I have enjoyed serving Whittier residents as an elected official over the last 12 years.  I retired from my "night job" on the Whittier, California  City Council in April 2004 after being a Councilman, Mayor Pro tem and Mayor to spend more time with my cars, (oops, I meant family!)  I decided to retire from the council while I still have all of my hair and most of my teeth. 

It has been an honor to serve the Whittier community in a way that, hopefully, provided a voice for those who felt they did not have one with the existing political leadership.  As a guy who literally grew up on "the other side of the tracks" in Whittier, it has been rewarding to represent the "under-represented" on the diverse issues that confront our local government.  My goal all along has been to be an approachable "Man of the people" and the "facilitator guy" on the city council in order to fix those things in our community that are broken and address the issues that get ignored.      

I am now blessed with many strong friendships in our community of 87,000 residents, many of which started from meeting thousands of neighbors by knocking on many doors through three campaigns.  When I was told that it would be good to knock on as many doors as possible, they forgot to tell me when to stop.  I bugged people in beauty shops and dentist offices to vote for me in the 1992 election.  It was probably not too sharp of an idea. 

It has been an honor to be referred to as the "Neighborhood-supporter guy" or as an "activist who got elected", (not a politician!) based on meeting those residents at their door.   

What has been especially enjoyable has been the opportunity to help our citizens when they have a problem.  I have been part of the council team that has worked on slowing down cars in residential zones, buying the Whittier Hills, attracting a bookstore to Whittier and attempting to build a new police station and library.  Although future councils will take credit for accomplishing our goals, it's OK since "success has many fathers".

My family has a very special view of things as we drive around town.  They know the "inside scoop" on how our bigger projects were sometimes pushed through despite opposition.  Success stories like creating Lee Owens Park out of an old motorcycle shop and car dealership, the Greenleaf Avenue beautification project, the Whittier Cinema theatres, the Greenway Trail and of course, saving the Whittier Hills from greedy oil company developers are very special to us.   With Councilman Bob Henderson leading the charge, we were successful at turning a hostile corporation into willing sellers of their land! 

One problem, though, is that being in the public spotlight tends to exaggerate both a person's strengths and weaknesses.  I hope that my weaknesses are quickly forgotten and that the goals we accomplished together are remembered for a long time.     

On this page, I will list some accomplishments that we made together, but I am also proud of being a driving force (or royal pain, depending on your view!) behind these items getting visibility on the agenda of our community.  I hope our present city council has the "spark" to ignite the air/fuel mixture of Great Ideas and then implement them.  Leadership with ideas, vision, and the ability to implement changes is a rarity in local governments.  It is always easier to shoot down good ideas than to propose your own solutions.  The typical political path is to lie low, take no risks and hope for the best near re-election time.  Too many very talented people do not run for office due to the "grief factor" that goes with the job, but it is still a good idea to see more people put themselves out there and run for office for the right reasons.       

Police Department- Although terribly risky politically, helped lead the effort for Whittier P.D. to become the police force for the city of Santa Fe Springs instead of the Sheriffs Department.  Encouraged our community to support building a new police station.  Consistently supported having our P.D. in the upper quartile of pay.

Strongly supported a program to provide officers $10,000 to buy a home in Whittier.

Library/Police Station - Actively supported the putting the question of building a new public library and police station to a vote of the people.  (The present Council needs to "Git 'er done!)

Bookstore- As your Mayor, formed the Mayor's Bookstore Taskforce in order to attract a full-service bookstore to Whittier.  We gathered 3,700 signatures on a petition in favor of attracting a full-service bookstore coming to Whittier and did it in only 60 days with our hard working Taskforce despite tepid support from others. We then presented our petitions to the top 6 bookstore chain stores.  It is up to the new Council to follow through and make this happen! 

Greenleaf Ave. Redevelopment Area.  Starting in April 1992 without the support of any elected folks or the staff, led the fight to get the bumpy tar-stripped concrete street paved, trees planted, curbs and sidewalks fixed, sprinklers installed on Greenleaf from Penn to Whittier Blvd. and did it without any assessment to the business community there. Later, the "historic" and cavernous dip was removed at Greenleaf where it meets Whittier Blvd. 

Depot- Supported the saving of the Whittier Union Pacific Depot (even though we had no idea what to re-use it for at the time).  It is now relocated onto Greenleaf Ave. and is our transportation center and museum.

Before running for office, became a charter member of the Hispanic Outreach Taskforce in order to provide more support to all of our community.

Aera Project - Supported a major investment of oil company wildlife mitigation funds for an information campaign to oppose severing the Wildlife corridor that stretches from Whittier to Brea and Yorba Linda.  (This fight ain't over, folks).

From 1992 to about 1995 successfully downzoned most of Uptown to make it more of a single-family home area, not apartments.

Lee Owens Park - In 1992, approached the owner of abandoned buildings on Greenleaf in an effort to get the blighted structures knocked down or improved.  Eventually, the Council was able to create a park there.  We named it after community leader Lee Owens while he was still with us and could enjoy the honor.    

Traffic Calming - Even though it was extremely controversial, worked with Mar Vista area residents to develop and implement a plan to lower the speed of cut-through regional traffic.  Then went on to address traffic problems on Orange Grove Dr, Palm Ave, Beverly Fountain area, Ocean View, Janine Dr and La Serna Ave.  We side-striped Russell, First Ave, Scott Ave and others.(Check out www.walkable.org and www.lgc.org for Traffic Calming info.)  Unfortunately, most of the  present Council has lost the political will to address this problem even though over 30 neighborhoods have requested help with speeding cars.  Despite Councilman Owen Newcomer's best efforts, the present Council has gutted the Traffic Calming funding but left a shell of the  traffic calming process in place to keep the appearance of "caring" about the issue while at the same time ensuring that no traffic mitigation projects ever get built.      

Bike Lanes - Set a policy in place that would side-stripe all arterial streets to make bicycling safer and visually narrow certain streets that are infamous for speeding cars, thus reducing the average speed

Initiated a Police bike patrol in Uptown Whittier in 1993 with the support of Councilman Michael Sullens. 

Hoover Hotel - Supported renovation of the hotel for use by senior citizens as part of a $7.3 million project funded from 8 different sources.  We have won 4 prestigious awards for the project but would not have accomplished anything without the late, (and dear) Ann Ybarra as project manager.

Whittier Hills - Worked with the Friends of the Hills and the Whittier Conservancy to buy thousands of acres of open space in the Puente Hills in spite of a Chevron secretly dumping $40,000 into the 1992 election in favor of my opponents.  We turned our opponents into willing sellers!  Check out www.hillsforeveryone.org      

Whittier Greenway Trail - Over a 14 year period, envisioned, invented and implemented a Rails-To-Trails conversion of the abandoned Union Pacific Railroad line into a multi-use bike/walking/jogging/rollerblading/handicap accessible 5.1 mile long trail that connects schools and businesses across our town. The bridges over Norwalk Bl, Pickering and Whittier Blvd. will be used for the trail. The $12 million project (including $5 million in construction costs) will commence soon.  Soon, when we are waiting at the 5 points intersection for the light to change, we will see kids, joggers, senior citizens, wheelchair users and rollerbladers traversing OVER the pedestrian-unfriendly intersection!  This regional multi-use 12 foot wide pathway will be acessible to all non-motorized uses and provide a safe way to school for hundreds of our children.

Supported the installation of a methane gas pipeline from the Penn St. landfill all the way to Presbyterian Hospital in order to lower their energy bill and recycle methane gas in an environmentally safe manner.

Although it upset some people, I opposed the wholesale "soup kitchen" feeding of all homeless folks at  the facility on Whittier Blvd.  When a comprehensive program for homeless people who wanted help (Tough love?) was established, supported the building & operation of the facility.    

Meeting of the Minds and Hearts - As the Mayor of Whittier when the terrorist activity of 9/11 occurred, I called together all church leaders, counselors, psychologists and mental health professionals in order to address the fear and stress that was permeating our children and families.  While many elected folks said, "Well, what can we do?" and in the end did nothing, we built an email / phone / and contact list network to more effectively coordinate our efforts at helping others on a personal level.

The redevelopment of 7 miles of Whittier Blvd. and the Whittwood Mall is finally happening after much planning.  As Mayor, I was pleased to introduce Michael Freedman, an excellent urban planner and architect, to our business community.  We had a series of workshops with standing room only (and no breaks!) as Michael explained a new vision of what we could see along the vital Whittier Blvd corridor.  Hopefully, we have influenced future city councils to follow through with the implementation of our plans.   

Let's not forget the crowds of both young and old Whittier residents who spontaniously appeared on street corners waving American flags and signs in the evenings after 9/11/01.  Together we all cheered for our country while we also acknowledged that we would never be the same and that we were now entering a new era of unthinkable, insane terrorism. 

Initiatives as Mayor: Publicly recognized all new Eagle Scouts, initiated a "Whittier Beautiful" award, supported Traffic Calming in numerous neighborhoods, helped start the Whittier Uptown Hot Rod Show, established the Mayor's Bookstore Taskforce,  sent a congratulatory letter to everyone having a 50th wedding anniversary or more, initiated "Madi Comfort Day" in honor of Duke Ellington's "Satin Doll", Whittier resident Madi Comfort, (who has sadly passed away).  Produced "Whittier California" logo sweatshirts and sold them at cost to enhance pride in our community.