Former Manhattan Beach Councilman Walt Dougher guided city through turn of the century challenges
by Kevin Cody On March 3, 1999, one day after Walt Dougher was elected to the Manhattan Beach City Council, the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce asked him to serve as its interim CEO. Dougher said yes, though even he acknowledged there was an appearance, if not an actual, conflict of interest. At the time, the City funded the Chamber. But Dougher’s decision in the politically correct community elicited barely a ripple of controversy. “I will leave it to Walt’s judgement whether he thinks there is a conflict. I think he is capable of making that decision,” then Mayor Steve Napolitano said. Walt Dougher was above reproach. During the Council election, he finished first or second in each of the city’s 10 electoral districts, in a field of 11 candidates. He had served as the Chamber’s interim director two years earlier. He had also served as president of the Redondo Beach Chamber, and on the Manhattan Planning Commission, the Los Angeles County Beach and Veterans commissions, the boards of Manhattan Arts, Salvation Army, and Sister City. After leaving the council he was appointed to the Beach Cities Health District board. “I don’t know how to say n-n-n-n-o,” he told an Easy Reader…
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