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.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.