Notable Quotables

FIZZLING SPARKS

“Anyone who has ever seen the peninsula on the Fourth would

understand.”

-- Steve Bromberg, Newport Beach city councilman, on why the Police

Department did not support the idea of having the city put on a fireworks

show from a rented barge. Police said the show would be more than Balboa

Peninsula could take.

INTO THE MECHANICS

“He’s learning, and it’s not an easy thing. It’s not an easy trade at

all. It takes longer to be a good mechanic than a doctor.”

-- Josef Spiegel of J and S Automotive in Costa Mesa, on mechanic in

training Taylor Mai (at right)

“It’s better to be a little embarrassed than to have your friends

attending your funeral. You feel so good when you save someone.”

-- Paul Milosch, lifeguard for California State Parks, on people

getting embarrassed after they’ve been rescued from the ocean. Milosch

performs his duties at Crystal Cove, among other places.

“If the lid comes off of John Wayne Airport, we’re all in a heap of

trouble.”

-- Dennis O’Neil, Newport Beach city councilman, emphasizing why the

noise restrictions and flight caps at John Wayne Airport are so

important. An extension to 2015 was passed by Orange County supervisors

Tuesday and will now go to Washington D.C.

“If you look at the actual numbers instead of the percentages, you’ll

see that we have much less crime than most other cities in the county.”

-- Dave Snowden, Costa Mesa police chief, on the FBI’s 2001 Uniform

Crime Report showing a 16.1% increase in crime over last year. Costa Mesa

ranked as the 30th safest city in the state.

“If you wanted straight talk, you went to Pati. She would not only

tell you the truth, but it would make you laugh.”

-- Barbara Van Holt, retired Estancia High School drama teacher, on

Pati Tambellini, the founder of the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse.

Tambellini, 78, died June 22.

“If there is a God, trying to weed him out of existence in such public

matters is at best a poor joke.”

-- Richard Menees, associate rector of St. James Episcopal Church on

Via Lido, on a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that

declared the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional because of the words

“under God”