The Daily Pilot asked the candidates for Newport Beach's District 6 City Council seat questions about city issues and their qualifications. Here are the questions and their answers.
1. Why should voters choose you?
2. What steps would you take to improve traffic problems in Corona del Mar?
3. How will you make the council more responsive to residents?
NANCY GARDNER:
1. I get things done, both through leadership and by building consensus. Concerned about urban runoff impacting our beaches, I founded the Newport Beach chapter of Surfrider 16 years ago to help with the problem. As a member of the city's Coastal Bay Water Quality Committee for the last eight years I have brought a number of issues to the group which have been adopted by the City Council and also wrote a grant that got $230,000 for the city to improve conditions in Buck Gully and Little Corona. As the co-chair of the General Plan Advisory Committee I worked with 37 other residents for over four years to create a blueprint for the city's future, ensuring that the plan contained strong environmental and neighborhood protections, traffic mitigation measures, and new open space opportunities. I believe that I represent the majority of the residents in calling for a balanced environment for the city — a good natural environment, a good community environment, and a good business environment. I also believe that because I have been endorsed by such a diverse group of individuals, from past presidents of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce to environmentalists like Jean Watt and Jan Vandersloot, that I can be a unifying factor so that we can work together to protect and improve our quality of life here.
