POLITICAL LANDSCAPE:Harman hires fresh faces

After winning a state senate seat June 6, Newport-Mesa Republican Sen. Tom Harman has named a slate of new staffers to his Costa Mesa district office.

Two of the new hires come from outside Orange County, but locals may recognize a third ? Garden Grove City Councilman Mark Leyes, who will serve as Harman’s north county representative. Leyes, a Republican, has served on Garden Grove City Council for 16 years and in 2004 lost a primary for the 68th District Assembly seat to Van Tran.

The other two additions are Cynthia Determan, a former staffer for state Sen. Bill Morrow; and Emanuel Patrascu, fresh off the congressional campaign of Republican Eric Roach, who scrapped his bid for a San Diego County congressional seat at the urging of GOP leaders.

Door knockers out for city’s general plan

As early as today, the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce will begin sending out a battalion of door knockers to share information about the city’s general plan update and ask voters’ opinions on key Newport issues.

The goal of the campaign, called “Project Connection,” is to educate voters about the general plan, the blueprint for future development that will be on the November ballot, chamber President Richard Luehrs said.

Canvassers also will have a short questionnaire about city issues. Residents will be asked, for example is the city going in the right direction generally, how big of an issue is traffic, and how concerned are people about water quality and airport issues, Luehrs said.

The chamber probably will later urge voters to support the general plan, Luehrs said, “but right now this whole focus is on an awareness campaign.”

A postcard went out earlier this week explaining the campaign. If you’re worried the guy at your door with the questionnaire isn’t legit, look at his T-shirt ? Luehrs said they’ll have special shirts for the campaign as well as credentials identifying them.

Results of the survey are expected by September.

Campbell claims support for bill on immigration

Rep. Campbell maintained his firm stance on illegal immigration this week, and he apparently has the vast majority of 3,300 of his constituents behind him. In a Wednesday letter to House Speaker Dennis J. Hastert, Campbell described a survey that showed close to 95% of his constituents polled want to see a federal immigration bill focusing on enforcement and border security.

According to a news release from Campbell about the letter, the survey also showed that more than 90% of those polled “oppose a proposal to include amnesty as part of the final version” of the House immigration bill. More than 93% support Campbell’s amendment to penalize so-called “sanctuary cities” that refuse to check the legal status of immigrants who are arrested.

“The results of this survey confirm what I hear from constituents every day when I am working in my district,” Campbell said in the release.