2nd dist. Council Candidate Robert Wideman Appears To Have First Registered to Vote In Oct. 2011, Acknowledges As Much To LBReport.com And Discusses Plastic Bag Ban, City Hall Budget, Bike Lanes, Medpot Outlets, Same-Sex Marriage And His Proposed Sports Stadium @ PCH/Walnut (6th dist)

(Jan. 5, 2012, 6:30 p.m.) -- Robert Wideman, who announced his intention on Facebook to seek the 2nd district City Council seat in the April 2012 election, has lived in Long Beach for about 35-40 years but appears to have only recently registered to vote in October, 2011.

The LB City Clerk's office tells LBReport.com [and L.A. County Registrar/Recorder's office confirmed] that his Oct. 2011 voter registration appears to be the only one for him in L.A. County. (If so, the election in which he's seeking election to the Long Beach City Council would be the first election in which he's voted.)

When asked in the interview (link below) how long he's lived in Long Beach, Mr. Wideman said about 35-40 years. When asked if it was correct that he'd registered at his Long Beach to vote in October 2011, Mr. Wideman said yes, and said he was doing voter registration that day. When asked if he'd voted in elections before October 2011 and where he was registered to vote, Mr. Wideman replied, "No I wasn't, no I didn't." We asked again to make sure: so he hadn't voted in previous elections? "No," Mr. Wideman replied.

Mr. Wideman's Facebook page indicates he's a 53 year-old "Tea Party"-supporter and a Republican. He initially indicated in an Oct. 31 Facebook dispatch that he was seeking LB's 6th Council district seat, then in a subsequent dispatch indicated he's running for the 2nd Council district. Asked to explain the matter, Mr. Wideman said older districting maps put the dividing line at 10th St. and invited us to check this. We did, and he's corrrect; the City's 1991 and 1986 redistricting maps put the 2nd/6th dist. dividing line at 10th St.

But Mr. Wideman lives south of 11th St. and north of 10th St....which by our map reading indicates he's been in the 2nd Council district for over 15 years under the 2011, 2001 and 1996 redistrictings. (His residence was in the 6th district roughly 20-25 years ago.)

Issues discussed in the interview included Mr. Wideman's views on LB's plastic bag ban, City Hall's budget, bicycle lanes, Pine Ave. business policy, medical marijuana collectives and same sex marriage.

Mr. Wideman conducted the interview on a speakerphone with his campaign manager, Jason Aula, apparently nearby. In response to some questions, we heard what sounded like whispering and at one point, Mr. Aula jumped into the conversation to respond to a question. [He desisted when we said we wanted to speak with the candidate himself.]

LBReport.com's audio access to the interview includes two substantive edits: one when we asked Mr. Wideman what he does for a living and he replied that he's basically disabled [we excluded medical details he provided] and another edit resulted from LBReport.com's confusion [we didn't hear it clearly, our fault] over the location he proposes for a sports stadium (Chittick Field, site where Kroc Center was going to be @ PCH/Walnut in the 6th district, clarified on the recording).

To launch LBReport.com's audio, click here.

Incumbent Councilmember/Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal is seeking reelection in the 2nd Council district. In November, Stella Ursua announced that she plans to challenge Lowenthal in the race.