West Newport may have another contender

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- In a surprise move, another candidate has pulled

nomination papers for the West Newport seat on the Newport Beach City

Council.

Local attorney Gary Proctor took an application to run for

Councilwoman Jan Debay’s seat only one day before the filing deadline.

Proctor did not return calls for comment Thursday.

So far, there is only one other candidate in the running for District

2 -- Steven Rosansky, a real estate and mortgage broker.

There are three council seats up for grabs this year. They are

currently held by John Noyes, Tom Thomson and Debay, who is termed out

and will not be running for reelection.

Months before residents could take applications to run for City

Council, Debay had been scouting and talking to potential candidates with

little luck. The situation prompted her to make an announcement at a

recent council meeting, inviting political hopefuls to throw their names

in the hat.

Proctor and Rosansky are newcomers to city politics -- a difficult

situation for both, with the political season already in full swing and

the community split between dueling traffic initiatives set to appear on

the November ballot.

So far, Rosansky has not taken a stand on either of the measures,

saying he needs more time to study the issue.

The Greenlight initiative proposes to let voters have the final say on

certain major developments. It has succeeded in turning recent council

meetings into forums pitting council members and developers against

community activists and environmentalists.

A countermeasure, the Traffic Phasing initiative, proposes to

permanently add the city’s traffic relief law, which requires developers

to pay for certain road improvements, to the city charter. If approved by

voters, the measure would also nullify the Greenlight initiative.