What to watch

COSTA MESA SKATE PARK OPENS TO CROWDS

After 10 years of spinning their wheels, skate park proponents

will finally get a place to put down their wheels.

In September, the City Council approved a skate park for TeWinkle

Park.

Staff members are dusting off the plans for the failed Charle

Street-Hamilton Street plans. They have done a complete review of

these plans and are expecting to present the idea of modifying them

for TeWinkle Park to the City Council in January.

But some Mesa del Mar residents still oppose a skate park at

TeWinkle because they say it would destroy the last area of open

space in the park.

DEBATES STRETCH ON ABOUT NEWPORT CONTROL OF JWA

It started small, but its implications could be huge. In the fall,

Newport Beach leaders announced they wanted to create what they

called a “Sphere Issues Committee” -- a casual group of three council

members that would try to engage county leaders in a dialogue on a

number of county-run operations that directly touch Newport’s

borders: the Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol, the Santa Ana Heights

Redevelopment Agency, the Coyote Canyon Landfill, local tidelands and

John Wayne Airport. And though their request started off as little

more than an invitation to chat, its implications could be huge.

This year will reveal whether the city’s casual inquiry could

result in taking over the harbor patrol, the multimillion-dollar

redevelopment agency, landfill operations and even possibly John

Wayne Airport.

City officials say their goal is to look for opportunities

beneficial to the county and the city -- areas where Newport might be

able to take some administrative or financial burdens off the

county’s hands to provide more efficient service. But, before the end

of this year, it could be clear whether this will mean taking control

of tens of millions of dollars and several of the most influential

county facilities, and possibly gaining long-term control over

airport expansion.

FEW SURPRISES AS NEWPORT-MESA SCHOOL BOARD HEADS TO ELECTIONS

Three Newport-Mesa Unified School District trustees will be up for

reelection in November.

Newly appointed President Dana Black, a member since 1996, said

she has not yet decided whether to run in the next election. Nor has

Martha Fluor, who just finished her third term as president.

Trustee Dave Brooks, who represents the northwestern end of Costa

Mesa, said that he does intend to run. Black’s trustee area covers

parts of Newport Beach, and Fluor’s, the east side of Costa Mesa.

No one has heard about anyone else thinking of entering the race

yet.

In the 2002 election, incumbent Judith Franco kept her seat, and

Tom Egan beat out Wendy Leece, the most conservative board member.

Linda Sneen stepped in when Jim Ferryman chose not to run for

reelection.

CITY, ATTORNEY MEET IN COURT

Expect Costa Mesa’s legal travails to continue since former City

Atty. Jerry Scheer refiled his complaint against the city and five

defendants.

In October, city leaders announced they had reached a settlement

that would pay Scheer $750,000 and prompt his retirement. But two

months later, Scheer grew impatient that not all the defendants had

signed off on the settlement and refiled his complaint.

And this time, he probably won’t be as amenable to settling as he

was before, his attorney, Dan Stormer, said.

PRIMARY FIGHT REACHES NEW LOW

Among various bitter Republican contests in the March 2 primary,

political undead right-winger Bob Dornan’s fight to wrest the 46th

District Congressional seat from Dana Rohrabacher will be the most

closely watched. While he hasn’t run for office since his second

defeat by Loretta Sanchez in 1998, Dornan’s track record of

fundraising clout and a willingness to say anything about anyone may

put him over the top, or at least a nose ahead of Rohrabacher, who

hasn’t faced a serious opponent in years.

Dornan has already made an issue of Rohrabacher’s admitted 1960s

drug use and his past support for medical marijuana, among other

things. Rohrabacher hasn’t started pulling skeletons out of Dornan’s

closet, but he might have to if he wants to wow voters, who are

expecting a bloody match.

HOTEL VOTE TOO CLOSE TO CALL

Steven Sutherland has made it a personal mission to show peninsula

residents why he believes they should support his project, a 110-room

luxury resort at the site of what is now the Marinapark mobile home

park.

He has knocked on doors, commissioned studies and held community

meetings. And every time he emerges from a face-to-face meeting with

neighbors, he emerges with a renewed faith that education will win

him his project. That will likely be his approach as the November

balloting nears. In that election, voters will decide whether to let

him build his Regent Newport Resort.

But opponents believe they have an even stronger case, and one

they think could win out in voters’ minds. They say the peninsula is

the wrong place for the project, and they disagree with studies that

say that traffic caused by the project won’t be significant.

City officials have seemed to support the project in part for the

tax revenue it will bring and in part as a revitalization of the

peninsula. But only time will tell whether voters see it the same

way.

SCHOOLS NARROWLY AVOID

FEDERAL SANCTIONS

At least three Newport-Mesa Unified schools will be paying extra

attention to standardized test scores and assessments when they come

out later in the year.

Pomona, Whittier and Wilson elementary schools are all listed in

the Program Improvement Category under the federal No Child Left

Behind Act after missing performance targets the last two years. That

means that the district must provide technical assistance to the

school, notify parents of its status, and use 10% of funds for staff

development.

Schools are required to have 13.6% of their students test at the

proficient or advanced level for English-language arts and 16% for

math. The three schools, which have a predominantly Latino student

population who are taking tests in a language they have not yet

mastered, are hoping to make those targets in 2004 and 2005 or face

corrective action.

In the 2004-05 school year, the minimum proficiency levels jump to

24.4% for English and 26.5% for math. The No Child Left Behind Act’s

goal is to have 100% proficiency by 2014.

IMPROVERS MAKE PLAY FOR COUNCIL

Three council seats will be open next fall, but only two council

members can run again, as Councilwoman Libby Cowan is termed out. It

probably won’t be as eclectic a crowd of candidates as vied to

replace former Mayor Karen Robinson.

City Councilman Mike Scheafer, who was appointed to replace

Robinson, said he is considering his options for running in the fall,

and Councilman Chris Steel is expected to run for reelection.

New Parks and Recreation Commissioner Mirna Burciaga has already

declared she will run. Planning Commissioner Katrina Foley said she

will run again.

New Planning Commissioner Eric Bever, who withdrew a bid to

replace Robinson last spring, said he is considering a run for the

council in the fall.

And Planning Commission Chairman Bruce Garlich said he is

seriously considering running.

HOUSING MARKET HITS NEW HIGH

AND THEN RISES SOME MORE

Another booming year is likely on the way for retail and housing

in Newport-Mesa, with restaurants expecting sales to grow 10%,

numerous new stores coming to shopping giants Fashion Island and

South Coast Plaza, and the housing industry looking for continued

market strength.

But a boom in cardboard boxes as living quarters may also be in

store. With experts predicting a continued gap between the demand for

housing and the number of new units being built, median prices are

already only affordable to about 27% of Californians and will likely

continue to climb beyond the reach of many this year.

VOTERS SHOW NO MANDATE ON DIRECTION FOR CITY HALL

The 2002 Newport Beach City Council election helped polarize local

government into two factions in a way that seemed to strengthen both.

Greenlight leaders failed to make good on their plan to win majority

control of the council. But they nonetheless doubled their presence

in City Hall by placing Dick Nichols on the dais as the second

Greenlight councilman.

At the same time, a core group of mainstream council members were

able to solidify their control of local government, largely by

pointing to their successes in maintaining the city’s quality of

life. Their anti-Greenlight position was validated by the reelection

of Tod Ridgeway and Gary Adams, both of whom were challenged by

Greenlight candidates.

But a lot has changed in the last two years. Nichols cast an

unflattering light on himself with several gaffes, including implying

that a planning commissioner had taken a bribe and a later faux pas

that caused some to label him racist.

In the meantime, West Newport Councilman Gary Proctor has stepped

down, and Steven Rosansky has been appointed to take his seat. This

year, Rosansky will run for reelection, as will Steve Bromberg.

Greenlight Councilman John Heffernan, however, remains undecided

whether he’ll try for a second term. When the voters cast their

ballots in December, it could amount to a mandate for one of two

competing view of how best to preserve the city’s future.

CITY PLAN UPDATE PUTS MANY TO SLEEP

This year is also likely to be the most important for Newport

Beach’s general plan update, the far-reaching process for revising

the city’s blueprint for the future. Changes to the document have

been subject to debate for more than a year, as the process has

become a battleground for competing visions for tomorrow.

How much development should be allowed in the airport area? What

kind of growth should take place near the industrial area near Hoag

Hospital? How much traffic is the city able to handle? Where can more

affordable housing be installed?

These are just some of the questions that will be decided this

year as the general plan update process is completed.

TRIAL VERDICT SHOCKS COURTROOM

A jury trial is set to begin in spring for three Inland Valley

teens accused of raping an unconscious 16-year-old girl. Greg Haidl,

son of Orange County Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl, Kyle Nachreiner and

Keith Spann all face serious prison time for the multiple felony

charges. The incident reportedly occurred in July 2002 at Don Haidl’s

Corona del Mar home.

The case is still in the pre-trial stages. Greg Haidl’s attorneys

have filed several motions including those alleging outrageous

prosecutorial misconduct. Judge Francisco Briseno also decided last

month to throw out two enhancements against Greg Haidl and Nachreiner

ruling that the teens did not cause great bodily injury to the

victim. That decision ruled out the possibility of life in prison for

the two defendants. Instead, they will face 55 years and four months

in state prison if convicted.

Prosecutors had argued that the teens had severely injured the

victim when they tried to penetrate her with a pool cue.

The high-profile trial involves sensitive evidence, including a

20-minute videotape made by the defendants that attorneys say

captured the incident in lurid detail. The jury trial is expected to

begin March 1.