Newport’s dinosaur eyesore

STEVE SMITH

There are certain rules or conditions that make a work environment

more effective. Having owned my own business or been a business

manager for 25 years, I can state from experience, for example, that

office attire is important.

If I am a plumber, I need to wear the appropriate work clothes,

particularly a dark blue shirt with a white oval patch that reads

“Smitty.”

If I am a server in a restaurant, I am expected to wear what the

other servers are wearing, usually some type of themed uniform, often

with lots of pins on the suspenders. The server example does not

apply to the Side Street Cafe in Costa Mesa, where the uniform is

whatever, and no one cares because the omelets are so good.

Radio talk show host Michael Jackson, not the Michael Jackson who

is currently listening to a parade of people describe despicable

things they claim he did, wore a tie to work every day, even though

he was seen only by a few people in the studio.

Actually, Jackson also wore a shirt, pants, shoes and socks.

Jackson dresses up because he believes it makes a difference in the

level of professionalism he exhibits. I agree with him that office

attire does raise the level of professionalism, and I do not much

care for offices full of jeans or shorts. Perhaps just once in a

while on a Friday.

There is something to be said, too, for working conditions. I work

in the Orange County version of a tower; that is, it’s a 9-story

building. But the building is only about 3 years old, and it is being

maintained very well by a lady named Amy Hagen and her able staff.

So, this building looks brand new. With that distinction comes a

sense of responsibility by anyone who works here to maintain a

certain decorum and to conduct ourselves in a manner befitting the

surroundings.

In this building, people don’t create messes, they smoke only in

certain areas, and they are, for the most part, very polite and

civil.

Would this be the case in building that was not so nice? Perhaps.

But the tenants here chose this building because it represents the

type of business they have, whether it is an advertising agency, a

financial company or a bank.

The building not only represents them, it sends the right image to

customers, which is even more important than making sure the

cigarette butts fall into the ashtrays.

With the right appearance in the right setting, things have a way

of working out.

The collection of structures that is now the Newport Beach City

Hall is not representative of the community. It is, in fact,

bordering on an embarrassment.

In a city that is home to one of the nation’s finest hotels (the

Four Seasons Newport Beach), some of the nation’s best beaches and

some of the most desirable real estate anywhere, City Hall is a

dinosaur.

The Newport Beach City Hall is not a disaster waiting to happen,

it has already happened.

Unfortunately, I can’t quantify the value of a new, better City

Hall for the bean counters who need numbers to justify everything. In

the end, a new City Hall may not put a cent on the city’s bottom

line. That is, it will be a cost center, not a revenue center, but

that shouldn’t matter.

Accountants should not make this particular decision, except to

monitor the costs and construction of a new facility. This decision

has to be made by the city’s marketers -- the people who spend time

promoting tourism and real estate and who depend on the city’s image

for their livelihood. In this particular case, they will know what is

best.

I haven’t a clue as to what a new city hall should cost, but that

is secondary to the effect of moving the project forward. I doubt

that we’re talking about building the Taj Mahal -- just something

that replaces the current eyesore.

But new or old, the smokers will still have to stay outside.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(714) 966-4664 or send story ideas to onthetown2005 @aol.com.