Catching up on city business

Steve Bromberg

Every year at this time, one can just sense the holidays approaching.

Newport Beach practices the holiday spirit in grand style. We have

the granddaddy of all boat parades, which is sponsored by the Newport

Harbor Chamber of Commerce, and the villages in our city “light up.”

Balboa Island, where I live, every year joins in the festivities and

most of the homes decorate big time and truly practice the holiday

spirit. If you have never seen this, it is a very special treat.

I thought I would also take this opportunity to give you an update

as to what is going on in Newport Beach. As you may recall, in

September I informed you that I had met with Rep. Chris Cox

(R-Newport Beach) in an attempt to work through the very difficult

eel grass situation affecting our bay. Cox’s office is already

working with the Army Corp. of Engineers on this issue, and soon we

may be seeing an agreement between the Army Corp. and the state of

California, which will hopefully give relief to almost 90% of the

residential and commercial dock owners. This process is moving

forward.

Also, you may have noticed that we now have a new councilman for

District No. 2. which covers West Newport and portions of Newport

Heights. It was nice to see that the appointment process went

through smoothly. We had six applicants, and each one was interviewed

publicly, on television, at this special council meeting. We made our

selection, swore Steve Rosansky in and gave him his seat all in one

evening. I was extremely proud watching the council deal with this

issue with such a high level of professionalism.

At the last City Council meeting, we took a formal position on the

19th Street bridge, which you may have been reading about. The 19th

Street Bridge -- if built -- would be a connector and would relieve

traffic on Coast Highway, diverting some of that traffic through

Costa Mesa. Needless to say, Costa Mesa does not want this bridge.

The Daily Pilot, our community newspaper, stated in an editorial on

Nov. 9 that Newport Beach is a “selfish bully” and not a good

neighbor over this issue. The reality is that the traffic on Coast

Highway that we all see during peak hours is not all Newport Beach

traffic. This is traffic coming to and from Huntington and Laguna

beaches, as well as Costa Mesa. The idea of the bridge is to fan the

traffic out and let every city that is part of the problem --

including Costa Mesa -- be part of the solution. This is a regional

issue that all of the cities need to work on together. It’s

unfortunate that our community newspaper made this mean spirited and

very personal assault on us in an editorial.

Last week, I attended the UC Irvine Medal Ceremony, in which

medals are presented to those individuals who have given a good part

of their life to the betterment of UCI and have gone that extra yard.

There were four recipients total and three of them are from that

selfish bully town of bad neighbors, Newport Beach. They are Marian

Bergeson and Elizabeth and John Stahr. All of the recipients should

be applauded for their good hearts.

Also of interest are the recent developments regarding our senior

housing project at Lower Bayview Landing. On Nov. 5 we had our final

Coastal Commission hearing and the project was approved, subject to

17 conditions.

Additionally, on Dec. 9, our council meeting agenda will have an

item to select a new mayor. That individual is charged with the

responsibility of presiding over City Council meetings and being the

spokesperson for the city. At the same time, this individual has no

greater authority than any other council member. To that end, the

mayor is expected to represent the interests of the majority of the

city and the City Council as opposed to his or her own personal or

private interests. The idea is to prevent a “lone ranger” mentality.

On a personal level, I have truly enjoyed serving this city as

your mayor. It is a very fulfilling experience, and I look forward to

continuing on as a councilman. So many people have told me this must

be a very thankless job. I respond to the contrary, that I have not

found it thankless at all. For that matter, I find that the majority

of the people in the city -- who I consistently say are good people

-- very much appreciate the efforts of their elected representatives

and they are not shy in letting you know how you are doing. That of

course works both ways, and I must say, there are many more positive

than negative feelings in Newport Beach, and that is the way it ought

to be.

* STEVE BROMBERG is the mayor of Newport Beach.