Council selects Ed Selich to fill District 5 chair

Alicia Robinson

Newport Beach gained a councilman and lost a planning commissioner

when Ed Selich was appointed Tuesday to fill a vacant seat on the

dais.

The City Council chose Selich, a developer and a 10-year city

planning commissioner, to replace Steve Bromberg, who was elected in

November to his second term on the council but left to become an

Orange County Superior Court judge.

After picking the new council member, the City Council unanimously

chose John Heffernan to be mayor until December. Councilman Don Webb

remains mayor pro tem.

Although six people initially applied for the fifth-district seat

-- which represents Newport Center, Balboa Island, Irvine Terrace and

Lower Newport Bay -- only five candidates remained Tuesday night.

Earlier Tuesday, Patricia Beek, who lost to Bromberg in 2000,

withdrew her name from consideration.

The losing candidates were real estate broker Donald Abrams; Lloyd

Ikerd, a member of the city’s economic development committee; Robert

Schoonmaker, who lost council races in 1996 and 2000; and businessman

Bernie Svalstad, who lost a 2002 council bid.

A majority of the council supported Selich in a 4-2 vote, with

Councilwoman Leslie Daigle and Councilman Steve Rosansky opting for

Svalstad.

Instead of being appointed for the balance of Bromberg’s four-year

term, Selich will have to run for office in the 2006 general election

to keep his seat. If he seeks and wins election until he’s termed

out, he would become the longest-tenured council member, serving 11

1/2 years.

He’ll also have to tackle a number of complex city issues, such as

whether to build a new city hall and fire station for about $40

million, and more immediately, how to use city-owned waterfront

property at Marinapark.

“As far as what I’d really like to sink my teeth into, it’s

getting the general-plan update completed,” Selich said. “I think

that’s the most important thing for this city.”

The city has been working for several years to overhaul the

general plan, which will guide development in Newport Beach for years

to come. Officials hope to have it ready for the November 2006

ballot.

Heffernan won his second term on the council in 2004, but until

now he’s been off to the side of the dais, both in the seating

arrangement and from a policy standpoint.

He’s often been outspoken and first ran for council with the

backing of the slow-growth advocate group Greenlight. Heffernan has

also been known to change his mind -- he announced in 2002 that he’d

quit his council seat before the term was up. And last year, he

initially said he wouldn’t seek reelection but filed as a candidate

minutes before the deadline.

“I’m now a centrist rather than somebody on the edge, which kind

of limits some of my options,” he joked after taking the mayor’s seat

at the center of the council.

After the meeting, Heffernan said his short stint as mayor will be

a busy one, with the city budget, the St. Andrew’s church-expansion

proposal, the general-plan update and city hall coming in quick

succession.

“Those are four big bites,” he said.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers government and politics. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at alicia.robinson

@latimes.com.