REBUTTAL -- Jean Watt

I’m proud to be a proponent of Measure S, Greenlight.

If ads in which we point out falsehoods of developer-sponsored ads

picturing Marian Bergeson seemed “atypical,” I assure you we remain of

the firm belief that they are necessary given the political fabric of

this community.

Proponents of Measure S are residents of the city, they wrote the

initiative, solicited signatures and are paying the costs of the

campaign. That is typical of our campaigns and one reason I point with

pride at membership in Greenlight.

More important is the background that led to Measure S. Marian

Bergeson speaks of promoting cities as the entrusted body to develop and

maintain local services and character.

That is good, provided there is balance among development, government

and public interests. Thirty years ago, I woke to the fact that for

balance to occur, a great effort must be expended by resident citizens to

balance development interests. I was awakened by others who had begun the

terribly difficult task of retaining the beach/bay/residential

environment of Newport Beach.

Before 1970, there were plans to put three freeways through the city

-- the Pacific Coast, Corona del Mar and Newport freeways. The Irvine Co.

planned marinas and condos around Upper Newport Bay. There was talk of

bay crossings at 17th or 22nd streets. There were plans for a much larger

Newport Center. High-rise towers sprouted around the Lower Bay. Hotels

were planned at the Castaways and the corner of Coast Highway and

Jamboree Road.

Because local residents took the initiative to defeat those plans, the

beach/bay/residential character of Newport Beach has been, for the most

part, saved. I give credit to Marshall Duffield Sr., Judy and Joe

Rosener, Frank and Fran Robinson, in particular, along with all the

others who are now among the proponents of Measure S.

By these early actions, the stage was set.

Without a freeway system, roads would accommodate less growth. But

developers’ demands continued. SPON, Stop Polluting Our Newport, was

formed and in 1978 initiated the original Traffic Phasing Ordinance.

It was needed because development was outpacing the road system. But

it, like all the prior initiatives, was highly contested by developers

and called divisive and damaging to our elusive “quality of life.”

In 1988, citizens called for a general plan update because, once

again, development was overburdening the road system. The road system and

development plan were made “consistent” in the general plan, but since

1988, the City Council has allowed many more piecemeal additions and,

once again, we stand at the threshold of unacceptable traffic levels.

In 1997, resident citizens, along with the city’s Environmental

Quality Committee, called for an overdue review of the general plan. The

City Council declined.

Instead, we saw modification of the traffic ordinance, allowing some

problem intersections to be “exempted” from its requirements. We saw

Measure T proposing to “except” the airport area from those traffic

requirements.

And then we saw millions of square feet of new general plan amendments

start through the process with no public acknowledgment of what road

system improvements will be needed to balance them.

This is the hidden agenda, the one proponents of Measure T are not

telling you. Increased development will need bigger roads -- or

overpasses at places like Coast Highway and Jamboree Road or San Joaquin

Hills Road and MacArthur Boulevard.

I really don’t know what they have in mind for the Bayside Drive and

Coast Highway intersection, where the Dunes hotel traffic will spew out.

Yes, we’d like to have leaders who can lead and inspire trust. But

until then, Measure S is the solution. It gives us a chance to vote on

major increases in development that threatenthe character of the city and

our hard-won quality of life.

* JEAN WATT is a member of the city’s Environmental Quality Committee,

co-founder of SPON, president of the Friends of Harbors, Beaches and

Parks, and served on the Newport Beach City Council from 1988 to 1996.