Beek to run for Newport council

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH--A member of one of the city’s founding families has

shaken up the upcoming council race by announcing his candidacy.

Allan Beek will oppose former Public Works Director Don Webb for

the District 3 council seat that will be vacated by Norma Glover due

to term limits. Beek, a retired computer designer whose last name is

synonymous with Newport Beach’s recent history, said the Greenlight

issues of development and traffic are his two main reasons for

seeking election.

“There is a considerable degree of pressure in the city to replace

a lot of our older commercial buildings with high-rise office

buildings and I would like to oppose that,” Beek said, pointing to

the airport area and the area north of Hoag Hospital. “High-rise

buildings are a negative on every point: They increase traffic, they

increase demand for flights at John Wayne, they make our

jobs-to-housing imbalance even worse and they are not a revenue

producer. They cost as much in city services as they bring in

property taxes. So there’s no reason to have them except to make a

lot of money for the property owner.”

But development is just one factor in traffic trouble, Beek said.

With or without new office buildings, the city is facing some tough

choices on traffic. Adding overpasses, widening streets and finding

other ways to accommodate traffic will mean more cars and concrete,

he said. But leaving streets basically the same as they are now means

that they will become more congested.

“It’s a dilemma,” he said. “We don’t want to be congested, but we

don’t want to be a freeway, either.”

The solution: Gather as many facts as possible now so residents

can stride into the future with eyes open to all the options. To

advance this goal, Beek has been working on the city’s General Plan

Update Committee to produce traffic projections into 2030.

His current work on the committee is the latest in Beek’s long

history of community service. A member of the Harbor High School

class of 1943, Beek was commodore of the Balboa Island Yacht Club for

young people in 1942. He served on the Newport Beach Planning

Commission from 1978 to 1982 and served on the city’s bicycle trails

committee in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. He is also one-third

owner of the Balboa Ferry.

Webb said he has known Beek for about 30 years and that the two

get along well.

“I feel I have a lot more municipal experience than he does,” Webb

said. “It’s going to be an interesting contest.”

Beek is one of eight people who have so far requested the papers

necessary to run for City Council. In District 1, Madelene Arakelian

and Mayor Tod Ridgeway are candidates. Webb and Beek are the two

contenders so far for District 3.

Richard Taylor Jr. and Ron Winship are poised to challenge

incumbent Gary Adams in District 4. And Bernie Svalstad has picked up

papers to run for District 6.

Laura Dietz, who announced her candidacy for the District 6 seat

earlier this year, has not yet picked up the necessary papers -- a

first step toward running for office.

Candidates have until Aug. 9 to file their papers with the city

clerk’s office. So far, only Adams has turned in his papers.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport.

She may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

[email protected].