No candidates have filed for City Council seat

June Casagrande

With one week down and just one more to go for council hopefuls to

stand up and be counted, no one yet has submitted an application to

the city to fill the vacant City Council seat.

But one likely contender, West Newport real estate broker Steve

Rosansky, confirmed Wednesday that he will vie for the job. And

another, Dennis P. Lahey, has pulled papers but said he will take a

few days to mull the prospect and discuss it with his family before

he decides to apply.

Both men ran in 2000 against eventual winner Gary Proctor, who

resigned his seat last week. Lahey was the second-highest vote-getter

with 23.4%; Rosansky came in third with 11.8% of the vote.

“The same things I saw as goals for the city three years ago and

as important are the same things I think are important today,”

Rosansky said, citing park development, the general plan update,

Banning Ranch and the 19th Street bridge as areas of interest.

Rosansky opposed the Greenlight Initiative three years ago but

said he respects it as the law of the land today.

Lahey, an active member of the American Legion Post 291, supported

Greenlight three years ago but said he has mixed feelings on the

direction the movement has taken since. On Wednesday, he said that

Proctor had been a good choice for councilman at the time because of

the potential for airport expansion that was then facing the city.

“For the time and the place, I think Gary Proctor was the better

candidate because he had such great airport knowledge,” Lahey said.

Proctor’s term expires in November 2004. According to the City

Charter, it’s up to the City Council to appoint someone to complete

his term within 30 days. If they fail to appoint someone in that

time, the matter goes to a ballot.

Some residents disagree with that interpretation of the city

charter. Because of a string of Proctor absences in the last several

months, they say that the charter directs the city to hold a special

election. An election would cost about $50,000 if it was made part of

the March ballot. A separate election would cost about $75,000. In

either case, the council seat would again be up for grabs in the

November 2004 election.

District 2 residents interested in serving on the council have

until noon on Oct. 9 to file applications with the city clerk’s

office. Papers and information about District 2 boundaries are

available at the city’s Web site,

https://www.city.newport-beach-ca.us.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.