New City Council Seated - First Native Member?

by Jack McCurdy

Matt Makowetski may be the first native of Morro Bay to be elected to the Morro Bay City Council. But more importantly, he brings to four the number of Council members who have shown their bona fide commitment to the welfare of the community as a whole, aside from special interests.

Three of the five members of the five-member Council can enact virtually anything legal in the City. But having four votes conveys something special, convincing, and powerful and leaves no doubt about the dominion behind the vote and the support of a large majority of residents.

But the outcome of the Measure J election on November 4 also demonstrated in another way the broad-scope influence of the new four-member majority. That measure, submitted to voters by Mayor Jamie Irons and Council Members Christine Johnson and Noah Smukler, did away with holding primary elections, which special interest specialist John Barta reportedly spearheaded in 2006. Many of those opposed Measure J. Now, not only did J win, but it won with a 76.38% vote — and with a 64.2% turnout of registered voters in Morro Bay, compared to only a 41.9% turnout statewide.

Makowetski is being sworn in to take his seat on the Council on Monday, December 8, as is John Headding, another new Council member. Also swearing in is Jamie Irons, who was elected on June 3 to a second two-year term as mayor of Morro Bay. Makowetski and Irons were elected comfortably in the same primary, and Headding won mainly because incumbent Council member Nancy Johnson dropped out of the June 3 running at the last minute when it seemed that Headding was going to win even if it went to a runoff at the general election last November 4. So Johnson withdrew, and Headding and Makowetski, both of whom had sizable leads over her in the final June 3 vote tally, won automatically. (See: Primary)

The swearing in is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the Vets Hall on Monday, December 8. At the same event, plaques of civic service are scheduled to be given to Nancy Johnson and George Leage. (League did not run for reelection.) Each served four years on the Council.

Makowetski also was raised in Morro Bay, and, he said, his grandfather and great-grandfather built their first house in Morro Bay on Piney Way in the 1940s. His father was a commercial fisherman for many years here, and Matt spent almost every summer on the boat, fishing up and down the coast from Morro Bay to Eureka.

His mother worked as a waitress in various restaurants from the Golden Tee to the Breakers. When the fishing industry "went belly up," he said, his family moved to New Jersey for 10 years. He finished high school and college in the east and returned to the Central Coast "with my college sweetheart, my wife Diana." They married and have two children, Hannah and Zoe, students at Morro Bay High School and Los Osos Middle School, respectively. All in all, he has lived for 35 years in Morro Bay.

As a Council member, he said, "I want to ensure that the future of Morro Bay is every bit as wonderful as the Morro Bay in which I grew up. I am the type of person that gets involved in his community, whether it's coaching youth sports, being a community volunteer on city advisory boards, or just being a parent raising two children in Morro Bay and working with other parents.'

He became a teacher in 1997 in the Lompoc Unified School District and has taught there ever since, achieving National Board Certification nine years ago. "Teaching is my passion and I come home with a smile every day," Makowetski said. He now teaches English at Maple High School, a continuation high school in Lompoc. A continuation school is considered to be an alternative to a comprehensive high school and is primarily for students who are considered at-risk of not graduating at the normal pace. The requirements to graduate are the same but the scheduling is more flexible to allow students to earn their credits at a quicker pace. (See: Continuation High School)

He volunteered for the city Public Works Advisory Board six years ago, serving as chair for the last four. His leadership on that board led not a few to see him as a future Council candidate.

"It was working on this board that solidified the idea of community volunteering for me and brought home the importance of community," he said. "I have come to feel a responsibility for my town. Through working with City staff and fellow board members, it has shown me the importance of listening, keeping an open mind, in order to make informed decisions."

"I'm interested in bridging the past of Morro Bay with its future, bringing together different generations to ensure that our town is there for all."

In addition to youth sports, Makowetski said he is heavily involved with the non-profit organization, Project Surf Camp, in Morro Bay. It works with young people with special needs. In the past two summers, Project Surf Camp has begun to work with the Morro Bay Recreation and Parks Department, he said.

Headding is a pharmacist with his own pharmacy, Morro Bay Drug & Gift at 600 Morro Bay Boulevard. He stated he has a Doctor of Pharmacy and Masters in Healthcare Administration degrees.

He said he opened the pharmacy and moved here two-and-a-half years ago. "My love for Morro Bay grows daily, but as my involvement in the community increases my concern for the City's viability deepens," he said. "I will bring strong moral values, integrity, accountability, collaboration, and big business experience to our Council.

"We residents experience the great joy of the natural beauty that abounds here and share a deep sense of community," he said. "Some would say that we live in paradise."

"After researching the City's financial status, attending Council meetings, networking with business owners and elected officials as Chamber of Commerce president, I find the City often divided, disgruntled, and devoid of a vision for the future," Headding said.

"We are at a crossroad. We must challenge the status quo, focusing on strategies for our future including fiscal responsibility, economic vitality and a clear results-oriented vision."

As a former president of the Chamber, some wonder if Headding will align himself with business people, as so many previous Council members have, such as former mayors Bill Yates and Janice Peters and Council members Nancy Johnson, Leage and Carla Wixom in recent years, and many others have before them. Irons, Christine Johnson and Smukler gained a majority on the Council two years ago to replace those interests.

Headding was asked if he anticipates aligning with Irons/C. Johnson/Smukler, the business community or being more of an independent
He responded: "I ran solely as an independent candidate unaligned with any existing City Council members or any others running for City Council or Mayor. I ran primarily for three reasons. First, because of our families' great love of Morro Bay and a personal desire to serve and give back to my community. Secondly, I believe I will bring a skill set that includes my background in running both large and small business organizations. I am a former hospital CEO and also at present operate my own corporation and local retail pharmacy business in Morro Bay.

Lastly, I believe there are a number of significant decisions our community will be facing in the near future that will be challenging from both a cost and long-term strategic basis. Again having run both large and small organizations, I feel the skills I have acquired during my career will be useful in strategically addressing these very important long-reaching decisions. I will bring strong moral values, integrity, accountability, collaboration, and big business experience to our Council."