GOP gets early start

City Council elections will be hot this year in Newport Beach, but they aren’t until November. Meanwhile, the city’s registered Republicans ? 60% of Newport voters ? can vote for local candidates on June 6 if they choose.

Two familiar Newport figures, City Councilman Dick Nichols and former council candidate Dolores Otting, are seeking spots on the Orange County Republican Central Committee, a body that votes on party endorsements, sets policy, raises money for the party and encourages Republicans to vote.

Nichols already is on the committee, and Otting is hoping to fill one of six seats that represent GOP voters in the 70th Assembly District, which includes Newport Beach.

Otting belongs to two area GOP women’s groups, and she decided to run for the central committee “because it was open and available and they don’t have representatives from Newport Beach,” she said. “I think Newport Beach needs to be more fully represented.”

Incidentally, Nichols also will appear on the November ballot when he runs for a second term on the council. Otting said she is undecided about another council run after her 2004 loss.

ALCARAZ DROPS OUT OF SHERIFF RACE

One local name that won’t appear on the June ballot is retired Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Alcaraz, a Newport Beach resident who was running for Orange County sheriff until late last week. In a prepared statement issued Thursday by sheriff candidate and Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Bill Hunt, Alcaraz said he was dropping out and backing Hunt, who also is endorsed by Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor.

“I began my campaign because I was embarrassed by how [Sheriff] Mike Carona politicized the department, the personal scandals and the lowering of standards,” Alcaraz said in the statement. “While I know I would make a good sheriff if given the opportunity I have come to the conclusion that this is not my time.”

COUNCILWOMAN FOLEY HONORED AS ‘BRIDGE BUILDER’

Costa Mesa City Councilwoman Katrina Foley will be honored today by an Orange County group for reaching out to various groups that make up the diverse city.

At a breakfast scheduled this morning, Foley will be among 13 women receiving the “bridge builder” award from the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance, a nonprofit group that works with the county’s Asian and Pacific Islander residents.

Foley was chosen for “being inclusive and being proud of the diversity of Costa Mesa and always wanting to make sure all the voices are heard,” alliance executive director Mary Anne Foo said.

As a City Council member, Foley has been fair and listened to everybody, and she also has supported education, Foo said.

Other women to be honored at the event include Garden Grove police officer Kris Backouris and officials with the Orange County United Way and the American Cancer Society.

TAXPAYERS’ ASSN. REJECTS PROPS 81 AND 82

If the propositions on the June 6 ballot are like alphabet ? and number ? soup to you, the Orange County Taxpayers’ Assn. offers its recommendations for consideration. The group recently panned two statewide initiatives, which isn’t surprising since both would spend more of taxpayers’ money.

One ballot issue, Proposition 81, would sell bonds to generate $600 million for grants to build and equip libraries. If the issue passes, Costa Mesa library boosters are hoping to apply for some of the funds to build a central library next to City Hall.

Proposition 82, would provide three hours a day of preschool for all California children, paid for by a tax on people who earn at least $400,000 a year.

The Orange County Taxpayers’ Assn. gave a thumbs down to the issues because it considers the library measure “ballot box budgeting” that would add to state spending, and the preschool plan an inequitable tax that would do little to boost enrollment.

The group does endorse Measure A, a county-wide issue that would bar the board of supervisors from using eminent domain to acquire property for private development. Newport Beach and other Orange County cities have approved similar measures in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2005 decision that said the public economic benefit of private development is a legitimate reason for a government to use eminent domain.

The taxpayers’ association holds its monthly meeting at 4 p.m. today at the Orange County Department of Education, 200 Kalmus Drive, Costa Mesa. The speakers are Anaheim Mayor Kurt Pringle and Orange County Transportation Authority special projects manager Monte Ward.

DEVORE BOYCOTTS MEXICAN PREMIER’S VISIT

When Mexican President Vicente Fox addresses California’s state legislators this afternoon, Newport Beach Assemblyman Chuck DeVore won’t be in the audience. Along with state Sen. Tom McClintock and possibly others, DeVore will skip the event in protest of Mexico’s interference in the American immigration debate.

“The president of Mexico has been for many years meddling in our internal debate about what to do about illegal immigration,” DeVore said Wednesday. “No. 1, I don’t appreciate a foreign power telling us how to mind our affairs. No. 2, what he’s telling us is the height of hypocrisy.”

Some of the measures Congress is considering to secure the U.S.-Mexico border are steps Mexico has taken on its southern border, DeVore said.

Mexico also prohibits foreign nationals from participating in political demonstrations, so the recent marches that have been held in Los Angeles, Orange County and elsewhere around the country “would have never been tolerated in Mexico,” DeVore said.