No racing to this decision

S.J. CAHN

Newport Beach’s District 7 council race is close to being the one to

watch this fall.

It’s already interesting enough, with incumbent Councilman John

Heffernan yet to decide whether he’ll seek reelection. (By contrast,

the other two councilmen up for reelection, Steve Bromberg and Steve

Rosansky, are in the race.)

Add to it that the only other person in the city, at this point,

to have taken out the needed nominating papers is from Heffernan’s

district and has ties to the controlled-growth Greenlight group -- to

which Heffernan was tied when he won his seat four years ago -- and

there’s enough political interest to offset the waltzes right now

awaiting the two Steves.

But first off, we have Heffernan’s decision, which he said

Wednesday will have to come by Friday because he’s leaving on a trip

and won’t be back until after the Aug. 6 filing deadline.

His paperwork is all filled out, and the signatures are collected,

he said. He’s just weighing whether he has the time to commit to

another four years.

Heffernan added that having a possible opponent isn’t going to

affect his decision.

“I’d make my decision on my own,” he said.

I was impressed, as I listened to Heffernan talk about his

decision, by his thoughtfulness and care. There is always the

possibility, when a politician publicly mulls the future, that he or

she will look indecisive, the way former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo

did in December 1991 when, with planes waiting to take him to

political glory, he finally decided against running for the

presidency.

I don’t get that sense from Heffernan, though. I think he’s

honestly trying to decide what’s best for him and his family, and

whether he can juggle that with a full commitment to the city -- he

said he wouldn’t run unless he can.

He also, in a relatively unusual position for a politician, has

welcomed people to run for his seat.

“If you can do it better, fine,” he said.

Heffernan’s potential opponent, Dolores Otting, is well known to

City Hall regulars.

Otting’s concerns lately have been the proposed development at

Marinapark, the limits to speaking time at Newport Beach City Council

meetings, city spending habits and a city agreement with the Balboa

Bay Club & Resort about parking.

But back at Greenlight’s beginning, she -- who didn’t return a

call for comment -- was among those agitating for change in City

Hall.

On July 27, 2000, the Pilot reported:

“Finally, resident Dolores Otting stood up, voicing how some

community members may be feeling.

“‘I don’t understand what you [City Council members] are so afraid

of for people to go out and vote,’ she said. ‘Over 10,000 people

signed these petitions. If they thought everything was hunky-dory in

the city, they would not have signed.’”

But more than anything, Otting’s continued interest seems to have

been with real or perceived back-room deals.

In November of 2000, Otting wrote the following to the Pilot, in

response to an editorial calling on leaders from both sides of the

nascent Greenlight debate to meet.

“If the Daily Pilot really got it, it would realize that the

citizens of Newport Beach and Measure S proponents don’t want any

more back-door deals, violations of the Brown Act, conflicts of

interest or collusion.

“If the Daily Pilot really got it, it would realize that we have a

very generously paid city staff that works at the pleasure of the

council with open meeting laws, just to do this very thing --

implement Measure S.

“The people of Newport Beach have spoken, and hopefully the Daily

Pilot will not try to rewrite Measure S behind closed doors so it

comes out smelling like a T.”

Whether Otting will get Greenlight’s backing in this race is still

up in the air.

“We’re waiting on Heffernan’s decision to make a decision,” said

Phil Arst, the group’s spokesman.

Arst added that, if Heffernan decides to run, group members will

talk to him and make a decision by Aug. 6.

“He still speaks honestly on the issues,” Arst said.

An interesting historical note as context for this potential race.

Here are the results from the district in the 1996 election: Tom

Thomson, 11,574 votes or 45.1%; Phil Arst, 7,254 votes or 28.3% and

Dolores Otting, 6,838 votes or 26.6%.

Heffernan ended up beating Thomson in another three-way race in

2000.

* S.J. CAHN is the managing editor. He may be reached at (949)

574-4233 or by e-mail at s.j.cahn@latimes.com.