NEWPORT BEACH Vote on Marinapark set for...

NEWPORT BEACH

Vote on Marinapark set for November election

In a marathon City Council meeting that ended early Wednesday

morning, the council decided to put the Marinapark resort issue on

the November ballot. After about eight public hearings and hours of

testimony from residents both for and against the proposed 110-room

luxury hotel, the council voted 4-3 to certify an environmental

report on the project and place the necessary general plan amendment

on the fall ballot.

Developer Stephen Sutherland is gearing up for a campaign in favor

of the project, and the grass-roots, anti-resort group Protect Our

Parks promises to battle him. More information about the planned

resort is expected from the city as election day approaches.

* Several hundred property owners approved two of the city’s

biggest tax assessment districts to pay for utility-line burial in

Newport Shores and West Newport. The City Council sets up the

districts after property owners submit signatures showing they will

vote to tax themselves to cover the cost of putting utility lines

underground.

The districts include 550 parcels in Newport Shores and more than

600 in West Newport. Some residents complained that the costs will be

burdensome, but nearly 66% of the votes cast from Newport Shores and

74% of the votes cast from West Newport were in favor of the tax for

utility burial.

The construction will begin this fall and should be completed by

spring 2005.

-- Alicia Robinson

POLITICS

Radio hosts speak their minds: Watch yourself, Rep.

Republican Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) and Chris

Cox (R-Newport Beach) defended their records on illegal immigration

Tuesday against the shrill harangues of KFI radio’s conservative

“John & Ken Show.” One of the two Orange County congressmen could be

the show’s “political human sacrifice,” the representative deemed

most deserving of being voted out of office.

Also on the chopping block are Reps. David Dreier (R-San Dimas),

Mary Bono (R-Palm Springs) and Darrell Issa (R-Vista). The results

will be determined by a poll of the show’s listeners and announced

closer to the November election.

* Not to be intimidated by the GOP’s superior numbers, dozens of

local Democrats gathered around Newport-Mesa on Thursday to celebrate

John Kerry’s acceptance of the party’s presidential nomination. The

Democratic National Convention in Boston last week unified and

energized the party, and it showed people what kind of a person and a

leader John Kerry is, area Democrats said.

* Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger flew by helicopter into a love fest

at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa on Friday. The

governor stopped by to thank voters for urging their representatives

to pass the state budget, which legislators did last week. A crowd of

hundreds braved the hot sun to hear Schwarzenegger speak, take his

picture and seek a chance to shake his hand.

-- Alicia Robinson

COSTA MESA

Residents examine widening Newport Boulevard

The city held an open house for residents to comment on an

environmental report for the potential widening of Newport Boulevard.

About 50 people came to the open house Tuesday night and almost all

of them gave the project favorable reviews, said Project Manager Dave

Sorge.

* City officials are celebrating that they won’t be losing $1.5

million in property tax revenue refunds and $780,000 in future

property tax revenue loss since the state Supreme Court decided not

to review a case that would have cost cities and counties around the

state hundreds of millions of dollars. The case, originated by a Seal

Beach couple and turned into a class-action lawsuit, took on the

county’s practice of recapturing -- when it collects more than the 2%

increase in assessed value after a home’s property declines and then

rebounds. Proposition 13 capped assessment increases at 2% a year.

* The Orange County Transportation Authority Board of Directors

voted again not to encourage the county Board of Supervisors to take

a voter referendum on the CenterLine light rail system. This time,

they also directed staff members to work more proactively with other

cities in Orange County to garner support. The current proposal is

for the 9.3-mile route to run from Santa Ana to John Wayne Airport

through Costa Mesa.

-- Deirdre Newman