Online and up to date

Wow, what an epic week we have ahead of us. In case you haven’t heard, there will be a town hall meeting in the city of Newport Beach. Yes, you read it correctly, a town hall meeting in Newport Beach.

From 7 to 9 p.m. Monday at the Oasis Senior Center at the corner of 5th and Marguerite avenues, the Newport Beach firefighters will present lessons learned from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Space will be limited to the first 300 people. If you need further information, call Katie Freeman at (949) 644-3109.

If you are wondering how I found this out, it was totally by accident, not because I saw any banners around the city or even at the Oasis Senior Center advertising the meeting. I was briefly looking at the homepage of the city’s website and noticed “City News,” under which it simply states: “Hurricane Lessons Learned .... 11/7”.

I clicked, and much to my surprise and joy there it was in giant black letters “Town Hall Meeting.”

Again, as with the public workshops for the city hall project, our city of Newport Beach appears to be missing the boat when it comes to advertising and informing the public. In case you have forgotten, the first unadvertised public workshop for the city hall project had about 10 people in attendance. Hopefully this time there will be hundreds of us anxiously learning what to do in a disaster.

Also happening in Newport this week, also located under “City News” on the city’s homepage, is “Ride on Rose Parade Float .... 11/10”. Give it a click of your mouse and you find yourself on eBay, the giant auction in the sky. The item description is “The Ride of A Lifetime on a 2006 Rose Parade Float -- Wave at Millions Worldwide Newport Beach Centennial.” This will be your only opportunity to place a bid, and you have only until 4:30 p.m. Nov. 10. Don’t miss out -- go online and check it out.

Last, but not least, is the Nov. 8 City Council meeting, which is also your day to do your civic duty and get out and vote!

This City Council meeting is when Griffin Structures will complete its presentation of the city hall project. We have been reassured by Councilman Tod Ridgeway that there will be a much more attractive version of the project presented to the public, and not the box that has been shown in the Daily Pilot. I wonder where the Daily Pilot got its picture; it had to come from somewhere.

To refresh your memories, the first agreement was awarded to Griffin at the council meeting of Jan. 8, 2002, for a contract price of $155,000. This grew into the “City Hall Facilities Schematic Design,” awarded to Griffin Holdings Inc. on May 23, 2003, for a price not to exceed $578,000. We later learned that there may have been “conflict of interest issues.”

Finally on Feb. 8, 2005, we had another first in Newport, a “Reaffirmation of Approval of Professional Services Agreement with Griffin Structures, Inc.” I guess like couples reaffirming their marriage vows, we got to reaffirm our contract vows?

Remember, Tuesday is not only the day you vote, but also the day we find out if the $578,000 schematic design contract will grow into a $50-million city hall project -- possibly the largest expenditure in our city’s history.

* DOLORES OTTING is a regular contributor to Sunday Forum and is a community activist.

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