Huntington Beach council majority signals won’t move fast toward cannabis sales

• October 6, 2023

The City Council tapped the brakes on Huntington Beach moving toward cannabis sales.

The council’s majority has rejected a $325,000 grant from the state’s Department of Cannabis Control, which would have funded expenses related to implementing a cannabis retailer licensing program. The 3-to-4 decision signals that councilmembers aren’t giving the idea blanket support.

The council’s rejection comes months after Huntington Beach voters approved taxing possible future revenue from cannabis sales.

Councilmembers Gracey Van Der Mark and Casey McKeon both said they want Huntington Beach residents to vote if they want cannabis sales in the city before taking any further steps for implementation. The council also voted to dissolve a cannabis ad-hoc committee.

“I feel we are just slowly, nose under the tent, trying to chip away at this,” McKeon said. “If we want to ask the voters if we should allow cannabis sales, let’s do that.”

Last November, Huntington Beach voters approved Measure O, which would allow the city to tax cannabis businesses if they ever became permitted. Measure O estimated the city could make between $300,000 and $600,000 a year in tax revenue to fund municipal services. It was approved with 54% of the vote.

Councilmember Dan Kalmick, who supported accepting the grant, said Huntington Beach is well down the path toward investigating if cannabis sales should be allowed and the tax revenue could shore up the city’s budget.

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About 53% of Huntington Beach voters in 2016 voted for Proposition 64, which legalized marijuana use in the state. Huntington Beach has gone so far as to create a draft ordinance last year, which would allow up to 10 retail cannabis stores in the city.

Few Orange County cities allow cannabis sales currently. Costa Mesa, Stanton and Santa Ana allow retail cannabis storefronts in their cities. Twenty-eight other cities in the county and unincorporated areas ban all cannabis business types.

​ Orange County Register 

Doors to CSUF arts events now open to all Titans

• October 6, 2023

Beginning Oct. 1, Cal State Fullerton students have complimentary access to all performances and exhibitions available through the College of the Arts. From theater and dance productions to music performances and visual arts exhibitions, Titans will be able to experience and enjoy all that CSUF Arts has to offer for free.

This unique opportunity has been made available to the student population through a collaborative effort between the College of the Arts and the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. The partnership will not only provide increased access to the arts for students, but the effort aligns with the university’s larger goal of building community across campus.

“The impetus was to create a sense of belonging for our students here at Cal State Fullerton,” said Arnold Holland, Dean of the College of the Arts. “We have historically been a commuter campus, but if you’ve been on campus in the last few years, certainly since the pandemic, you’ll see that we’ve tried very hard to make the campus a more welcoming environment for students just to be.”

Additionally, Holland acknowledged that faculty members oftentimes will ask students to attend an arts production or performance, and this opportunity will allow students to do so without the burden of having to pay for the experience.

“It didn’t feel like that was a good use of a student’s time to pay to have to see a performance for a class without necessarily the ability to enjoy the performance,” Holland said. “We want things to be more accessible for students, for sure, but we also want it to be a more welcoming and belonging environment.”

The College of the Arts serves more than 2,600 Titan students across 61 areas of concentration and is currently undergoing a $65 million visual arts modernization project that will run to the fall of 2024.

The project includes the building of new spaces as well as the renovation of existing areas. Nearly 122,000 square feet of space is under construction and will feature new classrooms, offices, digital arts computer labs and an atrium space.

The effort also includes the 15,000-square-foot Nicholas and Lee Begovich Gallery, an outward-facing building design that will bring all of the College of the Arts’ gallery spaces under one roof and provide greater visibility to both the campus and the community.

“Our visual arts department, our performing arts department and the TSU (Titan Student Union) are really right in the hub of student activity on campus,” Holland said. “We want students to be able to walk by and see what’s happening inside the College of the Arts. We want everybody to know that this is no longer what somebody once described to me as, ‘the best-kept secret for arts and culture in Orange County.’ We don’t want to be a secret anymore, not to our students and not to our community.”

Students interested in attending any of the College of the Arts events can obtain one complimentary ticket per performance by preregistering through the ticketing system website or by visiting the campus box office with their student ID.

A variety of performances and exhibitions are scheduled for this fall, including a stage production by the CSUF Department of Theatre and Dance of “A Chorus Line” from Nov. 9 – Dec. 2 at the Little Theatre, as well as “Fullerton Pops!” on Nov. 4 at Meng Concert Hall, the first pops concert of its kind for the CSUF School of Music on campus.

Holland sees this opportunity as an ongoing partnership between the College of the Arts and the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and he is looking forward to seeing the impact to the Titan community as increased access to the arts will allow students to explore, collaborate and connect.

“In any given year, the College of Arts brings in tens of thousands of people from the community to see our plays, our performances and our exhibitions,” Holland said. “I’m hoping to see that number double with the inclusion of all of our students, regardless of their major here at Cal State Fullerton. This is not just for 2023 or 2024. I’m hoping this is the way forward for Cal State Fullerton for the College of the Arts.”

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​ Orange County Register 

Dale Velzy Surf Classic and Luau turns 35 at Doheny State Beach

• October 6, 2023

The 35th annual Dale Velzy Surf Classic and Luau will hit Doheny State Beach this Saturday, Oct. 7. The fundraising event pays homage to one of surfing’s early-era icons.

The gathering will kickoff at 7:30 a.m. at the “Boneyards” surf break on the north end of the beach with a surf contest featuring about 80 participants.

“We’re really looking forward to it, it should be a great year,” said R.J. Harvey, president of the Doheny Longboard Surfing Association, which organizes the event.

One of the most popular draws is the tandem surfers who take to the water and flip and do tricks while riding the waves on the same board.

One of the biggest draws of the Velzy Surf Classic competition in Dana Point are the tandem surfers. This year’s event, now in its 35th year, will be held on Oct. 7, 2023. (File photo by Kevin Sullivan, The Orange County Register)

New this year will be a heat with the nonprofit Surf & Turf, which helps kids with disabilities get on boards at Doheny State Beach, while also providing horseback riding therapy in nearby San Juan Capistrano.

“It spreads the stoke of surfing, to see the stoke in their eyes,” Harvey said.

Weather should be summer-like for the event, hitting 80 degrees at the coast. Waves look promising, too, Harvey said.

The event is important to keep Velzy’s legacy going, Harvey said, because the board shaper who died in 2005 was a “super inspiring” persona who wasn’t just a surfer, but was also a hot rodder and cowboy who lived an eccentric lifestyle.

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Velzy is credited with having the first shop selling surfboards – a plaque marking that honor was recently approved in Manhattan Beach for outside the former shop. Later in his shaping career he worked in Dana Point and San Clemente. Velzy was inducted into the first San Clemente Boardbuilders Hall of Fame last month. 

Dale Velzy helped popularize surfing along the California coast and a plaque is being proposed for where he got his start in Manhattan Beach, said to be the first surfboard shop. (AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Chas Metivier)

“It’s important because there’s were so many interesting facets of his life,” Harvey said. “He wasn’t just a surfer or shaper, he did so many interesting things.”

Tickets to the luau, which starts at 3 p.m. will include dance performances, music and dinner, are $30. More info: dlsa.club/velzy-surf-classic/ 

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​ Orange County Register 

Corky: These guys are getting their kudos for helping shape surfing

• October 6, 2023

The 24th annual International Surfboard Builders Hall of Fame induction ceremony, party, festival and Polynesian luau will take place this year on Oct. 14.

It will be held at the Pier Plaza in Huntington Beach and entertainment begins at 8 a.m., with the induction ceremony at 10 a.m.  It is free to the public and a super fun event to go to.  All kinds of fun stuff and cool people hangin’ out.

The founders of the ISBHOF, Bob “The Greek” Bolen and Mike “Mickey the Ratt” Ester, are stoked to have one of their greatest lineups of surfboard building talent for this year’s induction.  Here is a brief rundown.

The Campbell Brothers, Malcolm and Duncan. I love these guys. Totally original and unique surfboard designers who are responsible for one of the best and most functional board designs to date: the Bonzer.

In 1970, when some of us were working on “twin-fin” shapes, these two brothers from Oxnard were thinking a bit ahead.  They could see the pluses and minuses of the two fins and were taking it farther.  What they came up with was so much more than just a three-fin board, it was a totally new bottom design that went along with the very different fin shapes and set up.

And it really worked great.

The first time I tried one, I refused to give it back to the owner, Mike Eaton.  Three months later, he snuck into my backyard in the middle of the night to get it back.  And today, I am riding a Bonzer SUP.

These dudes rock, stoked to see them get some love.

Wayne Brown, local boy makes good.  I really liked Wayne, he was one of those “stoked” kinda guys that you just felt good being around.  He did a lot of stuff.  Started out in 1967 making surfboards, which led to him also manufacturing skateboards and a shop on Main Street in Huntington Beach.

Then he began importing Piping Hot wetsuits from Australia, which led to him making a deal with Aleeda Wetsuits to manufacture here in the U.S.  He had a place in the back of his shop where he could make you a custom wetsuit and deliver it in 24 hours.

Wayne sadly passed away in 2018.

Craig Sugihara, founder and owner of Town and Country Surfboards.  Craig is one of those totally cool hard-core surfers who came up through the ranks.  He started riding a Piapo board in 1957, started surfing in 1959 under the guidance of the beach boys at Waikiki, started learning how to shape and laminate boards in 1965, built his first board in 1967, got his first surf industy job in 1968 working for George Downing at Greg Noll Surfboards doing fiberglass work, started building complete boards in 1970 for Mystic Surfboards out in Waianae and finally opening his own Town and Country surf shop in 1971 in Pearl City.

Today he has six stores, licensees all over the world and is still building surfboards.  And, the dude is a great surfer and very cool dude on top of all that.

John Kies, a San Diego surfer who began shaping boards in 1965.  Four years later he had a growing market for his shapes and began building boards in his parents’ garage – this was right at the beginning of the “underground” garage board era.

In 1972 he began shaping for Hansen’s Surfboards and then became factory manager and shaper for Koast Surfboards.  Putting himself through college on his earnings, he found that he couldn’t keep up with the demand and so he hired up-and-coming shapers Rusty Preisendorfer, Bill Shrosbree and Mike Slingerland to help him.  All became world class shapers on their own.

Related links

Corky: The Golden Era of California surfing
Corky: Swapping wipeout stories for a laugh
Corky: Debate over the style of scoring
Corky: Power surfers are a style on their own
Corky: Remembering a pioneer big-wave rider

After Koast closed, John seized the chance to open his own business, Encinitas Surfboards. And, 35 years and 24,000 boards, later John is still going and stoked that he can “actually do this for a living.”

Also on the slate to get inducted this year are Mitchell Rae of Outer Island Surfboards in Australia and Bernie Crouch from the infamous East Coast brand, Mad Dog Surfboards.

If you are free on the 14th, this will be the place to be. Super cool and groovy all the way.

ASK THE EXPERT

Q.  I understand that there are both longboards and shortboards.  What I am not sure is, at what length do they change from long to short.  Can you give me a clue on how to tell the difference?  Thank you for enlightening me.

A.  Yes, that is true … basically.  But there is more to it than that.  There are also “mid-size” and “mega models.”

The numbers I am going to give you are more-or-less a generalization.  Different people have different opinions on this, depending on their own situation and interpretation.

In my opinion it goes like this, starting at the biggest.  Mega models are 11 feet and longer.  This goes for all standard surfboard shapes, as well as “gliders” and “big wave guns.”  Traditional longboards would run in the 9-foot to 11-foot range, but would also include “mini-logs” and all other longboard type shapes that run in the 8-foot to 9-foot range.

Mid-size boards would fit into the 6-foot-6 to 8-foot range.  This would include all boards in that size.

Anything under 6-foot-6 would be a short board.  There are a wide range of shapes in that category.

On top of that, you also have SUPs.  I hope that helps you get a general understanding.

​ Orange County Register 

Santa Ana City Council moves to protect city’s rent control and eviction ordinances

• October 6, 2023

The City Council is set to make it harder in Santa Ana for future councilmembers to undo rent control and eviction protections that were put in place last year.

If ratified by a second vote of the council, it will take a supermajority, meaning five votes, of the council to make changes.

The council has also asked for a ballot measure to be written for the November 2024 election to have voters affirm the need for a supermajority threshold, which would further protect rent stabilization efforts from future council divisions.

Effective last November, the council adopted a suite of rent stabilization and “just cause” eviction ordinances that cap rent increases at 3% annually or 80% of inflation, whichever is less, as well as limits in which circumstances landlords can evict tenants. For example, the rent cap for the next 12 months was set in September at 2.54%.

Councilmember Thai Viet Phan has fought for the supermajority threshold over multiple meetings, saying it was important to keep the ordinances from being changed or removed based on changes in the city’s political tides.

A ballot measure, she said, “is the only way to make sure that whether the political winds change or the dynamics in 10, 20 years … our residents can be assured that they’re not going to be facing a $300, $400 rent increase next month when they’re income is not going to be able to afford it.”

“This matters to the people who are looking down the barrel of potentially not being able to afford the next rent increase,” she said, pointing to her own experience of needing to borrow money to afford rent. “In talking to residents, I learned more about the fact that folks don’t buy food, they don’t buy their medications because they’re trying to afford rent.”

City Attorney Sonia Carvalho said if the council were to approve a supermajority vote amendment, a future City Council could repeal it with four votes – a simple majority of its members. However, if voters decide to make the change, then only the voters could repeal it in the future.

Councilmembers Phil Bacerra and David Penaloza said having the council set a supermajority was “symbolic” and a “waste of our time” since it could be reversed by a future council. Mayor Valerie Amezcua joined them in their opposition Tuesday night.

“This is standing up and saying it is important for us to do everything that we can to support a policy that is keeping thousands of families in the city of Santa Ana from being on the precipice of homelessness,” Phan said. “This is saying we will stand up and make sure that a law that is seeking to protect tenants and residents in the city of Santa Ana is going to be as protected as possible.”

City staff estimated that a measure would cost between $279,085 and $327,742 to place on the ballot next year.

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​ Orange County Register 

San Clemente set to ban tents, closed structures on its beaches

• October 6, 2023

Tents or any structure with more than two closed sides will likely be prohibited on city beaches in San Clemente.

The City Council gave the plan unanimous support on Tuesday, Oct. 3, after months of complaints from residents and enforcement officials about a growing number of tents and other structures on the city’s beaches.

The new law, which will come back before the council on Oct. 17 for a finalizing vote, mimics rules already in place for the city’s parks, where closed-up structures are already prohibited. The purpose of the enforcement is to give the city’s code enforcement officers, park rangers and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department visibility into the tents from the exterior, officials said.

The ordinance aligns with the city’s intent of maintaining the aesthetic and recreational value of the city’s parks and beaches and makes sure the code is consistently enforced across all the public spaces, said Danielle Sorahan, the city’s code compliance manager.

Initial contacts, she said, will be educational with the intent of giving people a heads-up on the new law.

“Violations of the code can be pursued as a misdemeanor, but we will give two or three warnings before we issue a fine,” she said.

Similar rules are in place in other South County beach towns, including Laguna Beach and Newport Beach. However, Newport Beach goes even further, requiring three sides of the structure, which also can’t exceed 100 square feet or 6 feet in height, to be open. Additionally, the city requires that clustering of tents or shade structures be spaced 5 feet apart.

In Dana Point, the city does not allow tents on the beach overnight, but has no rules related to the number of sides being open or closed. This applies to all city property, including parks and the city’s beach, which is behind the Ocean Institute in Dana Point Harbor.

San Clemente Mayor Chris Duncan emphasized that families often use tents or shade structures to keep children and family members out of the sun and said he appreciated that fines in the city would only be given after efforts to educate the public on the new law.

The council’s unanimous vote to move forward follows public outcry in the last few months about more tents appearing on the beach in North Beach and near the Pier Bowl.

“It’s a good ordinance,” Councilman Rick Loeffler said. “You have discretion and make it educational. There have been people setting up camps at North Beach and we didn’t have an ordinance to address this.

“At night, our beaches close at 10 p.m. This gives us a little more bite,” he added. “If code enforcement and deputies see tents, they can address it.”

Related links

With complaints about growing homeless presence, San Clemente council looks at enforcement options
Private security patrols start in San Clemente
San Clemente pens letter to state asking for Costa Mesa property to be housing for OC’s homeless

Earlier this year, the council approved closing beaches earlier and hired a private security firm to enhance patrols around North Beach, the Pier Bowl and the downtown following the assault of three Marines in the Pier Bowl by a group of teens and in response to ongoing nuisance and public safety concerns raised by the community, including from an increase homeless presence. The council has also asked for more sheriff’s deputies to patrol in those areas.

So far, Loeffler said, presence of the private security has had a positive effect.

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​ Orange County Register 

HOA Homefront: Guidelines for all-virtual board meetings

• October 6, 2023

In 2024, Civil Code 4926 will permit 100% virtual meetings along with the current in-person and hybrid meeting formats.

Readers have submitted numerous questions since the pandemic (and explosion of virtual meetings) began regarding what is allowable for virtual meetings. Here are some ideas your board may wish to consider to modify the HOA’s meeting policies.

Who’s there: Require that participants rename themselves in the meeting to list their name and HOA address, so everyone knows who is attending the meeting.

Members only: Only HOA members (i.e. owners of homes) have the legal right to attend meetings. The rules should reiterate that to prevent someone from giving the meeting link to a tenant, Realtor®, or someone else not entitled to attend HOA board meetings.

We see you: Participants should be required to have their cameras on, which helps confirm their identity and right to attend. Also, consider banning visual displays by an attendee of anything other than the participant’s location – visual message displays, inappropriate background material, or inappropriate attire should not be permitted.

We hear you (and don’t want to): Participants should be required to mute their microphones unless they are called upon to speak. Better yet, set up the virtual meeting so that all participants are automatically muted and only the administrator/host of the meeting has the power to unmute attendees.

What you say won’t be used against you: Make it clear that virtual meetings will not be recorded and that the HOA does not consent to making recordings from the virtual broadcast. Members should not be subjected to the pressure that their comments might be recorded and potentially shared with others.

The bottom line, recordings should be not permitted. Remember, the HOA is a neighborhood, not a public agency, and the board members are not politicians but unpaid neighborhood volunteers. They shouldn’t have to be trained to choose every word deliberately – that’s what lawyers are trained to do.

No chat please: In three years of virtual or hybrid meetings I have seen some amazingly offensive statements made in the chat box of virtual platforms. I don’t know why homeowners are willing to write things in a chat box they would never say openly in a live meeting, but they do.

At the same time, homeowners in a live meeting are not allowed to just banter back and forth – so why allow it in the chat box? Consider a policy that the chat box will be disabled. Open forum should be verbal, not through chat notes.

Pardon the interruption: A policy should make it clear that, just as with a live meeting, someone violating the rules will be warned and then will be removed from the meeting.

Who you gonna call: The new statute requires that all members be notified of the person to contact with connection problems. Consider including that in the virtual meeting rules.

When the roll is called: Civil Code 4926 requires that in purely virtual meetings all board votes be by roll call vote, meaning each director verbally states their vote on each matter decided (yes, no, or abstain).

I am sure there are policies I haven’t considered – Let me know!

If your HOA pursues purely virtual board meetings, make them an asset for your community, not just a convenience.

Kelly G. Richardson, Esq. is a Fellow of the College of Community Association Lawyers and Partner of Richardson Ober LLP, a California law firm known for community association advice. Submit column questions to kelly@roattorneys.com.

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​ Orange County Register 

Cruisin’ the OC Auto Show in Anaheim

• October 6, 2023

Car enthusiasts and those in the market for a new ride were at the OC Auto Show Thursday looking at all the models that will be available in 2024.

Also at the show Thursday morning were high school and college students learning about the variety of careers available in the auto industry. The career day is part of a statewide program of the California New Car Dealers Association Foundation.

The auto show, which is presented by the Orange County Automobile Dealers Association and continues through Sunday at the Anaheim Convention Center, is a place to check out the newest features on vehicles and even the concepts of the future with no one worried about closing a sale.

As electric vehicles join the market, the auto show has added the SoCal Electrified Ride Experience in recent years. It offers a massive indoor electric vehicle test track and EV learning center.

Exotics, hybrids, traditional gas models are all on display and there are driving simulators to try out and the always popular Camp Jeep, an off-road test tracks.

General admission to the auto show is $15 – there are discounts for children, seniors and military – and you can find more information at AutoShowOC.com.

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​ Orange County Register