Annexation, naught but a dream

Geoff West

Last January, the Daily Pilot published a commentary I wrote in which

I, with tongue firmly planted in my cheek, suggested that the city of

Newport Beach annex Costa Mesa, and I listed many reasons why I

thought this was a great idea. Those of you who read it will recall

that it was simply a sarcastic shot at the leadership of Costa Mesa

-- although a few of you apparently thought I was serious.

Well, at the end of last week, I received an envelope from the

city of Newport Beach addressed to “Resident,” with the proper

address shown. “CITY HALL” was emblazoned on the return address.

Curious, I opened it promptly.

Inside the envelope, I found a letter on the official letterhead

of Newport Beach City Manager Homer L. Bludau, which was dated June

10, 2005, and began: “Dear Fellow Residents.” The text went on to

inform me, a “fellow resident,” of “two important issues the city is

considering” -- the Coyote Canyon landfill and the new city hall.

Naturally, I was interested, but even more curious than ever.

For the past couple years I’ve tried to do my best to stay abreast

of important issues affecting the Newport-Mesa area and have

commented on many of them. As I read this very informative,

three-page epistle from Bludau, I found myself wondering just how I

managed to miss the fact that Costa Mesa had, in fact, been annexed

by Newport Beach -- especially since it was my idea in the first

place.

So, with my heart pounding in anticipation and visions of

quadruple property values flashing before my eyes like neon signs, I

called the city manager to find out why nobody had told me about the

annexation. Bludau, obviously a man of great patience, told me that

I’d placed the second call he’d received about this letter and that

it was likely just a little mix-up in the mailing program. We had a

nice chat about it, and I ended up assuming that, because I live near

the border between the cities, our street was inadvertently included

in the mailing. I found out later that many, if not all, Costa Mesa

residents received this same letter.

Bludau confirmed that Newport Beach had not yet annexed Costa Mesa

and took the opportunity to set me straight about why my recent

suggestion that Newport Beach build it’s new city hall adjacent to

its main library at Newport Center was such a bad idea. Apparently,

it is much more acceptable to rebuild, refurbish or whatever they are

going to do down there on Newport Boulevard in the tsunami zone --

astride the Newport-Inglewood earthquake fault -- than to deal with

the wrath of a few well-healed residents up on the hill, who might

have their views disturbed by a multi-story city hall. It apparently

makes more sense to have the seat of government located in a spot

almost impossible to reach during the summer beach traffic jams

instead of on a location high on a bluff, near the geographical

center of the city, adjacent to the de-facto center of commerce, with

excellent public transportation a stone’s throw away. Sufficiently

chastened, I thanked him for the enlightenment and wished him a nice

weekend.

So, with my visions of becoming an instant multi-millionaire

dashed, I have resigned myself to remaining a resident of Costa Mesa

-- where council members accuse each other of Brown Act violations

and the streets are beginning to resemble Third World cattle trails.

I’ll remain a resident of a city where the City Hall will likely

remain upright when the Big One hits, instead of sinking quickly into

the sand as liquefaction down on the peninsula robs the Newport Beach

City Hall foundation of it’s support. Whatever our neighbors in

Newport Beach build, I sure hope it’s tall, and that they put the

really important stuff on the top floors.

* GEOFF WEST is a Costa Mesa resident.