The fun is beginning and growing

Well, the summer may be over, but the fun has just begun. It’s the

party of a lifetime, it’s the centennial, and it’s happening right

here in Newport Beach. Oct. 2 is just the beginning of the yearlong

birthday bash.

The Let’s Do Launch beach party featuring the Beach Boys will be

from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Newport Dunes. The tickets are only

$15, and like the comets, it won’t be coming around for another 100

years. Call the city at (949) 718-1856 or go online today at

o7www.newportbeach100 .com/beachboysticketsf7.

This year certainly has been fun-filled, and the fun of building a

new city hall keeps growing in size and dollars. The latest figures

from the Aug. 23 City Council meeting have now escalated to more than

$50 million. This does not include the cost of relocation,

electronics, more employees and the cost of getting the money. It

appears that we are well on our way to a $110-million price tag.

Getting these numbers does not come easy, not even for our City

Council. We had to take a 15-minute recess while the consultant had

the architect go to the trunk of his car and get the cost sheets so

the council could have something to look at while the presentation

was going on. It is difficult for the council or the public to ask

questions when there is no documentation available.

Remember the Daily Pilot photos showing the cramped working

conditions for the city employees? Well, don’t be fooled into

thinking that they will be getting larger workspaces; chances are

they could be smaller. The consultant uses an average of 276 square

feet per employee; however this 276 square feet means every bit of

space in the city hall including conference rooms, stairways, the

community center, restrooms, hallways, etc. As a matter of fact, at

the April 25 workshop the question was asked about what size the new

city offices would be. The answer was that there is no one who has an

office space that’s exactly 276 square feet in the building. There

are different sizes: 6-by-8, 8-by-8, 10-by-8. It’s just an average.

Ironically some employees could be cramped in offices smaller than

what they have today.

Let us not forget the parking structure that is to be the

“economic engine for the revitalization of the peninsula.” After the

city parks all its employees and vehicles there will be 100 spaces

available for the public, and how many of these 100 spaces are to be

used as economic development chips for the developers for their

redevelopment of the area, and how many will be left for us? Isn’t it

time for us to think about where we would all go in case of an

emergency?

As we approach the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, I

want to invite everyone to support our troops at the second annual

Corona del Mar Coastline Car Classic, brought to you by the Corona

del Mar Chamber of Commerce. The event will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

at Big Corona State Beach. An outstanding ceremony will take place at

11 a.m. when the U.S. Marine Corps 32-piece band will begin a

concert, the Color Guard will present the colors and 25 Marines of

the 1/1 Battalion will be honored with special freedom awards. The

entrance fee is $10. Call (949) 673-4050.Support our troops.

* DOLORES OTTING is a regular contributor to Sunday Forum and is a

community activist.