Week in Review

COSTA MESA

Police union endorses mayor’s challengers

Mayor Allan Mansoor, who is running for reelection, has secured the endorsement of the Republican Party of Orange County, but not the endorsement of his city’s police association.

The association decided to endorse planning commissioner Bruce Garlich and former Councilman Mike Scheafer, and not Mansoor, a Sheriff’s deputy.

The firefighters association endorsed Garlich and Scheafer last week for the Nov. 7 City Council election.

Police association members said the immigration issue did not play a part in their decision not to endorse the mayor. Back in December, Mansoor proposed a plan to train police officers to check the immigration status of suspected criminals. The plan was approved by a majority of the council.

Mansoor’s campaign for reelection has focused on public safety and illegal immigration.

Years of vacancies and charges of mismanagement plagued the 191,000-square-foot Costa Mesa mall, but tenants and city officials are optimistic the change in ownership will revitalize Triangle Square.

Greenlaw Partners is working with city staff on a possible proposal for a combination of residential units and businesses for the mall, although no specific plans have been submitted to the city, Mayor Allan Mansoor said.

POLITICS

Measure X supporter drops language lawsuit

Measure X proponent Phil Arst said last week he has dropped a legal challenge of the measure’s ballot description written by the city of Newport Beach. The measure would require public votes on some developments in the city.

Arst filed suit in August, charging that the city’s description of Measure X would mislead and confuse voters. But after two judges refused to speed up hearings on the suit, Arst decided to drop it because a deadline to get ballot materials to the Orange County Registrar of Voters has passed.

Setmayer replaces Rebecca Rudman, who left Rohrabacher’s office after nearly two years to return to Corona Rep. Ken Calvert, for whom she has previously worked.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Arraignment set in road-rage-shooting case

A Stanton man accused of shooting another man in the chest during a road-rage incident on a Costa Mesa freeway off-ramp is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 6 in Orange County Superior Court, officials said.

Robert Charles Berg, 61, was arrested Sept. 17 after he allegedly shot 28-year-old Duane Kressin during an altercation on the 55 Freeway off-ramp near Del Mar.

Police said Berg cut off the car Kressin was riding in and when Kressin got out of his car to confront him, Berg allegedly shot him in the chest.

Berg is being held on $1 million bail on charges of attempted murder.

Michael Roeder, 27, allegedly touched a girl inappropriately while he was lifting her onto a floating buoy in the bay.

Investigators found hundreds of images of child pornography on Roeder’s laptop computer, as well as a story about an adult having sex with a child, authorities said.

Roeder’s attorney told an Orange County Superior Court judge that the incident was not intentional and that the pornography was sent to his client by a friend.

The judge denied bail and set a preliminary hearing for Oct. 4.

Police found a 21-year-old woman bleeding in the street in the 2200 block of Rutgers Drive after midnight. She was talking with another man in a carport when Gonzalez drove up and ordered her to get in the car, police said. She refused and he threw her on the ground, cutting her twice across the throat, police said.

Gonzalez should be considered dangerous, police said, and anyone with information about the case can call Det. Julian Trevino at (714) 754-5356.

Only one case was reported in California, but Newport-Mesa residents were wary of the leafy green and even thought twice about purchasing other lettuce products.

NEWPORT BEACH

The ride is over for three at Balboa Fun Zone

The last of three rides slated for removal at the Balboa Fun Zone didn’t get taken out Wednesday after a Temecula museum decided not to take the Scary Dark Ride. The other two — the bumper cars and the Drummer Boy ride — were in various states of deconstruction last week.

The rides are departing to make way for the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum’s new facility, which will be built over the next five years. Fun zone ride operator Joe Tunstall will continue to run the Ferris wheel through 2030, and the carousel could remain for several more years.

Some residents worried that continuing the road closure might increase the danger to them if a fire started in the nearby canyon, but others want the road closed to keep construction vehicles away from passenger cars.

The City Council will take up the Irvine Co.’s request in October.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

“Sometimes, Mrs. Tift looked through magnifying glasses to see the best in each student. She chose her glasses wisely.”

— Karen Selby, a teacher at Eastbluff Elementary School, in tribute to 31-year-old Eastbluff teacher Candace Tift, who was killed in August

“We interviewed all of them [the candidates] and felt that they [planning commissioner Bruce Garlich and former councilman Mike Scheafer] were the best representatives. It wasn’t an easy decision to make.”

— Chris Walk, president of the Costa Mesa Police Assn., on the union’s decision to endorse Garlich and Scheafer over Mayor Allan Mansoor, an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy, in November’s City Council election

“As a deputy sheriff, I understand and support law enforcement and Costa Mesa police officers. My union opposed Proposition 75 in the special election, but I took a stand in support of it, as did Gov. Schwarzenegger and most Costa Mesa voters. The union bosses are now paying me back.”

— Allan Mansoor, mayor of Costa Mesa, on the police union’s endorsement of his rivals

“I hold out a high hope that the new ownership will really take a good personal and aggressive interest in Triangle Square, because it can be a gem, just a great business focal point for the area. I think its an interesting concept, and it could revitalize that center entirely if the city is really interested.”

— Ed Fawcett, president of the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce, on the sale of 191,000-square-foot Triangle Square mall

“It scared me. love spinach — I’m not crazy about vegetables — and spinach is how I get my dark, leafy vegetables, so I was upset.”

— Julie Neglia, of Costa Mesa, on the warning issued by the Food and Drug Administration about E. coli bacteria found in fresh spinach