So-called straight shooter into openness

Deirdre Newman

John Heffernan is an enigma to some, because he stayed on the council

two years ago after vowing to go, because he vacillated about running

for reelection and because of his indecision on taking endorsements.

To others, he is clear as crystal -- a straight shooter who speaks

his mind no matter what he is thinking.

He is running in the district that includes Newport Coast against

challenger Dolores Otting.

He grew up in Santa Ana and has lived in Newport Beach since 1978.

He practices real estate transactional law, which he was inspired to

do because of his father, who started in the same field in Newport

Beach in 1946.

“It’s just a field I knew growing up that I wanted to do,” he

said. “It’s an easy area of law to practice.”

He also develops small retail centers outside of Orange County.

He decided to run for reelection to continue giving back and

because of a lack of candidates qualified in his district, he said.

“It’s public service in a nutshell, and I wanted the district

well-represented,” he said. “I thought Newport Coast should be

represented, because it has a uniform strata of interests.”

He would like a more open City Council that isn’t as fractious.

“Maybe it’s just part of the political environment that you can’t

have that, but I don’t believe [the council] is a group working as a

team,” he said. “Because otherwise, it’s Yugoslavia or medieval

Italy. People are fighting about things rather than worrying about

the Turks taking over your country.”

Heffernan helped write the ballot argument against changing the

general plan to allow a hotel for the Marinapark site. The property

is on the Balboa Peninsula, where mobile homes are. He voted to

certify the environmental report for the project, which triggered the

public vote because it had a “low burden of proof,” he said.

He was also on the negotiating team that helped develop terms for

a ground lease for the Marinapark hotel project designed by Stephen

Sutherland. But he is not satisfied with those terms, he said.

If the project fails, Heffernan thinks the final outcome of the

land will be something in between a hotel and the park opponents are

suggesting for the property.

“It’s not going to be all hotel or all park,” he said. “The land

is too valuable. It will have a restaurant and a big marine

component. I think the city can afford it. We don’t have to make the

decision solely on income.”

He did not take any financial contributions during his first

campaign and said he won’t take any this time, either.

“I’m most concerned about IOUs,” he said. “I’m very old-fashioned

that way.”

He also said he wouldn’t take endorsements but later changed his

mind, accepting a formerly declined endorsement from the Newport

Beach Firefighters Assn. -- a turnabout that raised many eyebrows.

He explained his actions by saying he isn’t soliciting the

endorsements; he’s simply going to talk to groups that ask him. After

talking to the Newport Beach Police Employees Assn., he felt

confident that he could accept endorsements without being bound by

them.