Does Newport’s council need a summer break?

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- Irvine does it. Mission Viejo does it. Now, Newport

Beach’s City Council is looking into taking a summer break as well.

“It’s not like it’s a revelation,” Councilman Dennis O’Neil said.

At last week’s council meeting, O’Neil suggested skipping a meeting

during the summer months to give his colleagues and city staffers time

for vacation.

“During August and September, it’s hard to get a full City Council” at

a meeting, he said. “This would be an opportunity to plan around” a

break.

O’Neil added that the council’s decision in January to move meetings

from Mondays to Tuesdays was an example of changing tradition for the

benefit of everyone.

In Irvine, City Council members have just begun a one-month recess.

Mission Viejo council members have been out for almost six weeks, and the

City Council in Rancho Santa Margarita won’t meet again until Sept. 7.

Costa Mesa’s council, on the other hand, does not take a summer break.

Newport Beach Councilman Tod Ridgeway said while fewer meetings might

work elsewhere, his city is not the place to follow suit.

“If we were a smaller city, we could probably come up with a blackout

time,” Ridgeway said. He added that Newport Beach’s sophistication as a

city makes it necessary to meet every two weeks to deal with issues.

If council members individually take vacations during the summer,

decisions can still be made, he said.

“A quorum is four, so we don’t need seven people,” Ridgeway said.

But Homer Bludau, Newport Beach’s city manager, said if city officials

have enough time to plan around a summer recess, it could make a lot of

sense.

Bludau said he would present council members with options, such as

skipping a meeting in July and August. The administrator added that a

summer recess would probably not be introduced until next year.

Others on the council said a summer hiatus would allow them to attend

state and regional agency meetings without missing out on Newport Beach

city business.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Councilwoman Jan Debay said. “The [entire]

council hasn’t been together hardly any time during the summer.”

Debay added that she missed the Aug. 8 council meeting because she

attended the state sanitation agency meeting in Monterey as chairwoman of

the Orange County Sanitation District.

Councilwoman Norma Glover said a break would simply be a civilized

thing to do.

“I’m still not used to going full blast 12 months,” Glover said,

adding that she sat on boards on the East Coast that went dark during the

summer.

“I lived here six years before it dawned on me that I really had

enjoyed my time in Boston because of that,” she said. “Most civilized

societies try to spend some time in the summer invigorating for the next

year. But not in Newport Beach.”

TIME FOR A BREAK?

Should Newport Beach City Council members take time off during the

summer? Call our Readers Hotline at (949) 642-6086 or e-mail your

comments to o7 [email protected] . Please tell us your name and

hometown, and include a phone number (for verification purposes only).