Political Landscape: Newport council and Newport-Mesa school board forum set for Sept. 15
The Newport Beach Women’s Democratic Club will present a public forum for candidates for the Newport Beach City Council and the Newport-Mesa Unified School District board on Sept. 15 in Corona del Mar, but RSVP’s are requested.
The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Room 2AB at the Oasis Senior Center, 801 Narcissus Ave.
City Council candidates who have confirmed their attendance are Brad Avery (District 2), Mike Glenn and Jeff Herdman (District 5) and Fred Ameri, Phil Greer and Will O’Neill (District 7), the club said. District 5 candidate Lee Lowrey declined, and District 2 candidate Shelley Henderson did not respond, the club added.
School district candidates who plan to attend are Vicki Snell and Michael Schwartzmann (Area 1), Martha Fluor and Amy Peters (Area 3) and Dana Black (Area 6). Area 6 candidate Leslie Bubb said she is unable to attend because of a family commitment, the club said.
Audience RSVP’s are requested and can be made via email to nbwdc59@gmail.com.
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Mesa Water to take consolidation case to Newport-Mesa Tea Party group
Mesa Water District officials will discuss the agency’s advisory ballot measure concerning a possible merger with the Costa Mesa Sanitary District during this week’s meeting of the Newport-Mesa Tea Party Patriots.
The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Halecrest Park at 3107 Killybrooke Lane in Costa Mesa and is expected to last about two hours.
The Nov. 8 ballot question, designated as Measure TT, will ask voters whether they support Mesa Water and the sanitary district pursuing consolidation.
Mesa Water officials commissioned a study this summer that showed doing so could result in millions of dollars in savings that could be passed onto ratepayers in the form of rebates or lower wastewater rates. The sanitary district, however, claims those findings are flawed and incorrect.
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H.B. council candidates discuss development, homelessness and more
Eight Huntington Beach City Council candidates introduced themselves Thursday evening at a Sunset Beach Community Assn. meeting at the Sunset Beach Community Center.
The candidates — incumbent Jill Hardy; businessman Mark Rolfes; planning commissioners Patrick Brenden, Lyn Semeta and Edward Pinchiff; certified public accountant Mariann Ettorre; financial advisor Ron Sterud; and college student Amory Hanson — were given five minutes each to speak in front of the 75-member audience. There was no opportunity for questions.
Candidates Joe Carchio, a former mayor, and Karen Leighton, a registered nurse, were not present.
Most of the candidates seemed to agree that high-density development in the city needs to be stopped, homelessness needs to be remedied and residents have a valuable role to play in city decisions.
Some candidates also briefly discussed issues facing the previously unincorporated 85-acre Sunset Beach area, which was absorbed into Huntington Beach in 2010.
Most agreed that the area’s greenbelt, a stretch of grass that residents have complained has turned into an area infiltrated with sand, needs to be rehabilitated. Some candidates also discussed their opposition to zoning changes at the Peter’s Landing shopping center, which had been labeled an “opportunity zone” and recommended for rezoning for housing until the Huntington Beach council denied those changes in July 2015.