MAILBAG - Feb. 1, 2008

Congratulations to Chuck Remley for his straightforward letter about the city hall issue (“City hall-site issue now a battle of pride,” Jan. 27).

He said, “Should the citizens vote themselves and the present/future City Council into a box? Lost in the rhetoric are questions we should explore.” He’s so right. The initiative’s underlying fault of this initiative from start to finish is the myriad of unanswered questions. Just think:

1) No one knows the true cost of the park site or any alternatives because Measure B precludes that part of the discussion. The city’s DMJM report remains the only independent third-party analysis of construction costs, and it shows that it takes $6.5 million to move the 65,000 cubic yards of dirt to prepare the park site, and an additional $10 million more than block 500 to provide parking;

2) No one knows the size or environmental impacts of the city hall in the park because Measure B precludes that analysis. The latest claim from the Measure B supporters say is that parking will be in a three-story parking garage, level with MacArthur Boulevard. That means they must dig out a crater, three stories below street level to place city hall and its parking. This is our world-class site? In fact, Measure B supporters have no idea how city hall will be designed or, what it will look like and how much it will cost;

3) No one knows what will happen to the present site if City Hall is forced to moves from the peninsula to the park, although speculation abounds. Since all of this is funded primarily by one man to the tune of nearly $500,000, it appears that the agenda of the initiative backers means a benefit to them as a result of what happens to the present City Hall site. At present, no one knows what that is;

4) What we do know is that if Measure B passes it will make Newport Beach the only Californian city with the address of its city hall chiseled into its city charter. Why would right-thinking people do this when they have just recently distinguished themselves by passing a General Plan which will be receiving an American Planning Assn. award? If this sort of checkbook politics can succeed, the usual General Plan and environmental review processes can be thrown out the window, and money alone can be the dictate our future. Please vote no on Measure B.

JEAN WATT

Newport Beach

?

Measure B approval would leave no options

I strongly urge people to vote no on Measure B next Tuesday. Measure B will force City Hall to be moved to park land behind the library, no matter what, with no cost analysis, no plan, no alternatives analysis, no environmental impact report, no information of what the city hall will look like, or no information of how much park space will be used up by the city hall complex, nothing.

It’s not just three acres, folks, but almost half the park will be excavated for the whole complex. Measure B changes the charter of the city, like a constitutional amendment. There are no options if Measure B passes. City hall must be built behind the library no matter what.

This is very poor public planning and leaves the public no choices. No options for leaving City Hall where it is, no options for moving to a more central location in Newport Center. Folks will simply have to live with the traffic generated by the new city hall behind the library, plus the traffic from a new 72,000-square-foot building at block 500 in Fashion Island if it is not built there. This is a gift to the Irvine Co., pure and simple, with land values appreciating in Newport Center like no other place in the USA.

Save the park, save millions of dollars by not having to spend $6.5 million to remove earth from the park, save the public views from the park, save us from more traffic congestion.

By voting no, you retain your options to consider the other sites including leaving City Hall where it is now, the least expensive alternative of them all.

Just vote no; it’s the sensible thing to do.

JAN D. VANDERSLOOT

Newport Beach