Councilwoman Mungo Asked, And Mayor Garcia Facilitated, Moving Upcoming Aug. 22 Council Meeting To Fifth District, Effectively Giving Her Neighborhood Platform As She Enters Possibly Contentious Re-Election Cycle

' Councilwoman Mungo Asked, And Mayor Garcia Facilitated, Moving Upcoming Aug. 22 Council Meeting To Fifth District, Effectively Giving Her Neighborhood Platform As She Enters Possibly Contentious Re-Election Cycle

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(August 16 , 2017, 1:35 p.m.) -- Fifth District Councilwoman Stacy Mungo requested, and Mayor Robert Garcia agreed, to move the Aug. 22 City Council meeting to a location in her Fifth Council district. The action effectively gives incumbent Mungo a neighborhood platform as she enters what may or may not become a contentious re-election battle.

The City Clerk's initial agenda lists Aug. 22, 5:00 p.m. for the Council meeting, and lists it as "Special Meeting Via Teleconference" with its location as McBride High School, 7025 Parkcrest St. (LBREPORT.com has learned that Councilwoman Price plans to use a Teleconference procedure to participate while vacationing in Hawaii.)

LBREPORT.com has learned that Councilwoman Mungo also plans to schedule a meeting of the Budget Oversight Committee that she chairs (other members are Councilmembers Price and Austin) at McBride High School in the hours preceding the start of the Council meeting.

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For many years, LB Council meetings were routinely held at locations in each of LB's nine Council districts (rotated among them for nine months of the year) until a previous Council (with support from then 5th dist. Councilwoman Jackie Kell) ended the practice over ten years ago. At the time, Councilmembers said the reason for ending the practice was to conserve costs; others speculated it was basically a way to give Councilmembers a week off each month.)

LB's Municipal Code section 2.03.020 now specifies that regular Councilmeetings shall be held in City Hall's Council Chambers but "special meetings" of the Council may be ordered by the Mayor (or five Councilmembers) "by delivering personally or by mail written notice to each member of the Council...at least twenty-four (24) hours before the time of such meeting is specified in the notice..."

Councilwoman Mungo is facing a potential challenge from her immediate past Council predecessor, Gerrie Schipske (who months ago launched a Facebook page signaling that she was considering the action, but thus far hasn't filed City Clerk paperwork on the matter.)

As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, in the first half of 2017, Councilwoman Mungo collected a $58,000+ re-election warchest (contributors reported by LBREPORT.com here. LBREPORT.com has reported contributions to the Mayor and other incumbents in a special "follow the money" section here.)

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Some speculate that Councilwoman Mungo may be among the more vulnerable Council incumbents. After saying one of her major priorities was to combat "sales tax leakage" (LB consumers shopping elsewhere), Mungo joined other Council incumbents in voting to put a Mayor-desired "blank check" sales tax increase on the June 2016 ballot. The measure carried in other districts but failed passage in nearly every 5th district precinct (and has now given consumers an incentive to shop elsewhere as LB now has the highest sales tax rate statewide, shared with only a few other cities.)

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Councilwoman Mungo also riled residents opposed to turning LB Airport into an international facility with an extemporaneous statement at a July 2015 Council meeting in which she said she didn't want residents to sell their homes and leave but if they did the City would receive more property tax revenue. That sparked calls for her recall (which didn't materialize) and begat contentious public meetings, lawn signs opposed to international flights and ultimately a threat by opponents to candidates against her and Council incumbents in 2018 if they voted for the move. On the night of the decision-making Jan. 2017 Council action, Mungo moved to "receive and file" (take no action on the city staff recommended action), stating in a subsequent mass emailing that "Our Airport is functioning well today, and the City should not proceed with a new project while we have so many other important priorities."

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More recently, Councilwoman Mungo disputed accurate statements made at a public meeting by ELB resident Corliss Lee who warned that city staff has proposed that the Planning Commission recommend, and the City Council ultimately approve, changes in LB land uses to allow increased density and building heights citywide including portions of ELB's 5th Council district. [LBREPORT.com coverage here.]

A few weeks later in a June 10 emailing she titled "For the Record: Councilwoman Mungo Provides You with the Facts," Councilwomam Mungo wrote:

[Councilwoman Mungo text] The City is currently in the process of updating our General Plan, a document that is required by California state law and which only happens once or twice in a generation. Residents are naturally concerned about the impact that this update might have on our neighborhoods, which are largely residential and comprised of single-family homes. I want to be very clear: I will not support a General Plan update that changes the overall nature and residential character of our community. Under the Land Use Element of the proposed General Plan update, the commercial corridor at Spring Street and Palo Verde Avenue, for instance, would be designated a "Community Commercial PlaceType" that places certain restrictions and guidelines on how the land is used in that area:
Recognizing that community-serving businesses play a vital role in meeting the commercial shopping, goods and service-based needs of Long Beach businesses and residents;
Promoting development projects that are compatible with adjacent residential uses and which respect neighboring developments;
Requiring adequate setbacks along with visual and noise buffers to separate auto-oriented developments from adjacent neighbors; and
Prohibiting the use of that land for apartments or homes.
Within these parameters, I believe the updated General Plan will be able to attract exciting new businesses and jobs to the Fifth District without altering the small community feel that we all treasure.

The future is likely to include more home delivery and less demand for physical locations for shopping, and this means we need to evaluate what would make sense for our neighborhoods should the trend of online sales continue to rise and more retailers vacate their existing locations.

The "parameters" Councilwoman Mungo parallel those stated by city staff in its proposed update to Land Use Element. [Source: Proposed Land Use Element at pp. 87 and 89.] CAVEAT: Relevant maps have now been amended to specify the proposed heights and densities shown on maps at this link.

Councilwoman Mungo also voted to support the Civic Center transaction, favored by Mayor Garcia and downtown commercial property interests, without seeking bids for an seismic retrofit of LB's less than 40 year old City Hall. The transaction, arranged in a manner that avoided voted approval by the public, will require LB taxpayers citywide (as of mid-2019 projected occupancy) to make 40+ years of annual increasing payments to a private developer/operator.

Developing.