Under Friday’s crescent moon, Manhattan Beach Mayor Pro Tem Montgomery was officially named president of the Independent Cities Association (ICA) at the organization’s installation dinner, held in the city’s upper pier parking lot.
Montgomery is the fourth Manhattan Beach official to hold the position.
“The goal of the ICA is to educate elected officials and residents on concerns that affect local government,” Montgomery said. “To let them know why it’s important to stop Sacramento from taking money away from local governments, particularly as related to police, fire and public works projects.”
Manhattan Beach was one of 22 cities in 1961 that started ICA, a regional consortium of elected officials from cities that provide their own police and fire departments, instead of contracting services out to larger municipalities.
The organization has since grown to include 48 cities in the Los Angeles area — including Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance and L.A. — representing the interests of roughly 7 million Californians living in member cities. ICA aims to enhance local governments by advocating for cities on shared issues.
“Especially now with the economy and what’s happening in Sacramento, it’s important to stand together and try to keep costs down,” Montgomery said. “Small cities don’t have the power lobbyists that large cities have. People are realizing it’s much better to work together than alone.”
Montgomery — who formerly served as an ICA vice president — was nominated by a 13-member Board of Directors to the position in June and was approved in July.
“[Montgomery’s] enthusiasm and determination will make ICA even more effective and really produce some results,” said former El Segundo mayor and former ICA president, Kelly McDowell. “Everybody knows he’s a hard-working guy who gets things done. Plus this could be a tough year legislatively for cities.”
Manhattan Beach’s Mayor Mitch Ward and City Councilmembers Portia Cohen, Wayne Powell and Nick Tell were among Friday’s 188 guests, which included 42 elected officials.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe gave a brief speech, calling Manhattan Beach “the dark green city,” after environmentally-conscious LED lights burned out early in the evening.
“It was a great show of support,” Montgomery said. “I asked them all to attend and I consider it an honor that they did. It gave us a chance to show what Manhattan Beach has to offer.”
One of Montgomery’s goals is to work more closely with non-member cities that do not have their own police and fire departments, such as Rolling Hills.
“[The board] wanted someone to lead next year who would make sure we work better with our sister contract cities and protect Sacramento from raiding our funds,” Montgomery said.
The roughly $5,000 cost of the installation dinner — including parking meter fees and two parking patrol officers — will be reimbursed to the city by ICA, according to interim city manager Richard Thompson.
Event sponsors included Southern California Edison, Southern California Gas Company, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Chevron.
“The city didn’t spend a dime,” Montgomery said.
After Knabe’s speech, outgoing ICA president Peter Yao of Claremont handed the gavel to Montgomery.
“And I took over from there,” Montgomery said. ER
