Newsmaker of the Year: ‘He understands the community’

Bob Burnham’s name wasn’t in many headlines, but his accomplishments spoke louder than words.

Burnham has served the city for 2 ½ years as the Community Recovery Coordinator, at the helm of the effort to put back together the hillside, city infrastructure and neighborhood destroyed in the June 2005 landslide in Bluebird Canyon.

“Hiring Bob was the best move the city could have made,” said canyon resident Dale Ghere, “You have to give [City Manager ] Ken Frank credit for hiring someone of Bob’s quality.”

Frank approached Burnham four days after the landslide, asking him to take on the task of coordinating the recovery.

“He has been a godsend for me,” Frank said.

The task of coordinating the restoration of the canyon where Burnham lives, while coping with distraught families was, at best, a nebulous concept when he agreed to take the job.

“I didn’t have a clue — no concept of what my role would be — and I don’t think Ken did either,” Burnham said recently. “The biggest challenge was learning on the fly.”

Burnham had retired about a year before the slide after serving as the Newport Beach city attorney for more than two decades, not exactly the usual training for overseeing all aspects of the landslide recovery, including managing the massive reconstruction of the collapsed hillside and Flamingo Road, to prevent further slippage.

However, he had lived in Laguna for 25 years by 2005, which city officials considered a decided plus. He was among the Bluebird Canyon residents who were safely evacuated on the day of the landslide, although the home he shares with his wife, Kathy, was not among those damaged or destroyed.

“He understands the community and will be particularly sensitive to the way Laguna typically approaches problem solving,” said then-Mayor Elizabeth Schneider when Burnham’s appointment was announced.

“I think he has worked on problem resolution before [and] worked as a community liaison before, so I think he’s very sensitive and that’s, I think, critical in this situation.”

During his tenure as the attorney for Newport Beach, Burnham was acknowledged for his handling of complex technical issues and working with the community.

Following his retirement in 2004, Burnham served as advisor to Newport Beach on airport issues, a position he resigned in October due to allegations of conflicts of interest stemming from his wife’s work with the Orange County Drug Court while he was involved with efforts to strengthen city ordinances related to recovery homes three years earlier, according to a Daily Pilot news story.

Burnham told the paper in April that the allegation arises from a misperception of what his wife does.

He said her work was not related in any way to his.

Burnham’s successor, Newport City Attorney Robin Clauson, who had worked under Burnham for years, said she had seen no evidence of a conflict of interest, according to the Daily Pilot story.

Newport Beach City Manager Homer Bludau said Burnham’s departure as an advisor was a loss.

“Bob is irreplaceable as far as his technical knowledge and understanding of airport operations,” Bludau was quoted as saying. “It’s a huge loss to the whole community, because John Wayne Airport issues are at the top of the list of our residents’ priorities.”

Newport’s loss was Laguna’s gain. Burnham had that much more time to wind up the restoration of Bluebird Canyon to which he wholeheartedly committed himself. He made 17 major reports to keep the council and the community apprised of progress and, sometimes, setbacks, including rising cost estimates. He soothed neighbors who were tired of the noise, dust and turmoil of the project with an unflappable mien and wry sense of humor.

Throughout, he gave heart to the displaced and often distraught families who lives were upended in the slide.

“We’ve taken a few years off Bob’s life,” said Steve Huberty, who helped organize the slide victims. “He’s done a great job.”

Laguna’s usually understated city manager’s praise of Burnham spoke volumes — a testament to Burnham’s competent and caring achievements.

“He has devoted his time — really his life — to get this done,” Frank said. “He has dealt with staff, government officials, construction workers and people under great stress and kept the project going.

“We would not be where we are today without him.”

Flamingo Road was officially reopened Dec. 15.