their bikes out of the shed, but it’s scary to ride on Beach. There’s other streets with the same problem. And as the population ages, people aren’t going to want to drive everywhere.”

He said he was cautious about development that got rid of open space, and hoped to find another solution for the proposed Senior Center that wouldn’t take up Central Park land.

“Once you pave over something, you never get it back,” he said. “Huntington Beach is pretty well paved over. We do need a new senior center absolutely, but hopefully we can find a way not to pave over park land.”

Kalmick said one issue that upset people last year was the debate over mandatory spaying and neutering of pets, and that the council had pushed too far in its failed effort.

“I like to take a really pragmatic, rational view of things,” he said. “I want the least impact from the so-called Big Brother complex. Was the city going to go through and start knocking on people’s doors?”

Though young for a candidate, Kalmick said he wasn’t worried he could connect with older voters.

“The older generation likes to see people that understand a situation,” he said. “They look at it as, ‘OK, this person knows what they’re talking about.’ I research topics very well and like to look at it from both points of view. Before I could drive, I had businesses bringing me out to write up technology plans and consult with them, and they trusted me.”