It’s fall and time again to name top 103

Come Wednesday, we will unveil our 10th installment of the annual

103 Most Influential People of Newport-Mesa.

The first 103 list was published in 1993. Irvine Co. head honcho

Don Bren was the numero uno that year and took the top spot again a

couple years later.

The top of the list has also featured former state Sen. Marian

Bergeson, Congressman Chris Cox, tennis star Lindsay Davenport, coma

survivor Amanda Arthur, South Coast Plaza mogul Henry Segerstrom,

school bond visionary Mark Schultheis and last year’s kingpin Deputy

District Attorney Debbie Lloyd.

Readers always want to know how we come up with the rankings and I

assure you, it may not be a scientific poll but we certainly give it

a lot of debate and thought.

Another thing readers always want to know is just how on earth we

came up the number 103. So I looked up my former editor Bill Lobdell

to find out.

Lobdell, who is now covering religion for the Los Angeles Times,

was the brainchild behind the 103 list.

“Like all of my good ideas, I stole this one from someone else,”

he said. “I saw a magazine that had ‘power ratings’ for Hollywood

folks and thought it would translate well to Newport-Mesa.”

And why 103?

“I think we began with the premise of listing the top 50 most

influential,” Lobdell said. “But we quickly passed that number and

couldn’t figure out who to cut. So we raised it to 75 and then to

100. Finally, we ended up at 103 and that seemed to have a nice ring

to it.”

Originally, the 103 list was just part of the regular newspaper.

But over the years it has grown in popularity so much that it is now

a stand-alone section.

People tell me that they wait anxiously to hear from us this time

of year and many more call us after the fact to tell us why they

should have been selected. But the selection is arbitrary of course

and always, always meant to be in the spirit of fun. Why else would

we have had Rupert the Swan on last year’s list or the year before

the bridge at South Coast Plaza?

“I knew the 103 would do well for two reasons: the people featured

are always interesting and readers love to argue about who should be

where,” Lobdell said. “It’s kind of like handicapping the NFL season.

I knew there would be people in the community who took the whole

thing WAY too seriously, and it’s always fun to watch their

reaction.”

So as always, stay tuned for Wednesday’s special 10th edition of

the 103 Most Influential of Newport Mesa. I know you are going to

find it interesting reading.

* * *

Today is going to be an exciting day in the Daily Pilot newsroom.

A film crew from ESPN is scheduled to stop by to speak with our

education reporter Deirdre Newman.

Newman is the one who broke the cheerleader story last year at

Newport Harbor High School. Readers may remember the story in which

several cheerleaders complained publicly after they didn’t make the

squad. When school officials tried to make it better by including all

the girls on the squad, those who made it also decided to complain.

The whole thing turned into a big media circus.

Now, ESPN is catching up with the controversy and will interview

Newman for the program. I’ll keep you posted to let you know the air

times.

* * *

One of our favorite community leaders here in the newsroom is

Costa Mesa Police Chief Dave Snowden.

News people and law enforcement often have a healthy skepticism

about each other. Our relationship with Snowden is no different.

There are times when we disagree with him and let him know and there

are times he disagrees with us and he lets us know.

But for the most part, we always keep a pretty good working

relationship. So, I’d like to take this moment to congratulate

Snowden for recently being honored with the 2002 William H. Spurgeon

Award for his contributions to the Learning for Life Explorer Program

of Orange County.

The turnout for the award at the Westin South Coast Plaza last

week was pretty impressive. A who’s who of not only Costa Mesa but

the county.

Costa Mesa’s lucky to have him as chief.

* * *

Last but not least, the campaign season is kicking into full gear.

We plan on attending, taking part in and even sponsoring some of

the local candidate debates. The first for the Newport Beach City

Council is coming up this week and is being touted as the

“Confrontation on the Coast.” It’s being sponsored by the West

Newport Beach Association and will take place Wednesday at 7 p.m. at

the City Council Chambers at Newport Beach City Hall.

We’ll be there as well, but hopefully you’ll mark your calendars

and join us for the action.

* TONY DODERO is the editor. He can be reached at (949)574-4258

or via e-mail at

[email protected].