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.
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