JFTB becomes a political battleground

As goes the nation, goes Southern California, at least in a chaotic and topsy-turvy start and finish to the year 2025. While there were many changes and big stories during the year, the biggest was the unexpected buildup at Joint Forces Training Base, which brought out protestors and drew thousands of service members to Los Alamitos. 

The federalization of the base in early June saw a troop infusion and infrastructure buildup at the base, creating temporary quarters and on-base training that was perhaps not seen since the base was a major installation during World War II. 

Even before that, in May, the base saw the state’s highest National Guard Commander and a host of state and local officials gather to honor former Congresswoman Grace Napalitano for her work in the consistent support of the base and the Sunburst Academy while a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. 

With little warning, the Trump administration announced its federalization of the base, ordering thousands of National Guard service members to report for duty on the streets of L.A., immediately drawing a protest from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who traditionally controls the Guard. 

Lt. Col. Dan Fox, then commander of the base, began directing traffic as units rolled in, including ICE, as tents as large as football fields began popping up on spare ground inside the 2-acre federal property. 

Protests erupted as well, with the largest occurring in July as locals reminded members of the Guard that they were not compelled to follow unlawful orders. This subject later became, and still is, a hot topic around the nation. 

Following three months of a closed period of federalization, Fox announced they would begin decommissioning members of the Guard, a process so complex that the Joint Forces Training Base honored local OC residents last week for coming onto the base to help process the mountain of federal paperwork. 

All but 300 of the 4,000 members of the Guard were released from active duty, as the remaining fragments of the contingent left on the base were shipped to Portland before the process was halted by a federal judge.

 This fall, JFTB was again the scene for a major event as Fox, a base commander who had worked his way into the fabric of local communities, shipped out, and the base welcomed a new commander, Lt. Col. Jubilee Satele.

Political tension finally boils over in Cypress 

Following several years of acidic political relations emanating from the Cypress City Council, things came to a head late in the year. With David Burke as Mayor, and two new Council members, Kyle Chang and Leo Medrano, things began to change. 

In February, the Council voted to bring back some issues related to Council member deadlines for putting items on the agenda that former City Manager Peter Grant had supported. In March, a resident reminded residents of the friction between some residents after suggesting the city appoint an Assistant City Manager, a suggestion that has not yet been acted on. 

In April, long time public works manager Douglas Dancs made a surprise appearance at the Council to suggest he had personally witnessed Grant executing “unlawful acts of misconduct.” After Dancs had disappeared from the dais, the public learned an L.A. law firm had been paid more than $100,000 to investigate human resources issues, apparently related to Dancs. 

Dancs had been paid his salary for the year and approximately a $200,000 settlement for which there was no official explanation and the Council, at first, denied the new council members any details of the investigation. 

In August, Burke called special meetings inside the executive office chambers, apparently with sufficient votes to force the law firms and the City Manager to share all of the details of the investigation, including more details of the Dancs allegation. Either that day or the day after, Grant resigned from the city. 

Within weeks, however, Grant was hired by the City of Yorba Linda as City Manager as many of Grant’s key lieutenants soon departed as well. His assistant, Alisha Farnell, landed in La Palma as Assistant City Manager and Finance Director Matt Burton, who was designated as City Manager when Grant was out of town, announced his retirement at the city’s last meeting of 2025 (ENE will profile Burton’s long employment with the city as he was honored at the last meeting). 

The City of Cypress hired Interim City Manager Sean Joyce as they are searching for a permanent replacement for Grant. 

Bay Theatre finally reopens

After nearly a decade of reconstruction and millions of dollars in investment, the Bay Theatre finally re-opened to the public in 2025, replete with all of the glory deserved by a Fox Theatre originally built in the 1940’s. 

During World War II, when the U.S. Navy operated from bases in Long Beach and Seal Beach, and the Joint Forces Training Base, with its U.S. Army Airfield, was a hub of activity, service members on leave were always looking for something to do. 

The Bay Theatre on Main Street in Seal Beach provided a lot of that entertainment. 

Developer Paul Dunlap and a team led by Ben Ahle, of Cypress, literally tore the theatre down to the dirt on which it originally was built and rebuilt it from the ground up, adding nice features like Dolby Sound, a sound stage, a new roof, new seats, state-of-the-art lighting, etc. 

As a fitting premiere film, the “Harbour Chronicles” hit the big screen in January and sold out for weeks. 

Produced by retired fireman Chris Sardelis, the film chronicles the life of the late Rich Harbour, whose dream was to start a surfboard business, and who also just happened to be a film buff who purchased a 16 mm camera and documented much of the early moments of Seal Beach when it was considered one of the best surfing locations in the world.

Ironically, the film recently won awards at the Newport Beach Film Festival and held another run at Thanksgiving. 

Theatre manager Ahle has been busy booking musical acts like British rocker Albert Lee, to lecture series that brought many WWII submariners to Seal Beach for a showing and discussion. Other celebs like Lucie Arnaz appeared as well, kicking off a fundraising project for a Los Al graduate who has now produced his own short film (see related story). 

In between the shows, Ahle said he runs a variety of movies, learning slowly what this community wants to watch.

Dunlap and Ahle say they will continue their work to make the Bay a gathering place to bring the community together for a variety of entertainment and educational events. 

Los Al Unified opens Griffin Center

In August, the Los Alamitos Unified School District celebrated the grand opening of the Griffin Center, a new 34,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art athletics facility at Los Alamitos High School. The ribbon-cutting ceremony drew students, families, local dignitaries, and community members who came together to mark this significant milestone and tour the District’s newest addition.

The Griffin Center anchors the north end of the Los Alamitos High School campus, creating a new “athletic zone” that supports the District’s Four A’s: Academics, Athletics, Activities, and the Arts. Designed with long-term flexibility, student safety, and campus cohesion in mind, the project was made possible through community-supported Measure K and Measure G funds.

The celebration featured student performances by the Los Alamitos High School Pep Band and Drum Line, Varsity Song and Cheer, as well as the award-winning SoundFX Show Choir, along with remarks from Superintendent Dr. Andrew Pulver, Board of Education President Marlys Davidson, and Los Alamitos High School Principal Christiana Kraus, alongside project partners and District leadership.

“Standing here today, you can feel the energy and excitement this new facility brings to our campus,” said Dr. Andrew Pulver, Superintendent. “The Griffin Center is more than a gym — it’s a place where our entire community will come together. Whether it’s cheering at a big game, celebrating at a rally, or gathering for a performance, this building represents the pride and spirit that define Los Alamitos Unified.”

Los Alamitos, which reportedly houses more nonprofits per capita than any other California city, showed continued growth and successful community integration, evidenced by:

• Los Alamitos Education Foundation announced that the change to its funding model, a “Night Out,” worked extremely well and would be continued this year.

• Pathways to Independence, a local nonprofit that assists young women in crisis, raised a record $700,000+ at its 2025 event. 

• The Los Al Chamber “Heroes Luncheon” had the largest crowd ever as the nonprofit honored its First Responder Heroes from a host of local agencies. 

• WeCare, Los Alamitos, saw a significant response to its appeal for food as the now-settled government closure put hundreds of local families in temporary food emergencies. 

• In local government news, Rossmoor and Los Alamitos adopted policies to deal with the growing problem of electric bikes.

• Rossmoor approved Sharon Landers as their new General Manager. 

• The La Palma Council hired a former Mayor, Peter L. Kim, as their new City Manager after Conal McNamara moved over to the City of Whittier as City Manager.