News: Council Member Nancy Gardner

city council district 6 v corona del mar & newport coast

Nancy Gardner

council member v newport beach, california

newsletter: october 2010

OASIS SENIOR CENTER
I don’t care how old you are–or how young. You’ve got to visit the new Oasis Senior Center. It’s a terrific project–light, airy, inviting, functional, under budget–and popular. I signed up for the new gym (you have to be fifty and I just barely qualified, of course), and there have been so many joining that I have to wait two weeks for my required orientation on all the equipment. The opening celebration is Saturday, October 9, 2:00-5:00. The November gala featuring Tammie, aka Debbie Reynolds (and yes, just as with the gym, you have to be a certain age to get the reference), is sold out.

BIKING’S BIG
Not the noisy Harley kind, although I suppose that’s big, too, but bicycling is more and more looked at as an economic engine. Places with good trail networks attract visitors who not only ride but spend money. I went to the first meeting of a coalition of coastal cities that will work on improving roads for cycling, beginning with Coast Highway. I also am participating in the Santa Ana River Trails group that is working to complete the bike path along the Santa Ana River. Meanwhile, closer to home, our new bicycle committee will work on improving safety and access in Newport. As a first step, it looks like part of Bayside Drive will be marked with sharrows–pavement signs that remind users to share the road, bicycles and cars alike.

YOU LIKE ME, YOU REALLY DO
Well, not me, but the city. A couple of years ago we did a survey to find out how residents felt about the city. They felt pretty good, although a few areas were highlighted for improvement. We did another survey this year, and although we’re not perfect, the residents feel even better about things, a little surprising given the economic times. Nice as it is to hear, the real value of the survey is pinpointing those areas we still need to work on.

CIVIC CENTER
The first aspect, the parking structure to be shared by city hall, library and park visitors, has been bid, and the contract came in several million dollars under the latest estimate. Now the deal is, if the finished structure comes in below the contract amount, CW Driver, which is managing the construction, gets a percentage of the savings –a nice motivation to keep a sharp eye on things. On another point, some have questioned the growth of the project from city hall to civic center. Over thirty meetings were held on the project, and an emergency operations center, community center, and library expansion were added as a result of community demand.

LUCY DID IT FUNNIER
Probably because she was stomping grapes and I was only picking them, but anybody looking at me probably thought I’d been up to my waist in the vats. I had smooshed grapes everywhere. Still it was a fun time for me and the other volunteers that showed up at the Newport Beach Winery for the harvest. We gathered several tons of grapes and will have the fun some day of sampling the vintage and knowing we contributed.

FUN EDUCATION
My granddaughter Cleo and I went adventuring to Little Corona and had the good fortune to find one of our tide pool specialists there. She took us on the rocks and pointed out several small but bright creatures we might not have seen on our own, then explained why it’s not good to poke the anemones. Cleo heaved a little sigh at the thought of never poking an anemone again, but then she thought of telling all her friends not to, and that cheered her right up. Nothing like a bossy little girl to get the message out, and when you think that the tide pool specialists speak to hundreds of people–a number of whom must be other bossy little girls–it’s a great program to protect those sensitive areas.

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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