News: Council Member Nancy Gardner

city council district 6 v corona del mar & newport coast

Nancy Gardner

council member v newport beach, california

newsletter: april 2010

SUCH A DEAL
I spent nine dollars, and I came home with twelve books! If you’re a reader, and you haven’t discovered the Friends of the Library bookstore, run, don’t walk, to the main branch. Immediately on the right as you enter is a world of bargains. History, literature, potboilers, art, children’s books–they’ve got it all, and most are priced around a dollar (although there are a good number of two-for-a-dollar books as well). I’ve filled in my library nicely with a number of finds, and those I don’t want to keep I take back to the Friends so they can sell them again and raise more money for the library. And it’s amazing how much they do raise out of that little space. The checks they give the city each year have lots of zeroes, so indulge!

CDMRA ANNUAL MEETING
Here’s a nice respite after getting your taxes sent off: the Corona del Mar Residents Association annual meeting at Sherman Gardens. There are refreshments, information tables, city staff to answer questions, council members to harangue–who could ask for anything more? April 15, 5:00-7:30 pm.

RELAY FOR LIFE
Another annual event coming up is the Relay for Life, May 16-17 at Harbor High School. The Council Critters will be there again. Last year Mike Henn suggested that to raise money the council do a marathon made up of our combined laps. Since Mike runs two or three marathons a year, we promptly agreed–and then let him take most of those laps. This year we are taking a less strenuous approach. In honor of our Centennial Mayor’s final year on council, each council member is coming up with some vaguely historical way to raise more money for the cause. I am hoping to offer spiral-bound copies of Naughty Newport, my father’s unpublished sequel to Bawdy Balboa. More details later.

BUT WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
If you’re interested in changing your landscaping to something more water-efficient, there’s a local demonstration garden. Barbara Shelton, whose own garden is a wonderful mix of natives, fruit trees and vegetable beds, spearheaded a demonstration garden in Harbor View Hills South, on Park Green Drive. There are both natives and California-friendly plants in the ground plus information identifying the individual plants and providing additional information.

GOLF CARTS
Many people have suggested golf carts as alternative vehicles around town, but there’s a major drawback: They aren’t allowed where speeds exceed a minimum level which restricts their reach. However, someone has apparently come up with a way to open things up a little which got me all excited. Nice, small, efficient golf carts replacing big, inefficient cars. And then I had a scary thought. What if nobody replaced their cars but simply added a golf cart to the fleet. Instead of a garage full of boxes and two cars on the street, it would be a garage full of boxes, two cars and a golf cart parked out there. Not a pretty thought. Of course, if we all used our garages as parking places instead of storage spaces . . .

WATER QUALITY TESTING
Orange County has been a leader in water quality testing with almost fifty years of monitoring-long before AB 411 mandated testing. This year the state eliminated funding for AB411 testing which eliminated the mandate. However, those involved in
Orange County water testing feel the program is too important to lose, so the various agencies involved (Public Health, Orange County Sanitation District, Orange County Public Works and Orange County Watersheds) have put together a proposal which keeps the program largely intact by eliminating redundant testing sites and consolidating others. The proposal will go to the Regional Water Quality Control Board, and if the board approves, we will continue to develop the data that helps us identify and correct water quality issues.

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FUTURE TOPIC SUGGESTIONS

This is a two-way process, so please don’t hesitate to contact me with your ideas and opinions.

Council Member Nancy Gardner

QUALITY OF LIFE Advocate FOR NEWPORT BEACH

City of Newport Beach | 3300 Newport Blvd | Newport Beach, CA 92663

Phone: 949.644.3004 | EMAIL: gardnerncy@aol.com