‘Dreadful and ugly’?

As Newport Beach City officials debate with some residents whether a

new city hall is needed, how much money should be spent, and whether

the project should go to a public vote, a Corona del Mar man decided

Tuesday it was time to say how he feels about the planned city hall:

It’s hideous.

“I think there’s an enormous number of people who feel that the

building as proposed is dreadful and ugly,” Jerry Muller told the

City Council.

“Someone once remarked that a camel was a horse designed by a

committee, and I think that’s what we have here.”

The design includes a wall intended to evoke ocean waves and

skylight-like projections from the roof that resemble boat sails.

“This thing was designed for function first,” was City Councilman

Tod Ridgeway’s defense.

The council is still mulling the details of the project and is

likely to take a final vote Nov. 8 on whether to go forward.

Governor vetoes park-purchase bill, but that may be a good thing

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill that would have let

Newport Beach buy a piece of Caltrans land to create a park, but city

officials think the deal still may go through.

The land expected to become Sunset Ridge Park, at Coast Highway

and Superior Avenue, is actually two parcels -- a 1.8-acre piece that

the city recently bought for $175,000 and a 15.5-acre plot. Newport

officials believe they can still buy the land, maybe without

legislation, and they’ve agreed with the state on an undisclosed

price.

In fact, the veto of the bill may even be a good thing, City

Councilman Steve Rosansky said.

“If anything, it may put us in a little safer position, because

they [Caltrans] don’t have the authority to sell it to anybody else”

without the bill, he said. It would have allowed the state to sell a

number of surplus parcels at fair market value.

The California Transportation Commission has to approve the sale

of the land to the city. It meets Nov. 2 and 3, and the city wants to

be on the agenda, but “it’s all going to come down to price,”

Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said.

Orange County budget in digital audio format

Coming soon to an iPod near you: Orange County Supervisor Jim

Silva. Starting Oct. 25, Silva plans to become the first elected

official in the county to roll out a podcast on county issues.

Podcasts are digital audio recordings that can be downloaded from a

computer onto a portable player like Apple’s iPod.

Silva wants to use the new media to bring Orange County issues to

a broader audience, said his executive assistant Matt Liffreing. “As

an educator, it’s something that he wanted to do to try to educate

people about the county budget,” Liffreing said of Silva, who’s a

former teacher.

He’s still figuring out exactly what he’ll discuss, but he plans

to go live at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 25. In the future, other supervisors

could record their own podcasts. Silva’s podcasts will be available

through his website at o7bos.ocgov.com/secondf7.

Poor ballot box performance won’t stop UCI professor

Even though UC Irvine business professor John Graham lost his bid

for the 48th Congressional District seat last week, he hasn’t given

up on some issues he raised during the campaign -- and he won’t let a

pesky thing like the Federal Aviation Administration deter him

either.

Graham pitched the idea of a commercial airport at Camp Pendleton

as a way to ease congestion at Los Angeles International Airport and

head off future expansion of John Wayne Airport. Last week, he got a

response from an official at the FAA that basically grounded the

Pendleton plan.

Although the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority has been

studying Pendleton as one of seven possible airport sites, the letter

said, the local congressional delegation opposed the idea. Also,

Pendleton wasn’t on the list of bases recommended for closure, and

nonmilitary development there must be approved by the Navy and Marine

Corps -- in other words, good luck.

But Graham isn’t giving up, even though he’s no longer running for

Congress.

“I’m going to be nudging this issue along, just because it’s

important for international trade,” he said.

He’s also written to Gov. Schwarzenegger and the mayors of Los

Angeles and San Diego, but so far, he’s had no response.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers government and politics. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at

o7alicia.robinson@latimes.comf7.