EDITORIAL:

Back in February Newport Beach City Manager Homer Bludau warned his city council not to make a move to annex 290 acres that hold the Santa Ana Country Club and a nearby neighborhood.

Bludau was concerned it would raise hackles over in Costa Mesa, which has first claim to the property, according to the regional planning agency that governs such matters. Bludau said both cities have a variety of issues they need to work on and that the timing was bad.

Newport Beach council members ignored the advice. They decided it was more important to please their potential neighbors. Didn’t matter. The county’s Local Agency Formation Commission last week rejected the pleas of those neighbors who wanted an extension of an application for the annexation.

Fortunately, the move didn’t offend Costa Mesa leaders too much, as they have agreed to join forces with Newport Beach officials to fight John Wayne Airport expansion. Leaders in both cities are working on a joint city council meeting sometime this summer to consider paying for a study on how to use public transportation to divert John Wayne passengers to other airports.

Clearly, John Wayne growth affects both cities and they need to team up to put the brakes on any effort to put more airplanes on the runways.

But that’s not all. Newport-Mesa leaders must also play nice when it comes to future negotiations over the Santa Ana Country Club and the neighborhood. And we hope while they’re at it that they also discuss issues related to Banning Ranch, the roughly 400 acres of undeveloped land along West Coast Highway and the Santa Ana River and the 55 Freeway expansion.

A Newport-Mesa team-up on John Wayne Airport ought to lead to fruitful discussions about the 55, Banning Ranch and the country club. Together they can accomplish a great deal more than they can on their own — especially if they’re at odds.

“I think we have a lot of common issues — I think it’s good to get together and talk about it,” Newport Beach Mayor Ed Selich said.

“There’s power in numbers,” Costa Mesa Councilwoman Katrina Foley said. “We need to develop a partnership so we can have greater impact on potential expansion at John Wayne.”

Wise words, indeed, and we’re heartened to hear Newport-Mesa leaders sounding as if they are harmonizing from the same hymnal.

We understand the impulse of Newport Beach leaders to want to advocate for their residents and vice versa for Costa Mesa’s representatives; but if all you’re accomplishing is stalemates, then neither side is best serving the community.