Ron Winship: Auditioning for one or more public roles

Deirdre Newman

As an actor, Newport Beach resident Ron Winship has played a

variety of roles. This fall, he is auditioning for three -- Newport

Beach City Councilman, Newport-Mesa Unified School District trustee

and Director of the Municipal Water District of Orange County,

Division 5.

Winship, currently an Internet news producer, says his quest for

the trio of positions is based on his belief that no credible leaders

are running for them. If victorious in all the races, he says he has

the time and energy to serve in all three capacities.

Juggling various interests is nothing new to Winship, 60, who

studied an eclectic range of topics at three different colleges --

international relations at USC, newswriting at the University of

Hawaii and philosophy at Orange Coast College.

His professional experience is diverse as well -- he has worked as

a missile repairman for North American Aviation, as an actor and,

these days, operates a new media/Internet news TV company with his

wife, Anna, called Parker-Longbow productions -- named after the last

names of the characters from their favorite movie, “Butch Cassidy and

the Sundance Kid.”

The company is currently involved with five different Web sites

ranging from a news talk show to a comedy show on health care.

Winship considers Anna such a vital part of his election campaigns

that he often refers to himself as “us” in his position papers and in

conversation.

For the City Council position, Winship is running against

incumbent Gary Adams and Greenlight candidate Richard Taylor. He said

he decided to toss his hat into the ring because he felt the other

contenders lacked a clear vision for the city’s future.

“Our vision is that now the city needs a sense of propriety and

veracity in all levels,” Winship said. “We’re coming into tough

financial times so we have to do serious cutbacks and be efficient.”

Winship said the concept of revitalization and redevelopment is

anathema to him and will work toward ensuring that the general plan

amendment protects residents from “overdevelopment and stupidity.”

“If I’m elected, I will put [the council’s] feet to the fire to

make sure [it] is not building giant buildings seven to 10 years

out,” Winship said.

While he says his campaign is entirely self-funded, he jokingly

passes out novelty million-dollar bills with his picture on them for

publicity.

Winship was inspired to run for the school board because he said

he feels incumbent Serene Stokes does not represent the people in her

area.

“Stokes is a stalwart on the school board for teachers, for the

board and for the administration and not for the community and

children and parents,” Winship said. Ed Loyd is also running for

Stokes’ seat.

He says his election would also restore parent confidence in the

system that was eroded when Jim Ferryman was convicted of driving

under the influence and did not voluntarily step down.

“I was totally outraged by Ferryman, mainly that other school

board members did not censure him,” Winship said. “I would have liked

to see him have the common courtesy to resign. You’re not just

serving yourself [on the board], but serving the reputation of the

community and the board.”

Winship said more outreach to parents to ensure teacher

accountability is needed and recommends that parents fill out teacher

evaluations every semester or quarter.

“There needs to be input to the district so there’s a third party

[parents] can go to,” Winship said. “We won’t get the complete story,

but we’ll get more information than we would have had if we did not

ask.”

Winship said he is most closely aligned to current board member

Wendy Leece in terms of possessing an independent attitude.

“I’m willing to ask the tough questions that need to be asked and

not just do the nodding dog in the window thing for the

administration,” Winship said.

The Municipal Water District seat is appealing to Winship because

of the significant water-related challenges confronting the county.

“[The district] needs real strong oversight so people understand

the water supply is safe and that takes a lot of effort,” Winship

said.

One of the critical issues is dealing with the Irvine Water

District, Winship said.

“The Irvine Water District wants to dump reclaimed water down

Santiago Creek,” Winship said. “Between water intrusions being broken

down on both sides and dumping reclaimed water next to wells, [the

district] is not being very cautious or caring.”

He also suggests that all new large commercial developments

provide their own water reclamation facilities and the district could

then offer any available “overages,” when conditions allow, at a

reduced price. For this position, Winship is running against

incumbent Wayne Clark and Reginald Thatcher.