In his relatively short time in Manhattan Beach, Joseph Ungoco has gotten more deeply involved in city affairs than many ever will. He regularly attends City Council meetings, as well as those of the city’s various boards and commissions. He is part of the Manhattan Beach Residents Association, Neighborhood Watch and other community groups.
For the most part, Ungoco has been pleasantly surprised with the way he has been embraced by a community he initially worried would be insular and closed-off. But Ungoco has still not been able to shake the “New Kid” label. When it comes to his pursuit of a City Council seat, he said, otherwise friendly community members have told him to “pipe down, shut up and wait your turn.”
The comment does not seem to have gotten to him. Perhaps because of his newness, his answers to questions at candidate debates are more about policies, and less about himself, than any other candidate. It’s an optimistic campaign, the results of which he said are not likely to change his level of civic engagement.
“Whether I am at the dais or at the podium is up to the voters. But either way, I’ll be there,” Ungoco said.
Ungoco is one of eight candidates seeking three seats on the City Council in the upcoming March election. He embodies some of the difficult-to-reconcile aspects of a Manhattan Beach that puts a premium on tradition, but where 60 percent of the residences have turned over since 2000. He is a member of the Manhattan Beach Conservancy with a taste for mid-century modern homes, but a defender of private property rights. And though roughly two decades of experience in politics have given him a healthy respect for the accumulation of institutional knowledge, he sees an opening among the candidates for his communications-oriented skill set.
He has knocked on about 3,000 doors in the course of his campaign. And in his extensive outreach, he has noticed trends that may explain some of the shortcomings of Manhattan’s political process. While he finds residents to be actively engaged, he said there is sometimes a disconnect between advocacy groups and the impact of a policy on a specific neighborhood, a problem that the existing council does not do enough to correct.
“The city is kind of falling down on that job. Rumors spread and nobody bothers to correct them,” Ungoco said. “Other candidates don’t have the digital footprint. And to be a next generation city, that is how we have to do it.”
Michele Murphy got to know Ungoco through his work with the Manhattan Beach Residents Association, of which she serves as president. (Murphy is backing Ungoco’s candidacy personally, not as head of the association.) She said she has been impressed with his contributions to the group’s work, including writing periodic articles for the group’s newsletter.
“We’re mostly old people who appreciate his enthusiasm and energy,” Murphy said.
In his relatively short time here, Ungoco has managed to internalize the association’s focus on small-town character. Murphy attributes his quick understanding to lifelong civic engagement.
“Most people who get on council are not politically active till they get there. Joseph has told me he’s been politically active since [he was] a little kid,” Murphy said.
Among the projects Ungoco has worked on are the rollout of the Massachusetts state health care plan under then-Governor Mitt Romney, and a seatbelt campaign from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. He was also deeply involved in David Hadley’s successful 2014 campaign for a state assembly seat.
Prior to this, Ungoco went to work for a consulting firm handling government projects. His time there has tempered his attitude about the use of consultants on city projects. The use of consultants has become a favored punching bag for other council candidates, who largely favor replacing them with commissions staffed by (unpaid) residents.
“I’m not sure that’s always realistic. Individual staff members have the capacity to handle some of this, but right now their job is to manage the consultants. Some of that can be reined in,” he said.
It is emblematic of Ungoco’s willingness to buck conventional wisdom. He is less eager, for example, to embrace the tough-on-crime posture of other candidates that has translated into calls for hiring additional police officers. And he thinks that lower-profile boards and commissions have been neglected to the city’s detriment.
“Lots of people are frustrated with the inability of commissions to get things done — that the relationship between council and the commissions is broken,” he said.
