Newport Beach : Council to Discuss Host of New Services

The city may set up a number of new services, ranging from a resident-run human relations committee to a credit union that could help residents elsewhere get loans, under a draft-stage proposal to be informally discussed by the City Council on Monday.

The plan, sketched by Councilman Clarence J. Turner, puts the committee at the forefront of other efforts, such as creating the credit agency, establishing liaisons with members of inner-city communities and establishing a city nonprofit organization that could serve as a clearinghouse for donations from Newport Beach residents to those in need.

“Although the city of Newport Beach is fortunate enough not to be plagued with many of our country’s socials ills, it does not mean that we can escape partial responsibility for them for there is a linkage between the destiny of our city and other cities in the Southland,” Turner stated in a letter outlining the plan to City Manager Kevin J. Murphy.

Turner’s proposal is the product of an informal council discussion last month, when members lamented the tragedy in Los Angeles and other nearby communities in the aftermath of the verdicts in the Rodney G. King beating case.

Turner’s plan contains five main points--a human relations committee to oversee operations; a nonprofit corporation to coordinate financial donations; a “people-to-people liaison” to establish relationships between people from Newport Beach and those from cities affected by the riots; and a credit union that could offer low-interest loans for home improvements or other small-scale needs of residents in those cities.

Additionally, Turner’s plan contains an idea for Newport Beach residents to work with federal and state officials to try to create special tax districts under which money collected could be returned to certain needy communities.

The council is scheduled to discuss but not vote on the plan Monday.