Bromberg

S.J. CAHN In an unprecedented show of support, the Newport Beach Firefighters Assn. has already thrown its support behind City Councilman Steve Bromberg, who is running for reelection this fall. "It's very early, and we recognize that," Rich Thomas, the association's president, told me Tuesday. "It's the first time we've ever done this [so early]." The association almost always waits until the filing period closes, so members know for certain who's running, Thomas said.

Alicia Robinson Newport Beach Mayor Steve Bromberg will preside over his final meeting as a member of the City Council tonight. Bromberg is stepping down to become a judge in the Orange County Superior Court, where he'll be sworn in June 24. After serving 4 1/2 years on the council, he leaves behind a mixed audience of admirers and detractors. Some council members just concentrate on their own districts, but during his 1 1/2 terms as mayor, Bromberg focused on all areas of the city, said Gay Wassall-Kelly, who lives on the Balboa Peninsula.

Mathis Winkler NEWPORT BEACH -- With all but one of the City Council races too close to call late Tuesday night, the District 7 race mirrored the tight presidential race while the biggest fund-raisers led the polls in the other two districts. Businessman and attorney Gary L. Proctor, 55, is likely to succeed Councilwoman Jan Debay as the council member for District 2. Steve Bromberg, a 56-year-old mediator, will probably replace Mayor John Noyes in the District 5 seat and businessman and attorney John Heffernan seems to have taken the District 7 seat from incumbent Tom Thomson.

Deirdre Newman Incumbent City Councilman Steve Bromberg doesn't have to worry about any competition in his reelection bid. Instead, he can focus on the goals he wants to achieve in his next term. And the biggest one is spherical. The sphere issues are the incentive for Bromberg to seek another term, he said. They evolved from the city's desire to expand its role in several areas, including John Wayne Airport, redevelopment of Santa Ana Heights, administration of tidelands in the city and environmental protections at the closed Coyote Canyon landfill.

COSTA MESA - Ever since he graduated from Palisades High in 2007, J.R. Bromberg has been the little brother who could. Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 2007 and 2008, the latter after his freshman year at Los Angeles Pierce Community College, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound right-handed pitcher has teased scouts and college coaches alike with an above-average fastball, a fluid motion, a big-league physique and impressive genes. But unlike his older brother David, who has risen to the Triple-A ranks in six professional seasons in the Twins' organization, J.R. has been beaten up and bounced around.

June Casagrande A new task force created by Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger to draft a statewide water policy includes an appointee familiar to locals. Newport Beach Mayor Steve Bromberg has been appointed to the new Water Policy Advisory Task Force, a group of local and regional water-quality advocates charged with drafting a comprehensive statewide water plan for the new administration. "I'm thrilled to be able to take part in something that could shape policy for decades to come," Bromberg said.

S.J. Cahn Newport Beach Mayor Steve Bromberg on Thursday was appointed by the governor to be a judge on the Orange County Superior Court. The appointment means Bromberg, now in his second run as mayor and just months into his second term in office, will have to resign his seat. "It's a bit overwhelming," Bromberg said, adding that it "wasn't bad" for the son of a door-to-door salesman and a mother who worked at a cosmetics counter. "I wish they were around to see it," he said.

Noaki Schwartz BALBOA ISLAND -- After a dozen long years, the little island community under threat by towering utility poles will finally have its wires and cables moved underground. "It really shouldn't have taken so long," said community leader Steve Bromberg, who's participated in the effort as the Little Balboa Island Property Assn's president until he recently stepped down. He added that the delay was partly because they had to gather petitions and study the project, then faced the recession, followed by some lagging organization.

It's easy to imagine the call Newport Beach Mayor Steve Bromberg received: "Steve," comes the heavy Austrian accent, "I need your help." Perhaps nothing so dramatic or cinematic happened, but that doesn't lessen the importance of the city's mayor being appointed to a statewide water policy task force by Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Water Policy Advisory Task Force, a group of local and regional water-quality advocates, has been charged with drafting a comprehensive statewide water plan for the new administration.

Lolita Harper It's not the waters that are troubled; it's the bridge over them that city officials want to fix. The Little Balboa Island bridge, which has been marked by state transportation officials as "obsolete," is in need of strengthening, but city leaders, engineers and residents are at odds about whether to retrofit the 70-year-old bridge or demolish it and start all over. The bridge is one of four -- including the Goldenrod Avenue pedestrian bridge and the northbound and southbound Jamboree Road bridges over San Diego Creek -- that won federal highway funds for retrofits that would allow them to remain standing during a magnitude 7 earthquake.

COSTA MESA - Ever since he graduated from Palisades High in 2007, J.R. Bromberg has been the little brother who could. Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 2007 and 2008, the latter after his freshman year at Los Angeles Pierce Community College, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound right-handed pitcher has teased scouts and college coaches alike with an above-average fastball, a fluid motion, a big-league physique and impressive genes. But unlike his older brother David, who has risen to the Triple-A ranks in six professional seasons in the Twins' organization, J.R. has been beaten up and bounced around.

Former Newport Beach City Councilman and prominent attorney Gary Proctor was found dead Sunday afternoon in his San Jose home in an apparent suicide, police said Monday. Police responded to a residence in the 700 block of Harry Road in San Jose shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday and found Proctor, 63, dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, said Officer Jermaine Thomas of the San Jose Police Department. Police would not release more information on Proctor’s death, Thomas said.

WESTMINSTER — In 1965, a young Steve Bromberg started his college education, but he wasn't sure what he wanted to do in life. So he joined the Marines. He served for four years in a Camp Pendleton communications battalion, then decided to go to law school. Now he's a judge, but he never forgot his military experience. So when someone suggested in 2003 that the city of Newport Beach — where Bromberg was mayor at the time and still lives — should adopt a Marine battalion, Bromberg didn't hesitate.

Deep in the heart of the military base dotted with artillery ranges and helicopter landing pads, an unlikely scene unfolded Saturday. Young parents lounged and looked on as men in camouflage served cotton candy and cups of flavored ice to their children. A magician performed on a nearby stage. Somebody carried off a bicycle won in a raffle. It was a festive scene made possible by a group of former Marines from Newport Beach. In fact, the city in December 2003 "adopted" the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, and a committee of local military veterans -- including City Manager Homer Bludau, former Mayor Steve Bromberg and Arches restaurateur Dan Marcheano -- has held several events and raised thousands of dollars to help the Marines and their families.

S.J. CAHN So, not too much has happened since the last column. Really, I can think of only two things of much interest. First, Newport Beach Mayor Steve Bromberg got his long-awaited appointment to a judgeship -- on the Orange County Superior Court. Tuesday was his final council meeting, and he'll be "enrobed" on June 24. As a result, on Tuesday the council will try to appoint its third member in the past three years. The six hopefuls who applied are largely familiar faces, including three recent council candidates: Pat Beek and Robert Schoonmaker, who ran against Bromberg in 2000, and Bernie Svalstad, who ran against Councilman Dick Nichols in 2002.

Alicia Robinson Newport Beach Mayor Steve Bromberg will preside over his final meeting as a member of the City Council tonight. Bromberg is stepping down to become a judge in the Orange County Superior Court, where he'll be sworn in June 24. After serving 4 1/2 years on the council, he leaves behind a mixed audience of admirers and detractors. Some council members just concentrate on their own districts, but during his 1 1/2 terms as mayor, Bromberg focused on all areas of the city, said Gay Wassall-Kelly, who lives on the Balboa Peninsula.

Here's an easy quiz: What do the following members of the Newport Beach community have in common? Dennis O'Neil, Jan Debay, Evelyn Hart, Phil Sansone, John Hedges, Gary Adams, Clarence Turner, John Noyes, Tom Edwards and Tod Ridgeway. Unless if you've been unusually asleep, you know that all were mayors of Newport Beach. You probably also know that they represent just some of the fine men and women who have led the city during its nearly 100 years.

S.J. Cahn Newport Beach Mayor Steve Bromberg on Thursday was appointed by the governor to be a judge on the Orange County Superior Court. The appointment means Bromberg, now in his second run as mayor and just months into his second term in office, will have to resign his seat. "It's a bit overwhelming," Bromberg said, adding that it "wasn't bad" for the son of a door-to-door salesman and a mother who worked at a cosmetics counter. "I wish they were around to see it," he said.

Alicia Robinson and S.J. Cahn When Newport Beach City Councilwoman Leslie Daigle was appointed to her seat, she didn't realize it would be a saddle. Daigle got to ride a horse for the first time Saturday at an event celebrating horses held by the Back Bay Equestrians, a group of Santa Ana Heights residents who are Daigle's constituents. "The other time, I was on a carousel horse," joked the councilwoman, appointed in September. She wanted to ride a horse because the equestrian community is unique to her district, and horses are important to those who live there, she said.

Alicia Robinson The City Council is not just playing musical chairs; it has revolving mayors. After serving as mayor in 2003, Steve Bromberg has taken the gavel from Tod Ridgeway, who was mayor in 2002 and this year. Bromberg was chosen mayor by his City Council colleagues Tuesday night, an evening in which the seven-member council also selected the first woman -- Robin Clauson -- as city attorney. Councilman Don Webb was chosen mayor pro tem. Though the vote for Bromberg was unanimous, Councilman John Heffernan pointed out that the new mayor has applied for a position as an Orange County Superior Court Judge.