By Sammie Ann Wicks-Contributor

Although mail-in ballots hit La Mirada mailboxes yesterday, it's relatively early in the local election cycle and some general consensus around the major issues affecting local government can still be heard.

The La Mirada Blog recently found such a consensus in force, as the La Mirada Chamber of Commerce hosted four candidates running for La Mirada City Council-District 2, at a Candidates Forum October 2.

The four--Michelle Velasquez-Bean, a college educator; Chris Pflanzer, a former school board member and business owner; John Sarega, long-time local businessman and real estate professional; and Dan Siwak, military veteran and Law Enforcement specialist--got on board with the challenges the city faces--some of which have persisted through multiple administrations and previous City Councils. The candidates seemed to basically agree:

Maintaining La Mirada's infrastructure, some of it aging, must be improved, and parts of it replaced; accessibility of city staff and officeholders to residents, and transparency in municipal government, could get better, along with more participation of citizens in government operations; small business, and vigorous support of local entrepreneurs, must be increased; expanding support for youth sports and planning for the transition to competitive sports, must be given major attention; the safety and health of citizens, and an emphasis on support for law enforcement, must be prioritized; and independence of local decision-making from state government in Sacramento must be continued.

Those were the areas of overall agreement. But there were differences in approach that later emerged as we explored these and other issues with each, revealing their goals for the city going forward, and their motivations for seeking office. And for all of them, there was a particular lead-in, a propelling flash of energy, of meaning, that pushed them to serve.

To introduce these qualities and the candidates themselves, after detailed interviews we present the comments of each here, in alphabetical order.

Michelle Velásquez-Bean

For candidate Michelle Velásquez-Bean, the overarching factor tethering her to life is the family: her family, her students' families, the families of La Mirada--and yes, the human family--that personal value that moved her to pursue her calling as a college teacher.

"As a teacher, I nurture my students in doing critical thinking," Bean declared at the Chamber gathering, adding she believed this mental faculty should be "a priority for municipal government leaders."

Bean went on to say she believed a leader's role in governing should be that of "a servant--one who will embody moral courage and compassion."

As a counselor, Bean asserted she would pursue a renewed source of strength for the city in representing families, and through them, "increasing citizen participation in local government."

She hastened to add supporting local families necessarily also requires energizing economic opportunities available to them.

"Small business is a cornerstone of La Mirada," Bean declared. "We need to scale up our support for small business." And not just 'small' business, she added,introducing another concept to existing programs to include support for the entry-level entrepreneur.

"We could also look at the idea of support for 'micro' business," Bean said.

Chris Pflanzer

Chris Pflanzer's own businessman's eye also is riveted on an enticing opportunity in property development the city could take advantage of--if it moves quickly.

"It's the land expansion, that whole south side of Interstate 5, that we need to get under La Mirada's control," Pflanzer asserted. "I would press for us to pass the bond that will enable the city to acquire the land, and turn it into a revenue stream.

The large swath of vacant, freeway-frontage land is still under CalTrans control following the completion of the Valley View Avenue/I-5 interchange project.

"If we did it right, we could easily create the revenue to take care of our infrastructure issues." The candidate reiterated the reality of diminishing land reserves and the need for the city to grasp the I-5 opportunity with speed.

"Main thing is, we're built out," Pflanzer noted, "so it behooves us to take the initiative now.

"I think we should have our hand in the basket on what goes on there," he continued. "So we need to grab the land first--then explore how to develop it."

Once under city control, Pflanzer suggested, area businesses could be attracted into the plan.

"Leasing space for industries that generate not only lease income, but tax revenue, could benefit the city tremendously," he suggested, but reaffirmed the need for speed in getting the property into the city's wheelhouse.

"If it's our land, let's lease it out accordingly and develop it to our benefit," he declared. He also stressed it's not just business, but also local residents that will stand to benefit from the development.

"Our local families need access to municipal parks," he said, "and not just county parks. This land could work for that." He didn't leave the well-known local sports advantage out of a future scenario, either.

"We've had great success building recreational sports here," Plflanzer said. "Now, as we expand toward competitive sports, this property could be looked at as a space for that."

John Sarega

Not unlike Bean or Pflanzer, candidate John Sarega has his sights not just on the stimulation of local business, but on special outreach to the young, who he asserted feel left out of the economy and the chance to build a life embedded in the community.

Why? It's housing, Sarega claimed, drawing on his longtime involvement in the real estate industry.

"We need to help young people to be able to get into a home they can afford," Sarega told the Chamber gathering. And he later filled in the Blog about why he feels so strongly about young people and home ownership.

"I say that as a long-time member of the La Mirada community, a Romanian émigré here, and as a very successful real estate professional," Sarega shared. "After hard work when I arrived, I had the honor to be able to buy a home. If I could do it, why shouldn't they?"

Serega recounted his path to success starting with an initial stint as a bus driver, then as an entrepreneur in projects that

included the automotive industry, and later in a new venture as a restaurant owner.

Saraga echoed Pflanzer's enthusiasm for converting the I-5 land into an asset for the city.

"No matter how we do it--by Eminent Domain, or improvement, and sale, or lease, or whatever," he insisted, "the city needs to obtain the I-5 property while it's available."

The businessman-candidate told us he'll draw strongly on his expertise in both business and real estate if he is elected to serve on Council.

But he was quick to add his approach to office will be to rely on a personal trait that's always served him well:

"Common sense. It's the best way to get things done."

Sarega also asserted his core belief that local power should be held by the people themselves.

"We need to remind ourselves that those serving on City Council are elected to represent the people," he declared, "and not city staff. That's the way I will serve.”

"And I will hold to that viewpoint to keep the citizens fully informed of what the local government is doing."

Dan Siwak

There's a quiet intensity in Dan Siwak's voice when he speaks of difficult past times that causes the listener to pause, to test the waters, to listen more closely, to get under the surface of the spoken word.

For those who know, or those who have walked the same territory, what's hovering there as Siwak speaks is ... trauma. But it is also a triumph over that trauma.

After everything Siwak has seen as a combat veteran, the hard times he has lived through, there is no other way to put it, and no better phrase to describe it: "It is what it is."

Now get on with it.

"Yeah, I can go hide under a rock," Siwak muses, "but what good would that do? Or I can refocus, do what I do best, and help my community."

So that, when Siwak says his primary goal as a counselor would be to "serve and support the military and law enforcement," he's not repeating a slogan--he's talking about a mental space he's known, affirming the need for that support because he's lived it.

He enlisted, he says, "for the adventure," saying he "just wanted to travel." The Army, though, handed him more than a look at exotic foreign lands.

"For my first Army tour in 2003-2004, I was sent to Afghanistan, in the early years, where everything was dark and extreme--and we were in the middle of it all," he remembers.

"There were no rules--we had to do what we had to do," he says. "And I came back with PTSD."

During that tour, though, Siwak says he learned what real soldiering, what true leadership really is, under implacable and visionary commanders who embodied the best military values.

"I served under Lloyd Austin--I revered Lloyd Austin (now Secretary of Defense in the Biden administration)," Siwak says.

"He was our commander, but he was always one of us, and he showed it.

"He sat down and ate with us, he marched with us. He was a true leader, someone we would have followed anywhere."

What anchors Siwak to life, with all his insider's understanding of where he's been, and where he wants to take his future, as a person, and a civil servant?

"To reach out, strongly, to other vets, to law officers who sometimes are suffering, and let them know it's OK, it's completely valid, to ask for help, to not carry the burden alone," he says.

"Usually it's after something happens--they spiral down, they lose their feeling of self worth," Siwak says. He is quick to assert this is the key moment when intervention is crucial.

"That's when we can save a life--and sometimes the best people to offer that help is someone who's been through it themselves," he says.

These experiences and such values are what have led Siwak to become involved in programs serving military veterans:

He is Vice Commander of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post, and a member of La Mirada Veterans' Coordinating Council. He also works with what he calls "a small, cop-owned company," providing armed security for groups and businesses that need such services.

He says he hopes his perspectives can lead to the betterment of the city, to drawing in residents who aren't now involved in civic affairs.

"Just like helping servicemen and women find their niche, we can reach out to everybody in the community, get them with us," he says. "Ask them, 'What's YOUR niche, what can YOU do?' Get them to volunteer in the town."

Getting people involved like that in our community is what I want most."

The general election is Tuesday, November 5, 2024 with voting centers opening October 26.

Sammie Ann Wicks is a former staff writer/photographer/section editor for the El Paso Times, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Midland Reporter-Telegram (TX) and Livermore (CA) Herald & News (City Hall beat, Arts & Entertainment editor). She has been freelancing since 2012 for news outlets in Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona and is a U.S. border news specialist.