WEEK IN REVIEW

Costa Mesa Councilman Chris Steel’s arraignment on criminal felony

charges was continued from Tuesday to July 31. Steel’s attorney said his

client requested that the criminal matter be continued because of the

impending civil trial Monday.

The Orange County district attorney has charged Steel with two counts

of perjury and alleged he allowed a resident to sign 2000 election

nomination papers for his wife and signed one himself for a legally blind

woman during the 1998 election, which Steel lost.

If Steel is found liable in the civil lawsuit brought against by

resident Michael Szkaradek, he will most likely lose his council seat and

be replaced by runner-up Heather Somers.

In other news, several people were evacuated from the Union Bank

building on Dover Drive and a stretch of Westcliff Drive closed Tuesday

afternoon following a line break that caused a gas leak in the building.

No one was hurt in the incident, but Westcliff was closed for several

hours that afternoon. The Gas Co. fixed the break by the end of the day

Tuesday.

Also, Harbor Patrol officials are still looking for Jason Huntress,

33, of Costa Mesa disappeared at sea July 4 after he dove off a boat in

Emerald Bay near Laguna Beach. Family and friends are organizing a

memorial service for Huntress on July 21.

-- Deepa Bharath covers cops and courts. She may be reached at (949)

574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.

At this point, a yellow light

It’s taking a little longer than expected, but it seems a sure bet

that City Council members will send the Koll Center expansion to the

polls.

At their meeting last week, five city leaders approved the

250,000-square-foot project for the second time, with council members

John Heffernan and Gary Proctor opposing the deal. Those two said they’d

rather wait until the city’s general plan update is completed.

Koll officials, who want to build a 10-story office tower at the

center’s southern tip near the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and

Jamboree Road, said the expansion would help ease the city’s traffic

problems rather than create more of them.

On top of about $1.16 million in mandatory traffic fees, the

developers have agreed to pay about $2 million extra for traffic

improvements.

But supporters of Greenlight, the city’s new slow-growth law, have

already come out in opposition to the project, saying that the money

won’t cover the costs to deal with increased traffic.

Greenlight requires city-wide votes on certain projects that add more

than 40,000 square feet or 100 dwelling units or 100 peak-hour car trips

over what’s allowed by the general plan. A date for a special election

could be set sometime in the fall if council members give their final OK

at the July 24 meeting.

-- Mathis Winkler covers Newport Beach. He may be reached at (949)

574-4232 or by e-mail at mathis.winkler@latimes.com.

E-mail dresses down V-plan

Newport Beach City Manager Homer Bludau touched off a war of words

last week, when he dressed down the “V-plan” in an e-mail to Villa Park

Councilman Bob McGowan.

In the correspondence, Bludau criticized supporters of the alternative

runway alignment for El Toro airport for “dividing North County cities”

and “alienating the County Board of Supervisors” among other things.

McGowan said he was disgusted by the letter, which also said V-plan

supporters are “akin to Nero fiddling while Rome burns.”

The V-plan would realign the east-west runway at the closed El Toro

Marine Corps Air Station into a V pattern. The base now has two runways

that form a cross pattern.

In other news, Crystal Cove residents bid a quiet goodbye to their

cottages July 8. California State Parks plans to board up the historic

cabins until it develops a plan to preserve the cottages and replace the

septic tanks with a sewer system.

-- Paul Clinton covers the environment and John Wayne Airport. He may

be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at paul.clinton@latimes.com.

Tenants and landlords: Beware

Last week, the City Council continued its discussion about a proposal

to require landlords to evict tenants who commit drug- or gang-related

crimes.

Costa Mesa Police Department staff recommended an ordinance

establishing a crime-eviction program in May, but the council denied the

proposal and asked the staff to revise it.

Councilmen Chris Steel and Gary Monahan support the proposal, while

the rest of the council members have concerns about it.

In other business, the council established a new process for selecting

planning commissioners.

The old process, which the council conceived in December to select an

entire commission after former commissioner Chris Fewel resigned, was a

messy one that left some feeling insulted or embarrassed.

The city is now accepting applications for the Planning Commission

spot left by Katie Wilson, who resigned last month because she moved to

Seal Beach.

-- Jennifer Kho covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at jennifer.kho@latimes.com.

Not the Newport-Mesa style

After getting complaints from parents and teachers, the Newport-Mesa

Schools Foundation cut ties last week with a marketing firm that was

selling coupon books -- but not exactly raising a huge amount of money

for the foundation.

For every $20 coupon book, the Elite Marketing Group was handing 50

cents over to the foundation. That, combined with the way the books were

being sold in front of the Target in Costa Mesa, turned foundation

leaders off.

“That’s really not our style,” said Forrest Werner, the foundation’s

president.

Ultimately, Werner said, the deal wasn’t worth the foundation’s time.

-- Danette Goulet covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at danette.goulet@latimes.com.