A mayor for a new year

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- It will be a historic meeting tonight, when among other

things, the City Council picks a mayor and vice mayor for the year 2000.

The race for the city’s top spot has narrowed to council members John

Noyes and Tom Thomson.

Norma Glover, Jan Debay and Dennis O’Neil previously indicated they were

not interested in the position. The council’s newest members, Gary Adams

and Tod Ridgeway, lack the traditional amount of seniority for the

position.

However, the choice for the vice mayor spot still appears to be up in the

air. If Noyes is chosen as mayor, the only senior council member left who

has not yet served as vice mayor or mayor will be Glover.

The council tonight also will review a study session presentation by the

group proposing to build a $12-million Arts and Education Center near the

Central Library. The committee put the finishing touches on its

presentation last Tuesday.

“We’ve worked out all the kinks to put our best foot forward before the

council,” said chairman Jim Wood.

The biggest kink in planning was the issue of whether to have the library

publicly or privately owned and operated.

While some felt that it was simply easier to have it under the public

umbrella, others were concerned that the city would interfere with

artistic freedom, and that the center could not privately fund-raise.

Finally, the group agreed that it would be publicly owned and operated,

once it was pointed out that the city could not entirely control

exhibitions and that the center could still receive donations from

private sources.

The City Council meets at 7 p.m. in City Hall, 3300 Newport Blvd.