Editor’s note: If you have a question about a city issue—or a suggestion for filing a Public Records Act request—email Associate Editor Charles M. Kelly at editor2@sunnews.org.
Red Car lease moves to a future council agenda
Mayor/District One City Councilman Joe Kalmick told the Sun that the lease between Seal Beach and the Seal Beach Historical Society/Red Car Museum will be on the Jan. 25 council agenda.
Meanwhile, repainting of the Red Car appeared to be continuing over the weekend.
The Sun asked City Manager Jill Ingram why the item wasn’t on the Jan. 11 agenda, as had been expected. The Sun also asked for confirmation of the new date for the issue to come beforre the council.
The Sun in a Jan. 12 email, she wrote: “he City continues to engage with the leadership of the Seal Beach Historical Society and Red Car Museum, in the hope that we can find a mutually agreeable long-term plan for the preservation of the Red Car. If not, the City Council will consider options at a meeting in the near future.”
The issue was originally expected to be on the Jan. 11 agenda, but it was not listed when the document was released to the public last week.
Background: The Historical Society/Red Car Museum, as the non-profit’s name appears on the 2019 Statement of Information to the California Secretary of State’s office, owns the former railroad car.
The city of Seal Beach owns the land on which it stands.
The Historical Society leases the land for $1 a year.
In a Dec. 22 letter addressed to Marie and Charles Antos of the Historical Society, Ingram wrote that their request to address the lease and the organization of the non-profit after the holidays was “not productive.”
At that time, Ingram wrote: “We would welcome a positive response prior to the January 11, 2020 City Council meeting and would, of course, allow additional time to implement one of the options we have proposed. Absent some agreement by that time, however, we have no choice but to recommend that the City Council take action to remove the Red Car from City property.”
In the same letter, Ingram made a formal offer to buy the Red Car from the Historical Society for $10,000.
Virtual vaccine town hall set for tonight
A virtual COVID-19 Vaccine Townhall will be held 6-7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 14, at Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance’s Facebook page.
Special election for OC District Two Supervisor
seat set for March 9
When Michelle Steel was elected to Congress in November, her seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors opened up.
That’s important because the district includes Seal Beach, Rossmoor, Los Alamitos, Cypress, Huntington Beach, La Palma, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Seal Beach, Stanton, and portions of Buena Park and Fountain Valley
The special election has been scheduled for March 9. John Moorlach, a past District Two supervisor who lost his run for reelection to the state Senate has pulled papters. News reports say Coasta Mesa Mayor Katrina Foley has started a virtual campaign. Moorlach is a Republican. Foley is a Democrat.
