NOTABLE QUOTABLES

“If we wanted to live in Newport Coast with the fancy trees, we

would.”

-- Robert Walchli, Corona del Mar resident, on the landscaping that

neighbor Martin Cisek has done on public land.

“All of these directions we are slowly moving in. We seem to be on

board [with the groups] and traveling on the same train track.”

-- Roy Stearns, state parks department spokesman, on a coalition of

environmental groups’ statement of principles issued Monday regarding

Crystal Cove.

“As ridiculous as that night was, it is ridiculous that [Karen

Robinson’s] nonvote, because she was not comfortable voting, would be

construed as a ‘yes’ vote.”

-- Gary Monahan, Costa Mesa councilman, on news that alittle-known

city ordinance would change fellow council member Karen Robinson’s

abstentions at a Feb. 5 meeting to “yes” votes.

“If you got drunk and obnoxious, you had to be careful when you walked

past him in the alley ‘cause he’d reach out and grab you.”

-- Judge Robert Gardner speaking of Rowland Hodgkinson, Newport

Beach’s first police chief. Hodgkinson was Gardner’s brother-in-law.

“What are they going to replace it with?”

-- Jaime Castellanos, Newport-Mesa’s assistant superintendent of

secondary education, on news that UC President Richard C. Atkinson wants

to eliminate the SATs as an admission requirements for all eight UC

schools.

“We do everything we can at the front end. There’s not guarantee in

this world. It is the kind of nightmares you live with when you live in a

free society.”

-- Robert Barbot, Newport-Mesa superintendent of schools, on whether,

in the wake of the school shootings in Santee, Calif., children are safe

in school.

“The easy way is to put up a fence. You’ve done something. But to

actually stop the problem, you need to talk to kids, and that’s a lot

more work.”

-- Ryan Schultheis, Newport Harbor High School student, on ways to

stop school violence.