Greenlight carries just one candidate

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- While 63.4% of the city’s voters gave the slow-growth

Greenlight initiative a clear go-ahead in Tuesday’s election, only one of

three City Council candidates endorsed by the measure’s supporters will

be sworn into office Dec. 12.

In District 7, John Heffernan garnered 39.4% of the votes and will

replace incumbent Tom Thomson. A Greenlight supporter, the 55-year-old

businessman and attorney financed his campaign exclusively with his own

money.

In District 5, 56-year-old mediator Steve Bromberg secured 44.4% of

the ballots and will replace Mayor John Noyes as that district’s

representative on the council. Noyes did not seek reelection.

Gary L. Proctor, 55, a businessman and attorney, soundly defeated his

opponents in the District 2 race by collecting 64.3% of the votes. He’ll

replace Councilwoman Jan Debay, who leaves office because of term limits.

Neither Bromberg nor Proctor had supported Greenlight, which will put

before a citywide vote any development that allows an increase of more

than 100 peak-hour car trips or dwelling units or 40,000 square feet over

the general plan allowance.

Bromberg, who said he had stayed up all night to find out if he’d won

the election, said Proctor and his victory showed that residents had not

chosen candidates based on their stand on Greenlight.

“I think they went with the best candidate,” he said, adding that

votes between his opponents Patricia M. Beek and Robert Schoonmaker were

not split evenly enough to say that the two District 5 candidates

supporting Greenlight had canceled each other out.

Beek, 52, a retired retail manager, received support from 41.8% of

voters. Schoonmaker, 69, a retired engineer, collected 13.4%.

But former City Manager Bob Wynn, 69, who came in second behind

Heffernan with 34.5% of the votes, said that Greenlight probably played a

big role in the outcome of the race in District 7. Wynn supported Measure

T, and Thomson, who collected 25.6% of the votes, opposed both measures

on the ballot.

“It was well known that I endorsed T and helped write the thing,” Wynn

said, adding that he congratulated Heffernan and wished him the best as

the district’s next elected representative. “And I think that hurt my

chances. Measure S was very popular. That definitely helped [Heffernan]

in the election process.”

Thomson declined to comment on the election results Wednesday.

Heffernan, who described his election as a “victory for the underdog,”

cited his experience as a Hoag Hospital board member as well as his

performance during candidate forums as reasons for his election.

He said he’d use the next weeks to visit the city’s departments to get

more familiar with the mechanics of city government.

Proctor’s victory over Dennis Lahey, a 58-year-old computer sales

consultant, and real estate broker Steven Rosansky, 40, became clear soon

after the first results came in Tuesday night. Lahey, a Greenlight

supporter, collected 23.4% of the votes. Rosansky, who opposed both

measures, took 11.8%.

An airport commissioner for 17 years, Proctor had made the extension

of flight caps at John Wayne Airport and the fight for an airport at the

former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station his election platform. He said

Tuesday that he wanted to energize the city’s residents to work toward

that goal.

Calling him a “valuable addition to the council,” Debay said she hoped

Proctor would also continue to work on projects she had helped to start

in West Newport Beach.

“I’m trusting that [Proctor] will have time to get involved in the

community as well as the airport issues,” she said, adding that the

undergrounding of utilities and a proposed park at Coast Highway and

Superior Avenue were two issues she wanted to see become reality after

leaving office.

QUESTION

o7 WILL IT WORK?f7

Now that the Greenlight measure has been approved, will it solve the

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