Councilman and activist clash over resort

June Casagrande

The debate over Marinapark got even more passionate and personal this

week as a skirmish broke out between Councilman Steve Bromberg and

Greenlight Committee spokesman Phil Arst.

After a presentation on the project in the City Council meeting on

Tuesday, Arst stepped up to the podium to chastise the council for

their approach to the Marinapark matter. In turn, Arst was chastised

by Bromberg.

Greenlight supporters have been alleging for months that the

city’s decision to send the hotel project to a vote -- but not to a

Greenlight one -- amounts to a sneaky circumvention of voter will.

Opponents in City Hall have countercharged that a handful of

Greenlight members led by Arst are looking for any excuse to control

the debate and its outcome.

On Tuesday, Arst set his sights on two aspects of the proposed

110-room hotel project on the Balboa Peninsula. First, he said, by

sending the project to a non-Greenlight vote, the council is

conveniently avoiding having to vote on the project as a council.

“They don’t want to alienate those in the electorate that will be

opposed to the conversion of parkland and beachfront to a hotel,”

Arst said Thursday. “We want them to debate the issues in a public

forum and accept responsibility for their positions as councilmen.”

Bromberg seized on the comment to point out what he believes to be

a hypocritical position: The spokesman of the very group whose stated

goal is to put major developments before voters was protesting

putting the matter to a vote.

“On one end, he is saying Greenlight wants the people to vote on

everything, but on this project, he doesn’t,” Bromberg said. “Why? He

is concerned that people are going to pass this project.”

On Thursday, Arst said his point was that a Greenlight vote would

require both a council vote and a vote of the people. The present

plan for approving the project does not include a City Council vote.

Arst also criticized officials for putting information about the

hotel project on the city’s website.

“If you’re going to present one side of the issue, at least give

space for a rebuttal argument,” he said.

That was a head-scratcher for Bromberg.

“They want information made public, so we put up information from

the environmental impact report and unbiased facts about the project,

and he has a problem with that,” Bromberg said. “The city website is

a place for information, not a forum for debate.”

Arst, however, said the information on the website amounts to free

publicity for the project.

“They never posted information there on any project before now,”

he said.

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

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

[email protected].