Property manager, city manager to get hitched

Newport Beach city manager Homer Bludau is getting married Saturday.

His fiancee, Janet Hodges, jokingly said it was never her aspiration to marry a city manager. But, the couple’s mutual friend Christine Carr had other ideas.

For a couple of years, Hodges said Carr had told her there is someone she should meet, but Hodges said she didn’t pay any attention to her friend. During this time, Carr was also talking to Bludau about Hodges, telling him she knew someone he should meet.

There’s a lesson to be learned from this: Friends know best.

In November of 2004, Bludau and Hodges were attending a charity event for the Youth Employment Services in Newport Coast when Carr introduced them.

“I thought she was very attractive, easy to talk to and a lot of fun,” Bludau said. “ I asked her that night for a date.”

The couple went to Tommy Bahama’s Restaurant in Newport Beach for their first date, she said.

“I had been single long enough that I was a pretty good judge of character when we met,” Hodges said. “He was the first man I let pick me up at my house.”

Bludau has been city manager for about seven years. Hodges manages a piece of real estate in Newport Beach. She has a 14-year-old daughter, Anna Hodges, who is a freshman at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana.

“I have been wanting to meet someone who is very genuine and has the kind of qualities Janet has for a long time,” Bludau said. “I am just glad that our friend brought us together when she did.”

The couple will wed at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Newport Beach on Saturday and have plans to leave for a honeymoon on Monday. They wouldn’t say where.dpt.03-homer-BPhotoInfo931OI92420060303iviy10knDON LEACH / DAILY PILOT(LA)Janet Hodges and Homer Bludau, Newport Beach city manager, will tie the knot Saturday.