COMMUNITY COMMENTARY

Chuck Bohle

I am not surprised to find out that most of the people in our city do not

recognize that we have a problem with our infrastructure.

Many of the problems that we have will not be visible unless you do an

inspection of things such as the storm control water pump stations or

look inside a sewer line. Generally, the only thing that the public will

notice is the potholes and cracks in the streets; some will notice that

some of the sidewalks are developing discontinuities that are dangerous

and that some of the block walls are deteriorating.

One of the characteristics of infrastructure maintenance is that the

effect of neglect compounds over time. The failure to spend $1 per year

during the next five years may result in the need to spend $20 in the

sixth year.

The problem is real and has been growing during the past decade or

longer. The problem is far more serious than any other top five issues

combined that the city of Huntington Beach currently faces.

You can develop public awareness in a couple of different ways. 1) You

can ignore the problem until some major disaster occurs (e.g. severe

flooding damage or a major break in a sewer line); or 2) You can initiate

an awareness program so the public develops an understanding of the

situation.The Infrastructure Advisory Committee was created with the

intent of trying to prevent the potentially serious problems that might

otherwise occur through neglect and lack of public awareness. The members

of the committee represent a broad array of people and organizations that

are active in the community, and have chosen to volunteer their time to

study the problem and recommend solutions.

Members spend considerable time becoming familiar with all elements of

the infrastructure, including on-site visits to pump stations, sewers,

etc. The committee recognizes that a substantial public awareness

campaign will be required to inform the public about the state of the

infrastructure; many of us anticipated that the first reaction of the

public would be that the problem doesn’t exist and that the second

reaction would be that the city leaders should solve the problem without

additional cost to the citizens.

One of the underlying frustrations of the average citizen will be: “How

in the world did you [council members and city staff] let this problem

become so large before taking action on it?”

There are many reasons as to how and why this happened. The answers

provided will include the fact that the state of California solved its

recession-funding shortfall at the expense of the cities.

My response to this question is that one important reason for our current

situation is that Huntington Beach doesn’t have any financial planning

process that looks more than a few years ahead into the future.

With the exception of the fact that our city provides police and fire

services, it is very much like a public utility with a vast

infrastructure that must be developed and maintained.

Utilities recognize that infrastructure maintenance requires a long-term

(financial and operational) planning horizon. They engage in long-range

planning processes that look out 25 to 30 years into the future so they

can anticipate the long-term implications of their current decisions.

Huntington Beach must do the same if it is to deal with the current

revenue shortfall and be in a position to assure the public that history

will not repeat itself in the future.The next step in the current process

is for the committee to issue its findings and recommendations to the

City Council. It is my hope that the council will begin to spend a

significant amount of its energies dealing with long-term major issues,

starting with the infrastructure.

In summary, the problem is real, it’s serious, and it will grow unless we

take constructive action to solve it. It will take an enormous effort to

convince the public that it is real and the currently available revenue

sources will not be sufficient to solve it.

Next, we will have to convince the public that even the most aggressive

and comprehensive approach to improving the effectiveness of city

services will not be sufficient to provide the funds required to deal

with the infrastructure shortfall.

The process of getting voters to approve additional funding represents an

awesome challenge. It requires that we must A) inform them adequately

about the nature and size of the problem; B) convince them that there is

a sound plan to fix it; C) show them that the plan includes safeguards

so that the problem doesn’t happen again; and D) obtain their trust that

their city is well run today and will get even better in the future.From

a long-term perspective, although the infrastructure problem is large and

real, it isn’t unique to our city -- at least Huntington Beach has

exposed it to the light of day. Other cities are just beginning to look

at the issue and will be looking at us for guidance.

* CHUCK BOHLE is a member of the Infrastructure Advisory Committee and

the city’s Finance Board.