THE TAO OF STEVE “The outside...

THE TAO OF STEVE

“The outside looks almost identical to the way it did before, but

once people come inside, they’re in for quite a shock.”

-- Steve Herbert, co-owner of the Cannery Seafood of the Pacific,

on the restaurant’s new design. Jellyfish lights, a waterfall and an

upstairs sushi lounge are now part of the eatery, which reopened

after 2 1/2 years

“This thing had the makings of a civil war, but in the end, it did

not go there. Everybody has taken the high road.”

-- Steve Bromberg, Newport Beach councilman, on the city’s 6-0

vote to approve a Mormon temple with a 90-foot steeple on Bonita

Canyon Drive

“They just did not feel the need to obey the law. But if everybody

believed that, we would have dogs running loose all over the city.”

-- Sgt. Steve Shulman, on why the Newport Beach Police Department

has repeatedly ticketed Lynne and Philip Butterfield for letting

their dog, Red Baron, swim in the ocean unleashed. The Butterfields’

contention that the city’s leash laws do not extend to the water was

quashed by an Orange County judge

“Something really bad one day is going to happen ... I think that,

constitutionally, we have the parameters to take drastic action.”

-- Bromberg, on cracking down on Fourth of July in West Newport

“With a 72-hour period, we kind of go from an empty container to

being a mini-city here.”

-- Steve Beazley, deputy general manager of the Orange County

Fair, on preparing for the fair’s opening day

“If they had agreed to abide by rules of a 50-foot height limit,

we certainly would not be here tonight.”

-- Steven Brombal, president of the Bonita Canyon Homeowners

Assn., on Mormon Church officials asking for a 124-foot-high steeple

for their proposed Mormon temple

“That pole will come down.”

-- Bromberg, on a lone pole on Little Balboa that is holding up

plans to put utility lines underground

NICHOLS ON STEVE

“Until that is changed, I’m going to stick it to [Steve] Bromberg

every once in a while.”

-- Dick Nichols, Newport Beach councilman-elect, on his soon-to-be

fellow councilman’s dealings with the Village Inn, a restaurant in

Bromberg’s district that has drawn noise complaints

OH, YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT A BOAT

“She can’t just get by on her looks anymore.”

-- John Matthews, a lifelong Newport Beach resident, on a 1941

Newport Beach fire boat he’s restoring

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO TOM

“I’m sure that some of my votes will displease some of you some of

the time. I take comfort, though, in the fact that it is logically

impossible for me to offend all of you all of the time.”

-- Tom Egan, one of two new Newport-Mesa Unified School District

trustees, while introducing himself at a meeting

“I don’t want to get too excited, but I’m reminded of Egan’s first

law: If the salad is good, then the rest of the dinner is good.”

-- Egan, on preliminary election results that showed him winning

“We are a prudent city, and we like to get the most bang for our

buck. Why spend money on real estate when the Internet offers more

and more information that is getting to be pretty good.”

-- Egan, as president of the Costa Mesa Library Foundation, on the

2,400-square-foot Costa Mesa Technology Branch Library. The new

branch, which is in a strip mall, offers 27 computer stations with

Internet access and little print material

TRUST IN POLITICIANS

“You are in way over your head.”

-- Wayne Morris, Costa Mesa resident, on whether new Mayor Karen

Robinson will have enough time to be the city’s mayor

“Our city councils -- past and present -- are well intended, but

very naive, very liberal, very permissive. They have an attitude of

denial, indifference and silence that frustrates the electorate.”

-- Chris Steel, Costa Mesa councilman, at a public forum at

Vanguard University

“There are certain things that have taken place over the last 48

hours that have caused me to question it. I’m not sure what I’m going

to do.”

-- John Heffernan, Newport Beach City Councilman, vacillating on

whether to leave his seat

“I think the Brown Act is ridiculous, but it is in effect and if

we have to go by it, then the foundations should also.”

-- Steel, Costa Mesa councilman, on whether foundations should be

ruled by the state’s open-government laws

“If the election outcome had been such that if a significant

amount of [Ron] Winship votes would have pushed Taylor over the edge,

I would call for a reelection. That’s how much I think this is not

right.”

-- Gary Adams, a Newport Beach councilman reelected Nov. 5, on

hearing about a phone message sent out by his campaign manager that

claimed that Winship was a Greenlighter when he wasn’t

DON’T WE ALL

“I want to win so that I can buy a house on Lake Como in Italy and

live next to Versace.”

-- Brian Como, one of many trying to win Saturday night’s

SuperLotto Plus drawing.

FIERY QUOTES

“This is our fifth house fire in three days. And it’s only

Wednesday.”

-- Bruce Hinkle, lead operations coordinator for the American Red

Cross of Orange County, on the “crazy week” he and his colleagues

were having while at a Costa Mesa house fire

“I was going to paint that house next week. Not anymore.”

-- Luis Pineda, while painting a home across the street from a

burning Costa Mesa house

“Historically, when we have rainy weather, we traditionally have

boat fires.”

-- Sgt. Ron Peoples of the Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol,

speaking about a 51-foot sailboat that sustained about $10,000 in

damages during a fire on Dec. 29, a rainy Saturday

“We were just inside a minute earlier.”

-- Julie May, Costa Mesa resident, watching her home in the 100

block of Lexington Avenue burn on March 2. No one was injured, but

several pets were lost in the townhouse fire

“You can’t tell a person to clean up their garage, just as you

can’t walk into somebody’s house and ask them to do the dirty dishes

or vacuum their carpet.”

-- Robert Myers, a resident of Monticello Town Homes Complex,

which had two fires back-to-back, on the possibility of having the

complex put regulations on garage contents. Fire officials say how

people store their possessions and what they store has an effect on a

fire

“People are still dealing with the trauma. Some of them are even

afraid to flip on the stove to make a cup of tea.”

-- Julia Cross, board member of the Monticello Homeowners Assn.,

on how residents of Monticello Town Homes are dealing with the two

unrelated fires that consumed several homes

RISE OF A CITY COUNCILMAN

“I don’t feel that expressing my viewpoints is grounds for

removal. Where is the tolerance and understanding for my point of

view?”

-- Allan Mansoor, member of the Costa Mesa Human Relations

Committee, on his right to post comments some find offensive without

being taken off the committee

“It appears that, unfortunately, the City Council has appointed

the kind of person who is more interested in fanning the flames than

extinguishing them.”

-- Rusty Kennedy, executive director of the Orange County Human

Relations Committee, on the Costa Mesa City Council’s April

appointment of Allan Mansoor to the Costa Mesa Human Relations

Committee. Kennedy said it appears that Mansoor regularly posts

comments on a Web site that are offensive to Latinos, homosexuals and

immigrants

“It was like David and Goliath. I was the outsider and a longshot,

yet I won over the incumbent mayor. I attribute it to all the

grass-roots support.”

-- Mansoor, who was elected to the Costa Mesa City Council in

November

THE LEECE SHE COULD DO

“But I chose, rather than taking the easy way out, to continue one

last time to represent a viewpoint that I’m sorry will no longer be

represented.”

-- Wendy Leece, outgoing Newport-Mesa school board trustee, on why

she ran for reelection

“We have been talking for years as a board that we finally have to

get back to spelling tests. Enough of this not grading their spelling

because it would hurt their self-esteem.”

-- Leece, Newport-Mesa Unified School Board trustee, on the

spelling improvements on the Stanford 9 test district students took

last year

HOW CAN YOU ARGUE WITH THAT?

“In New York City, people are still pretty apprehensive because of

[the terrorist attacks]. This seems like the last place that would

happen. There’s girls in bikinis and beer. How could Al Queda have a

problem with that?”

-- Dan Contento, on why he traveled from the East Coast to Newport

Beach to celebrate the Fourth of July

JUDGMENT CALL

“My goal was to have a successful campaign, not an interesting

one.”

-- Glenda Sanders, a Corona del Mar attorney, who was elected to

county Judge Office No. 27

“Has a miracle happened?”

-- Gay Sandoval of Costa Mesa on hearing that Judge Ronald C.

Kline asked the courts to remove his name from the November ballot,

on which he was running for re-election to the Orange County Superior

Court. Sandoval was running a write-in campaign for his seat

“I have always wanted to be a judge. The question has always been

a matter of when to run or to seek an appointment by applying for a

position with the governor.”

-- Karen Robinson, Costa Mesa councilwoman, on her decision to

launch a late-hour write-in campaign to unseat Kline. Robinson had

been on the City Council for little more than a year

THE TWO FACES OF AN AIRPORT OPPONENT

“My heart instinct is not to see that happen. I’m just being

realistic. Not like my friends in Irvine who say, ‘Oh, we can just

shove it elsewhere.’ I’m saying, ‘Where do we shove it?’”

-- Russell Niewiarowski, president of the New Millennium Group,

which was working to get a commercial airport at the El Toro Marine

base, on his idea to build an international airport at Seal Beach or

dramatically expand passenger capacity at John Wayne Airport

“I’m tired of this airport fight. That’s been a tough sell,

looking at what’s right. I can’t force people to look.”

-- Niewiarowski, on why he quit the pro-airport organization on

June 7

A GOOD QUESTION

“If dogs can have a park, why can’t we?”

-- Roger Cetina, a 14-year-old Costa Mesa skateboarder, on a skate

park

THE NEVER-ENDING STORY

“People who use John Wayne are a little less sensitive to the

economy. They’re richer.”

-- John Heimlich, director of economic and market research with

the Air Transport Assn., on why John Wayne Airport seems to have

bucked the national downward trend in holiday travel, with figures

showing that the 2001 numbers were close to those of 2000

“The troops are fanning out through the community to do what’s

necessary to defeat [the initiative]. That’s our goal.”

-- Dave Ellis, spokesman of the Airport Working Group, on efforts

to raise $2 million to defeat Measure W, an anti-El Toro measure on

the March 5 ballot

“We’ll definitely be supportive of a resolution. The one as worded

needs some tuning. Hopefully, we’ll have an alternative the majority

can be supportive of.”

-- Gary Monahan, Costa Mesa City Councilman, on a resolution

coming before the council to oppose Measure W

“I’m like the rest of you. I’ve got my finger crossed.”

-- Supervisor Jim Silva on election night, speaking about Measure

Wwhich supports a park at El Toro. It passed by about 58%

“They threw the baby out with the bathwater because the right way

to fly it, which is far, far superior, was never given to people as a

choice.”

-- Robert McGowan, a member of the New Millennium Group, which

lead an effort to get a new airport initiative on the November ballot

“We still need that ink on the FAA letter.”

-- Bob Burnham, Newport Beach’s city attorney, on getting the

Federal Aviation Administration to promise in writing that it will

not sue the city if a new John Wayne Settlement Agreement is put in

place

“They are now over areas where they haven’t been before.”

-- Jerry Snyder, public affairs officer for the FAA’s Western

Pacific Region, on the increase in flights over areas like Costa

Mesa’s Westside

“There are many, many other steps that have to be taken before El

Toro can be ruled out. We’re very hopeful that El Toro is still an

option.”

-- Becki Ames, chief of staff for George Nakano, a state

assemblyman from Torrance who has a proposed a bill that would hold

up federal money for areas that don’t bear their fair share of air

transportation burdens

“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 the Orange County

supervisors and will now go to Washington, D.C.

WHAT’S THE FREQUENCY, PAUL?

“I thought I was on the wrong channel.”

-- Paul Bunney, Costa Mesa resident, to City Council members about

a city TV ad in Spanish on Channel 74

STEEL ... ON STEEL

“When I was first elected, I didn’t have the best image. I was not

looked at as a team player, but I have gone out of my way to give

[fellow council members] what they want -- to a point. I hope they

will give me the benefit of the doubt and second some of my motions

-- at least give me a chance.”

-- Chris Steel, on serving on the Costa Mesa City Council. Steel

was named the Daily Pilot’s newsmaker of the year for 2001

CAN YOU TOP THIS?

“We’ve been attacked by wild packs of dogs at least a dozen times.

-- Andy Mandell, a.k.a. Mr. Diabetes of Florida, on the downside

of his national walking trip that began in Pensacola in January to

teach the public about the disease

WHAT ABOUT THE CHEERLEADERS?

“I think it went too far. Some parents got too upset, and some

girls expected too much.”

-- Dana Odell, applauding Newport Harbor High School Principal

Michael Vossen’s decision to have 17 girls who did not make the

cheerleading squads try out again after there was controversy over

the original selection process. Odell’s daughter, Katie, made the

first cut

“I’ve already not made it once. And after all this, I don’t know

if I want to deal with this again.”

-- Jessica Cochens, Newport Harbor High School student, on whether

she’ll try out for cheerleading again. Cochens was one of the 17 who

did not make it onto the teams in late 2001

THINKING OF SEPT. 11

“The photograph of the twin towers burning reminds me daily that

my challenges pale compared to the victims of Sept. 11.”

-- Lyle Davis, a Newport Beach resident who was on business in

Newark, N.J., on Sept. 11, 2001, on watching both World Trade Center

towers crumble and how his world has changed forever

“I don’t think this will happen again, the flight attendants won’t

let it happen again.”

-- Lynette Palmquist, a flight attendant who works out of John

Wayne Airport, on not allowing terrorists to take over a passenger

plane again

SAY AGAIN?

“It’s like you have to keep pouring more coffee in the cup or you

have an empty cup in your hand.”

-- Brian Slater, a Newport Beach Fire Department paramedic, on

trying to play the bagpipes

“We’re meeting our disinfection goals.”

-- Bob Ooten, the Orange County Sanitation District’s director of

maintenance and operations, on using chlorination to clean up the

coast

“Visibly, it is very noticeable, or I should say not noticeable.”

-- Bill Morris, Costa Mesa’s director of public services, on

placing utility lines underground on the Westside

SO LONG, PARTNER

“The floor plan is not made for a family. The family room is in

the back, not near the kitchen where the family can hang around. I’m

a hands-on grandma and I like the children to be around the kitchen

when I’m cooking.”

-- Beverly Cohen, a Bay Shore Drive resident, on why John Wayne’s

former home needs to be demolished

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

“The name change will let people know worldwide that Costa Mesa is

near the ocean, which is a location that makes the city blessed.”

-- Janice Davidson, chairwoman of Citizens for the Improvement of

Costa Mesa, on the organization’s plan to lobby the City Council on

Monday to change the city’s name to Costa Mesa-by-the-sea

FAME’S TEACHINGS

“He stole me away from another car dealer.”

-- Mike Tyson, boxer, on why he houses his cars with Nader

Amirvand, the owner of Auto Market Lotus of Orange County in Costa

Mesa. Tyson stopped by the Harbor Boulevard car dealership to pick up

a Lamborghini from his private collection

“When you put 15 random people together like that, you learn that

everyone has a really fascinating story and everyone has something to

teach you.”

-- Sarah Jones of Newport Beach, on being part of the cast of

“Survivor 4: Marquesas.” Jones was voted off the reality TV show

early

“Golf courses are like women, er, people. They all have different

personalities.”

-- Fuzzy Zoeller, professional golfing legend, at the Toshiba

Community Breakfast at the Newport Marriott

-- Compiled by S.J. Cahn