MB Candidates Around Town
A Frank conversation on the Strand, Coffee with Candidates, and Forums
MB Residents,
To best serve you this election season, we will be posting relative election articles and public announcements on where you can meet the candidates to ask them questions before you cast your vote.
You have 2 votes for City Council and 3 votes for School Board.
Ballots arrive by mail in mid-October.
All candidates can submit to us a notice of a public event for publishing. If you wish for us to attend and report on a private or public event, please contact us at MBStrong2021@gmail.com.
A listing of candidate contact information along with excerpts from previous reports on candidates who made our newsletters these past 18 months are in our Candidate Line-Up edition [HERE].
Disclaimer: MBStrong provides a free, informative Newsletter on issues that most impact our beach city and is available to all. We are not a political group or a campaign arm for candidates, measures, or bonds. We have not endorsed any candidate. We do not collect or spend money on elections and we follow guidance from our attorney to comply with the rules and regulations of the Political Reform Act.
~MBStrong
Frank Chiella speaks to voters on the Strand
Long-time MB residents Ned Momary and Rosalie Devine hosted an event last Saturday, Sept. 10, for City Council Candidate, Frank Chiella, at their beautiful home on the Strand.
Ned Momary, a retired Manhattan Beach pediatric dentist of 45 years, is no stranger to speaking up on issues that affect our city. He often places ads in the Beach Reporter on issues he believes residents should support or reject, and now he’s endorsing Frank for City Council.
“I am endorsing Frank Chiella for City Council for many reasons. First, I think we need a new voice in our Council who is not politically motivated but has the interests of our town and will work for the benefit of our citizens and our community,” stated Momary.
“Second, he has vast experience in city government in Manhattan Beach and elsewhere. Third, he is a shining example of integrity. With Frank, you will know where he stands on the issues. Lastly, he will demand accountability for all branches of our city government. We need a fresh face in our city who works for us.”
Saturday night’s event hosted many residents from surrounding Strand and sand section homes. Some of the guests included residents actively fighting against the HighRose project, parents with children in the School District who are unhappy with its current leadership, former MB Mayor Wayne Powell, Joshua Scott from Fix California, and 2 School Board candidates Christy Barnes and Mike Welsh.
After talking one-on-one with guests, Frank opened the gathering by acknowledging certain people in the room, including the 2 School Board candidates, “Before I give my remarks, I want to invite Christy and Mike up to speak. Our School Board has to change direction, and I hope you all will join me in supporting them for a win in November.”
Christy Barnes and Mike Welsh spoke for a few minutes about why they are running together, along with Johnny U, who was unable to attend. The three are running as the “Trifecta.”
Frank began his remarks, “I am running for Council because, like you, I see a need for someone to stand up for our city and do what’s right for Manhattan Beach. I’m a long-time resident, have been in public service for over 35 years, worked for the city in the MB Fire Department for decades, retired as your Battalion Chief, and currently serving as the Director of our city’s CERT (community emergency response team) program. I’m frustrated with many of the decisions coming from Council that have not been in the best interest of our community or city.”
“I want to see Council provide real solutions to the problems we are facing. Instead, I’m seeing a lot of politics, which does nothing to serve our community, in fact, politics only serves the County, State, or self-interests.”
Frank spoke of his time serving 2 terms as a Director on the Channel Islands Beach Community Services District in Ventura County from 1990 to 1998. “The main issue at the time was solving the water shortage problems in the most cost-effective way for the growing beach cities in Ventura. I lead a team in developing a desalination plant for the area and went to DC to appeal for funding. There I met other leaders like Sonny Bono who was representing Palm Springs at the time and also trying to address their water challenges. The capital needed for our program was $26 million, but we secured a Congressional appropriation that brought our cost down to $6.6 million. The plant went into production in 1998.”
Frank transitioned to three current problems we are facing in Manhattan Beach. “Development projects like HighRose are not going away. Developers circumventing our zoning laws by including a minimal number of low-incoming housing in their project is not addressing the housing issue, it only benefits the developer. We need to control where and how these projects will be built in our city, with the added benefits for our community put first.”
“The city’s human resources department is not filling vacant positions in the police and fire departments in a reasonable period of time. These vacant positions must be filled in a timely manner to maintain a high level of public safety. We need to increase hiring bonuses for Police to attract experienced Officers from other cities. Trying to hire out of the Police Academy, only to find the candidate washes out after months of our invested time, is not an effective solution. We need to make filling vacant public safety positions a top hiring priority.”
“We also need to examine the excessive overtime in the police and fire departments and put that money towards filling more positions and delivering increased public safety services to our community.”
After Frank’s closing remarks, guests continued to mingle and ask him questions one-on-one, which he answered well into the evening.
Guests shared their views after listening to Frank. “My husband and I are looking for an honorable statesman, one that is truly for, and of the people. We believe Frank will honestly represent OUR voices ALL the time. He has our vote,” the Adzich family.
For further information on Frank and his list of events: votefrank4mb.com/items
~MBStrong
If any candidate would like us to report on a campaign event, we can be reached at MBStrong2021@gmail.com.
Three Candidates for School Board Have Coffee with Voters
The first of many “Coffee with the Candidates” was held Wednesday morning, September 7, at our local 900 Club in Manhattan Beach. A modest audience of a dozen curious voters came to meet the three new candidates for School Board who bill themselves as ”The Trifecta” - Johnny Uriostegui (Johnny U), Christy Barnes, and Mike Welsh.
The three candidates are running as a group, each promising to bring their unique skill sets to the task of more effectively managing our public schools, a topic that was brought to the forefront of voters’ minds during the recent Covid lockdowns and the Measure A debate.
Their collective statement says:
“This Trifecta is committed to getting back to the basics, being financially responsible, maintaining full transparency, bringing MB kids back to the District, and reopening the lines of communication between the schools, parents, and teachers.”
This morning meeting was the candidates’ first chance to present themselves as a group and to demonstrate how each would solve the problems of what they perceive to be budget mismanagement, loss of educational focus, and a disconnect between school administrators and parents.
Christy stated she was motivated to become involved when Measure A was hotly contested. She says it revealed dysfunction in budgetary analysis among Board members who were only interested in a revenue solution, without a hard enough look at spending. As a parent, she is also frustrated that the Board’s lofty goal of teaching to the “whole child” has not resulted in any meaningful results.
Johnny mentioned the declining enrollment over the last 10 years and the fact that our schools are currently populated by only 74% of school-aged local children, down from 92%. He says it is the role of an effective school board to attract those students back. He also told the voters he sees the need for a more robust management of the budget when considering solutions for a reasonable replacement for our current parcel tax.
Mike Welsh stated that when it comes to the budget, he is a proponent of involving teachers in discussions about what is needed for their individual classrooms and departments. Citing examples of parents who question ideology creeping into their children’s classrooms, he says the objective of any effective public school is to teach students “how” to think, not “what” to think. He wants to fix the broken parent-district link.
All three candidates agreed that their first priority if elected, would be to address the Board Goals, which have not been revised in almost 10 years, and come up with realistic goals that meet the needs of students and parents, with measurable results.
Several more “Coffee with the Candidates” meet and greets are scheduled at the 900 Club (900 Manhattan Avenue) throughout the campaign season. These campaign-sponsored events will be held on Wednesdays from 9:00-10:00 a.m.
September 28, October 12, 19, and 26, and November 2 and 8 (Election
Day). This is an open public event. All are welcome, no RSVPs necessary.
For further information on the Trifecta: trifecta4MBUSD@gmail.com
~by MBStrong
If a candidate would like us to report on a campaign event, we can be reached at MBStrong2021@gmail.com.
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Candidate Forums -
Candidate Forums will be held this election season to give voters an opportunity to hear candidates field a variety of questions from moderators.
Forums promote interaction with the candidates, so take the opportunity to attend, bring your questions, and gather as much information as you can to make an informed voting decision. You have 2 votes for City Council and 3 votes for School Board.
As we receive information on the Forums, we will publish it in this section under Public Announcements. Stay tuned.
About MBStrong…
Our subscribers are MB residents from moderate Democrats to conservative Republicans. We have over 5600 readers. MBStrong2021@gmail.com
Add MBStrong.substack.com to your email contact list to keep our emails out of your spam folder!