Newport’s ‘war zone’ and other issues

The Daily Pilot asked the four candidates for Newport Beach’s District 1 City Council seat to answer three questions about city issues and their qualifications. The questions and their answers follow.Marcia Dossey:

1) Why should voters choose you?

2) How will you make the council more responsive to residents?

3) What will you do to reduce the troubles related to the city’s “war zone,” especially during the summer?

1) As a resident for 17 years, I understand the peninsula and its particular needs the best. I have successfully achieved results on many issues over the years that always netted positive results and gains for the citizens of Newport Beach.

2) Regular meetings with the community to address issues of concern; accessibility by e-mail, phone, personal contact; listening to residents during travels through the district; and research.

3) Encourage responsibility of and cooperation with citizens, whether owners or tenants; provide responsible solutions for residents when their guests disregard our rules; encourage more police “beat” walking throughout the year so a friendlier neighborly atmosphere exists between residents and NBPD; review existing codes and regulations and for possible oversights; meet with other cities and groups that have overcome similar situations; work toward an achievable plan through outreach meetings with staff, NBPD and citizens

Mike Henn:

1) My principal goal is to preserve and enhance our quality of life in Newport Beach. I support improved public safety, water quality, reduced traffic congestion, an efficiently run city government, and I am a strong advocate of property rights. I strongly oppose expansion of John Wayne Airport. My experience as chief financial officer of publicly held companies, as well as my experience on the Newport Beach Planning Commission, give me the knowledge and ability manage the city’s budget and to serve the citizens of Newport well. I am honored to be endorsed by the police, firefighters and lifeguards, the Daily Pilot, the Chamber of Commerce, the Airport Working Group and seven current and former Newport Beach mayors and citizens of the year. I pledge to make objective decisions based on the facts, listen to the desires of the residents and act on them wherever there is a clear mandate.

2) I am new to politics and relatively new to city government. As such, I am not bound by politics or the solutions of the past, and am committed to remain open to new ideas and approaches. I will be freely accessible to all residents by telephone, mail and e-mail, and through frequent personal interaction. I intend to issue regular e-mail updates on topical issues the city is dealing with, soliciting input from all recipients. I will work with other council members to be sure that we always treat our citizens with respect and understanding. My experience on the Planning Commission has taught me that we must be careful to thoroughly solicit and weigh public input before acting on issues. These commitments should assure that, acting individually as well as together, our council is responsive to residents.

3) My home is on the strand on Balboa Peninsula. I am keenly sensitive to the noise and disruption of unruly individuals and crowds, especially during the summer. In the short run, I will work hard to assure adequate police enforcement of our laws and ordinances, particularly on holiday weekends. We need to move quickly to correct the current under-staffed status of the police department to restore adequate foot and bicycle patrols. In the long run, the city needs to encourage home ownership by permanent residents and more vigorously regulate the proliferation of group meeting places and rehabilitation homes in the area.

Brenda Martin:

1) Voters should choose me because I represent no special interest but the interest of my fellow residents. Because I am vested and invested in the city of Newport Beach. I will work to rekindle the confidence in our council that so many of our fine residents have lost when they sought out their representatives only to find that once they were elected they redirected their priorities to personal and financial gain with little regard for the impact on our city and residents.

2) I will make the council more responsive to residents by taking issues to the streets in town hall type meetings and issue surveys to the community associations and request input to solutions to problems. I will attend all community association meetings and keep my hand on the pulse of all of the residents and their issues. I will call for an answer from the residents as to their satisfaction to resolutions.

3) As to the “war zone,” especially during the summer I plan to work with the [police department] as to street staff and schedules on the peninsula. Special events and holidays I will push for the park-and-ride and street closures that I have advocated for a long time.

I will seek to tighten and strengthen curfews on night parking and trafficking on the beaches after closure hours, implement parking permits, meters and “blue poles” where feasible, to discourage loitering and vagrancy.

I will diligently work to put a police substation in the area of city hall. I will work to put teeth into our disturbance activity cards returning resident rights to “quiet enjoyment” of their properties. Offending property owners who do not respond to complaints regarding their tenants will be made financially aware of the detriment to all of us when disrespectful/uninvested tenants reside in their properties.

Stories of a NB police officer or city administrator saying, “What did you expect living on the Balboa Peninsula” or “If it’s too noisy for you maybe you should move” will become an urban myth. Too many peninsula residents tell me that they seem to have no recourse when it comes to a neighborhood nuisance party/drug house. That too will become an urban myth. We on the peninsula will enjoy all the rights of privacy and quiet enjoyment that all of our neighboring communities enjoy.

We will not be afraid for our children/grandchildren to walk on our streets. We as adults will not be afraid to walk our streets in the summer or winter on weekends or late nights.

Jack Wu:

1) Voters should choose me in District 1 because I am the only one who has the necessary relationships already built with our neighboring city, county, state, and federal leaders to ensure that John Wayne Airport does not expand, in size and in capacity. We will need these neighboring relationships to keep our curfew and passenger caps in place. To me, John Wayne Airport is the single largest quality-of-life issue that faces the city of Newport Beach and we need to work with our neighbors to ensure that flights don’t start happening every minute of every day. Our city has grown to a point where we cannot go it alone. I know our fellow neighboring legislators and community leaders, and most of them have endorsed me, including former state Sen. Marian Bergeson, Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, Assemblyman Van Tran, Assemblyman Bob Huff, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, and county Supervisor Jim Silva, among many more. All have an interest to preserve the quality of life in their districts. All of these people can help us today and tomorrow. No more time can be lost.

2) The council will become more responsive to its residents when we get representative public servants on it, people who want to represent the people, want to talk to the people, want to listen to the people, not those whose sole agenda would be to enrich their friends and business associates. Myself, I will initiate weekly, two-hour meetings at local coffee shops to sit down and talk with the residents. If the residents come, we will talk. If no one shows, then I’ll sit there by myself every week. This give-and-take communication will bring the trust back, at least in District 1, and the residents will know that their representative wants to talk to them and is not “above” them.

3) Every beach community has its own “war zone.” Ours is no different. All we can do is to give our residents a better sense of safety. With that said, I propose having a police substation on the Peninsula. This will give the residents in the community a better sense of “community policing,” a more constant public safety presence, as well as increase response times especially for those on Peninsula Point. Our residents will know the officers assigned to the substation and those police officers would know the residents.