Fountain Valley council candidates take positions; voting gets underway
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Fountain Valley has a long list of candidates vying for three seats on its city council in the general election.
Jim Cunneen, currently serving as mayor to close out his first term, and Kim Constantine, first elected to the five-person governing body in 2018, are running for reelection.
Patrick Harper is not seeking another term after serving for eight years on the council, assuring residents new representation on the dais.
The challengers in the race include Elizabeth Andrade, executive director of 2-1-1 Orange County; Harrison Dibblee, an educator; Dan Hay, president and chief executive of Premier Girls Fastpitch; Patricia Neal, a retired registered nurse; engineer John Nguyen, entrepreneur Mark Leonard and Katy Wright, an artist and public speaker.
Six of the candidates — both incumbents, along with Andrade, Hay, Leonard and Wright — participated in a forum hosted by the Fountain Valley Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 7.
The evening began with a series of rapid-fire questions, with the candidates asked to display “yes” or “no” signs in response.
Asked if the city should increase the transient occupancy tax, assessed to overnight guests, the candidates were split on the matter, with Constantine, Hay and Wright showing support.
Fountain Valley has explored the possibility of becoming a charter city, and asked whether they supported the city becoming one, Cunneen and Hay raised their signs in the affirmative.
The structure of the forum did not offer each candidate a chance to respond to every question, with prepared questions going out to only three candidates apiece — or half the candidates present. When audience members submitted their own queries, that changed.
A group of residents has called for the discontinuation of the use of Flock cameras, which are equipped with automated license plate reader technology. Candidates were asked to weigh in on the matter.
Leonard stated he was “vehemently opposed” to the use of Flock cameras, citing privacy concerns.
“Flock cameras today serve as a tool for our law enforcement, and the review of them is necessary,” said Andrade, adding there would need to be discussion around replacing them as a resource for public safety personnel. “... We to make sure that we all have our privacy rights protected, but also, it’s an investment in how we do that, the timing for it, and that we all are in alignment with making that investment.”
Cunneen said law enforcement is “very strong in their opinions” that Flock cameras are an asset, adding that he would like to have a town hall meeting focused on technology to evaluate its use in the community.
“I am in full support of our law enforcement,” Constantine said. “We’ve not had any situations with Flock cameras in the city. Criminal behavior by criminals should not be supported. Sometimes, I wonder whose side certain people are on.”
Another crowd query asked the candidates if police officers ought to write more tickets in response to traffic fatalities.
“I believe that not enforcing the municipal code is a moral hazard,” Leonard said, citing violations such as loud exhaust and speeding e-bikes. “At the end of the day, the policing, or ticketing process, is fairly generous as far as there’s an escalating nature, but to just wave people off with a warning, I think, is a mistake, and it needs to be corrected.”
Writing more citations, Wright said, is “the best deterrent for rotten driving.”
Andrade and Hay suggested that a shortage of officers could be a factor. Hay also showed interest in looking at speed limits around town, as well as at areas in need of additional street lighting.
Fountain Valley will open its first location for in-person voting on Saturday at Freedom Hall in Mile Square Park. Three more voting centers will open on Oct. 31: Fountain Valley Recreation Center, 16400 Brookhurst St.; Fountain Valley School District offices, 10055 Slater Ave. and at the Center at Founders Village, 17967 Bushard St.
Mail-in ballot voting began the same week as the forum, which can be viewed in its entirety on the city’s YouTube channel.
