Alicia Robinson
Local business leaders will hear from Newport Beach Mayor Tod
Ridgeway today about how the city has grown and changed, mostly for
the better.
Ridgeway will deliver a state of the city address at the annual
meeting of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce this morning at the
Newport Beach Radisson Hotel.
Since Ridgeway was elected to City Council in 1998, the city has
grown geographically and its revenues have increased, he said
Wednesday. His priorities have not changed since he gave a state of
the city speech as mayor in 2002, when he went on the offensive to
prevent Greenlight, the city's slow-growth law, from becoming an
anti-development force.
"I wasn't issuing a challenge," Ridgeway said. "I just said some
development is good and we need to look at growth in this city to
make sure that we remain financially soluble."
The speech also will touch on a recent priority for the city --
sphere issues. Newport Beach officials are looking at increasing the
city's say in controlling Orange County-owned facilities including
the Coyote Canyon landfill and John Wayne Airport.
"We've really now evolved to [where] we want to have a proprietary
role, that is, a co-ownership with the county that allows us to have
some degree of control over the footprint, land use and air issues
out [at John Wayne Airport]," Ridgeway said.
A number of longtime chamber members and volunteers will be
honored at the meeting, as well. Chamber President Richard Luehrs
said 25 businesses such as Nabers Pontiac GMC Buick Cadillac and
Theodore Robins Ford, which aren't in Newport Beach but have
supported its chamber of commerce for years, will be recognized for
their work.
The chamber also will elect five new members to the board of
directors to replace five whose terms expire this year.
