Incumbents keep seats on Newport Beach City Council

Deirdre Newman

The early results in the City Council race stayed true, as incumbents

Steve Bromberg, John Heffernan and Steve Rosansky held on to their

seats on the dais.

The only change was minuscule, with Heffernan losing half a

percentage point to 54% and his challenger, Dolores Otting, gaining a

half-percentage point to 46%.

Rosansky trounced challengers John Buttolph and Catherine Emmons,

getting more votes than both of them combined. He finished with 52.2%

of the vote, describing it as a sort of mandate.

“It surely wasn’t a beauty contest; otherwise, I would have lost,”

Rosansky joked. “People are saying, ‘You did something right.’ I look

forward to the next four years and making a difference.”

Bromberg ran unopposed.

Heffernan said he looks forward to serving another term as well.

“It’s a great opportunity for me to thank residents for having

confidence [in me] and doing it for another four years,” Heffernan

said. “I started in the campaign knowing I had a budget that was

limited and knowing I didn’t want [my] house disrupted by the

campaign, with my wife teaching and my son in high school. I spent

money at the end, and it did prove adequate, maybe by luck or

design.”

Otting spent Wednesday at the Orange County Registrar of Voters

office, making sure that every last vote was being counted.

“I think it can make some difference,” she said. “I’m not saying

I’m going to win, but one of the issues that got brought up [during

the campaign] is that the absentee ballots don’t get counted. I

promised that every vote in Newport Beach would get counted.”

She said she would continue attending City Council meetings to

press for priorities she considers important, like creating an

emergency-preparedness plan.

One of the other issues Otting hammered away at during her

campaign was the lack of civility from the council toward residents

speaking at City Hall meetings.

Heffernan said he will continue treating all speakers with

respect.

“You’re not going to find a more impatient person in the world

than me, but I know [being patient is] part of the job,” he said.

“You have to be respectful of the people who come to the podium and

deal with it.”