Cloud still hangs over Newport City Council

June Casagrande

The Newport Beach City Council has just survived its worst civil war

in years. The behavior of one of their own, Dick Nichols, was so

objectionable to some of his colleagues that they had a formal item

put on their council agenda.

The question it addressed: Should Nichols be slapped on the wrist

or even censured for suggesting that a Planning Commission decision

had been influenced by a bribe? They even considered creating some

type of code of conduct.

In the end, after the verbal spankings were over, they decided

against any of these measures. But questions remain about the

aftermath. Will Nichols and his colleagues be able to mend fences and

move on? Will they find a common ground for conducting the business

of the city. And, perhaps most salient, will Nichols continue to

appear at and speak at Planning Commission meetings?

“Yes,” Nichols said Friday in response to the last question. “But

not for a while. Not until things die down.”

All six of Nichols’ council colleagues commented on his fateful

comment to planning commissioners at their May 22 meeting: “It

doesn’t look good. It looks like you’re taking money for this one.”

The councilmen’s comments ran the gamut from the gentle

disapproval of Don Webb to the all-out questioning of Nichols’

Greenlight backers by Tod Ridgeway. Gary Proctor questioned Nichols’

ability to grasp the issue at hand. John Heffernan, the other

Greenlight-backed councilman, took the opportunity to distance

himself from Nichols.

Gary Adams introduced a whole new area of concern opened by

Nichols’ practice of addressing the Planning Commission from the

podium as a member of the public.

State open-meeting laws forbid a majority of the council from

assembling outside of noticed public forums to discuss matters of

city business. So if one council member attends or participates in a

Planning Commission meeting, no more than two others can do so.

Therefore, any council member who participates in a Planning

Commission meeting is basically using up his or her colleagues’ right

to do the same. The only equitable thing for council members to do,

is to all stay away, Adams said.

STANDING BY HIS WORDS

There are other considerations. For example, if a council member

takes a position on a request in front of the Planning Commission,

and then that item is called up for reconsideration by the council,

could that council member give a fair, impartial hearing in the

council proceedings?

The very issue that prompted Nichols’ faux pas has been called up

for council reconsideration -- by Nichols himself.

City Attorney Bob Burnham said Friday that he is reviewing legal

guidelines to determine whether Nichols should participate in the

discussion or the vote. He said he would not have a recommendation

until after further legal research.

Nichols has apologized numerous times for his phrase, explaining

that he meant it as a metaphor and not as a legitimate allegation. He

doesn’t believe that anyone on the Planning Commission accepted a

bribe to deny a request for a height variance on a private home on

Balboa Island’s South Ocean Front, he said.

But he stands by his position that the Planning Commission was

wrong to deny the request. The owner of the home wanted to expand the

size of an elevator entrance on the roof of her home from a 25 square

feet 127 square feet and add a bathroom. City variance rules don’t

allow for such exceptions to area height limits. Nichols thinks they

should, because the structure would not significantly affect views or

the overall aesthetics of the neighborhood.

“Though I sure don’t think that this has all been a good thing, I

don’t want to say that we got a win out of this,” Nichols said. “But

basically, now, the council is willing to try to work with me, and I

think we can eliminate some of the problems in the zoning causing me

the most distress.”

MORE TROUBLE IN THE FUTURE?

Mayor Steve Bromberg disagrees with Nichols’ prediction of this

silver lining.

“I can’t really agree with that, because Mr. Nichols’

understanding of the variance and modification procedure is

inaccurate,” Bromberg said. “He’s on the wrong track. He doesn’t

understand what a variance is, what a modification is. A lot of us

have tried to explain it to him.”

If that’s true, it’s possible that there are more flubs in

Nichols’ future. Bromberg said that, if past problems repeat

themselves, the council may have to take formal action. In the

meantime, though, Bromberg said he would rather emphasize the

positive points about Tuesday’s council talks, which ended with a

unanimous vote to drop the matter.

“It’s over as far as I’m concerned,” Bromberg said. “I’m proud of

the council and each council member for taking the high road in

handling this very difficult and delicate issue with the highest

level of professionalism.

“I’m glad we waited two weeks. Emotions were running high in the

council meeting before that and, if we’d have talked about it then,

it might not have turned out as well,” he said “I hope something good

comes out of it, and that good would be a better understanding on the

part of Mr. Nichols as to how the process works.”

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

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

[email protected].