THE BELL CURVE -- joseph n. bell

Against an obbligato of thundering aircraft overhead that frequently

interrupted speakers and provided an exclamation point to the issue that

dominated the evening, the Santa Ana Heights locals who want to be

annexed by Newport Beach held a pep rally at the John Crean estate

Tuesday night.

Since the Creans live just two blocks -- and three planets -- away, my

wife and I walked over to get educated. I thought it was going to be a

forum presenting all sides of the issue. Instead, it was a platform for

Newport Beach mayor pro tem Tom Thomson and deputy city manager Dave Kiff

to explain why Newport Beach wants to take us home after 40 years of

leaving us at the party. And why we should leap at the chance.

The meeting was held in a large outbuilding that is also the site of John

Crean’s TV cooking show. When we arrived, about 150 chairs were already

filled and another 50 or so attendees were standing on the fringes. It

was an eclectic crowd as properly befits our bucolic image. I didn’t say

anything during the question period because I was sitting beside a very

large man who applauded loudly whenever the airport was mentioned and

became exceedingly hostile whenever someone ventured an opinion he found

suspect. It is possibly the first time in my life that I’ve been silent

at an open meeting, which I’m sure my wife regards as a small note of

progress.

The specifics of the meeting were reported quite accurately in

yesterday’s Pilot, so I’ll limit myself here to observations and

impressions -- supplemented by a phone conversation with Kiff on

Wednesday morning that proved impossible in the confusion after the

meeting.

Two omissions grew more glaring as the evening continued. One questioner

caught this when he asked: “Where is the other point of view? I’d like to

hear from those who object to this annexation.” It didn’t happen. A

corollary omission was the complete absence of the county of Orange,

which took a terrific beating (“The county,” said Thomson, “is not our

friend.”) No representative was present to confirm, refute or explain the

charges laid on the county.

If there were a loser in addition to the county, it would have to be the

city of Costa Mesa. The most vocal group expressing concern were Santa

Ana Heights residents who live -- in their view -- on the wrong side of

Irvine Avenue and thus fall into the sphere of Costa Mesa, rather than

Newport Beach. They were mad as hell at this state of affairs. One such

resident even said, illogically, but vehemently: “If we aren’t included

in the annexation to Newport Beach, I’ll do everything I can to make sure

the airport expands.”

Concern was also expressed over possible restrictions on horse owners

(“there is no intent on the part of the city to change character and

quality of life within Santa Ana Heights”), special assessments (“no new

taxes”) and zoning changes (“you will live by the same procedures for

rezoning as the rest of Newport Beach”).

Thomson and Kiff were straightforward in their answers throughout.

Thomson even added a folksy note to the proceedings by telling us that he

developed a great warmth for the countrified life by growing up in

Cucamonga, and the last thing he and his associates on the City Council

would want to do is deprive us of our bucolic lifestyle. He should have

stopped there instead of adding: “It’s a real advantage to other Newport

Beach residents to have horses and goats -- or whatever -- so close by.’

The most militant and vocal cheer leaders seemed to be steely-eyed

youngish women whose certainty and vehemence scared me even more than the

large man sitting next to me. One of them proved to be the organizer of

this affair -- a small, dynamic woman named Barbara Venezia who lives on

nearby Cypress Street. She told me that she had invited Orange County

Supervisor Tom Wilson to attend, but he had not returned her call. She

said she had also invited a representative from the county Redevelopment

Agency who said she would come but apparently didn’t show up.

The unity of the crowd in embracing every possible step to oppose any

expansion of John Wayne Airport was palpable. So was a rather remarkable

conviction that this might best be achieved through annexation to Newport

Beach. So the following morning, I asked Dave Kiff how annexation would

enhance this opposition.

His answer: “If the county were to propose a land-use change that we

thought improved the ability of the airport to expand, annexation would

give us greater resources to fight it. Santa Ana Heights residents don’t

have deep pockets to protest, and it gives us a great deal more

credibility when we’re directly representing our residents.”

Having said that, he admitted freely that the efforts of the city of

Newport Beach to oppose expansion of John Wayne would continue at the

same high level whether or not the annexation took place.

Then I asked him why, after all these years of indifference, Newport

Beach is suddenly hot for our body. In addition to strengthening the

airport fight and tidying up an annexation process that includes two

other areas in addition to Santa Ana Heights, Kiff said: “Because of

improvements in your area, property is on the tax rolls at a much higher

level, which makes annexation not as much of a deficit problem as it used

to be. We think we can provide you better municipal services, which is

especially important since the county has formally adopted a policy of

getting out of offering municipal services.”

Then he stopped, sighed and said: “We just think the time is right now.”

Maybe so. Maybe us “if it ain’t broke, why fix it?” folks should just

step aside and let our new city brothers and sisters enjoy our horses and

goats -- and whatever. But I’d still like to hear the other side of this

story.

* JOSEPH N. BELL is a Santa Ana Heights resident. His column runs

Thursdays.