COSTA MESA Mobile home rules sail through...

COSTA MESA

Mobile home rules sail through Planning Commission

The fifth time was the charm for a proposed mobile home ordinance,

as it cleared the Planning Commission on Monday. It had been

continued four times before. The ordinance would give the city more

authority over the closure and conversion of mobile home parks. The

City Council will consider it in April.

* The reality TV juggernaut made its way to Costa Mesa Wednesday

as “Extreme Makeover, Home Edition” burst into town. The crew sent

the lucky family off to a vacation and is now working round the clock

to remodel their home and add an addition by the time they get back

on Wednesday.

-- Deirdre Newman

PUBLIC SAFETY AND COURTS

Mysterious substance

slows the slowest of lines

Close to 60 people were evacuated from the Department of Motor

Vehicles Wednesday evening after a clerk opened mail containing a

suspicious grainy substance, fire officials said.

Orange County Hazardous Materials team members, after examining

the substance, determined that it was not a credible threat. It

appeared that some kind of packing material had gotten into the

envelope in question, officials said.

The DMV closed half an hour before usual closing time on

Wednesday. But it was back to business as usual Friday morning. The

office was closed on Thursday to observe Abraham Lincoln’s birthday,

which is a state holiday.

The incident is the second false alarm in two weeks for Costa

Mesa. Also, on Feb. 4, 80 employees were evacuated from Fairview

Developmental Center in Costa Mesa after someone found a gray powdery

substance in envelopes.

Officials later determined the substance was harmless. The powder

turned out to be “sacred ash” brought in by an employee who smeared

it on her forehead as part of a daily religious ritual.

-- Deepa Bharath

POLITICS

Candidate apologizes for misusing quotes in mailer

Republican 70th Assembly District candidate Cristi Cristich

apologized to Rep. Chris Cox for a campaign mailer she sent to

district voters, Cox announced Wednesday. Cox had on Feb. 6 condemned

the mailer as misleading, saying it implied an endorsement of

Cristich he didn’t give.

The mailer included selections from a letter Cox sent Cristich

congratulating her on her candidacy and citing a long-standing policy

of not endorsing candidates in GOP primaries. An identical letter was

sent to 70th District candidate Chuck DeVore. Both candidates sought

Cox’s endorsement.

Cristich’s campaign director Dave Gilliard said earlier he didn’t

think the letter was misleading. The campaign agreed last week to

send corrective letters to voters who had received the earlier

mailer.

* Local grocery workers on picket lines said they were skeptical

that new talks that began Wednesday would achieve any significant

results in the four-month old strike and lockout. Several earlier

rounds of talks have broken off with no change in the positions of

grocery chains Albertsons, Kroger and Safeway or the United Food and

Commercial Workers union. The strike was called in October when the

two sides failed to reach an agreement on health benefits and other

provisions in contract talks.

* Local real estate experts on Thursday reported double-digit

increases in average home sale prices in the fourth quarter of 2003,

following a statewide trend, but the number of home sales for that

period in Newport-Mesa was lower than elsewhere in the state because

of a lack of inventory.

* Average home prices rose more than 29% in Costa Mesa and 34% in

Newport Beach during the last three months of 2003, while in

California the increase in median home prices was 17.9% for the

period.

-- Alicia Robinson

NEWPORT BEACH

Marinapark the latest straw in debate over Greenlight

The latest battle in the ongoing war between Greenlight committee

members and City Hall erupted during a council meeting over how the

city is handling information about the proposed Marinapark hotel.

Greenlight spokesman Phil Arst charged that by sending the project

to a non-Greenlight vote, the council is conveniently avoiding having

to vote on the project as a council.

He was answered quickly by Councilman Steve Bromberg, who pointed

out that the Greenlight group’s goal is to put major developments

before voters, but they now are protesting putting the matter to a

vote.