Week in Review

COSTA MESA

Council votes for city police to enforce immigration law

The City Council early Wednesday voted to work with Orange County officials and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to have city police trained for immigration enforcement. After the training, some police would be able to check the immigration status of people who have been arrested or are being investigated for serious crimes and, if warranted, turn them over to immigration officials.

If the plan moves forward, Costa Mesa could be the first city in the nation to have its police enforce immigration laws, though several states and counties have programs in place or are training their law enforcement officers now.

Supporters say the controversial plan will make the city safer by targeting dangerous criminals. Detractors argue it will instill fear in the city’s immigrant community and damage immigrants’ relationship with the Police Department.

POLITICS

Republican John Campbell wins U.S. House seat

In a widely expected victory, former Republican state Sen. John Campbell of Irvine on Tuesday was elected to the 48th Congressional District seat left open when Newport Beach Rep. Chris Cox became chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission in August.

Campbell took 44.4% of the votes cast in a five-way race, beating out Democrat Steve Young, who took 27.8% of the votes, and American Independent Party candidate Jim Gilchrist, who snagged 25.5% of the votes. Green Party candidate Béa Tiritilli and Libertarian Bruce Cohen were a distant fourth and fifth place, with each hovering around 1% of the votes cast.

Turnout on election day was meager, with absentee ballots making up a majority of votes; 25.7% of the district’s voters participated in the election.

Although Gilchrist -- founder of the Minuteman Project -- lost the election, some saw his performance as a message to the Bush administration that immigration enforcement and border security are issues that must be addressed, either in Congress now or at the ballot box later.

BUSINESS

Surfboard-foam giant calls it quits; surf industry shudders

The local surfing industry suffered a shock when Laguna Niguel-based Clark Foam announced that it would stop supplying foam blanks to surfboard makers.

Foam blanks are surfboard cores that board makers craft by hand into surfboards.

On Monday, Clark Foam owner Gordon “Grubby” Clark said he could not continue to do business and was faced with pressure from environmental regulators. However, an Environmental Protection Agency spokesman said Clark Form’s business was in accord with federal laws.

Clark Foam’s shutdown means that local surfboard makers are likely to face a materials shortage, which is expected to lead to higher prices and a surfboard shortage at surf shops.

NEWPORT BEACH

You’re doing a heck of a job, Brownie Troop 291

Newport-Mesa Brownie Girl Scout Troop 291 began a pen-pal program this week through the National Guard Assn. of California.

Twenty-two girls who attend Mariners Elementary School wrote letters that will be delivered to sons and daughters of military personnel.

The program is the first in the country that matches local military families with community members.

* The names of eight people who will ride aboard the Newport Beach Rose Parade float were announced at a ceremony to honor donors.

Four former Rose Queens who live in Newport Beach will be joined by two young city residents, Councilman Don Webb, and donor Bruce Hezlep.The parade takes place on Jan. 2. A ninth rider will soon be announced, according to Marie Knight, who is heading up Centennial activities. She said the Centennial committee is still looking for volunteers to help decorate the float.

EDUCATION

Civil rights group rules against parent’s complaint

The federal Office for Civil Rights overruled a parent’s discrimination complaint against administrators at TeWinkle Middle School.

In June, former TeWinkle Middle School parent Mirna Burciaga filed a series of allegations with the Office for Civil Rights, claiming that administrators at the Westside school discriminated against Latinos. The office investigated only one of her complaints, which accused the district of intimidating parents who had complained about their treatment during a June school board meeting.

After the meeting, the district met privately with each of the parents to hear their concerns. TeWinkle Principal Dan Diehl and Assistant Principal Tim Tolzda, both of whom parents had implicated in their remarks, attended the meetings -- a situation that Burciaga said put undue pressure on the parents.

However, on Nov. 30, the Office for Civil Rights closed the investigation, saying that it had studied videotapes of the sessions and found no signs of the parents being intimidated. TeWinkle is in the midst of starting a plan, conceived by Diehl this summer, to improve relations with the school’s Latinos.

* On Friday morning, Corona del Mar High School shut its doors for an hour while police investigated a suspicious package in the school parking lot. According to school district spokeswoman Jane Garland, the incident was only the second since the district began holding lockdown drills after Sept. 11, 2001.

The package, a brown grocery bag wrapped in red duct tape, turned out to contain empty beer bottles.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Property crime up; violent crime down in Costa Mesa

Burglaries and car thefts in Costa Mesa increased sharply in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2004, according to a report released Monday.

The statistics were compiled by the state attorney general’s office for the period of January through June, as reported by police agencies of cities with more than 100,000 residents.

The number of violent crimes -- murder, rape, robbery and assault -- dropped by 4.4% in Costa Mesa this year, from 135 to 129. Of those, only assaults increased, to 66 from 57.

Property crimes in the city rose overall by nearly 20%. Property crimes include burglary, car theft, larceny-theft and arson.

The rise in the number of reported property crimes can be partially attributed to a new computer system that does a better job of tracking reports, police said.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

“It takes the onus off the Costa Mesa Police Department to create a program and blaze a trail.”

-- Gary Monahan, Costa Mesa City Councilman, on his proposal to alter a plan to have police enforce immigration laws so that the officers would work in conjunction with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The council approved the plan on a 3-2 vote

“I think it was an improvement from the original proposal.... [However] I think more crimes will be unreported. Unless they completely close off the borders -- and that’s not our duty -- the crime is not going to be mitigated.”

-- Omar Olmedo, a teacher and resident of Costa Mesa, on the city’s enforcement plan

“It’s the positive psychology which is driving the market.”

-- Esmael Adibi, Chapman University economics professor, on what is keeping the housing market strong; he spoke during the school’s release of its economic forecast for 2006.

“My first thought was, at this stage of life, it’s exciting to be in the parade again. Being able to represent the city is an honor.”

-- Nancy Skinner, the 1952 Rose Queen and now Newport Beach resident, on riding on the city’s float on Jan. 2; it will be Skinner’s third parade.

“I have a handful of blanks until next week, and then it’s a free-for-all from there.... A lot of us are just wondering how we’re going survive.”

-- Dan Forte, owner of Dano Surfboards in Costa Mesa, on the news that Clark Foam, which supplies most of the material to make the core of surfboards, is shutting down

“Crime is still under wraps in Costa Mesa.”

-- Katrina Foley, Costa Mesa City Councilwoman, on violent crime dropping in 2005