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.

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.

Wives are more likely than husbands to enter into a divorce ill-informed about personal finances and unprepared for life after marriage, according to some divorce experts. Family law attorney Karen Rhyne of Michel & Rhyne in Newport Beach and Megan Stirrat, a certified divorce financial analyst for the Laguna Hills Merrill Lynch, plan to speak at "What Women Need to Know in a Down Economy," a free seminar from the Women's Institute for Financial Education. The seminar is this Saturday at the Newport Beach Merrill Lynch on McArthur Boulevard and will discuss the legal, financial and personal elements of divorce.

NEWPORT BEACH — The post-recession consumer expects more value and better service for less cash, prominent community business leaders said Wednesday. The Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce hosted "Strategies for Growth in a Recovering Economy," a morning seminar at Newport Beach Lexus dealership. Panelists included Jim Walker, owner of The Bungalow; Gary Sherwin, president and chief executive of Visit Newport Beach Inc.; Bobby Sento, sales manager at Newport Lexus; Gavin Herbert Jr., president and CEO of Roger's Gardens; and Shannon Fowler of the American Cancer Society.

COSTA MESA - The ballooning pension cost estimates that City Council members are using to rationalize their dramatic restructuring and layoffs efforts hinge almost entirely on a single, negotiable premise, according to city finance department officials. "One probably pretty big assumption is that when [employee contracts] are completed, it is assuming the employees are not going to continue to pay what they pay" now into their pensions, said Bobby Young, a budget and research officer for Costa Mesa.

As the local market emerges from the recession, peer-to-peer seminars can help businesses begin to grow again, a Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce member said Wednesday. The chamber will host its next quarterly installment of the Business Solutions NOW Seminars, "Strategies for Growth in a Recovering Economy," April 6 at Newport Lexus, 3901 MacArthur Blvd., Newport Beach. "I think that things are beginning to ease, and business owners and consumers are adjusting to the new business paradigm," said Marie Case, a chamber member and seminar moderator who owns Case Communications in Newport Beach.

Newport-Mesa's major shopping centers and independent retailers are hoping the economic winter that set in during the recession will continue its slow thaw on Black Friday. Optimism abounded in pre-Thanksgiving interviews. "It has been a very good year at South Coast Plaza," said Debra Gunn Downing, the center's executive director of marketing. "It's exceeding our expectations. " South Coast Plaza expects more than 350,000 shoppers from Friday to Sunday. The story is similar at Fashion Island, much of which has been remodeled in time for the biggest shopping season of the year.