CITYSCAPE ROUNDUP

Developer honored by tourism industry

One of Surf City’s most popular hotel developers is being honored this month for his contributions to the local tourism industry.

Stephen Bone, president and chief executive officer of Newport Beach development firm the Robert Mayer Corp., will be presented with the Orange County Tourism Council’s legacy award at the upcoming Service Excellence Awards. The award recognizes lifetime contributions to businesses that serve tourists.

Bone has been instrumental in developing and building Huntington Beach’s two beachside resorts, the Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa and the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort. His company also has contributed to dozens of charity projects across Huntington Beach.

The Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce named him the 2005 citizen of the year for his leadership in the community. Since Bone joined the Robert Mayer Corp. in 1986, the Illinois native has helped turn Huntington Beach from a sleepy, motel-lined beach town into a destination whose name is recognized by 93% of travelers in the Southwest.

He was the founding chairman of the Huntington Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau and a past chairman of the Chamber of Commerce. He was a founding co-chairman of the Orange County Tourism Council and founding chairman of the Orange County Film Commission.

Bone is spearheading the development of a third coastal resort in Huntington Beach. Another two resorts are scheduled to be completed in 2008. During his tenure with the company, the Robert Mayer Corp. has grown to become the ninth-largest contributor of property taxes in Orange County.

Bone is a graduate of the College of Wooster in Illinois and Columbia Law School. He and his wife Pat live in Huntington Beach.

This year’s program is scheduled for April 3 at the Hilton Costa Mesa and will begin with a reception at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and the presentation of awards beginning at 6:45 p.m. A silent auction and raffle are included in the program. Tickets are $75 per person; a table of 10 is $750; parking is complimentary.

Be prepared: take a Save-A-Life class on Saturday

The Huntington Beach Fire Department will begin its disaster preparedness Save-A-Life saturday class series this weekend.

City residents, their families, spouses and children 13 and older are welcome to attend. Classes include disaster preparedness, disaster first-aid and triage, CPR, fire extinguisher use, care and shelter, and light search and rescue.

The classes will be taught by Huntington Beach Fire Department and Community Emergency Response Team volunteers.

Classes are held the third Saturday of each month from 8 a.m. to noon. If you wish to enroll, contact Gloria Morrison, emergency services coordinator, at 536-5980 or [email protected].

County’s Measure M community classes are scheduled

The Orange County Transportation Authority is holding a series of community workshops to present information about the renewed Measure M draft transportation-investment plan.

Measure M is the half-cent sales tax passed by voters in 1990 for use on street and transportation improvement projects. The current Measure M program expires in 2011, and the draft plan represents a potential renewal of the program that may be placed on the November 2006 ballot.

The transportation authority has developed the plan in collaboration with Orange County cities, stakeholder organizations and the general public.

Local community meetings will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. today at the Garden Grove Community Center, Conference Room B, 11300 Stanford Ave., and from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Huntington Beach City Hall, Room B-8, 2000 Main St.