CITY COUNCIL
INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE
MINUTES FROM January 18, 2023
2000 MAIN STREET, Lower Level B7
HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA 92648
Call to Order at 1:01 PM
Roll Call
• Council Liaisons: (Present) Mayor Strickland, Mayor Pro Tem Van Der Mark, Council Member Burns
• Staff: City Manager’s Office - Hopkins, Levin, Frakes. • Townsend Public Affairs
Public Comments (2 minutes per speaker): Mark Sheldon made general commentary encouraging the IRC to build relations with the Orange County Power Authority and the other cities involved in the OCPA. Mr. Sheldon also requested the continuation of ZOOM option for meetings going forward.
Approve Minutes from November 16, 2022 meeting: APPROVED (Strickland, Van Der Mark – approved in absentia; Burns – abstained)
DISCUSSION ITEMS
1. Recap of State and Federal Legislative Efforts: Takkinen introduced Townsend Public Affairs, and reviewed historical accomplishments working with the City, and discussed timeline for potential earmark and funding priorities. O’Donnell reviewed legislative successes from 2022.
2. Looking Ahead to 2023:
a. State: Review of State Budget draft. Discussed the beginning of the second year of the current legislative process, bill introduction deadline is 2/17/2023, expecting 2000-2400 new bills introduced. Strickland expects Council to meet and identify what to focus on legislatively in the next month. Townsend presented bill matrix (copy attached to minutes).
b. Federal: Earmark applications will likely be due in February or March if the City is interested in asking for any. 2022 Federal successes reviewed, including WRDA, Bluff Top Stabilization funding with Army Corps of Engineers.
c. Miscellaneous:
i. HB Legislative Platform: Deferred to later meeting after Council has met on the subject.
ii. HB Auto Dealers Freeway Sign: Garafalo presented project, and asked for assistance by way of getting an APN number and property survey. Strickland will discuss with Representative Janet Nguyen’s office, and Hopkins will work with Public Works on expediting. iii. E-Bike Working Group: Presented working with a multi-city coalition to submit a bill for safety policy changes including these 5 points – additional/refined reporting and data collection; youth
CITY COUNCIL
INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE
Licensing or permitting; regulations for producers of e-bikes; taxes on sales of e-bikes. Townsend will initiate another meeting with local cities on this issue soon, and requests authorization from IRC to introduce a “spot bill” to save a place for a potential bill this year.
Strickland prefers to discuss with Representative Nguyen first.
Adjournment – 1:45 PM
The next regularly scheduled meeting will be on February 15, 2023 at 4:00PM.