Robinson trades dais for the bench

Deirdre Newman

When Karen Robinson first showed up at a Mesa Verde Homeowners Assn.

meeting, residents took notice.

“She just spoke so eloquently and passionately,” association

president Cindy Brenneman said.

When Robinson was elected to the City Council in 2000, her

supporters were elated.

And when she resigned Tuesday in advance of becoming a Superior

Court judge, her council colleagues praised her leadership skills.

“I think you ran a good meeting tonight,” Councilwoman Libby Cowan

said at Robinson’s last City Council meeting on April 7. “If you run

your courtroom this way, the court will be in good stead.”

Robinson, who turns 40 on Tuesday, was appointed by Gov. Gray

Davis to be an Orange County Superior Court judge. She was sworn in

unofficially Friday. and She will be sworn in at a formal ceremony on

May 16.

Robinson said she is proud of several accomplishments from her

time on the dais. One was her request that city directors and

department heads look for ways to save money to offset anticipated

cuts from the state budget crisis. That request ended up saving the

city $1 million, Robinson said.

“I’m very proud of them, and it’s something that I think is

important that I asked them to do for the city,” Robinson said.

She was also part of a move to extend the notice range for

projects and other issues that could affect neighbors’ property

rights from 300 to 500 feet.

Another priority was protecting the residential character of the

community. In response to small-lot developments sprouting up all

over the city, Robinson and the rest of the council issued a

moratorium and worked with staff to create new guidelines.

Her most recent triumph was the overturning of the Planning

Commission’s approval of a Kohl’s department store for the Mesa Verde

Center after she appealed it to the council.

“I see that as an accomplishment, to be able to get my council

brethren to share that view, although three others of them believed

that anyway,” Robinson said.

Robinson said she has pined to be a judge for as long as she can

remember. She is looking forward to presiding over issues as a

neutral third party, “one that ensures that everybody that

participates in the process is treated fairly with dignity and

respect and comes to understand that [the process] really works,”

Robinson said.

To maintain an air of impartiality, judges are not allowed to take

an activist role in their communities, which will restrict Robinson’s

involvement as a resident in Costa Mesa issues while she is on the

bench, she said.

At her last City Council meeting, Robinson offered kudos to her

peers on the council.

“I just have absolutely appreciated and enjoyed working with my

colleagues on the dais,” Robinson said. “I truly believe they are a

hard-working group of people that have nothing but the best in mind

for the city. I wish those who were critics would step back for just

a minute and realize it’s a very difficult job.”

She also expressed admiration for the passionate residents who are

avidly involved with city issues.

“We have a tough citizenry, but that also means we have people who

are interested in how this community develops, rather than have a

city filled with citizenry that doesn’t care,” Robinson said. “I

think that’s great. That’s exactly how it’s supposed to be, and it’s

up to the council to listen, because that’s who got them there and

that’s who they serve.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at [email protected].