Perhaps no candidate in the March 5 race for City Council has engendered a broader mix of fervent detractors and passionate supporters, but those on both sides of the spectrum tend to agree on one thing: Nobody loved serving on City Council more than Wayne Powell.
Powell served on the council from 2009 through 2017, including two stints as mayor. His service to the city began earlier, first serving on three city commissions, two city planning committees, Leadership Manhattan, and as a volunteer for various local organizations, including the Manhattan Beach Community Police Academy, Neighborhood Watch, and in leadership roles for Citizens Emergency Response Team, the MB Coordinating Council and the MB Historical Society. By the time he first ran for council in 2009, he could already list two dozen community organizations he’d served.
“I love serving our residents,” Powell said. “I’ve been a 20 plus year community volunteer. At one of the candidate forums, somebody said that I was a career politician. I actually resent that. Some people have told me over the years, ‘You are an outstanding politician,’ and they mean it in a good way, because of all the things I’ve done for the community and all the events and organizations I volunteer for or serve on their boards. The thing is, I always correct them. ‘Okay, substitute for the word politician, community volunteer, because that is what I have done over the years.’”
Powell said he was recently asked about the source of his service ethos. He had to think back to his childhood in Palos Verdes, he said, to his days as a Boy Scout and Eagle Scout.
“The Scout motto is ‘Be Prepared,’ and of course, ‘Do a good turn daily,’” Powell said. “It’s always been about giving back to the community. For me, it’s all about community, and that’s why I’m running, and why I ran originally.”
Professionally, Powell comes from an accounting background. He earned a B.S. degree in business administration in accounting/finance from Cal State University Long Beach before embarking on a three-decade career in accounting. He began at Arthur Andersen, where he worked four years and was offered and accepted a job as financial controller with CFI Consolidated Film Industries, where he would spend the next eight years. He spent the rest of his career working as a controller and Chief Financial Officer in the entertainment industry, with stints at Universal Music and Video Distribution, Delta Music/LaserLight, and Editel Video.
“It was always progressive promotions,” Powell said. “I think I averaged probably 7 to 8 years with each firm. What you do is you are a controller, and sometimes you have an opportunity within the company to be promoted to CFO. Most of the time, you get an offer through another company, which was my case.”
Though he does not call it his career, by far the proudest chapter in his life has been Powell’s time as a councilperson, and particularly his two stints as mayor. The hallmark of his mayoral service was community engagement. Powell held various town hall meetings and instituted a bi-weekly “Mayor’s Walk and Talk” with residents.
“People would talk about things they didn’t want to say in public, and I learned a lot from that,” he said. “It’s all about reaching out to our residents, and having them involved.”
In fact, his first initiative on the council was to have public comment on non-agenda items moved to the forefront of the meeting.
“It was so people wouldn’t have to wait four to six or even eight hours to be able to speak about things that were not on the agenda, and those were very important because usually, those are concerns that people have about the city,” Powell said. “To me, public input is one of the most important things we can have. It falls under the category of open, inclusive, and transparent government.”
Given his accounting background, Powell also took pride in the fiscal management he brought to the council, noting that Manhattan Beach was one of two cities in the state that earned the vaunted AAA financial rating during his eight years on the dais.
“When I was on city council, I would look to our residents for things they wanted to see or things they didn’t want to see,” he said. “They didn’t want to see flashy gimmicks. Of course, they didn’t want to see any wasteful spending…. It’s all about quality of life, public safety, transparency, and fiscal responsibility. Those are the highlights of my prior service, and those are my priorities if I were to get reelected.”
His platform includes maintaining and better enforcing the ban on short-term rentals enacted by council in 2015. He believes software exists now that will better enable the city to enforce that ban.
“When somebody is doing short-term rentals, their house becomes a hotel, and hotels don’t belong in residential neighborhoods,” Powell said.
Regarding public safety, Powell proposes the hiring of two new police officers who would focus on foot and bike patrol in areas subject to a lot of crime. He also opposes contracting fire services to LA County.
“Our firefighters are the best of the best, just like our police officers,” he said. “If there is a slight savings, that’s not important. What is important is response times and quality of service. I’ve heard this over and over from residents.”
Powell, who has been walking the city exhaustively during his campaign and proposes continuing with precinct walks if he is elected, said another issue residents are adamant about is reopening City Hall on Fridays. He said he opposed that work schedule in the minority of a 3-2 vote while on council and intends to revisit the matter.
“Government is a service industry, and I believe that is a disservice,” he said.
Powell’s supporters emphasize his experience and community ethos. Jan Dennis, a former mayor and council person, said that most of the other candidates lack actual civic experience, such as commission work, that she believes is essential to serving effectively.
“I think Wayne Powell has certainly got the experience and certainly got the knowledge,” Dennis said. “I think he always looked out for residents, and I think he’ll continue to do that.”
Former MBUSD school board member Tracey Windes calls Powell the most dedicated community volunteer she has ever seen. Even after 20 years of knowing him, she’s still astonished at how ubiquitous Powell is, running into him at everything from a senior citizens gathering to an elementary school PTA meeting.
“There is not an event at this town that Wayne is not at,” Windes said. “He truly embodies kind, caring leadership we need in this community. He cares at such a level…. He shows up at a PTA meeting just to understand what’s going on, and he’s not even an elected official. It’s just Wayne…. His entire life is this community, more than anyone I have ever known. Because he’s a quiet leader, I think sometimes he is overlooked.”
“When you see a movie there’s always the good guy — not the superman, but the good guy. Wayne is the good guy. You can count on him to know what is going on.”
