Here is a summary of the voting record of the incumbents that RAn for election in March 2017, pertaining to the issues discussed on this website:

Jim Goodhart

Candidate for City Councilmember of Palos Verdes Estates

• Approved the sale of 1.7 acres of City of PVE Parkland in 2012

• Claimed in a later City Council Meeting that the MOU was “noticed in the paper” when it wasn’t

• After Judge Meiers ruled the City had illegally attempted to sell parkland, he voted to appeal that ruling -- fighting for the ability to ignore deed restrictions and sell City Parkland in the future

• Approved the construction of a $330,000 turnaround on Lower Paseo del Sol that is to be built on parkland (possibly in violation of deed restrictions) and which benefits only one resident. $255,000 of this will be paid for by the City

• Approved the City’s Housing Element which states that we have “12 mobile homes” in our City and which glorifies manufactured homes as just as good as other homes – when, in PVE mobile homers, manufactured homes and even tract homes are illegal.

• Approved the City’s Housing Element which states that the City has over 500 low to moderate income residents.  After making this pronouncement the City is obligated to explain how it will provide housing for these persons when, in fact, we have no low-moderate income persons that need housing as they all live (and work) in mansions.  Restated, these persons are not interested in low income housing as they already have much better.

• Approved the City's Housing Element Plan that said that City Parkland could not be used for any purpose other than public parkland, while at the same time the City Attorney was arguing before a Superior Court judge in the Panorama Parkland case that the City had "municipal police powers" that gave them the right to ignore the deed restrictions which prevented sale of parkland. This discrepancy was pointed out by a resident in the City Council Meeting approving the Housing element study, and it was ignored

• Approved the rezoning of the Lunada Bay and Malaga Cover Commercial areas to specifically allow homeless shelters. 

• Approved the budget in recent years which has General government spending up 44% from FY2013 - FY2016 (see here).  Also approved the City Manager’s salary which is very high for cities the size of PVE

• Approved asking the residents to pay nearly $5Million per year for the fire contract with annual authorized increases of up to 6.2% per year – even though no other city in PV pays such a tax.  See here.

• He has been on the City Council for over 11 years and yet has not questioned why PVE gets about 50% of the property tax revenue that all the other cities in Palos Verdes get

John Rea

CANDIDATE FOR CITY treasurer OF PALOS VERDES ESTATES

• Approved the sale of 1.7 acres of City of PVE Parkland in 2012

• After Judge Meiers ruled the City had illegally attempted to sell parkland, he voted to appeal that ruling -- fighting for the ability to ignore deed restrictions and sell City Parkland in the future. Worse still, he did not disclose that he is a partner in the law firm that is collecting significant fees from co-defendant Palos Verdes Homes Association, nor did he recuse himself from the vote to spend additional money on the appeal. This is a very serious Conflicts of Interest offense, and disqualifies him as a suitable candidate for Treasurer due to this clear ethics violation. For screenshots and links to the evidence in this matter, click here. For an explanation of why this is a clear violation of the Fair Political Practices Commission of California, click here. 

• Approved the construction of a $330,000 turnaround on Lower Paseo del Sol that is to be built on parkland (possibly in violation of deed restrictions) and which benefits only one resident. $255,000 of this will be paid for by the City

• Approved the City’s Housing Element which states that we have “12 mobile homes” in our City and which glorifies manufactured homes as just as good as other homes – when, in PVE mobile homers, manufactured homes and even tract homes are illegal.

• Approved the City’s Housing Element which states that the City has over 500 low to moderate income residents.  After making this pronouncement the City is obligated to explain how it will provide housing for these persons when, in fact, we have no low-moderate income persons that need housing as they all live (and work) in mansions.  Restated, these persons are not interested in low income housing as they already have much better.

• Approved the City's Housing Element Plan that said that City Parkland could not be used for any purpose other than public parkland, while at the same time the City Attorney was arguing before a Superior Court judge in the Panorama Parkland case that the City had "municipal police powers" that gave them the right to ignore the deed restrictions which prevented sale of parkland. This discrepancy was pointed out by a resident in the City Council Meeting approving the Housing element study, and it was ignored

• Approved the rezoning of the Lunada Bay and Malaga Cover Commercial areas to specifically allow homeless shelters. 

• Approved the budget in recent years which has General government spending up 44% from FY2013 - FY2016 (see here).  Also approved the City Manager’s salary which is very high for cities the size of PVE

• Approved asking the residents to pay nearly $5Million per year for the fire contract with annual authorized increases of up to 6.2% per year – even though no other city in PV pays such a tax.  See here.

• He has been on the City Council for 10 years and yet has not questioned why PVE gets about 50% of the property tax revenue that all the other cities in Palos Verdes get