Economy

Across the board, auto dealers have been taking a hit in today’s economy. Gas prices have affected the market. New car sales are slumping. Major manufacturers, such as Ford and GM, have seen double-digit declines. It isn’t the best time to be an auto dealer in the U.S., some might say. But Garth Blumenthal sees it differently. For Blumenthal, the general manager at Fletcher Jones Motorcars in Newport Beach, tough economic times pose risk, but also allow for the greatest opportunity.

Has your faith community been responding adequately to how the sluggish economy has affected you? It’s a question many Southern California religious leaders want to hear the answer to, and they’re giving you an opportunity to voice your concerns. The Newport-Mesa-Irvine Interfaith Council will host a luncheon Wednesday where speakers will focus on the economy and faith communities. The public is welcome to share their experiences and ideas for improvement. The meetings begin at 11:45 a.m. at the Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church, 1259 Victoria St., Costa Mesa.

Everyone, it seems, has an opinion on what the Westside should be. And many, if not most of them, think that it should be changed. Fewer apartments. More upscale houses. Only high-tech companies. No manufacturing. An artist colony. More pedestrian-friendly. Some have even suggested that the Westside would be better with fewer Latinos (who, oddly enough, tend to be more pedestrian-oriented). "Condemn that property!" "Increase my home's value!" Everyone wants to bury the utility lines.

CORRECTION: This story incorrectly states that a pair of new terminals for private jets would be added to terminals as part of the upgrade of John Wayne Airport. In fact, a commuter terminal will be added to the existing Terminal A, and another commuter terminal will be built along with the future Terminal C, said Jenny Wedge, the airport?s spokeswoman. The expansion of John Wayne Airport will bring in roughly $1.9 billion over the next three years, creating as many as 6,500 jobs and a wave of construction workers and engineers who will likely spend their money here, said Wallace Walrod, vice president of economic development and research for the Orange County Business Council.

The Obama administration, emboldened by the passage of comprehensive health-care reform, has turned its full attention to overhauling the financial services industry. It was two years ago that the failure of Wall Street giant Bear Stearns set in motion a chain of events, which roiled the global economy. As with health care, financial reform is a Gordian knot beset with many challenges. While a recent Pew poll suggests that a majority of Americans would like to see tighter regulation of financial institutions, the devil, as always, is in the details.

President Bush and congressional Democrats appear to be crafting dueling measures to stimulate a weakening economy. Both sides favor some sort of tax cuts, but they differ on who should get them. What do you think Congress and the president should do to help the sluggish economy recover?   In my opinion, we should avoid having government “do something” just to show we are “doing something” if that “something” does not help.

Ira Garbutt has heard the joke so many times from golfers at the Toshiba Classic. The tournament chairman laughs every time he hears it. “They say, ‘I have to finish in the top 10 in order to break even,’ ” Garbutt said. “When the guys are playing in the pro-am, the wives are having their own pro-am.” The wives search for highs in department stores. The players shoot for lows on the golf course. The lows tournament organizers want to see are those turned in on scorecards, not at the gate or the traffic at businesses around town.

You can always count on the political class in this country to solve any problem they perceive with a check. Now, of course, that is easier for them to do because it is not their money. In the case of the federal government, it’s not even our money. In fact, with the size of the growing national debt, it’s our children’s money. As I wrote in last week’s column, we are still paying back state bonds authorized in 1970. The latest political boondoggles on Capitol Hill are the “Economic Stimulus Act of 2008” passed in January and Senate Bill 2636 “The Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008” passed out of committee by the Senate Thursday.

Mathis Winkler NEWPORT BEACH -- When Dave Niederhaus notices a drop in the amount of trash residents produce, he doesn't credit successful recycling programs. For the city's general services director, a decline of about 2% -- or 790 tons -- points to an economic downturn instead. "When an affluent community starts to have less waste, it generally indicates that things are starting to go downhill," said Niederhaus, who recently released the city's trash figures for the 2000-01 fiscal year as part of a year-end report on his department's activities.

Huntington Beach resident Shane Allen owns his own swimming pool maintenance business, but he's also enrolled in the welding program at Orange Coast College. "I'm looking for a better opportunity to support my family," said Shane Allen, 40, a father of three. Allen was among more than 2,000 applicants who attended Wednesday's Orange Coast College job fair. Organizers said applicants looking for internships, apprenticeships and blue-collar, managerial and part-time work may have a better shot at finding those opportunities in an improving economy than they did in 2012.

Since the lows spurred by the Great Recession, Costa Mesa's budget outlook is on the rise, city officials said Tuesday, though it's not a case of skyrocketing good fortunes. In a study session with four members of the City Council - Councilman Gary Monahan was absent - Finance Director Bobby Young said Costa Mesa has not again achieved its high from fiscal year 2006-2007, though in the years since the 2009-2010 fiscal-year low, the fund balance has been steadily increasing. "We're not back yet, but we have stabilized," Young said.

As taxation and other costs go up in California, one place is looking better and better: Walla Walla. Moving to the eastern Washington town of some 32,000 — where you can rent a mansion for $2,500 a month, have a short commute and not pay state income taxes — was one of the take-aways from economist Esmael Adibi at Chapman University's 35th annual Economic Forecast. "You might say this is a joke," Adibi told the audience at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa. "It's not a joke.

Chapman University economists forecast that home prices will increase and the local economy will continue to grow through next year, bolstered by construction spending and an improved national outlook. At the biannual presentation Wednesday, they predicted the Orange County economy will add more than 60,000 jobs in 2012 and 2013 combined, and that the U.S. gross domestic product will grow 2.3% and 2.6% in each year, respectively. "Don't expect a recession. Don't expect job losses," said Esmael Adibi, director of the university's Anderson Center for Economic Research.

Several Orange County cities help drive economic growth in Southern California, a UC Irvine study shows. The data, which the university made public Thursday morning, show that the Newport Beach, Newport Coast, Costa Mesa, Irvine, San Joaquin Hills and Laguna Beach areas - defined in the study as the "Irvine cluster" - provided the most white- and blue-collar jobs per person in Southern California. The cluster ranked second for retail jobs behind Santa Monica, according to the study.

The jury is still out on the impact of the state's decision to dump certain criminals into the county's lap, according to Orange County 5th District Supervisor Pat Bates. About 3,500 nominally nonviolent felons will be transferred to the county's jurisdiction, to be jailed or put on probation, Bates said in her recent State of the County report to Laguna Canyon Conservancy. The state presumably will compensate the county. "We are supposed to get $26,000, but we all know the state doesn't always come through with its promises," said Bates, who's now in her second and final term as a supervisor.

The Los Angeles area's arts and entertainment industries lost thousands of jobs from 2007 to 2010, according to a study of the "creative economy. " The findings for 2010 commissioned by Otis College of Art and Design and compiled from state and federal government figures by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. showed a loss of 21,500 jobs and an 11% decline in employment in the three years. Known as the Otis Report on the Creative Economy of Los Angeles and Orange Counties, the study encompasses both traditional arts and entertainment categories and five additional fields that the researchers consider to be part of the region's broader creative economy.

NEWPORT BEACH — Economic predictions for the coming year are heavy with "doom and gloom," but Orange County is faring better than many areas and loans are available for small-business owners, according to experts speaking at the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce's economic forecast. The event, held Wednesday at the Island Hotel, was part of the chamber's ongoing Business Solutions NOW seminars and attracted about 300 attendees. Panelists included UC Irvine Paul Merage School of Business Dean Andrew Policano, Anfield Capital Management Executive Officer David Young, Commerce National Bank Executive Officer Mark Simmons and James Valle & Co. Executive Officer James Valle.

I think the troubles in the economy have nothing do with the economy. The economists all seem to say that if we can generate consumer spending, we will be OK. But the economists and politicians don't ask the critical question — why aren't we spending? Is it because we don't have as much money? Or that we are worried about things being worse tomorrow? Or that we have diminished capacity? All these are true, but they have not necessarily stopped us in the past.

The Claire Trevor School of the Arts at UC Irvine will formally open its newly completed Contemporary Arts Center on Nov. 9. The long-awaited, $42.35-million building - equipped with state-of-the-art studios and spaces for displaying, staging and producing art - will be the new anchor for the art school complex. Faculty members and school and campus administrators say the center will allow the school's departments to leap ahead with early 21st century artmaking, exhibitions and research.