Council hopefuls go head to head

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- City Council hopefuls Bob Wynn and John Heffernan

announced they are definitely candidates, despite acknowledgments that

they could split the vote if they both run against incumbent Tom Thomson.

Wynn, a former city manager, and Heffernan, a local attorney, have

talked about the possibility that they could lose because they could

divide votes.

Despite this, the two say they are determined to run. Thomson’s

district includes Harbor View, Spyglass Hill and Jasmine Creek.

“If two challengers run, it will be more difficult to beat an

incumbent,” Wynn said. “Then again, a vote split got Phil Sansone

elected.”

Wynn and Heffernan have decided to go for it because they have

differing opinions on the city’s hottest topic -- the dueling traffic

measures that will appear on the November ballot.

While Wynn is a strong supporter of the Traffic Phasing initiative,

Heffernan has said he has problems with it and the competing Greenlight

measure.

The Greenlight initiative proposes to give residents the final say on

potential developments that would create more than 100 peak-hour car

trips, more than 100 homes or more than 40,000 square feet of floor area

over what the city’s general plan allows.

The Traffic Phasing initiative proposes to cement the city’s traffic

law into the city charter. The traffic ordinance is a city regulation

designed to ensure that developers whose projects generate added traffic

contribute to the cost of improving intersections. Also, if voters

approve both initiatives, it would nullify the Greenlight measure if it

receives more votes.

“The TPI doesn’t go far enough and is just a reaction to Greenlight,”

Heffernan said. “I endorse what [Greenlight] has to say, but I’m not at

this point saying I will vote for it.”

Heffernan said the Greenlight measure is not tough enough, it could

prompt too many special elections and it takes power from city

government.

Wynn, on the other hand, is one of the authors of the Traffic Phasing

initiative.

“When the Greenlight ballot qualified, I made a decision that ballot

box planning is not our form of government,” Wynn said. “Our form of

government already has a provision for a referendum. You could recall a

councilman or referendum a proposition.”

Instead of simply opposing Greenlight, Wynn said he tried to come up

with a better alternative. The Traffic Phasing initiative, he said, takes

the heart of the traffic law and places it in the city’s constitution.