From the Desk of Chief Klein

July 7, 2009

Dear Residents of Newport Beach:

As I reach the end of my 30-year career serving
this world class Community, I want to take a
moment to examine some of our past accomplishments
and look to the future.

Now that we have successfully survived another
July 4th holiday, and this year, as in years
past, we spent a great deal of effort in preparing
for this celebration. As the holiday fell on a
Saturday this year, we anticipated it would draw
large crowds, which required us to deploy a
significant number of personnel to ensure for a
safe and enjoyable celebration for residents and
visitors alike.

We deployed close to 300 officers across the
City, which included a number of officers from
other jurisdictions who were brought in to
supplement our personnel. Even without any
significant incidents occurring, we arrested
approximately 120 people, mostly for alcohol-
related offenses.

The success of the July 4th holiday in
Newport Beach can be attributed to the level of
cooperation between the Police Department, the
Community, and many other City Departments.

One of my goals as Chief has been to increase
the Police Department’s participation within the
Community. The success of these efforts has been
evidenced by the strong partnership we have
developed with the residents and business owners
in addressing many long-term areas of concern,
such as alcohol-related activities, disruptive
behavior on the west side, safety and
environmental concerns in Corona Del Mar, boardwalk
safety, teen safety, and commercial traffic safety.

We have also worked to target crime patterns as
soon as they have been identified, which has
included early Community notifications via crime
alerts, and additional focused patrols. As we
approached these issues and developed solutions,
we utilized all of the available City resources
and worked closely with the residents in the
impacted areas.

As we look ahead, the Police Department will
continue to provide the high level of service this
Community expects and deserves. Rest assured that
our services from Animal Control, Parking Control,
Public Relations, Dispatch, Traffic, Patrol, and
Investigations will continue without disruption.

The Police Department is fortunate to employ very
high quality personnel throughout the organization,
and it is for this reason that we have and will
continue to provide the highest level of service
to our Community.

I believe Newport Beach is served by the best
Police Department in the County, and I am confident
that will not change. For the past 30 years, I have
enjoyed the support of this great Community, and
that support has never been more evident than
during my past two years as Chief.

As I wrap up my time in Newport Beach, I want to
thank each of you for the opportunity I have had
to serve and be a part of this amazing Community.
I strongly encourage each of you to continue to
support the men and women of the Police Department,
as your support makes a great difference.

Sincerely,
John Klein
CHIEF OF POLICE

Chief Klein.....calls it a day!

Having a good Police Chief is a pretty important
part of any community. Their attitudes, their
ethics and their dedication...transfer to their
officers and the general public.

As we know now, Chief John Klein, a dedicated 30
year veteran of the Newport Beach Police Department
is stepping down on July 10th, 2009. This is not
only a shocking indictment of the Police Unions,
but of our City Council and Administration.

Now, the endless speculation will begin. Now we
can all wonder, what really happened? How can
someone with a spotless record, having achieved
the pinnacle of success as the Police Chief of a
major high profile Police Department, be driven
out so quickly?

The public comments put out by the Police Union
to the press today were a joke! The high and
mighty attitude of the Union spokespeople is both
disturbing and very questionable....whether they
are right or wrong. How dare they "commend" anyone
for stepping down, especially Chief Klein...after
their "Vote of NO Confidence" and demand for a
"recount" when it came to his initial hiring.

One thing is now for certain; We need a full and
complete investigation and accounting into the
whole operation of our Police Department...stem to
stern! There is something very wrong....what that
might be...will have to be determined.....perhaps
by the Grand Jury of Orange County.

This time; either Chief Klein tells the public "why"
in extreme detail....he doesn't want to fight this
battle....or we need to interrogate those that do
know! The "Thin Blue Line"....needs to come clean!
However bad it is...it is quite obvious that things
are not going to change...until the truth comes out!

Replacement Players Wanted at NBPD?

Excuses are just that...not worthy when wrong doing
is at play. When Arb Campbell said he wasn't paying
attention to the sexual harassment in his Department
...that played well, until he himself came under a
gray cloud of interest. Arb was a nice guy, a decent
guy some would say. He was Chief of Police when we
didn't have much crime in Newport Beach. We did have
some sexual harassment of some dispatchers and perhaps
parking meter maids and others.

Let's just say it all got pretty ugly and those many
lawsuits continued unabated until Arb left and was
replaced by Mr. Clean: Chief Bob McDonell. Chief Bob
was a beautiful guy. He was enough of a politician
and enough of a solid cop to keep the various employee
Unions at bay....as well as the constant array of new
City Council Members. We loved Bob! Bob took our
phone calls, made time to see us about our various
issues within the city. Chief Bob even let us join
up on the Citizens Police Academy #7. Our names are
even exhibited in the main hall at the NBPD HQ!

Then, Bob wanted to retire. He had paid so much
into his Pension plan....that it was getting to be
downright counter productive to continue working.
Bob asked to retire. He was granted his retirement
and immediately got rehired to fill-in while the
City tried to find a suitable replacement. That
went on for a couple of years - as we recall.

Finally, the City Manager Homer Bludau and the
entire Newport Beach City Council.....said they
had finally found the right guy to replace Bob
- John Klein! They had a big party and everyone
that was everyone showed up - including the old
Orange County Sheriff, Brad Gates at the Bay Club
for the big Replacement Christening! Bob even
allowed us for a quick preview meeting with new
"Chief to be" Klein. Seeing them both together
was really quite an impressive deal. Two Top Cops,
that seemed to be dancing on the same head of a
pin...in perfect unison. Our questions were tough
but their answers a little mushy..yet what could
you say...they were great and they asked us in!

We took a liking to Chief John Klein right off.
He kind of reminded those of us with a little
military background as one of those great Command
Sergeant Majors! Gruff, but by the book! His round
smile belied his inner tough as nails approach..
anyone could tell that! We attended the Bay Club
Festive Coronation Event, took our photos and then
celebrated the fact that we had a pretty darn good
man to replace "the Great Archangel" Bob McDonell.

Anyway, then comes the adversity....some Detective
says he didn't make Lieutenant because coworkers or
"People thought he was gay!" This is one of those
pregnant moments, that as a Police Chief of any city
in America...you would want to crawl under your desk.
Who got blamed?...the records are sealed, but the
money from the City is going out. Then suddenly it
is uncovered, the so called fact, that Chief Klein
was improperly selected by the City Manager and
improperly awarded his position!

These issues all kind of sat and simmered for a
month or two and now the heat is on again. This
time the Management Union of the NBPD continues
to push the agenda that Chief Klein "has to go"
...because "he was improperly selected!" A pretty
weak reason for all us civilians.

Give us a break....something is going on here that
just doesn't sound or smell right. Based on the
history of Newport Beach for the past 10 years....
all we can say is...that they probably aren't going
to reveal much to us out here in the hinterland.
What is the real story? Why would 21 or so of the
33 NBPD Managers want Chief Klein to step down? And
why is Homer retiring in September? Coincidence?

Our uneducated opinion is simple: If Chief Klein
has done any wrong doing...he should be gone. If
Chief Klein has done nothing wrong..the City should
open up the process and ask that anyone within the
NBPD that wants to take a jab at the Chief's job...
should do so within 30 days. Just don't complain too
much fellas....when you are promptly thrown off the
force ......right after you lose that challenge!

Born in East LA....

Cheech and Chong....made quite a living talking
about marijuana and the culture of drugs. They
did several movies....until finally....someone
took serious offense that Tommy Chong was trying
to make a buck or two selling "Bongs" on the World
Wide Web! Tommy went to jail...."because" he had
represented "the drug culture" in his movies.

Miscarriages of justice...happen all the time...
but now that the DNA technology has taken root...
a few times those wrongs have been righted. The
wrong guy that was convicted....finds out 18 years
later...he didn't do it!

Well, so it is with "Underground Utilities". The
big recount last week netted ZERO improvement in
the bad result. 505 Cheapskates AGAINST and 501
FOR undergrounding those utilities on Balboa Island.
We have been remiss in making any statement on this
precisely..because it was... so so sad.
This is probably one of the biggest "Miscarriages
of Justice" since Judge Christianson beat several
very good, able and dare we say "honest" opponents...
for Superior Court Judge..way back in the 50's and
60's! Judge Christianson was an "alcholic" and loved
letting his drinking buddies off for drunk driving,
even when someone got hurt and those that were drunk
in public. But he also hated teenagers...especially
ones that lived here in Newport Beach. But that is
another story!

Needless to say....we now hope upon hope that Balboa
Island will be the last place in Newport Beach to ever
get their "Underground Utilities". Let's hope that a
big list of all those that voted against - 505 members
"against a decent society" be published and placed on
every telephone and utility pole on Balboa Island.
Their names should be placed on every public notice
board, the Penny Saver, the Auto Trader as well as
their names be placed in all the local newspapers.

They all should be very proud of their accomplishment.
They should of course pay for all this good Public
Relations - but what are the chances of that? Or,
how about just a Public Apology? But hey, that is
only a slim hope. Maybe they will find God and offer
a great "Public Conscience. Maybe even "Remorse!" No,
go watch the City Council meeting and their overjoyed
response to maintaining the Blight on Balboa Island.
Maybe "Eminent Domain" would be a solution?

Well, that aside....let the rest of our great Newport
community learn by their example. Underground those
Utilities..as quickly as possible. Pay extra - in fact,
to expedite the process. Yes, friends and neighbors..
.....we need to show the rest of Orange County that
we are not all Balboa Island Cheapskates in Newport
Beach. Sadly, the Little Island already had done their
part....but didn't seem to phase anyone but those that
live on Collins Island.

Sad.....

$17.3 Million only does the Upper Back Bay?

Funny, when politicians play their "Columbo" card
...."Just one more thing Mr. Citizen!" "Oh, we have
been busting buns for months now trying to get the
cash to Dredge our bay......".....Yet, they failed
to mention that the first dip from the pig trough
was only enough to do half the job. This kind of
unresponsible bureaucratic "news release" mentality
is ridiculous and patently an insult to the voters.

OK, let's get down to cases..we previously reported
that we were thrilled that we got $17.3 Million Fed
bucks to do the necessary Dredging that we had sought
$13.1 Million for! Hey, we got a 4 million dollar
bonus....wasn't that nice? Now, the Councilmembers
and Staff can report: "We are actually short......
the money to do the "Lower Navigational Harbor area,
where the Harbor Patrol can run aground on errant
build-up sand bars, yachts going aground at low tide
and the bigger boats are really facing problems. As
the sand bars build up...it narrows the navigational
areas and makes for near misses - from boats coming
and going with accidents, physcial harm or various
levels of property damage.......truly unbelievable!

How much is this going to cost? Do we have an actual
number here...or haven't we even taken a Harbor survey
to determine the required work? What does our Parks
and Recreation Committee do? How about our Harbor
Committee? How about EQAC? How about anyone with two
brain cells that can open their mouth and ask the vital
question? Where is our Congressman on this issue again?

Brutal - Friends and fellow citizens....Brutal. We did
not invent the Harbor, the Upper Back Bay, commercial
or pleasure boating yesterday....well, at least not late
yesterday!

It was a nice touch to see that Leslie Daigle at least
mentioned the lack of funds for the Harbor and lower bay
in passing. So, where do they get this money again?

Senator Feinstein! Loretta Sanchez, Ed Royce,
Ken Calvert.......Monty Hall......"Come on down!"

There is little wonder that our City Manager Homer has
plans to retire in September, 2009. "Dave.......Dave..
...don't turn us off....Dave!" Dave, be aware however,
that if you volunteer to do something...you may not be
selected to replace Homer in October!

The Dredge Mobile is coming to town!

How many years has it been now? Seems
like ever since Congressman Chris Cox left us
to go to the Securities and Exchange Commission
...Newport Beach has been without a voice for a
Dredge in the bay! We never knew what magic
that Chris was able to conjure up.....but for
all his many years serving the 48th District...
we always got our Dredge money..every year.

Then came Congressman Campbell. Another handsome
and seemingly together vestige of responsibility.
John said he was Conservative fiscally and socially.
John said he was going to continue the Chris Cox
tradition of the "highest and best use" for each
and everything. Well, for about five years things
have not lived up to expectations and have been
bleak. No Dredge money from the Federal Government.
Maybe it was just because John Campbell was just a
junior Congressman and had little clout. Maybe it
was because of his single minded desire not use
"carve outs", "ear marks" or "special projects"
Federal money for anything but basics. He had very
little trepidation giving BailOut money to US
Automakers however! Along with trillions to those
Investment Banks.....oh well. Who cares about a
Dredge...when you can have lunch with Bankers?

In any event, Campbell didn't quite get the idea of
how important "The Dredge Money" was to Newport Beach.
We needed new sand too. The Feds could always help
there too. But did they? Hey, it got so bad that we
had to bring in the bench players: Congressman Ed
Royce(who has plenty to do for the Fullerton area),
Loretta Sanchez(who has plenty to do for Garden Grove),
Ken Calvert and even Senator Diane Feinstein...too!

Good grief....Chris Cox must have been some sort of
Congressional Studly Doright to need that many players
to replace him....on Dredging.

Today, Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff announced
that the Feds had awarded the City of Newport Beach
...not the $13 million dollars they needed, but $17
million dollars so that we could even water test for
ocean and bay pollution occasionally. We officially
thank all concerned for their efforts...so that our
bay can have tidal flush, our docked yachts enough
water under them..not to go aground, removing the
excess sand bars which are navigational hazards and
keeping the Newport Harbor the vital waterway that
it must remain.

An election is coming next year for Congress in the
48th District. Debbie Cook of Huntington Beach may
run, Steve Young, the perennial candidate will run
and hopefully someone will challenge John Campbell
to raise the bar. Whoever is chosen must resolve
without equivocation...that Newport Beach will get
Dredge Money.....each and every year...we need it.

The Balboa Underground....Part II

It never ceases to amaze us......how people
make choices sometimes. In the visionary words of
Butch Cassidy: "I see 20-20 and everyone else is
wearing bi-focals!"

As you walked around Balboa Island...before the big
day election....you could see that the battle lines
had been drawn. North Bay Front seemed firmly in
the "Yes" camp.....South Bay Front more so toward
the "No" camp. What was this bitter, neighbor vs.
neighbor issue all about? Underground Utilities!

This should have been a natural "no-brainer" and
the effort to bring Balboa Island into the 21st
Century should have been long in coming. Perhaps,
too long.

The story runs out like this: There is now a effort
afoot to recount the recent election: 501 Yes votes,
505 No votes! Yikes! With only 1200 owners available
you would think that each and every owner would have
stepped up to the plate with a position. Having been
ahead at the end of election night by 33 votes......
didn't insure our victory...so we can only say: "We
better wait..till the fat lady sings!" When might
that be? Who knows?

Our question is: Who are these people? Do they care
about their community or just about having the chance
to fight with each other? Underground Utilities on
Balboa Island should have occurred in 1930! FDR let
that Public Works Project be deferred in order to put
the CDM Breakwater in. Well, when times were good...
"Hey, why do we need to do that?" When times were bad
...."Hey, we can't afford that!"

There has always been an excuse to stay in the 1930's,
even down at Crystal Cove...the management told us last
year, that the ugly Utility poles "was vintage"! We
told them, so were Whale Lamps....and NO ugly Utility
Poles at all. How many electrical wires were there in
1920? No matter. When you go to Balboa Island, walk
around the Bayfronts...and see all the holiday fun stuff
it is hard to believe that these people are still living
in 1930! Even Coronado Island in San Diego undergrounds
their utilities...and the place is beautiful.

Face it, this is not Barstow, Lancaster or the Inland
Empire. God love those places.....and we do...but they
do not require Undergrounded Utilities....and even there
each and every new community project get: Underground
Utilities! What does that tell you? Are you listening
...Balboa Island? Are you listening Balboa Peninsula?

Frustrating to say the least. Whatever happens we are
very disappointed that at least half of the owners on
Balboa Island...have no clue...couldn't care less and
are pleading "poor"! Someone lives in $2 million buck
home...but can't afford to borrow - from a guaranteed
government program: $35 grand? Spare us..your efforts
to convince anyone...."that times are tough!" Of course
times are tough.....what other time would have been
appropriate? What? When someone just gives you the
money to do the deal? No, you would have argued about
the inconvenience...we know you too well - naysayers!

Well, we will go to sleep tonight with a prayer that
"Divine Intervention" occurs and Balboa Island will
have "Underground Utilities" after all. If not.......
we will always remember...every time we go there and
so will everyone else! Nothing worse than a "Cheap
Millionaire"!

Newport Beach Film Festival April 23rd Kick-Off!

It's opening night and people are talking about
numbers like 40 thousand plus....on the 10th Year of
the Newport Beach Film Festival. Even the inimitable
"Mr. G"......the guy that started "The OC" will be
there! Maybe there will be some of the "Real Desperate
Housewives from Orange County" there too! We will just
have to wait and see.

At any rate, probably a good time to try and fight it
out for a parking space at Fashion Island. Ever since
the "Sharper Image" store closed...there were plenty
of empty parking spaces....(Just kidding!) No doubt,
the "Gourmet Hot Dog" man is going to be buried in
customers! Think more Deli Mustard!!

In any event, people from all over the country have
suddenly found the "Newport Beach Film Festival" after
just 10 short years. Hey, "Sundance" took at least that
long to jump start and become unbelievably popular. We
haven't seen those very outrageous "publicity stunts" by
major stars yet...but we know that action is coming soon!

Anna and I covered this event last year......and tried
to get a little different look at Film Festivals in
general...to find out the how's and the whys? You can
go to the Cutting Edge - a talk show website and watch
last year's fun, cost and commercial free: Newport Film
Festival - www.cuttingedge-atalkshow.com

Just go to the Archives and scroll down or you can jump
to the Southern California page and click on the video
box.

In the meantime, enjoy the Festival......and we will see
you opening night - at the movies!

Hey Sailor....you are double parked!

We opened the Daily Plot this Sunday morning and were
amazed to see they were writing about something that
actually had an impact on our community. A seemingly
sincere Tom Ivicevich had written a three column letter
to the editor. Actually, Mr. Ivicevich was writing an
open letter under Mail Bag to the City Council and the
Administrators of Newport Beach relating to the possible
implementation of a tough forthcoming boating ordinance.

Well, being generally pro-boater and and pro-sailor on
these issues we were amazed that after a careful reading
of Mr. Ivicevich's letter - that we agreed heartily with
the City Government! So, what is the big issue here that
has Mr. Ivicevich and his pals so upset? Anchoring their
boats off Corona Del Mar Big Beach! Actually, it is about
how long and how many times someone can park their boat
there on a monthly basis. The City wants to restrict
that access to one event with a maximum of one 72 hour
or less stay per month.

OK, for those who haven't driven by Corona Del Mar say
in the last few years....you might be surprised to find
hundreds of boats just off shore from Corona Del Mar
Big Beach within the lee of the CDM jetty! That is, if
there is no South Swell. Hey, we have walked by there
many times and been amazed that any boats were allowed
to park off CDM at all. In fact, we are totally against
any so-called "Cruising Boats" being allowed to park in
this area. If there is no dockage in the Harbor..tough!

Now why would we oppose these boats being allowed to
stay there and why should we put up a "NO Parking" sign
off CDM Big Beach? Well, it starts like this: Back in
1962 a Blue Whale landed on CDM Big Beach. Back then,
we had environmentalists too. They were surfers, caring
animal lovers and kind people in general. Our group of
City Lifeguards were pretty nice too....then! At any rate,
it took a very concerted effort.....but we were all able
to move the big Blue Whale off the sand and back into the
waters heading out to sea! We didn't declare victory over
evil dark forces or anything....about 150 people just did
a good deed. The truth is that we were not so lucky with
several other Greys, Blues and a few Orcas!

Then we had the Oil Tanker land on CDM Beach...that was
a biggie...if you will excuse the expression. That took
weeks to remove. We have had maybe 20 or thirty times in
CDM history that a variety of large and small yachts, a
few fishing boats, seals, and even bodies that have shown
up on Corona Del Mar Beach. We bring this to your
attention, because for as long as we can recall until this
last couple of years.....no boats were allowed to anchor
off CDM at all, because of several issues.

Issue one, visiting and local boaters dumping their
bilge and toilet tanks into the bay water! When you get
transitory "Cruising Yachts" they some times run into two
major issues. (1) Stupidity and (2) Full Bilge Tanks with
no place to dump them or they are too drunk or too lazy to
dump them legally. This of course could create a health
concern for those wanting to hang out on CDM Big Beach
with their families and friends.

Issue two, people thinking because they have a yacht
they should be treated better than everyone else. Having
spent a year and half on a 72 Foot Motor Yacht, 6 months
on a 72 Foot Ocean Racing Yacht and 4 months on a 93 foot
MotorSailor we can attest that when cruising.....you meet
all kinds. When people save their whole life to take that
"around the world self styled sailing adventure" well,
most are not as prepared for the realities as might be
necessary. Watching people use a 10 dollar stand up
barbecue, complete with briquettes all aflame on the top
deck of a pitching anchored wooden sail boat is not pretty
to watch. Seeing little naked children climbing into
dangerous situations on a pitching sailboat unattended
while their parents unaware, sip Mint Julep's on the fan
tail...again is not pretty. When people do too many
drugs or have too many drinks or beers..it is not pretty!
Getting the picture yet?

But what has this all got to do about allowing those
great crusing sailors to stop by to pick up a new
turnbuckle at West Marine or then maybe grab a dinner
at the Villa Nova? Aren't they just bringing commerce
to our community? Of course, allowing unfettered access
to our community may have some pluses, but much more
importantly we don't need boats going adrift at night
or letting go in the daytime and running aground into
someone soaking rays or trying the waves at CDM. We also,
do not need to see 10 of these boats have their anchors
pulled and uprooted by a stiff South Swell and wind up
on the beach....then have them turn around and sue the
City of Newport Beach for allowing them to park there
in the first place! "After all,(Ron & Anna told you!)
you knew that it could happen..now we want our complete
restitution's!"

Mr. Ivicevich, seems a nice sort and we are sure that he
would make sure his boat was secure before retiring at
night. We are sure he will take his boat to an authorized
pump out station and we are sure he will check the weather
reports hourly, almost like a community watch....and let
his brother and sister boaters know if a big storm or
earthquake off Panama was on the way!

We are also quite sure that the sea life, the seals on
the bell buoy, occasional whales, sea birds and dolphins
are not going to be direly impacted by "Cruising Boats"
throwing their kitchen scraps over board every night or
fishing off the back of their boats for dinner. Hey,
what could that hurt?

The reality is that as our world and national economy
contracts...more people are going to be leaving their
homes and winding up on their last owned item..."their
boat". For those to find enough anchorage at a reasonable
price will become, more and more limited. The harm to
our environment will take a toll. Our opinion is, that
we need to go back to the day when NO Boats were allowed
in front of CDM Beach. If you park there...you can do
so for $1000 dollars a day!

Realistically, if in fact your boat is broken and you
could be considered "a hazard to navigation" ..."the
laws of the sea" must apply and perhaps exception given.
Hey, you want to park in front of CDM to fix something
that is broken...OK! But to park there just to have a
barbecue...for a month - NO WAY RENE!

Citizen of the Year....or Century?

Congratulations to Norm Loats, WWII Navy Veteran and
former Superintendent of the Newport Mesa Unified
School District. Norm is 86 years young and will be
touted June 11th by the Newport Chamber of Commerce
at a location to be determined. Norm Loats 2009
Citizen of the Year!

The Daily Plot was kind enough to add the entire list
of recipients stemming back from Bob Murphy the very
first Citizen of the Year...back in 1949! We took a
quick pass over the list and couldn't be more surprised
when the list included people...that we even had known
at one time or the other. Oh sure, they had all the
usual suspects with familiar names like: Irvine, Beek,
Robins, Gardener, Hoag, Lusk and Ficker. Add to those
names some that actually did something along the way:
Heather, Shelton, Hart and O'Neil. Then you have they
usual array of restaurateurs: Prager, Hamilton, and
Dale! Mix in the eclectics: Gronsky, Salata and even
crooner Harry Babbit....and you are talking a diverse
group of recipients.

OK, what about Doreen Marshall, Dora Hill and Lucille
Kuehn....nice ladies all. Then you have to mention
the strictly political appointments: Wynn, Turner,
Ring, Petit, Edwards, Hill, Watson and Tozer. But
hey, even a broken clock can be right twice a day and
within this huge list of ego driven, self aggrandizing
Citizens of Meaning.....stands out one name:
Arvo Haapa! Now, what kind of name is that and why
in the world do we think that this one recipient is the
one deserving most recognition and thusly the title of
Citizen of the Century?

Arvo Haapa and lovely wife worked tirelessly, day in
and day out as the Publisher, Editor and Writer of the
Newport - Corona Del Mar Ensign Newspaper! As we can
recall, his little newspaper worked out of a small
location behind the Port Theatre. Arvo was named the
1977 Newport Beach Citizen of the Year, probably because
he got some great people started in the newspaper business
and really did ask much. Arvo was a dyed in wool Newport
Beach conservative. He supported Ronald Reagan for the
Governor spot in 1964 and helped Paul Hummel and other very
conservative Newport Beach City Council members both with
his Editorials and his small back pocket.

Arvo was a lovable, tough minded character. He made
choices based on ethics, caring and wanting to do the
right thing first. Sadly, Arvo passed away along with
the Ensign and Newport Beach was left "less than" when
he had participated in the process.

Awards always leave people wanting. There is never an
award that truly respects the efforts of great deeds and
self sacrifice that they are supposed to represent. Many
times good awards are made. Sadly, many times those good
choices are followed by those that are not quite to the
level of excellence we expect. What happens is that the
entire Award process becomes demeaned. The Miss America
Contest is a great example. Maybe society needs to add
new Awards rather than just continue tradition when the
meaning or value of the award has been diminished over
the years by the selection process.

Miss Universe and Miss World used to be a big deal: In
1960, Sigradur Geirsdottir was from Iceland and she was a
beautiful blond babe...but didn't make the cut. Our point
is that there are lots of very deserving Citizens in
Newport Beach that never get the recognition or gain the
appreciation they deserve for making our community better
in every respect. When they do, we all must be are grateful.

As we started: Congratulations to Norm Loats the latest
Newport Beach Citizen of the Year 2009!

Krotee Didn't Help His Heights Communty

Last week a Newport Beach Hearing Officer denied the request for
"Reasonable Accommodation" to Pacific Shores Recovery which you
may know runs the sober homes whose 3 house-campus compound
is on the corner of Clay\Orange in Newport Heights. This means that
that surrounding Community in Newport Heights may get relief
from the 50 bed sober home operating there for the past 1-2 years.

However, Mr. Don Krotee, the Newport Heights Association President,
chose not to appear before the Hearing on behalf of his Newport Heights
constituency, while many of us from the outlying areas of the Newport
Beach community did appear and wondered, given Krotee's touted
local leadership role, where he was for that Hearing.

This sober home is one of the worst cases of Rehab/Group Home Over-
concentration in the City and even though the Clay\Orange site and is
within 8-10 blocks from Krotee’s house. The sober home compound is
not close enough to Krotee’s house to actually affect him personally as
it does others in his Newport Heights area, yet Krotee was a “no-show.”
And nope … Krotee didn’t even send in a letter for the record as to his
position on the matter....Krotee did nothing to help his fellow Newport
Heights residents.

But Krotee has been well known for defending and rationalizing exploits
of a number of ethically misguided and self-interested public officials.
The list of names, as you can guess, includes the usual suspects that we've
become familiar with over the last several years. Public officals who have
survived politically by giving out favors or public officals that were found
to be actually profiteering from the very same Drug Rehab industry that
now has found its way into Krotee's Newport Heights. Another of these public
officals was recently found to be using his position to evade the enforcement
of City Municiple Codes concerning a property he owns in Newport. Lovely.

Don Krotee has gone out of his way in the past to defend and rationalize
the actions of these public offials, but didn't lift a finger for his own Heights
Community suffering from over-concentraton. Lovely.

For this reason Don Krotee…from now on I will consider you to be one of the
biggest and most enabling HYPOCRITES that our Community has to offer.

NIMBY’s (would Krotee behaved differently if it were in his own backyard?)
like you Krotee are one of the reasons why we have such misguided public
officals still in power and that certain areas within our Community suffer
so disproportionately from self-interested, political representation. I bet it
makes you feel good in your silence and defense of them, to sit back, sipping
fine wine, puffing out your chest and priding yourself as to your "leadership"
and "importance" and how much you have "contributed" to the Community
while your Heights neighbors, surrounding Pacific Shores, suffer from the
effects of the laxness and the duplicity of some of the very same public officials.

Ultimately, you denied your neighbors. In my eyes...Krotee, you're worthless.

Bob Rush

Our local hero!

There have been some great sports moments. The
"Immaculate Reception" by Franco Harris from Terry
Bradshaw against the evil Al Davis Raiders! The
"Miracle on Ice" against the Russians at the Olympics.
Or, the bases loaded home run against the Jim Fregosi
Angels by the dreaded Boston Red Socks...

We won't go on here too much. Each and every sports
fan has a few of their own special moments. Hey,
what about those "Show Time Lakers" with Magic and
Kareem, James Worthy and Coop? Sorry, that was special
as well. But what about sports you hardly think about
much? Tennis, Golf or Soccer? Well, ever since Bjorn
Borg got out of tennis, along with John McEnroe, Jimmy
Connors and Ile Nastasi...our fan hours watching Tennis
has been restricted to watching Maria Sharapova, because
Chris Everett was always our favorite up until then!

Soccer? No, Beckham was supposed to change our whole
view of this very European, South American sport! Hey,
Brazil is still hot to watch. Saturday El Salvador was
playing the US in a qualifying match and after the quicker
Salvadorians scored 2 goals to nil....we had to shut the
game off...it was just two painful to watch. In the
paper the next day..we found out that the US had come
back in 88 minute of a 90 minute match to tie! Brutal.
Soccer....we save that for World Cup matches with Italy,
Britain, France, Brazil, Argentina, Germany and maybe
Sweden or Netherlands....when it comes to the girls.

OK, now on to Golf....."Tiger Woods". That's it....we
don't have to say more than that. For those those don't
know...Tiger has a house in Newport Beach..."they say".
He has one in Florida too.....but for all intent purposes
...he is our local hero. Don't forget we have Kobe too!!
Kobe maybe having trouble with his old housekeeper fired
over a year ago...but everyone knows....people just love
to sue Kobe!

So, Tiger has another beautiful baby - that's two...a
beautiful Swedish wife and all the known Golden Golf
talent in the world. You don't have to know the difference
between a birdie and a sand trap...to appreciate Tiger's
unbelieveable skills. Yesterday, he started out 5 strokes
back from the leader at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The young pretender Sean O'Hair never had a chance from
the beginning. Tiger was "in the zone" and was living
in "Tiger Land" and steadily caught up to the 26 year old.

It had been nine and half months since Tiger had his very
serious knee surgery repair and won his last tournament.
The scored was tied on the green of the 18th hole at the
Bay Hill Country Club in North Carolina. The sun had set
and only the bearest of light remained. When O'Hair missed
his 22 foot putt for birdie...by two feet..that left a 16
footer for Tiger to make birdie and win the tournament
outright!

OK, the ball had eyes! Of course it went in, of course
Tiger won his sixth major at the Arnold Palmer! Of,
course this well could be the greatest comeback after a
sports surgery ever! Nah, Tiger is an alien. Tiger puts
magnets in the bottom of the cups on every tee. His clubs
are made of Kryptonite! The balls all have nano radar
controlled movement from a spy in sky space satallite!
Those guys in St. Louis, running those radio controlled
drones for the Army all stop what they are doing every
time Tiger pulls out his putter! They aim their lasers
and fire! "Tiger Wins"..."Tiger Wins"...our local hero!

The Small R "republicans" on the Newport Beach City Council

I've been complaining of it for a while, Newport Beach has Six of the Seven Council members as "registered" republicans, who truly do not act as Republicans, between the...

• Borrowing to balance the budget,
  
• The City Council telling Newport Beach restaurants what kind of containers they may use,
• The UTTER control of the City Council by the Police and Fire Unions, where City Council candidates PROUDLY TOUT their Union Endorsements,
  
• The building, and BORROWING to build, of a new White Elephant in the Park (City Hall), primarily because they keep hiring and hiring more City Employees, drastically increasing the size of local government.
  
• The City have MORE EMPLOYEES PER RESIDENT than a truly Communist-controlled Irvine, or more than a Democrat-led Huntington Beach. Most glaring example? How about having SEVEN Council members while most EVERY OTHER CITY have only Five.

Out of the Fabulous 6 republicans on the City Council, it takes the only non-Republican Councilwoman Nancy Gardner to make the most Conservative statement to the LA Times when discussing the aforementioned White Elephant,

"The interesting thing about Newport Beach," Gardner says, "is that while we have a lot of money, we also have a lot of fiscal conservatives. There were a lot of people from the beginning who said not only do we not need a new City Hall, we need fewer employees.""

So what's the latest and greatest, the Smoking Ban in public places proposal.

Fortunately, Mayor Ed Selich and Councilwoman Leslie Daigle are firmly against it.

However, the other FIVE (Bureaucrat Don Webb, the newest Republican Mike Henn, DTS, and former Green Party member, Nancy Gardner, slum lord Steve Rosansky, and Keith Curry...KEITH CURRY???) may support the ban.

Keith Curry? Lincoln Club Keith Curry? Conservative Republican Keith Curry? Endorsed by the Republican Party of Orange County Keith Curry? He doesn't outright oppose the ban like Mayor Ed and Councilwoman Leslie?

How do we get the public aware of this issue?

With that said, THANK GOD FOR FRANK MICKADEIT!

Why?

His latest column in the OC Register most adeptly named,

"Newport: most-liberal O.C. city?"

The outrage towards this latest example of Big Brother City Council governance is now spreading a bit and hopefully the thumb will be pressed, and pressed hard to stop it.

And word has it that if this ban is proposed, a Resolution by the Republican Party of Orange County to oppose it and the Censure of the republicans on the City Council who support it will be requested.

Not that this would matter to any of the small Rs, but it may matter to one who likes to tout his Conservative Republican credentials.

And consider this angle as well, which is non-partisan political slanted, this would be a tourism and restaurant business killer too.

Even the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce is expected to come out against the ban with Newport Beach Chamber's CEO Richard Luehrs telling Frank Mickadeit,

"Newport Beach is a destination for a lot of international travelers, and some of these people have a higher propensity to smoke."

The Balboa Underground!

"You can lead a horse to water...but you can't make
them drink!"....is the old saying! Heck, it doesn't
take much imagination to know how invasive those
telephone poles are in the alleys on Balboa Island.
If they had a buck for every time someone put a dent
in their car or someone else because of them....you
could be pretty close to a millionaire.

Well, cheap is cheap! There is always a reason why
people don't understand the benefit to a beautiful
surrounding. One of the best was Sid Souffer. He
had several rusted out Cadillacs that he thought were
art! He had no qualms about going to jail rather than
to move his beloved Jack N'the Beanstalk mantle pieces.
He even moved to Las Vegas...when the Judge wanted him
in jail for contempt! Hey, Newport Beach has heritage!

Today, Brother Bob....we will call him has taken up
the Sid Souffer mantle. He is directly against putting
all those exposed telephone poles and wires underground
unless he can get it for wholesale! You see Brother Bob
is part of the pavement on Balboa Island...for many many
years. He just so happens to have his house situated
on two lots. So, you can kind of understand why he may
not want to pay double....from everyone else..when it
comes to cleaning up an oversight of over 50 years!

The reality is that Undergrouding Utilities is not just
for artistic purposes. When an electrical line breaks
when overhead..it can land on a house and start a fire.
When undergrounded it will trip a breaker and could be
an inconvenience to a few people till Edison can get by
to fix it. The most important service undergrounding
accomplishes.....is freeing space for expanded alley
access, walk-ways and certainly less places for politicians
to slap their ugly electioneering! The other biggie is
the one we mentioned before: When people come down to
visit and want to park in back of your house....they may
in fact make it through the whole week-end without a dent
on their BMW or Mercedes. The kids won't crash into the
power pole either. And as far a mom is concerned: "This
is just great....and now our neighborhood is so pretty!"

So, to Bob and the rest of the curmudgeons that don't want
to clean up the neighborhood: "Those moths will fly out
of your wallet whether you underground or not!" It can
serve our community to a great degree, if this one time
you might just dummy up and take care of business!

Newport Beach City Manager Guilty of a Misdemeanor?

Hmmmm...

Intermixed in the Daily Pilot's story about whether embattled Newport Beach Police Chief John Klein should keep his job, is this interesting tidbit.

"City Ordinance No. 866 requires the chief to be selected from a list of candidates. That list is compiled through an “open” recruitment, meaning a recruitment “not restricted to city employees,” according to the ordinance.

In the March 2 Civil Service Board staff report, and confirmed by a city official, Newport Beach City Manager Homer Bludau recruited Klein from a closed recruitment, meaning it was limited to city employees.

Bludau acknowledged his intentions in a May 2006 board meeting, according to the board minutes."

and during that May 2006 board meeting,

"...he plainly told board members he’d be looking to go along with the “intent” of the ordinance for recruiting the chief, though he wouldn’t follow it."

So according to this, and the Daily Pilot, Newport Beach's City Manager knowingly and intentionally broke his own city's law and according to the Daily Pilot, is

"...apparently is guilty of a misdemeanor?"

Wow.

However...

"No one is suggesting that Bludau should actually be charged with a misdemeanor."

So let me get this straight then...

1. The City of Newport Beach has laws.
2. The City Manager INTENTIONALLY breaks one particular ordinance which has a MAJOR INFLUENCE IN PROTECTING NEWPORT BEACH'S RESIDENTS AND VISITORS.
3. The City Manager should be held to the standards of the law/society by being held accountable for INTENTIONALLY breaking the law. But he's not going to be?
   

Now...if he accidentally broke the law...could there be some slack given to him?

Sure.

But, according to the Daily Pilot article, he knew full well of the ordinance but had NO INTENTION IN FOLLOWING IT.

Wow.

I have a question.

For "normal" folks, it was well known of the discord within the Newport Beach Police Department.

Barbara Venezia wrote about it a couple of times, and was then publicly chastised for them until this latest lawsuit blew wide open.

The Newport Beach Police Union even circulated documents in 2006 indicating that they were losing Police Officers to other Police Departments (higher paying), but surprisingly were also losing Police Officers who were going BACK TO THE LAPD AND BACK TO THE ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, many times for LESS PAY than what Newport Beach was offering.

So pay wasn't an issue for those officers.

Morale was.

and if I knew about these "issues" within the Newport Beach Police Department, you'd better be sure that our City Manager knew about those issues and concerns.

So why would Homer Bludau completely ignore these morale issues and not even bother making an effort to fix it by looking outside of the Newport Beach Police Department management for their new Chief?

The City of Newport Beach will be paying out $1.2 million bucks based upon lapses in the Department's morale...why should the City Manager have to worry about fixing it.

He's retiring soon.

Won't have to worry about the consequences of him ignoring the City's laws.

Won't have to worry about John Wayne airport (remember this quote from the LA Times, "My nervousness will start Jan. 1, 2016, when the agreement goes away...")

Won't have to worry about paying for the morale lapses in the City he manages...

Now...I'm sure the consequences of this misdemeanor offense is minimal, if any at all, but PLEASE, make him accountable to intentionally breaking the law and set that example that

NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!

...not even our City Manager.