Week in Review

NEWPORT BEACH

More than 1 million expected at boat parade

The 98th Annual Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade began Wednesday night, with more than 100 boats decorated with holiday lights sailing around Newport Harbor. At the same time, houses, businesses and yacht clubs around the harbor were lighted up for the Ring of Lights decoration contest.

Thousands upon thousands watched the festivities that night from the harbor, and the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce said it expected more than 1 million people to see the parade in one way or another.

The event’s sweepstakes winner was On Location, entered by Art and Joyce Smith of Huntington Harbour. The parade’s final run of 2006 is tonight.

The community center was planned as a collaboration between the YMCA, which runs an existing facility at 2300 University Ave., and the city of Newport Beach, with funding from the county-run redevelopment fund. But people disagreed over the size of the facility and its swimming pool, and construction costs soared in the meantime, and the YMCA ultimately decided not to sell the city land for the community center.

Santa Ana Heights residents want the money earmarked for the center to go to a list of projects such as utility line burial and a horse riding arena. But Orange County supervisors, who control the fund, would have to agree, and at least one supervisor wants to shut the redevelopment agency down and discharge its debts.

Steve Rosansky was chosen as mayor, and Selich was named mayor pro tempore for 2007.

Councilman Michael Henn, who replaced Ridgeway; and Councilwoman Nancy Gardner, who replaced Nichols, said in interviews last week that they have similar goals for the city: to update the traffic light system, to put the new general plan in place and to restore voters’ trust in the council.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Countywide gang sweep includes Costa Mesa

Some 300 law enforcement officers from federal, state, county and municipal agencies fanned out across Orange County and arrested 57 alleged members of a white supremacist gang, including a number in Costa Mesa, on suspicion of numerous crimes including parole violations, identity theft and possession of illegal firearms. Authorities allege that the gang made death threats against law enforcement officers, though information about which members made threats or which officers were threatened has not been released.

Costa Mesa police said they participated in the operations, though they declined to give further details. Newport Beach police said they assisted, but no locations were in their city.

Anaheim police said the investigation has gone on for a month, and a total of 66 people have been arrested so far.

An e-mail obtained by the Daily Pilot, originally sent from Costa Mesa police to City Manager Allan Roeder, said that 17 locations were searched and 20 people were arrested in Costa Mesa.

BUSINESS

Costa Mesa home prices are on the upswing

Compared with last year, prices of homes in areas of Costa Mesa increased in November as Newport Beach’s continued on a slump, according to a report released by DataQuick Information Services, a La Jolla-based company that tracks the real estate market in California.

Bob Chapman, former president of the Newport Beach Assn. of Realtors, said Newport Beach did not experience the extreme highs and lows that others did in the past months and years, calling it a “micro-economy.”

The reason for the rising prices in Costa Mesa could be attributed to the city’s amenities, said Kurt Galitski, vice president of Costa Mesa-based Weichman Associates Realtors.

The parade attracts thousands of people to the water’s edge, which translates to dollars and cents.

Bay-front restaurants are the obvious benefactors of the economic boom, but other lesser-known businesses also reap the benefits. Fuel docks, florists, caterers, charter boats and grocery stores will undoubtedly be making hefty deposits to the bank Monday, after the final day of the parade, Sunday.

Three that stand out are Richmond American’s Bungalows at Bay Street and its Cornerstone property on Fair Drive and Harbor Boulevard, and Shea Homes’ Half Moon Lane on Orange Avenue.

Representatives from the developers said in e-mails that the properties seem to be selling. The two Richmond American properties are starting in the $800,000s, the Shea Homes has Half Moon Lane starting in the $1-million range.

But despite reports that they’re selling, many buyers still seem to be opting for older homes that have been remodeled and rehabbed, Costa Mesa real estate agent Kurt Galitski said. The older homes tend to be built on larger lots and have a larger yard than some of the new developments.

Costa Mesa-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International’s executives decided to close up their Hyland Street building, as well as divest its early stage pre-clinical and discovery operations, and move to Aliso Viejo. They will be leasing space in the former Fluor building and are looking to sell the Costa Mesa building.

After weak earnings reports, the company announced a restructuring plan in April, which included the sale of the building, Senior Vice President Jeff Misakian said.

Costa Mesa-based Rutan & Tucker has decided to stick it out in Costa Mesa, despite having entertained offers in other cities.

The new lease deal also includes a lobby and landscaping revamp. The City of Costa Mesa also helped entice the firm to stay by helping change a stoplight on Bristol Street to make it safer for clients and employees to drive in and out of the Anton Boulevard building.

RELIGION

Hilton hotel in Costa Mesa hosts kosher cook-off

As a pre-Hanukkah event, Manischewitz executives hosted a cook-off at the Hilton in Costa Mesa on Thursday to celebrate kosher cooking.

Andrea Bloom of Long Beach and Michaela Rosenthal of Woodland Hills were with their kosher recipes and will be flown to New York to battle the finalists from other contests.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

“Everything about this parade is bigger and better. We have more sponsors, more boats and more volunteers.”

— Brett Hemphill, a former parade chairman now in the office of controlling and directing boats, on this year’s Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade

“This is a wonderful place where children can stretch their imaginations, grow and do all the things that children should do.”

— Marty Flink, president of Friends of the Library, on the new Children’s Sun and Sea Discovery Garden at the Newport Beach Public Library

“We’ll just have to be creative and come up with new things to keep our business going. And we will.”

— Scott Cohen, co-owner of the Drip Coffee outdoor coffee cart, on competing with the new Starbucks that opened on campus at Orange Coast College

“It feels good not to have that ‘appointed’ in front of my name.”

— Ed Selich, recently elected Newport Beach councilman, on being sworn-in to the City Council, which he called a “dream team” because of the members’ varied qualifications and because he expects their personalities to mesh well

“It’s really valuable to have manners because you don’t want to make a fool out of yourself at someone’s house.”

— Katy Butterworth, an 11-year-old Newport Beach resident who recently attended a course called Manners that Matter at the Fairmont Newport Beach, on the importance of learning proper etiquette

“These people have money in the bank. They’ve been through it all before. They’re old dogs, and they don’t need to be taught any new tricks because they’ve seen this marketplace before and they’re buying homes in an ultra-exclusive market.”

— Kurt Galitski, vice president of Costa Mesa-based Weichman Associates Realtors, on why Newport Beach house hunters will continue to buy despite a slipping real estate market