New mayor cites airport as major issue in coming year

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- In a sense, Mayor Gary Adams works at the front line.

Only a fast-food restaurant separates his office building from Newport

Beach’s northern neighbor, where the elected officials have emerged as

the leaders in the fight against an airport at El Toro.

“I’d like to have a better understanding about where Irvine is coming

from on the issue,” Adams said Thursday, reclining in his desk chair.

In his opinion, he added, the airport debate comes down to the

question of whether there will be an increase in demand over the next

decades.

“I don’t see how anyone could say that there isn’t,” Adams said. “I

have one question for Irvine: How is it going to get satisfied?”

In his Dec. 12 inauguration speech as the city’s mayor, Adams

described a possible expansion of flights at John Wayne Airport as “the

greatest threat to our quality of life.”

But extending flight caps beyond 2005 won’t solve the problem, he

said, adding that a second Orange County airport at El Toro -- similar in

size to John Wayne Airport -- would seem a fair compromise.

As first among equals, Newport Beach’s mayor has no additional powers

than his six colleagues behind the dais. But even though Adams said he’d

like to see his role as that of a moderator, it seems as if he’s set to

improve the workings of government in certain areas.

He proposed the reestablishment of the council-appointed finance

committee to “look at an update of our investment policy, scrutinize our

financial statements on a regular basis and plan for the inevitable

downturn in our economy.”

Adams said he plans to conduct council meetings in line with

parliamentary procedures, something that “got pretty lax” in recent

times.

“Council members really shouldn’t be engaging in discussions before

public testimony is taken,” he said, adding that each of his colleagues

should have an equal opportunity to make their point. “Council members

shouldn’t be allowed to speak more than once on an issue until everyone

on the council has had a chance to speak.”

A focus on policy making rather than policy implementation is also

something he’d like to encourage.

“I want to make sure that we stay focused as policymakers instead of

getting involved in the day-to-day operations of the city,” he said. “We

should leave that to the city manager. There’s a lot of wisdom to that.”

At the same time, Adams said he wants to make it easier for residents

to know what’s going on in the city. He’s proposed including committee

reports in City Council meetings so residents “don’t have to attend a

hundred different meetings a month to see what our focus is.”

A city newsletter, first suggested by Adams’ predecessor, John Noyes,

could help to keep constituents informed, he said.

Another issue Adams plans to focus on during his tenure as mayor is

the updating of the city’s general plan.

“Many elements of our general plan, which serves as the road map to

future development and redevelopment of the city, are outdated,” Adams

said Dec. 12. “It makes sense to revisit the plan and map our our future

from the context of a city that has just reached maturity, and focus more

on the issue of redevelopment, which will be the primary land-use issue

from here out.”

A transportation engineer and planner by trade, Adams said his

interest in city government came out of a conviction to volunteer for the

community.

“It’s all about decision-making, and engineers can be good

decision-makers,” he said, adding that his firm had worked on a program

to forecast Orange County’s traffic and functioned as the lead designer

for the San Joaquin Toll Roads Project.

“Part of it is the ego thing,” Adams said after a brief pause. “The

recognition that you get is certainly nice. Although a lot of it is

negative, which isn’t so nice. I don’t think that you really appreciate

it until you’ve served.”

While Adams said his duties as a councilman have “definitely taken

away” time to spend with his son, Nicholas -- who is just a month away

from being 2 -- he works pretty hard to be able to see him as often as

possible. Adams added that his family would celebrate the holidays in

Newport Beach together.

A rocking horse and a wooden train set will be included among

Nicholas’ gifts, Adams said.

“At 2 years old, he’s a train fan,” said Adams, adding that he loved

trains as a kid himself. “I don’t know where it came from.”