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Candidates for Community Safety & Welfare panel highlight public-safety, wildfire and cyber experience; Michael tops preliminary ranking
Summary
Applicants for San Clemente’s Community Safety & Welfare Committee described public-safety priorities including wildfire resiliency, e-bike safety, homelessness and cybersecurity. The panel used ranked ballots and reported Michael as the top vote-getter, with public confirmation to follow.
The San Clemente interview panel heard candidates for the Community Safety & Welfare Committee describe a mix of public-safety and social-service priorities, ranging from wildfire resiliency and beach erosion to e-bike safety, homelessness and cyber resilience.
Steven Lamb, who identified himself as a sworn federal special agent, emphasized integrating welfare and safety work and the value of referring residents to appropriate public services rather than relying on law enforcement as a single response. "I am a special agent federal law enforcement," Lamb said, describing both investigative and arrest responsibilities.
Charles "Chuck" Seward, a longtime San Clemente resident and retired fire chief, described volunteer and professional fire-service experience and raised concerns about maintaining coordinated drills and hazardous-materials readiness after changes in regional practices. Seward also discussed restoring the city’s historic Engine No. 1 and participating in a regional fire-museum effort.
Mike, a former local police officer who later worked in international cybersecurity incident response, offered a broad safety list including e-bike safety, beach erosion and homelessness; he highlighted cyberthreat experience and characterized foreign and criminal actors shaping current cyberrisk. On threat actors he said, "The Russians are after the dough and the Chinese are after the no," characterizing different motivations for state and criminal actors in cyberspace.
Panelists probed candidates about committee work plans, performance measures and whether candidates had reviewed prior meetings; several candidates said they had watched past meetings though not all had reviewed a written work plan. Candidates also raised community outreach and inclusivity — including Spanish-language engagement — as priorities for committee work.
Using ranked ballots, the panel announced a preliminary internal ranking: Michael received the highest points, followed by Steven Lamb, Angela and Chuck Seward. Panelists said they planned to complete formal, public confirmation votes in the chamber later in the meeting.
Next steps: the panel will cast formal votes in public to confirm appointments and enter vote records into the minutes.
