Septem - Corona del Mar Residents Association

NEWPORT CENTER PARKSAVED….AGAINUnder the leadership of DebraAllen, a founding board member ofCdMRA, and with the assistance ofother committed Corona del Marvolunteers, as well as an outpouring ofsupport from CdMRA members, theNewport Center Park located aboveNewport Central Library has beensaved from consideration for the newCity Hall facility.The wheels of government turnslowly. It was several years ago withthe support of CdMRA that the CityCouncil voted to support maintainingthis community jewel as a passivepark.With the vote secured, members ofthe public, including Debra, local giverBernie Svalstad, Councilmember EdSelich and the Parks, Beaches &Recreation Department took it uponthemselves to initiate an effort to notonly design a passive park, but toidentify and secure donor funding tobuild the park.During the multi-year processthings changed. The City embarked ona program to build a new City Hall.Many sites were considered and theNewport Center Park was under themagnifying glass once again, only thistime, long time resident and notedarchitect Bill Ficker respectfullysubmitted a preliminary plan for theuse of the lower portion of the park sitefor the new City Hall facility.Despite sound logic employed insupport of Mr. Ficker’s plan, the plansurfaced after the City Councilendorsedpassive park plan wasdesigned and partially funded withdonor funds and after many hours ofvolunteer time and energy wereexpended.PARK (cont’d)If the City Council were tooverturn their own decision to build thepassive park after devoted communityvolunteers worked several years tomake the park a reality, how in theworld could the City expect the nextproject requiring active communityinvolvement to be supported withvolunteers?Despite Corona del MarCouncilmember Nichol’s abstention,the passive park was once againsupported by the City Council and thesite removed from consideration for thenew City Hall.While frustrating to those thatsupport Newport Center Park, theprocess has had a beneficial affect onthe City Hall redevelopment plan. Ithas become clearer to the City Councilthat the peninsula is not the ideallocation for a new City Hall and thatthe Newport Center area is a logicallocation for City Hall.Keep an eye on the City Councilmeetings as other locations withinNewport Center surface forconsideration as a new city halllocation.WHAT IS THECdM COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION?In several instances over the pastfew years, the public has heard ourCity Council representative DickNichols refer to the CdM CommunityAssociation when validating hisposition on issues in front of the CityCouncil.To be clear, his reference is to anassociation other than our Corona delMar Residents Association (CdMRA).CdMCA? (cont’d)In an attempt to better understandhis association and in our continuingeffort to unify a voice for CdM, theCorona del Mar Residents AssociationBoard has asked Mr. Nichols toprovide a list of the active boardmembers and minutes from theirmeetings.Our requests have goneunanswered for over a year. Followingour most recent request, Mr. Nicholsstated that there were no formalminutes, he could not name any currentboard members of his purported CdMCommunity Association and there areno scheduled meetings.The CdMRA charter wasdeveloped on a platform of publicinclusion and CdMRA’s Board hasgone to great lengths to operatetransparently while maintainingdetailed records of our meetings. It isdisingenuous for Mr. Nichols to claimthat he is representing an association ofresidents where no record of theirmeetings can be confirmed and whereno meetings are scheduled.Over the past 10 years, not onemember of our board has been invitedto any meeting of the CdM CommunityAssociation. We ask: “How can Mr.Nichols claim, in public, his leadershipof a purported public association wherenone currently exists?” In his CityCouncil candidate statement, Mr.Nichols claims the following, “Dickremains the acting President of theCorona del Mar CommunityAssociation.”Please ask yourself if this is a fairrepresentation. While his associationmay have had public participationmany years ago, it is now defunct andshould not be recognized by the City orthe public.

MEMBER DUES!!! GOOD NEWS !!!The Board would like tothank our members who havemade an effort to catch up ontheir dues this year, and to themany members who pay their$12 dues on an annual basiseach year.Our dues are used almostexclusively for communicationswith our members, through ournewsletters, our recentlydeveloped website, and ourannual membership meetings.We have now securedadequate funding to allow us toprepare and mail newslettersmore often than once per year.You can look forward to threeor four newsletters per year in asmaller format.We also encourage you tovisit our website on a regularbasis (www.cdmra.org).Bookmark it so that you canrefer to it often and keep up-todateon activities within ourcommunity.We encourage you to send inyour comments and suggestionson a regular basis.In our newsletter, and on ourwebsite, we frequently poll ourmembers for their opinions on anumber of issues that areimportant to CdM and ourresidents’ quality of life.Don’t be shy. Your opinionsmatter, and your voice iscounted.The CdMRA Board can bereached via email atInfo@cdrma.org or by sendinga note via US Mail to CdMRA,PO Box 1500, Corona del Mar,CA 92625.LEAF BLOWERSDuring the General Planhearings at the General PlanAdvisory Committee andPlanning Commission, therewas substantial discussionabout the use of leaf blowersin Newport Beach.A majority felt there shouldbe an ordinance requiring allmechanized landscapemaintenance tools have amuffler with an additionalprovision to ban the use of leafblowers. The ordinanceprocess allows for morediscussion and addressingspecific detailsThe language approved inthe General Plan NoiseElement under policy 4.8 readsas follows: “Regulate the useof mechanized landscapeequipment.”Given the overwhelmingresponse from CdMRA’smembers in favor of banningleaf blowers, CdMRA’s Boardvoted at the August Boardmeeting to send a letter to theCity Council requesting thatthey take up the issue ofbanning leaf blowers andrequiring mufflers on othermechanized equipment forlandscaping.GOLDENROD BRIDGEWatch for improvementsbeing made to our GoldenrodBridge. It is in the process ofbeing repaired, repainted, andreplanted. A new sprinklersystem is also being installed.The initial planting will beImpatiens. Geraniums will beplanted at a later date as thepermanent plant for color. BOARD OF DIRECTORS SECTION BOARD MEMBER PHONE1 - IRVINE TERRACE VAL SKOROBERNIE SVALSTAD949.673.3456949.644.81712 - CDM WEST OPEN ---3 - HARBOR VIEW HILLS DEBRA ALLEN 949.644.92644 - CDM SOUTHWEST MICHAEL TOERGEBUD RASNER5 - CDM NORTHWEST BETTYE BUTTERWORTHPAUL BARTLAU949.675.9312949.673.4123949.644.7694949.644.79596 - CDM SOUTHEAST BONNIE DUCKWORTH 949.675.75447 - CDM NORTHEAST LIZ TORELLIPAUL GLOWIENKE949.720.7495949.863.58008 - SHORECLIFFS OPEN ---9 - CORONA HIGHLANDS CARL JEREMIAS 949.720.908610 - CAMEO SHORES LAURA DIETZ 949.721.803511 - CAMEO HIGHLANDS MARGE SAWYERKAREN TRINGALIAT LARGEJASMINE CREEKBILL SIMONSBRUCE BEARDSLEY949.760.1766949.719.9390949.720.8103949.759.8152HV HILLS SOUTH YVONNE HOUSSELS 949.640.0120THE TERRACES MARGARET RYCKOFF --- OFFICERS CHAIR BJ JOHNSON 949.721.0132VICE CHAIR DEBBIE ALLEN 949.644.9264SECRETARY LIZ TORELLI 949.720.7495TREASURER MARGE SAWYER 949.760.1766CITY COUNCIL ADVISORS DISTRICT 5 ED SELICH 949.723.6383DISTRICT 6 RICHARD NICHOLS 949.640.1758DISTRICT 7 KEITH CURRY 949.721.9422PLANNING COMMISSION MICHAEL TOERGE 949.675.9312PARKS BEACHES &RECREATIONCROSSWALK UPDATEAfter a long wait the lighted crosswalk at Orchid and CoastHighway is nearly here. City Council reviewed bids and awarded acontract to construct the crosswalk. The crosswalk will include thelighted markers in the paving as well as overhead warning signsand flashing lights to indicate a pedestrian is using the crosswalk.Due to the worldwide demand for steel, the lead time for the steelsupports and cross arms turned out to be longer than expected. Assoon as they arrive, construction can begin. It will only take acouple of weeks to complete once it is started.DEBRA ALLEN 949.644.9264