Debay bids farewell

Alex Coolman

WEST NEWPORT -- The way Alan Silcock remembers it, the idea started

out as a casual discussion to do something to honor the service of

Newport Beach Councilwoman Jan Debay.

But the president of the West Newport Beach Assn. discovered something

interesting: everyone who heard about the event for Debay wanted to get

on board.

And so on Thursday night, a conference room at the Balboa Bay Club was

packed with people who had come to pay tribute to the woman who spent the

last eight years representing the second council district.

In attendance were most of the City Council, police and fire

officials, representatives of the Irvine Co. and county Supervisor Tom

Wilson, who zipped up to the podium on his way to another event.

“I’m very proud to stand up here tonight and say that I know and am a

friend of Jan Debay,” Wilson told the audience.

The evening featured speeches from several people who have spent years

working with Debay, who was term-limited out of her seat and will be

succeeded by Gary Proctor.

Carol Hoffman, the former Irvine Co. vice president, praised the

sophistication of Debay’s approach to regional politics.

“She is the reason that I oppose term limits,” Hoffman said. “It is

absolutely a crime that we have to lose a public servant like Jan Debay.”

Hoffman drew attention to the fact that Debay had not only sat on the

council but also served on the county sanitation district and the

Southern California League of Cities, calling her time with the city “the

kind of leadership that Newport Beach is capable of and that she has

exemplified.”

Patty Temple, Newport Beach’s planning director, recalled the slightly

odd way that Debay was drawn into city government in the 1970s.

Debay had purchased a home that had been extensively modified by its

previous owner, Temple said. The process of bringing the home up to code

involved tearing through a vast web of red tape.

“Most people going through that kind of ordeal might be soured on what

government does to them,” Temple said. “But obviously she took it very

positively.”

For her part, Debay took a moment to share the credit for her

accomplishments with the community and her family.

“You don’t do anything without a team behind you, and that’s what’s

happened in this area,” she said. “I’m so grateful to live in a city this

size where you can get involved in your local government.”