ELECTION 2022 – Council candidates discuss public safety, divisiveness
by Mark McDermott
The seven candidates vying for two seats on the Manhattan Beach City Council met at the election’s first forum last week, and staked out positions on issues ranging from how to improve public safety to the political divisiveness some believe is growing within the community. More pronouncedly, the candidates laid claim to experience that each argued best served as preparation to serve their fellow residents.
Only one incumbent, Suzanne Hadley, is on the ballot for the November 8 election, but three other candidates have previously served on the council — Amy Howorth, and David Lesser served concurrently from 2011 to 2019, while Mark Burton served a single term from 2013 to 2017.
Stewart Fournier is running for elected office for the first time, but has been a fixture on City commissions, and as a community volunteer for decades. Rita Crabtree-Kampe is a political newcomer best known for co-founding and operating MB Safe, a non-profit focused on reducing homelessness locally. Frank Chiella likewise is running for local elected office for the first time, but spent 35 years in public service as a firefighter, including as a Manhattan Beach Fire Department battalion chief.
At the forum, which was hosted moderated by t MB Chamber of Commerce CEO David Archer, and took place on September 27 at the Mira Costa High School auditorium, all the candidates emphasized their backgrounds and priorities. Each also emphasized the importance of public safety.
Hadley, who was elected in 2019, said that she was the only candidate who’d both earned an MBA, and run her own brick and mortar retail business. She stressed protecting small businesses as one of her four priorities. But she particularly stressed public safety, saying that she is mother of four, “a mama bear,” who thinks foremost of the safety of her family and community.
“I’m running on public safety. That’s job number one,” Hadley said. “I want to fund and support our police and I want to grow and expand our fire department….I’m running on spending. I voted against the city budget this summer that added 11 new positions and 11 new pensions. I’m frugal with your money as a taxpayer. I’ll watch out for you.…Finally, I’m running on strength. It’s hard to be on council and it’s hard to take difficult votes. I believe in democracy. I believe in lively debate, and I know some people don’t. But I was a No on HighRose. I will serve, and discuss, and vote as I see fit, and I will take the consequences.”
Howorth touted her two terms on both the MBUSD school board and on City Council as vital experience she would bring to bear if elected.
“I have 16 years of balanced budgets under my belt,” she said. “And guess what? I had student achievement soaring during my time on the school board, and residents satisfaction very high and public safety very high during my term on the city council. I believe in public safety, supporting police and fire, but also safe schools…We need to get things done again. We need to build a new pool. We need to finish that community center and build our fire department building [Station #2]. I can do that. I’ve collaborated with my colleagues on the council, as well as county supervisors and elected state officials. It takes all of us to make it happen for all of you.”
Lesser likewise spoke of his experience as a councilperson and mayor, and several times throughout the evening pointed to a long list of what was accomplished during his two terms, which he said happened in part through the collegial, problem-solving ethos that prevailed in the councils on which he served. That has changed, Lesser said, since he left council four years ago.
“Our community, like the rest of our country, has had so much divisiveness,” Lesser said. “It has made me frustrated. I was not planning to run again for city council. You’re hearing all of this experience — I was happy to rest on what I accomplished, but I just don’t see enough collaboration and an effort at really figuring out where there are compromises and how we advocate together on behalf of our community. Look at my record as being your mayor twice, council for eight years and on the planning commission for six years. We got a lot done for the community, [such as] building our library, fighting crazy measures like the road diet on Vista del Mar, hiring more engineers to get our long delayed infrastructure projects built. But that was then. What would I stand for today? It actually is supporting public safety. Our city budget pays for our police department. So to the extent we’re not arriving at a consensus as a shared vision for our city, I think that’s bad for us.”
Crabtree-Kampe acknowledged her lack of experience in public settings — such as the forum itself — but said she was prepared to do the work necessary to be a good council member. She said her familiarity with MBPD would help her tackle her “number one” issue, public safety, including the racist graffiti that has repeatedly appeared on school campuses.
“The ‘talk the talk’ has been a little tough for me tonight,” she said. “But I can walk the walk. I get out there every day in our community, and with my 501(c)3 that I co-founded, I do homeless outreach. So I’m in the community and educating the business owners to understand best practices on how to address homelessness. I’m a fresh voice, a new perspective…I will take the experience that I have working with the police department, and collaborative work I’ve done with Harbor Interfaith [on homeless outreach] and other agencies. I want to work with the school board to identify how to make our campuses safeer so we can push back on these hate crimes.”
Fournier said he had the most experience working with the police department, having served 13 years working directly with MBPD. He repeatedly made the case that his combination of private sector, volunteer, and commission experience — including the planning commission, the only body other than the council in the City with decision-making authority — has given him the best resume for council among all the candidates. But he said the main reason he is running is what he has witnessed on council over the last four years. Much of what followed seemed aimed at Hadley and her often controversial public critiques of the county health department and school district, particularly during the pandemic.
“What’s the most important thing facing Manhattan Beach? The answer for me is the divisiveness, divisiveness that I have seen more so now than [at any time] in my 45 years as a resident, in my 40 years as a public official, as a volunteer, as a husband, and a father. That’s what concerns me. And I basically come up with four good reasons to promote what I will do to help change that. Number one, I will not entertain any motions, or bring subjects of partisan politics to the dais. Number two, I will not question or let the city become an object for unlawful processes relative to our health department and community development department or any other city function. Number three, I will seek our traditional, friendly, collaborative, and transparent partnerships with our school district, the county health department, and all other government entities. In addition, I will respect the will of the voters who elected these school officials. The last one, I will adhere to the rules…incumbent on the dignity of a councilperson.”
Burton, who was even given credit by other candidates for the license plate reader technology he successfully pushed for on behalf of MBPD while previously serving, touted both that service and his three decades working as counsel for the City of Los Angeles.
“I am the public safety candidate needed on council,” Burton said. “I say that because of my experience. I was a misdemeanor prosecutor prosecuting thousands of cases. I defended police officers in state and federal court, dealing with experts in policing. I was General Counsel of the LAPD when [police commissioner] Rick Caruso drove crime down, and General Counsel at the airport police…I sponsored the automated license plate security camera program, even though the chief wasn’t in favor. So I have ideas, and it’s more police. More police equals less crime. We need more police officers who can have regular foot patrols downtown, the North End, El Porto, and at the mall. We need more patrol officers in our neighborhoods. That’s the way you drive down crime…The presence of a police officer is the number one deterrent to crime, so we need more police officers. We’ve been at 65 officers for the last 20 years. That is a force for yesterday’s crime. Over the next three to five years we need to ramp up to 80 police officers.”
Chiella also emphasized public safety throughout the night. He argued that not only the police but also the fire department need more personnel. He cited his own three decades working for MBFD as critical experience, giving him unique knowledge not only of public safety, but the city itself. His entire working life, he said, has been about public service — meaning his qualifications were less about himself and more about whom he knows how to serve.
“This election is all about you,” Chiella said. “I’ve served you for 35 years on the Manhattan Beach Fire Department as a firefighter paramedic. Seven years ago I retired from the fire department as a battalion chief. Since my retirement, I have continued serving you as a leader of our Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT. For over 50 years I have provided public service to the communities I live and work in. This also included serving two terms in public office in Ventura County. Now is the time for me to continue that service and leadership to you as a city council member. I will be frank with you. I will ensure the city has adequate resources necessary to keep you and your family safe. I will listen to you with respect and integrity. I will hold myself, and the city, accountable to you.” ER