Candidate accused of insensitivity

June Casagrande

Council candidate Dick Nichols has drawn fire from an area

business leader for using the word “Mexican” to describe a motorist

and for his position on traffic and safety in Corona del Mar.

Corona del Mar Business Improvement District Chairman John L. Blom

is criticizing comments Nichols made at the Oct. 22 City Council

meeting.

At that meeting, Nichols described a man driving a car as a

Mexican and suggested that the driver was wrong to stop as abruptly

as he did to avoid hitting a pedestrian while driving down Coast

Highway. Nichols questioned the motives of the driver for stopping

suddenly because the move caused the car to be rear-ended by another

motorist.

“My overall reaction is that he’s a very insensitive person to

minorities,” Blom said. “That was demonstrated by calling the person

Mexican and saying he shouldn’t have stopped. There was a

pedestrian.”

Nichols said that the comment on the driver’s ethnicity was not

meant to express any ill will toward a group but merely as a

description.

“What I have a problem with is illegal aliens with special rights

demanding special treatment,” said Nichols, who witnessed the

accident. “This guy was getting out of his car and yelling and

demanding special treatment.”

Nichols said he did not know the man’s national origin or

immigration status.

“I have no reason to believe he was illegal,” Nichols said. “I was

just pointing out that he was Hispanic.”

Blom said that a more important issue is Nichols’ position on

traffic flow through Corona del Mar. Nichols has said publicly that

he supports the area’s Vision 2004 revitalization plan only to the

extent that it doesn’t impede traffic flow through the village. Blom

said that public safety in the pedestrian-oriented village is a

higher priority than traffic flow.

“His comments struck me as being contrary to what we’re doing

because we want to get people across the street in a safe manner,”

said Blom, who is also a member of the Newport Beach Chamber of

Commerce, which endorsed Nichols’ opponent Bernie Svalstad for the

Corona del Mar seat.

“There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it,” he said. “It’s going to

impede traffic for the good of everybody.”

Blom added that he is anxious to see pedestrian safety measures

come to the area, such as flashing lights in crosswalks. He said he

believes that such measures can be achieved regardless of when or

whether the California Department of Transportation relinquishes the

Corona del Mar portion of Coast Highway to the city. He also hopes

the city will consider changing the name of the roadway to

disassociate it from the high-speed image of a “highway.”

Nichols said that the area is already experiencing a bottleneck in

traffic and that the city’s plans for the area, if not handled

correctly, could make the problem worse.