Countdown to 2000: Politics

Noaki Schwartz

In contrast to the conservative years a decade earlier, the political

atmosphere of the 1960s in Newport-Mesa was characterized by

environmental activism. This interest in curbing the community’s

increasing development took root and nearly 40 years later, it is still a

controversial political issue in the Newport-Mesa.

What spurred the anti-development movement was that the Irvine Co. had

given large blocks of land to various businesses and industries

surrounding Newport-Mesa. As a result, the pressure to develop homes

increased exponentially. And this touched the lives of many local

residents who decided to voice their discontent.

In 1963, when Frank and Francis Robinson heard the Irvine Co. was taking

steps to purchase Upper Newport Bay, they began to organize to prevent

the development of the area.

Their involvement helped to convince the county not to give the Irvine

Co. the property. And, after a great deal of legal fighting that

continued into the next decade, the Robinsons eventually helped Upper

Newport Bay become a state Ecological Reserve.

Some of the environmental activism was a result of direct personal

hardship. In the mid-1960s, when the erosion at Seashore Drive in West

Newport began to pull Don McInnis’ home into the ocean, he was disturbed

to find the City Council completely unresponsive.

Following the experience, he ran for the council, serving from 1968 to

1980, including two terms as mayor. It was during this time that he

helped develop a plan to prevent beach erosion.

These were also the years when the antiairport expansion voice grew. The

airport built additional runways in 1967 and the movement has grown ever

since. Environmentalists Daniel Emory and Carroll Beek were particularly

involved against the noise and air pollution.

The close of the decade saw the early beginnings of another vociferous

group. The pollution of Upper Newport Bay led to a group of residents

eventually organizing Stop Polluting Our Newport, in 1974.

Sources

“A Slice of Orange: The History of Costa Mesa,” Edrick Miller, 1970;

“Newport Beach 75: 1906-1981” James Felton, 1981; Costa Mesa Globe-Herald

Daily Pilot.