Redefining City Hall

DOLORES OTTING

Whew! We are already at the end of the three advertised public

workshops for the City Hall remodel-rebuild. It looks like they

forgot the other R word: “relocate,” which many residents asked

about.

A large, heart-felt thank you to all of you who were able to take

the time from your busy schedules to attend. No matter what your

feelings about this project, you are to be applauded for your

leadership and civic pride. All of you are what makes Newport Beach

world-renowned, not a city hall.

We even have our own television show, “The OC,” and we didn’t need

to spend $40 million plus for it.

For those of you who could not attend, let me begin by telling you

what we did not learn: how much it will cost.

People continually asked this question during the three hours we

were there Saturday and the two hours Monday. That was the

multimillion-dollar question -- “How much will the complex cost?”

We were told that all the costs will be presented at the May 10

City Council meeting. If it is anything like the financials we

received for the Marinapark project, we can rest assured that they

will be late and in a constant state of flux.

What we did learn from the workshop of two weeks ago is that the

city’s need for 250 parking spaces has grown to 331 spaces. How could

this be?

This would leave only 19 parking spaces to act as the

economic-development engine for the development, rejuvenation and

growth of the area; only 19 parking spaces available to the area

developers to use as economic chips toward their projects. Not to

worry.

Griffin Structures to the rescue. We were told that it will be no

problem to reinforce the bottom levels of the behemoth structure so

that more parking levels can be added as needed. By the way, the only

entrance and exit to the economic engine, the behemoth structure,

will be on 32nd Street.

Wow, I bet the residents of Lido and the Peninsula will be happy

to hear the all this good news.

The rest of the Saturday meeting was like a scene out of “The OC”.

Remember the 20 months that we didn’t proceed on this project due to

a conflict of interest? Well could it have been because Griffin

Structures was working as the development consultant for JC Partners

on the Lido Marina Village project, which ended in September of 2004

on a financial sour note.

Check the online transcripts of the Saturday meeting and read it

for yourself. We also learned about a meeting that the city had with

all the movers and shakers in the area, including former Irvine Co.

honcho Gary Hunt, to discuss what could be done to develop the “super

block,” a.k.a. the City Hall to Lido Marina Village.

The most disturbing part of the Saturday meeting was when

long-time resident Mary Blake stood up and asked why the city did not

ask long-time and renowned residents, such as Gordon Glass, Bill

Ficker and George Bissell (among many we have in Newport Beach), for

their ideas, opinions and analysis.

Gordon Glass did stand up and say that he would give freely of his

time and so would many others. Something as priceless as this was

right under our noses, in our backyard for those 20 months -- and we

did nothing.

The May 10 City council meeting is one we cannot miss. This is

when our council will vote on which plan to proceed with.

We need to demand a public vote on the largest expenditure in the

history of the city of Newport Beach. It is not only our tax dollars,

but also our children and our grandchildren’s that will be funding

this entire project. What is the return on our investment?

God bless our troops!

* DOLORES OTTING is a Newport Beach resident and a City Hall

activist.