The voters of Los Alamitos spoke and opted to give Dean Grose another chance on the Los Alamitos City Council. Newcomer Richard Murphy was the top vote getter with 2,181 votes, while Grose garnered 28 percent of the votes with 1,818.
The voters of Los Alamitos spoke and opted to give Dean Grose another chance on the Los Alamitos City Council. Newcomer Richard Murphy was the top vote getter with 2,181 votes, while Grose garnered 28 percent of the votes with 1,818.
Since resigning as the Mayor of Los Alamitos in 2009, Grose had tried to get re-elected in 2010, but came up short. He is hopeful of putting the infamous e-mail behind him and said he is grateful for the second chance.
“I’m blessed with a second opportunity to be of service to the citizens of Los Alamitos. I noted during the campaign that my commitment to the community has been unwavering. I will remain involved in various civic and community groups and want to maintain as much opportunity for community input to future council decisions as possible,” Grose said.
Murphy seemed to be the popular choice heading into the election as a new voice and one who had not aligned his self with any special interests. His self-funded campaign seemed to give the community confidence that he would represent what he felt was best for the city.
“I am pleased that Mr. Murphy was elected. When running he stated he was independent of the political influences in our city,” said JM Ivler, a council meeting regular and community watchdog. “I believe that he will be an independent thinker and will make choices that best reflect what he feels are in the best interests of the community. While he and I have disagreed in the past, I have always respected his interest in listening to all sides before coming to a decision and I look forward to him bringing that to city council.”
The new council will bring a definite change to the recent 3-2 split that often separated most issues. Both Grose and Murphy had stated that they would look to bring the council back together.
“I’m open to compromise and working in the best interest of our residents and businesses. Further, I’d embrace quarterly community meetings with residents on various topics, perhaps with another council member,” Grose said.
As for Murphy, he said he needs to get into office and get his feet wet to see where the city stands on many issues, but noted that he thinks the city budget will be a point of focus, as will having a contingency plan for reacting to any military decision to close the Joint Forces Training Base. While there have been efforts to secure the base, Murphy noted that anything can happen at the national level and should the military decide to close the base, it would dramatically change the face of Los Alamitos. He said he thinks the city should have plan in place, in that event.
As for more immediate needs, Murphy said he would like to see the council agenda posted online earlier than it currently gets posted and he would like to see all agenda items listed with the name of the member who asked that it be added. But mostly, Murphy is hopeful the city council can move forward from the recent squabbles.
“We need to get over the trash contract and who said what two years ago,” Murphy said. “I’m optimistic we can do better.”
There is some optimism in the community, as well. Even from those who have been at odds with the council majority in recent years.
“Hopefully there will be a ‘honeymoon’ period for newbie Richard Murphy to acclimate himself to his new role, and a ‘probation’ period for the previously disgraced Dean Grose to fully restore himself into the ‘circle of trust,’” said Art DeBolt.
Measure DD wins big
The passage of Measure DD, a Los Alamitos communications tax, seemed to be a bit of a surprise. The measure passed with more than 70 percent of the vote. The measure will lower telephone taxes by 1 percent, but apply it to all forms of technology. Critics have said that the new tax could apply to technologies that have yet to be invented.