EDITORIAL ENDORSEMENTIn Newport: Two new faces, a protest

Newport Beach voters will be busy over the next four weeks trying to figure out whom to vote into the unprecedented six council seats that are up for election. Those are important choices because the City Council, which for years has gained a reputation among a growing number of residents as a divisive group that was unresponsive to their needs, is at a possible turning point. We believe it is important that the council does become friendlier and more attuned to the community’s needs. And we think there are candidates who will create a more balanced and inclusive council by their elections.

One vote will be easy: Mayor Don Webb is running unopposed (except for a phantom write-in campaign that is next to meaningless). Fortunately for residents, Webb has proven himself a strong council member during the past four years. With his love of history (and lifetime of service as a city employee), Webb was the perfect mayor for the city’s centennial year. (Who didn’t enjoy watching a soggy Webb waving from the city’s Rose Parade float on Jan. 2?)

But more than that, Webb has shown himself to be someone who moves past animosity and contentiousness and is willing to listen to residents. We also have been impressed by his integrity, including on the issue that kept us from endorsing his first run: the at least apparent conflict of interest he had being a retired employee who is pulling benefits from the city. He has shown leadership and trustworthiness, and we heartedly back his run for a second term.

The rest of the choices are more difficult, but we think there are clear candidates who rise above their opponents: Michael Henn in District 1; Ed Selich in District 5; Nancy Gardner in District 6; and Keith Curry in District 7. (We will address the race for District 4 in a moment.)

Of these candidates, it was Selich who impressed us the most. Selich, a longtime member of the city’s planning commission who is among the three appointed candidates running for the first time, potentially could have become another contentious councilman. But he has been much, much more than that.

He has shown himself willing and capable of listening to constituents and does not appear to come before the council with his mind closed and made up. Since he has joined the council, he has helped complete the city’s general plan update; worked out what seems to be a final agreement on Marinapark that has the support of most of those involved; and he was among the council leaders who helped calm the debate about whether there needs to be a new city hall — and where it should be. His background in planning and development will serve the city well as it attempts to negotiate the local coastal plan and to deal with neighboring cities.

Finally, we get the sense that Selich truly enjoys his role, not for any ego-gratification reasons, but because he enjoys the issues and likes being able to help the community become a better place to live. He is the man for the job in District 5.

It typically is quite difficult not to endorse incumbents. They are the known quantity, and if their track records suggests they are solid — not to mention good public servants — it is difficult to justify advocating voting for their opponents, who do not have a history of successfully navigating the issues and responding to their constituents. (It is a reason, along with name recognition and the ability to raise campaign money, that voters choose the incumbents so often as well.)

The District 6 race between Nichols and lifelong Newport resident Gardner, however, is not typical. We believe that Nichols has proven himself to be an unsuccessful politician and poor advocate for his constituents.

Two of his major proposals — to alter the traffic flow on East Coast Highway and to remove the toll at Newport Coast Drive — were met with strong opposition from his neighbors in Corona del Mar. And Nichols — who we believe has integrity and tries to do what he believes is best — has failed to work well with his fellow council members and has not been able to muster support for any of his proposals. His isolation on the council — in part Nichols’ fault, given his missteps and improper comments (notably about Mexicans taking over the grass above Big Corona beach), but in part his colleagues’ as well — has left Corona del Mar without a strong voice on the council.

We believe that Gardner can be that voice. She, of course, has deep roots in the community, her father being the legendary Judge Robert Gardner.

But, more than that, Gardner has pulled together an impressive list of backers that span the breadth of this community. She is backed by the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, but also by environmentalist Jan Vandersloot and former Councilwoman Jean Watt.

With such people behind her, it is clear that she can be a consensus builder and a moderate voice on the council that can help it become more responsive to this community. And she has served the community on civic boards and commissions for nearly 20 years.

Finally, she has created and maintained the city’s chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. She will be a strong voice for conservation and protecting our waters and beaches. She is the right choice in District 6.

Our choice of Curry over his opponent, Dolores Otting, is a difficult one because Otting’s commitment to making Newport Beach a better city is unquestionable. She has long served as a watchdog in this community, calling the council and other city leaders to task when she believed they were wrong. Otting, in fact, is best suited to that role, and, we think, she can best continue to serve this community in it.

The city is fortunate too that Curry has, following his appointment to the council, been a strong councilman. As a politician, his obvious strength initially was his knowledge of city financing, development and other minutia of governance that, often, it takes new council members months or longer to learn. He is polished and learned. But he also has grown exponentially in the other side of politics: the human side.

We believe that he is committed to listening to residents and weighing their concerns and needs. Curry will continue to serve well in District 7.

Another tough race is in District 1, where Councilman Tod Ridgeway is leaving office because of term limits. We were impressed by Jack Wu as well as Henn, but feel that Henn has more qualifications and experience. Henn’s background as a chief financial officer is impressive. He will have no trouble maneuvering through the city’s budget or handling a massive organization. We do hope that he will bring a more measured and less confrontational approach to governing than has been the mode of past council members, including Ridgeway, who is among Henn’s backers.

His promise to look at issues fairly and base his decisions on the facts should give residents more confidence that he has the community’s best interests in mind.

Wu, we think, does offer much for Newport. He is the youngest candidate running and perhaps represents the first in a line of “next generation” leaders who, soon, will be taking over leadership of this city. But his biggest qualifications seem to be as an active member of Republican Party leadership circles.

Wu needs to devote more time to the community.

Since last year, he has been a member of the city’s Environmental Quality Affairs Citizen Advisory Committee, for example. He should continue with such service to become deeply rooted in the fabric of this community. When he does, he will be a quality leader here.

But for voters in 2006, Henn is the right choice.

The last race in Newport Beach is the one that has gathered the most headlines in recent weeks. From early on, it was clear that the battle between appointed Councilwoman Leslie Daigle and Santa Ana Heights resident Barbara Venezia would be a tough one. Both candidates were going to have much money to spend, and both had strengths coming into the race: Daigle enjoyed the benefits of incumbency, and Venezia had unusually high name recognition from her days doing the TV show “At Home on the Range” with John Crean.

From early on, also, it looked like either candidate would make a good councilwoman. After her appointment, Daigle had become an active member of the council, focusing on issues related to the Back Bay, helping get a revamped pool at Corona del Mar High School and focusing much attention on construction by Irvine along its border with Newport Beach.

Venezia, despite the ditzy character she portrayed on her TV show, knows the issues in the city, especially in Santa Ana Heights, where she is head of that area’s project advisory committee. She is dedicated to public safety issues and has long been an active volunteer in the community and throughout the county.

And then, in the past week, the campaign changed when Venezia dropped out, citing the nasty campaign environment. We do not believe that Venezia has a conflict, as has been alleged. Her husband, Stan Tkaczyk, sold his waste company, Rainbow Disposal, years ago. But we understand that the two do not want to deal with the fallout from even the appearance of such problems.

We understand it and think it is a shame. Venezia would have been an excellent councilwoman. Along with Selich, we believe she, more than any other candidate, could have helped reunite the council with those residents who feel unheard, disenfranchised and even disgusted with their city leaders. We would have strongly and confidently backed her.

But instead of that message, we have to offer this: It appears that a good candidate was run out of office by dirty politics. While it probably will be impossible ever to connect the dots completely, it appears that political consultant Dave Ellis — well known for doing what it takes to help his candidates win elections — is behind the attempt to smear Venezia and her husband. For us, because Ellis has been involved in such shenanigans before and because he is a consultant for Daigle, that appearance is enough.

It is enough for us to say this: Daigle does not deserve the community’s support.

Had she come out strongly in the past few days denouncing what has happened, we might feel differently. But she has not.

Combined with questions about her own character raised by an incident at Corona del Mar High School detailed in the Daily Pilot, we do not believe Daigle should serve this community.

We urge all the voters of Newport Beach to vote for Venezia, both because she is the better candidate and as a protest vote against a kind of campaigning that is unacceptable.

We also urge any other candidates still in the race to back away from such campaigning and to back away from Ellis. His tactics in the District 4 race have brought much hurt to Newport Beach.