Steven Rosansky on the issues

Steven Rosansky on:

* MEASURES S AND T

Rosansky said he won’t support either Newport Beach measure.

Measure S, which would put certain general plan amendments before a

citywide vote, “won’t solve the problem,” he said. “It hurts the small

guy more than the big guy. Most people are not going to know what they

are voting on. That’s why you elect people to represent you.”

Measure T, which would add parts of the city’s traffic phasing

ordinance to the City Charter and nullify Measure S if voters approve

both measures, “pits one against the other,” he said. “It has certain

negative overtones that I don’t care for.”

* ORANGE COUNTY AIRPORTS

This is the city’s No. 2 concern, Rosansky said.

He supports pushing for an extension of the flight caps at John Wayne

Airport, which will expire in 2005.

Rosansky said he supports an airport at the former El Toro Marine

Corps Air Station but sees the need for a compromise.

“At this point, it’s an uphill battle,” he said. “The people in charge

of bringing an airport to El Toro . . . have managed to back South County

people into a corner.”

Rosansky said he thinks South County residents might accept the

concept of “two John Wayne Airports instead of John Wayne Airport and a

mega-airport” at El Toro.

* STATE OF THE BAY

Rosansky said he favors doing everything possible to protect the bay,

the harbor and the oceanfront.

“The city has not been as diligent as it can be to protect the bay

from pollution and siltation,” he said.

Rosansky said he wants to set aside funds for continued dredging of

the bay, “where we’re not going from crisis to crisis.”

He said he understands the problems of keeping people from dumping

waste from their boats, adding that he does everything possible to

prevent waste from his powerboat from polluting the bay.

“I wouldn’t feel comfortable eating fish out of the bay. I won’t swim

in the bay.”

* ANNEXATION PROPOSALS

Newport Coast should be viewed as a “natural extension” of the city,

Rosansky said.

Annexing the area would give the city greater control in the future

over what happens there, he said, adding that high property values would

add tax revenue to the city’s coffers.

The annexation of Santa Ana Heights would help in the fight against an

expansion of John Wayne Airport, Rosansky said. Residents there “have

always considered themselves Newport Beach residents,” he said.

* UPDATING THE GENERAL PLAN

Rosansky said this “really needs to be the city’s focus; to look where

we’ve been, to see where we are now and where we want to go.”

Revising the general plan might help to address some of the

growth-control issues that have brought on Measures S and T, he said.