MAILBAG:Council disregards voters’ wishes

At the Newport Beach City Council meeting this coming Tuesday, Councilman Ed Selich will again bring the matter of how to spend the $5 million to be provided by Lennar Homes (for building condos on the Marriott Tennis Club courts) to our General Fund.

There are no limitations in the agreement with Lennar on the allocation of these funds. Council members Selich, Nancy Gardner, Michael Henn and Keith Curry voted on July 24 to spend these funds primarily on Newport Center Park, by borrowing $5 million from the City’s General Fund, and in the future repaying the General Fund with in-lieu park fees.

These council members received information on June 12 in a staff report that Table R1 in the Recreation Element of the General Plan was incorrect in showing a 38.8-acre park deficit in our city. The figures were corrected by the staff report to show that Newport Beach actually has a 19.5-acre park acreage surplus. Newport Center has a revised surplus of 5.3 acres.

Both the July 24 and Aug. 14 agenda items proposed action by Selich that violated the Brown Act. To avoid litigation the council rescinded its July 24 action at the Aug. 14 meeting.

The council members allocated the funds to Newport Center Park and for refurbishing the park at Pacific Coast Highway and Jamboree Road, with anything left over going to Marina Park and Sunset Ridge.

Selich requested the proposal to borrow the $5 million from the General Fund be brought back on Sept. 11. So it appears at a late hour, another effort will be made to borrow from the General Fund to accelerate construction of Newport Center Park, in complete disregard for the 15,000 registered voters who have indicated the desire to vote on locating the City Hall in the park adjacent to the Central Library.

To accelerate the spending of borrowed funds, secured by a home builder (whose stock has dropped 50% since the first of the year and Moody’s Investors Service reportedly is considering downgrading their debt into junk territory), would be fiscal folly. Our citizens deserve better treatment.

Novell Hendrickson

Newport Beach

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