THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE:Local Rep. lambasted over comments

Orange County Democratic Party Chairman Frank Barbaro this week sharply criticized Huntington Beach Rep. Dana Rohrabacher for comments he made at a recent congressional hearing on U.S. use of extraordinary rendition, but Rohrabacher on Wednesday stood by his remarks.

Under the practice of extraordinary rendition, U.S. authorities detain suspected terrorists and fly them to other countries to be interrogated, where critics allege that they may be tortured.

At the April 17 hearing of a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee, which was broadcast on C-SPAN, Rohrabacher defended renditions while acknowledging that a few people may have been held by mistake.

“We’re talking about a minuscule number of people here as compared to the number of people who are being protected,” Rohrabacher said. “We are at war, and we’ve got to make sure that we do not let go 50 terrorists who will go out and plant a bomb in London and kill 20,000 people in order to protect that one person who we arrested accidentally because his name was the same. That’s the type of unfortunate consequence.”

When audience members rumbled in disagreement with Rohrabacher’s remarks, he fired back, “I hope it’s your families that suffer the consequences.”

Barbaro said Rohrabacher should retract that statement and apologize to the people at the hearing.

“I was appalled. I couldn’t believe that a United States congressperson would have that kind of a reaction to people making a simple suggestion or disagreeing with him,” Barbaro said.

“This is typical Bushisms, where you’ve either got to buy in 100%, or anybody who has any thoughts that are discordant is obviously unpatriotic or not worthy of having their comments considered.”

Rohrabacher said he’s heard criticisms of his comments, but he stands by what he said. The extraordinary rendition program has been successful in catching about 200 people involved in terrorist activities, and it’s part of the reason there hasn’t been a major attack on the U.S. since Sept. 11, 2001, he said.

“Those people who are trying to emasculate the effort to grab these terrorists have to understand that there are consequences if they do that,” Rohrabacher said Wednesday. “I still believe their families should be the ones that suffer the consequences first.”

During the hearing, Rohrabacher said, some protesters were groaning in response to his comments and were asked to leave by the committee chairman. “One of them at that point yelled at me, ‘You’re Adolph Eichmann,’ ” he said. “That’s usually left out of the account.”

READY TO VOTE?

Because of the 2000 ballot initiative known as Greenlight, Newport Beach voters may find themselves voting on a city hall site, whether it’s the thrice-rejected park site by the central library or not.

Council members have said no to building city hall on 12 acres reserved for Newport Center Park, but interested parties — including retired architect Bill Ficker — want to get the issue on the February ballot. The council recently voted to conduct a formal study of an Orange County Transportation Authority park-and-ride site just down the street from the Avocado Avenue library and park site.

Using either site would require a public vote under the terms of Measure S, also known as Greenlight, Newport Beach Assistant City manager Sharon Wood said last week. More entitlements for retail, hotel and residential developments exist in the Newport Center area, she said, but “there’s no more office entitlement.”

Citizens who want the park site on the ballot will have to craft their measure carefully if they want to cover the Greenlight requirements. Wood said a ballot initiative would have to specifically say voters agree to amend the city’s general plan to allow the roughly 72,000-square-foot city hall on the park site.

“If he [Ficker] does an initiative that only says, ‘Should city hall be on this site?’ in my opinion that doesn’t take care of the Greenlight vote — which could mean we could end up with two votes,” Wood said.

COURSE CONSULTANT

How do you save a golf course in Newport Beach? Step 1. Hire political consultant Dave Ellis.

Ellis — who helped elect most of the Newport Beach City Council — will be working with Newport Beach Golf Course operators Steve and Donna Lane in their quest to persuade county officials to extend their lease on the back nine holes of the course. Reports surfaced last week that John Wayne Airport officials were considering other uses for the golf course parcel because the lease ends July 31.

About a dozen golf course supporters showed up to a Monday meeting of Newport’s citizens aviation committee, where airport director Alan Murphy answered few questions about plans for the back nine parcel. The short answer was that there aren’t any plans yet, but options are being considered.

Mention of the airport already raises hackles in Newport, and the potential loss of one-half of a popular golf course isn’t sitting well either. Newport Beach City Councilwoman Leslie Daigle said she’ll propose that the council pass a resolution opposing changes to the golf course, and Ellis said he’ll ask Costa Mesa to take similar action, since some of its residents use the golf course. Petitions in favor of the golf course now have about 1,500 signatures.

The front nine holes are owned by Newport Beach Golf Partners, and that lease won’t expire for a number of years. Steve Lane said that if he loses the back nine, he’ll continue to operate the remainder of the course, but he loses the longer and more challenging holes and something more important — the lake that waters the entire course.

No recommendation for the county parcel has been made to Orange County supervisors, who have the final say on the property’s use. Murphy said it could take at least a couple of months to analyze the options.

DEVORE SPIRIT

Newport Beach Assemblyman Chuck DeVore has been named legislator of the year by the California College Republicans, DeVore’s office announced Wednesday. The umbrella group for college Republican clubs chose DeVore for supporting its work “to promote and defend Republican principles at colleges and universities throughout the state,” according to a statement from DeVore’s office.

The assemblyman chaired the college Republican club when he attended Cal State Fullerton.