Hopefuls square off for votes

The Daily Pilot asked the candidates for Newport Beach’s District 6 City Council seat questions about city issues and their qualifications. Here are the questions and their answers.

1. Why should voters choose you?

2. What steps would you take to improve traffic problems in Corona del Mar?

3. How will you make the council more responsive to residents?

NANCY GARDNER:

1. I get things done, both through leadership and by building consensus. Concerned about urban runoff impacting our beaches, I founded the Newport Beach chapter of Surfrider 16 years ago to help with the problem. As a member of the city’s Coastal Bay Water Quality Committee for the last eight years I have brought a number of issues to the group which have been adopted by the City Council and also wrote a grant that got $230,000 for the city to improve conditions in Buck Gully and Little Corona. As the co-chair of the General Plan Advisory Committee I worked with 37 other residents for over four years to create a blueprint for the city’s future, ensuring that the plan contained strong environmental and neighborhood protections, traffic mitigation measures, and new open space opportunities. I believe that I represent the majority of the residents in calling for a balanced environment for the city — a good natural environment, a good community environment, and a good business environment. I also believe that because I have been endorsed by such a diverse group of individuals, from past presidents of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce to environmentalists like Jean Watt and Jan Vandersloot, that I can be a unifying factor so that we can work together to protect and improve our quality of life here.

2. Because the goal is for a pedestrian-friendly village, there are going to be slow intersections at certain times of the day. I do not support removing on-street parking along Coast Highway as a way improve traffic flow as such a step would be inconvenient for both residents and businesses. I also do not support diverting traffic to other surface streets such as 5th Avenue, which are not engineered for that kind of traffic. One idea I would like to explore is a suggestion by Planning Commissioner Mike Toerge to reduce the number of trips through town by posting signs at MacArthur and San Joaquin Hills Road and at Newport Coast Road and Coast Highway encouraging drivers to use this route as a bypass. Obviously, there would have to be a study to analyze the impacts, both positive and negative, before proceeding.

3. A critical factor in being more responsive is disseminating information on issues early enough so that residents have adequate time for input. I will encourage residents to provide their e-mail addresses so they can receive regular updates on upcoming issues and council study sessions and will use my website to provide such information as well as my phone number so residents can call or e-mail me with their concerns, and I will do my best to prompt in my responses. I will attend meetings of representative groups such as the Corona del Mar Residents Assn., the Corona del Mar Business Improvement District, and the Newport Coast Advisory group, and be sure their issues are brought forward and utilize their resources to promote communication.

DICK NICHOLS:

1. I have a bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate in chemical engineering with emphasis in math and science and a career in aerospace systems design and a consulting engineer and pollution equipment manufacturer. My firm, R.A. Nichols Engineering (RANEng.com), works for the oil industry, South Coast Air Quality Management District, California Air Resources Board and the Environmental Protection Agency. This experience allows me to understand many of the problem areas Newport Beach addresses.

I am a life-long conservative Republican. I am the Greenlight and California Republican Assembly-endorsed, elected incumbent, District 6 Councilman. I’m the only Newport Beach resident elected in June ’06 to the Orange County Republican Central Committee. I am respected by constituents and would appreciate your vote for Newport Beach Council District 6.

2. It is hard to undo what has evolved over 100 years. It is safe to say, that we must face the fact that traffic is going to get worse, not better. Traffic calming is causing PCH to become a parking lot. Unfortunately, making the medians pretty is not going to solve the problem of moving traffic. During the visioning process, the Architects (AIA) Conference held at Grant Howald Park some years ago, there were many ideas presented.

The most favored by the AIA was removing all commercial from the North side of PCH.

The suggestion of a three-lane tunnel from MacArthur to Buck Gully was discussed. Most felt the expense was too great, but then they noted, this solution was being implemented in Boston. The concept of optimizing lane width and following best practice of the Highway Traffic Manual seems reasonable in comparison and it meets our mandate to not curtail traffic. Obviously you cannot maximize median garden width and achieve these goals, but traffic gridlock is not acceptable from either a safety or circulation standpoint.

3. I have worked hard to protect the quality of life enjoyed by Newport Beach residents. From traffic safety and beach preservation to plans for a new city hall, I have worked for common sense solutions. I have worked hard to have measures explained, that should be understood by the citizens, before a council vote is taken. I am against the massive up-zoning in the new general plan and voted against it. I ask you to vote against the General Plan, “V” and For the Right to Vote on new large projects that will change Newport Beach, Greenlight II, YES on “X”.