Don’t be a fool; and the pool issue

Mark your calendars for April 1. Besides the fact that it’s April Fool’s Day, it’s also the open house to preview the draft of the general plan, and you will be the fool if you don’t show up.

This “happening” event will be at the Oasis Senior Center, 5th and Marguerite in Corona del Mar. There are two sessions for you to choose from: 9 a.m. or 1 p.m., or why not stay for both? You cannot afford to miss this event. Remember, the city has spent millions, plus another $500,000, recently approved by the City Council, to promote the plan to the public. I guess you can compare it with a political campaign in which the general plan update is the candidate. Wow, $500,000 in tax money is a lot of campaign.

Speaking of campaigns, the campaign of 2006 is one that will go down in history in the city of Newport Beach. If you are asking why, it is because this is the election in which six of seven seats are up for grabs. We will be witnessing a centennial moment in the making.

Since City Councilman and former Mayor Tod Ridgeway has served two full terms, he is termed out. His seat is now an open seat. To date there are three people who have filed candidate intention statements for Ridgeway’s District 1. Behind door No. 1 we have Jack Wu, who filed Nov. 21, 2005. Behind door No. 2 is Ana Burkhart, who filed Jan. 3. And lastly, behind door No. 3 is Michael Henn, who filed March 3.

District 4 is held by City Councilwoman Leslie Daigle, who was appointed to the council when former mayor and Councilman Gary Adams resigned. Barbara Venezia filed a candidate intention statement March 1. If you have been reading the Daily Pilot lately, it looks like that race has begun.

In case you missed it, I’ll do a rewind.

Last week, the Costa Mesa City Council did the right thing by not blocking the annexation of the west side of Santa Ana Heights. That’s a very good thing since it will now allow for the Santa Ana Heights Redevelopment Agency and its money to be transferred to Newport Beach. Then the many projects the Santa Ana Heights Project Advisory Committee has been working on for years can finally happen: the fire station, putting utilities underground and the new community center with pool, at the YMCA and managed by the YMCA.

The pool and whether it should be 25 meters as per the Santa Ana Heights Project Advisory Committee and Venezia or 50 meters as per council members Ridgeway and Daigle appears to be the first issue of their campaign. Mind you, it is the Santa Ana Heights Redevelopment Agency money that will be funding the entire project. The redevelopment agency includes the neighbors of the Anniversary tract behind the YMCA, who do not want their quality of life affected by a 50-meter competition pool. It appears they have started a petition.

Like I said, the council race between Daigle and Venezia has begun.