NEWPORT BEACH : Mayor Foresees ‘New Horizon’ for City

Before a gathering of hundreds of city politicians, business leaders and residents Friday evening, Mayor Clarence J. Turner spoke of a “new horizon” for the coastal community in 1994.

Turner’s message was the centerpiece of the annual Mayor’s Dinner, a tribute to the city’s former mayors and an opportunity for the current mayor to deliver a State of the City address.

“I can unequivocally state that 1993 was a year to forget,” Turner told the audience at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Tennis Club.

During those turbulent 12 months, the city hired a new police chief, overwhelmingly rejected a proposed $69-million purchase of open space overlooking the Upper Newport Bay, and watched neighboring Laguna Beach burn.

Turner focused his speech on a continued pitch for the conversion of El Toro Marine Corps Air Station to a commercial airport and on a sobering budget forecast for the upcoming year.

“We simply can no longer afford the luxury of continuing to do business as usual,” Turner said. “Newport Beach is not immune from the ravages of recession and we too must learn to cope with its effects.”

The city is projecting a $3-million budget shortfall for the 1994-95 fiscal year.

Turner said the City Council in the upcoming year will be considering an expansion of Fashion Island to broaden the retail mix there and provide a more lucrative tax base for the city. City officials also foresee some cuts in city staff through early retirement incentives and attrition.

By midyear, the city is scheduled to open a new Central Library as well as a new fire station on Balboa Island. Also, disruptive construction projects on some of the city’s major byways are expected to make a great leap forward in the upcoming year.

“There may be some small measure of comfort for the residents to know that as they drive over the smoothly paved streets that beneath those streets are new gas lines, new water lines and a sewer system that no longer leaks,” he said.

Turner served as mayor during 1993 and then was reelected by his fellow City Council members to a second term for 1994. His term as a public official is due to expire in November, and he will step down.