Past Newsmakers of the Year

1990 -- ORV AMURGERY: The colorful and sometimes controversial Costa

Mesa councilman shaped the news during his tenure and finally became a

victim of it as he lost his reelection.

1991 -- JIM SLEMONS: The flamboyant auto dealer, once the toast of the

social scene, fell from grace as his business empire began to crumble.

His financial plight was seen as an appropriate symbol for 1991.

1992 -- MR. X: The unidentified Newport-Mesa Unified School District

employee changed the shape and mood of the community when he blew the

whistle on school district embezzler Stephen Wagner and triggered

sweeping changes.

1993 -- MAC BERND: The new superintendent of the emotionally and

financially spent school district at the time was a catalyst for change,

a symbol for renewal, a touchstone for new energy.

1994 -- JOHN MOORLACH: The Costa Mesa accountant’s prophetic

predictions about the county’s failing financial health shoved him into

the spotlight, and ultimately into the county treasurer’s office.

1995 -- JOE ERICKSON: The former Costa Mesa mayor is a man who cares

fiercely about his town and its future, someone who always has time to

listen and is unafraid to tackle ambitious projects that others have

ignored or left undone.

1996 -- BOB CAUSTIN: From political neophyte to thorn in the side of

the Irvine Ranch Water District, his relentless activism helped

eventually stop a plan to dump highly treated waste water into Upper

Newport Bay.

1997 -- THE IRVINE AVENUE CRASH: A dark night, a twisting road and

partying teens came together in a horrific collision when a Chevy Blazer

carrying 10 Newport Harbor High School students crashed, killing Donny

Bridgman, throwing Amanda Arthur into a three-month coma and scarring the

lives of everyone involved.

1998 -- ROBERT BARBOT: In a school district divided on many levels, he

brought unity. Whether it was the fact that he spoke fluent Spanish, that

he readily questioned some of the district’s most rigid and controversial

policies, or that he just seemed to listen to people, he managed to win

-- almost instantly -- the respect and admiration of the community.