The top 10 stories of 2002

JWA settlement extension still up in air

1The biggest story of the year continued to fly right above

everyone’s head, with no landing in sight.

At the beginning of 2002, an extension of the John Wayne Airport

Settlement Agreement seemed quite close, when county supervisors

tentatively approved the addition of four flight gates, 12 of the

noisiest flights and 2.1 million passengers in early February.

“It sends a very strong message to the airlines and the [Federal

Aviation Administration] that everybody is together on this issue,”

Newport Beach City Manager Homer Bludau said at the time.

The need for the extension turned crucial on March 5, when county

voters shot down plans for an airport at the closed El Toro Marine

Air Base. That vote started a string of events that have all but the

most ardent pro-airport believers almost 100% sure an airport will

never arise on Irvine’s outskirts.

So, by early December -- nearly 10 months after an agreement

seemed set -- supervisors approved another deal that instead added

six gates and 3 million passengers over the current agreement.

After both the supervisors and Newport Beach City Council members

signed off on the agreement Dec. 10, officials awaited word from the

FAA that the deal would avoid legal scrutiny. As of Saturday, the FAA

had yet to send the valued word of honor.

Most of the year in Newport Beach was spent working on sealing the

1985 settlement agreement’s extension.

At the same time, though, city officials were successful in

extending the nighttime curfew restrictions at the county level.

Instead of expiring in 2015, they’ll stay in effect until at least

Dec. 31, 2020 under the supervisors’ deal in late June.

The settlement agreement extension again appeared closer in late

November, when Rep. Chris Cox met with Marion Blakely, the FAA’s new

leader.

“This is the No. 1 issue on my local agenda,” Cox said then. “I

made it clear to the FAA that we must extend the curfews and other

noise restrictions at John Wayne Airport.”

Airline representatives, who can legally challenge such an

extension, verbally supported the new agreement just two weeks later

under the assumption that John Wayne would expand to 16 gates and

10.8 million annual passengers, with 85 of the noisiest flights.

City and county officials will now await the FAA’s letter before

celebrating any further.

Temple mounts

into controversy

2From the minute they learned that the steeple on a proposed

Mormon Temple would reach 124 feet into the sky, some neighbors of

the Bonita Canyon Drive site were extremely upset. The towering

steeple, they said, would be far too imposing on the visuals of their

planned, uniform communities. They also objected to the lighting on

the building, which was scheduled to be on around the clock, and on

its stark white color. Temple planners were eager to be liked by

their neighbors, but local church leaders’ hands were somewhat tied.

Their job was only to do the bidding of higher-ups in Salt Lake City.

In numerous meetings with homeowners associations and other

community groups, the church tried to win them over. They agreed to

change the building color to a muted seashell color and to turn the

lights off at 11 p.m. It was good news to some, but not good enough.

The steeple still loomed as an item many residents simply wouldn’t

accept.

By the time the matter came before the Planning Commission in

September, church leaders had decided to bring down the steeple to

100 feet. Opponents and supporters of the project were overflowed the

council chambers as commissioners heard testimony on the project.

The subsequent Planning Commission meeting for a final vote on the

project came with a startling new twist. Resident Allen Murray had

been suspicious about staff reports that said that the steeple on the

existing stake center was 86 feet. It was a significant issue because

the temple steeple had to appear greater than the stake center

steeple in order to fulfill the church’s mission. Staff members and

documents disagree on the extent to which the 86 foot stake center

steeple was factored into their 100 foot temple recommendation. But

to some, it didn’t matter. They process was “tainted” by the fact

that some church members’ decision to stay mum on the matter.

In an impressive feat of consensus building, then-Councilman Steve

Bromberg met with church leaders to explain residents’ feelings. In

the end, they heard his message and decided that it would be

worthwhile to reduce the steeple further in order to extinguish

simmering contempt for the church. The City Council approved the

90-foot compromise steeple in November, drawing cheers from both

sides.

South Coast Repertory expands its stage

3What started as a dream in 1998 came to fruition in 2002 as South

Coast Repertory Theater opened the Folino Theatre Complex in October.

Construction on the $19-million expansion project started in

September 2001, when Irvine--based Snyder Langston started to build

architect Cesar Pelli’s design for the Julianne Argyros Stage, a new

336-seat proscenium theater with an orchestra level, balcony,

mezzanine and four boxes.

In April, the 37-year-old theater company started by Martin Benson

and David Emmes announced that Emulex CEO Paul Folino added $7.5

million to his initial donation of $2.5 million for the theater’s

five-year “Next Step” campaign, which ends in late 2003. The same

month, SCR disclosed that the anonymous donors of $5 million the

previous fall were Julianne and George Argyros. Stacey and Henry T.

Nicholas donated $2.5 million and the Segerstrom family and

foundation contributed close to $3 million in money and property. As

of Dec. 27, the Next Step raised $44 million of its $50 million goal.

Along with the new Argyros Stage, the expansion project includes a

refurbished 507-seat Segerstrom Stage (formerly the Mainstage); a

renovated 95-seat Nicholas Studio (formerly the 161-seat Second

Stage); a new set of classrooms, offices, prop rooms and dressing

rooms; an expanded box office; expanded restrooms; a large all-window

lobby and Ella’s Terrace, a harlequin-patterned area outside the

lobby blooming with plants.

The project meant closing SCR from May until October and

scheduling the summertime Hispanic Playwrights Project for multiple

venues, including the Orange County Performing Arts Center. The

2002-03 season has been abbreviated due to the now-finished

construction.

“Major Barbara,” by George Bernard Shaw, opened the Segerstrom

Stage on Oct. 18 (though it started in previews on Oct. 11). A new

Richard Greenberg play, “The Violet Hour,” opened the Julianne

Argyros Stage on Nov. 8 (previews were Nov. 5).

Greenlight suffers a

loss at the polls

4Nov. 5 looked to be a big day in Newport Beach politics, a

serious test of the controlled-growth Greenlight movement’s power in

town.

In all four City Council district races, Greenlight fielded

candidates for the first time: Allan Beek, Richard Taylor, Madelene

Arakelian and Dick Nichols. Lined up against two incumbents and two

other men backed by the Chamber of Commerce and the fire and police

unions, voters had an opportunity to repudiate the City Council as it

stood.

Not so fast, though. After success with the passage of the

Greenlight law in 2000 and the defeat of the Koll Center project last

November, Greenlight’s sterling track record at the polls was

tarnished. Voters backed only Nichols enough to send him into office,

where he joined the first Greenlight councilman, John Heffernan. Of

course, the two aren’t exactly compadres, so there seems little

likelihood of a major Greenlight block.

What did the loss mean, exactly, was the question on Nov. 6. Had

the Greenlight slate scared voters off, as it seemed -- somehow --

that the movement’s steering committee was trying to play

“councilmaker?” Did dirty campaigning alter the outcome? Or was

Greenlight’s political clout simply overstated?

The best answer seems to have come down to this statement:

“There’s a little Greenlight in everybody.” That perspective sums up

how the incumbent winners, Gary Adams and Tod Ridgeway, along with

their new colleague, Don Webb, reacted to charges that they were

pro-development. Development and traffic did not end up being the

main issues of the race; instead, public safety concerns seemed to

rule the election.

Greenlight’s ardent supporters don’t plan on fading away. In a

letter to the Pilot following the election, Phil Arst, the head of

the steering committee, and new committee member Tom Billings,

promised: “Given the lack of both legitimacy and representation for

the residents in the newly elected city council, Greenlight is needed

more than ever to protect the will of 63% of the electorate. Our

biggest threat is that the ‘Team Ellis’ council majority will pay

back developer contributors by sneaking excessive large developments

into the coming General Plan update. We will be on watch for their

attempts to overdevelop the city and will keep you informed so you

can help us maintain Newport Beach as the best place to live

anywhere.”

Balboa ficus fracas left no leaf unflustered

5Everyone agreed that the 25 ficus trees that lined Main Street on

the Balboa Peninsula were beautiful, even the people who wanted to

chop them down.

But despite their lush beauty, their shade and the canopy they

created over Main Street, some people -- most importantly the City

Council -- said the trees had to go. The fast-growing ficus have

fast-growing and far-reaching roots that city officials say were

doing some serious damage. Sewer pipes were leaking, sidewalks were

erupting, even building foundations were being damaged all because of

the tree roots, city officials said.

Their claims were hotly disputed by a group of residents who

wanted to save the trees. Led by Jan Vandersloot, they said that only

a few of the trees were poised to do any real damage and that those

trees could be managed by root pruning, root barriers and other

maintenance measures. They said that aging pipes were responsible for

sewage leaks without any help from tree roots. Further, they pointed

out, some of the trees had already been designated by the city as

special trees for which special steps should be taken to preserve

them. Surely, they argued, there must be some way to save the trees

and protect surrounding property owners from damage at the same time.

But the clock was ticking. City officials were anxious to get on

with their $10 million Balboa Village renovations, which hinged on

the city’s already-approved plans to raze the trees. The tree

supporters formed the Balboa Arbor Society and the war raged on in

council chambers, punctuated by musical performances by a keyboard

player at the podium singing songs to the tune of “Tie a Yellow

Ribbon.”

At 7 a.m. on a Wednesday morning in September, neighbors woke to

sound of chainsaws. Residents and tree supporters were shocked by the

unannounced move: City officials had declined to say when they would

take out the trees, though they maintained that they had the right to

remove them. A horrified arbor society president Linda Grant was seen

on national news broadcasts screaming for the workers to stop cutting

down the trees. By the time their lawyer was able to put an emergency

stop to the cutting, 23 of the 25 trees were gone.

In the following months, the city and arbor society agreed that

one of the trees will stay and that the city must consider creating

an ordinance to better handle problem trees in the future.

Committee members find it hard to get along

6It started with two harsh words of criticism aimed at three city

committee members: racist and homophobic.

Not exactly the words one would want to describe affiliates of the

city Human Relations Committee, which was established in 1987 to

“encourage the education about and communication between the various

cultures residing in Costa Mesa.”

The brutal words came late at night during the public comment

portion of a regular meeting and was sparked by Costa Mesa resident

Mira Ingram, who expressed concern that committee members Allan

Mansoor, Janice Davidson and Joel Faris were promoting intolerant and

hateful attitudes through their posts on a popular local Web site.

Ingram, the informal leader of an unknown group of young local

activists, claimed various contributions on the community Web site,

posted by Mansoor, Faris and Davidson, contained offensive language

toward Latinos or homosexuals. She felt they were inappropriately

seated on a committee intent on eradicated that type of ignorance.

The three subjects of the attack completely denied any malicious

intent behind the posts and said their words were being taken out of

context. Fellow human relation committee members defended their

colleagues, others expressed the same disappointment as Ingram. All

vowed to log on to the Web site to see for themselves exactly what

was written.

Also intent on reading the Web site -- run by the Citizens for

Improvement of Costa Mesa -- was the executive director of the Orange

County Human Relations Commission. Members of the county commission

and its leader, Rusty Kennedy, serve in an advisory capacity to Costa

Mesa’s counterpart and logged on to offer their help in diffusing

some of the sensitive dialogue.

Davidson, who was the co-leader of the Web site, said they did

anything but help and started meddling in discussions they had no

business in. They were strangers and their opinions of the Web site

regulars were based on misinformed opinions. Therefore, their

constant advise -- or interference, as Davidson called it -- caused

her to ultimately close the Web site, saying it “just wasn’t worth

it.”

Efforts ensure future joint-use library

7Like any good book, the struggle to build a new Mariners Library

in Newport Beach was filled with conflict, suspense and a happy

ending -- at least for supporters.

The first chapter began in March when the race to raise a million

dollars began. The city had to raise such a large amount in donations

by June to qualify for matching funds from state Proposition 14

money.

The goal was to build a modern facility to replace the aging

Mariners Branch Library, which would also serve as a school library

to the students of Mariners Elementary School.

But fears started circulating about the safety of Mariners’

children using a library that was also open to the public during

school hours.

To alleviate concerns, design elements were created to minimize

contact between the students and the public, including a separate

entrance for students and separate bathrooms in the children’s

sections. Video cameras and a security patrol were also proposed to

make the environment safer.

In early June, the grass-roots fund-raising campaign announced it

had exceeded its ambitious $1-million goal, thanks to significant

donations from the Newport Beach Public Library Foundation, the Helen

Russell Estate and Donna and John Crean.

On June 11, both the Newport-Mesa Unified school board and the

Newport Beach City Council approved the proposal.

In the last weeks before submitting an application to the state,

the city’s cost estimate for the project jumped by about $800,000,

bringing the total estimated cost to $5,133,945. The added costs are

a result of increased security measures and more accurate estimates

of the total project.

And the suspense was over on Dec. 2 when the joint-use Mariners

Library project was awarded a $3.2-million grant from the state.

Newport Beach’s proposal was one of 13 that won a share of about $130

million in state money set aside for joint-use library projects.

It’s now up to the city to turn its conceptual designs into solid

plans. The details should come before the City Council early next

year.

Phony phone call

sets off alarms

8Campaign consultant Dave Ellis at first denied that he had

anything to do with a phony campaign telephone message. But that was

before candidate Rick Taylor did some sleuthing. During the November

City Council race, some residents received a recorded campaign

message that purported to be in support of District 4 candidate Ron

Winship. But Winship said he did not produce, approve of or even know

about the message, which incorrectly described Winship as a

“Greenlight candidate.” The real Greenlight-endorsed candidate in

that district was Taylor, who appeared poised to give incumbent Gary

Adams a run for his money. Greenlight leaders blamed the Adams camp

for creating the phony message as a ploy to confuse Greenlight

supporters into voting for Winship instead of for Taylor.

When Ellis, Adams’ campaign manager, was asked whether he created

the message, he answered “no” with a laugh. Adams, too, denied

knowledge of the message.

Then Taylor did some digging. When he learned that a colleague in

the Airport Working Group had been asked by Ellis to record a

telephone message for a Costa Mesa council campaign, Taylor obtained

the phone number to the voice messaging service company that Ellis

used for that campaign. Ellis has done extensive consulting work for

the working group. Taylor called customer service at the voice mail

company, identified himself as a representative of the Airport

Working Group, and asked a company representative for more

information about the working group voice mail boxes. It didn’t ring

a bell with the customer service representative, who explained that

the company works mostly with consultants. So Taylor mentioned Ellis’

name. The representative gave Taylor the pass codes for four voice

mailboxes, which Taylor then listened to. One of the contained the

fake message about Winship.

Shortly afterward, Ellis changed his story: He did produce the

message, he said, but never authorized it being used. That must have

been by accident, he said. Greenlight leaders have filed a complaint

with the district attorney’s office. Adams, who said he was outraged

that Ellis committed deceit on his behalf, has said he will propose

that the city create new campaign rules to avert misleading telephone

campaigning.

Newport grows by

coasts and hills

9Jan. 1 saw the end of a long struggle by Newport Beach to annex

Newport Coast. But along with its approximately 7,000 new residents,

the city also adopted some big new challenges. Biggest among them: In

their pre-annexation agreement with the Newport Coast residents, city

officials agreed to hire legal counsel and to provide their own time

and expertise to help get to the bottom of a problem that’s been

plaguing Newport Coast taxpayers since at least the time of the

Orange County bankruptcy. About $50 million in taxes paid by the

residents to the county are unaccounted for. Though there’s no reason

yet to suspect foul play or even mismanagement, there’s every reason

for residents to demand answers to some rather glaring oddities.

For example, more than $420,000 was set aside in the late 1980s to

improve library service to Newport Coast residents. But, according to

county officials, that money was funneled into an Aliso Viejo library

instead. Another $392,310 that was supposed to build a sheriff’s

substation to serve Newport Coast reportedly improved the Aliso Viejo

substation. Another curious accounting: Though residents, through

bond issues, paid $40.3 million to build 6.1 miles of Newport Coast

Drive, they were only reimbursed $3.5 million when the local

transportation agency took possession of one-third of the road to

make it part of a toll road. By the thinking of some resident

leaders, a third of the road should have been valued at about $13

million.

While Newport Beach leaders work to solve these mysteries, they

are also facing some other issues for Newport Coast. Maintenance of

public areas that pose potential fire hazards have been a bone of

contention: Both sides disagree on who is responsible for financing

and overseeing the work.

And the one issue that seemed to be most neatly resolved still has

a few thorns. The Irvine Ranch Water District agreed to pay $25

million for the rights to continue selling water to Newport Coast.

Residents had already agreed that $7 million should be set aside to

build a community center and that they would settle for no less than

the entire remaining $18 million reimbursed to them. City staff had

quite a job of working out the bugs to get the reimbursements place

on their county tax bills every year for the next 15 years. But both

sides disagreed over who should get about $43,000 in interest that

was earned on the first portion of the tax reimbursements that were

set aside, awaiting distribution to residents. City staff continue to

stand by their belief that, under the Preannexation Agreement, that

interest should go to the city.

Ducks hauled

off to the farm

10A strange standoff turned downright outrageous as Newport Beach

leaders decided to take action to correct water quality problems on

Balboa Island’s The Grand Canal. Saying that duck droppings were a

main reason for the high bacteria levels in the water, the City

Council passed an ordinance to prevent large-scale feeding of the

ducks. They carefully crafted ordinance focused on ducks’ migratory

patterns: They made it illegal to feed the animals regularly and in

large enough quantity to discourage their natural migration, but the

new ordinance still allowed people to throw bread crumbs to the

ducks.

While leaders insisted that they weren’t singling anyone out, most

felt that one Grand Canal home was the source of the problem.

Resident Bunty Justin received numerous slaps on the wrist from the

city for continuing to set out food and water for the dozens of ducks

that seemed to think of her house as their home. And even as Justin

wrote the city to say that she wouldn’t pay the fines and fees and

they couldn’t stop her from “throwing a handful of Friskies” to the

ducks, staff members were taking more drastic action.

In an unusual early-morning maneuver, city staff along with state

wildlife officials brought a bucketful of drugged duck food to The

Grand Canal. When the ducks got a little groggy, men in boats with

nets started scooping them out of the water. About 60 ducks were thus

loaded into a truck and hauled off to a farm somewhere in San

Bernardino County.

The operation improved the problem, but it did not eradicate it.

Flocks of ducks continue to congregate near the dock at Justin’s

house. Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said that another duck

roundup is likely in store, but by late December, none had been

planned.

-- Compiled by S.J. Cahn, June Casagrande, Lolita Harper, James

Meier and Jennifer K Mahal.