THE ORANGE COAST VOICE · new primo-quality makeover, it’s time to celebrate! The Orange County Performing Arts Center is going to hold such a party, one that is made up of six

New World Center for The Arts

VOICETHE ORANGE COAST

Toxic Timetable

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN EARL

Ascon toxic waste dump on Hamilton and MagnoliaStreets in Huntington Beach.

The MinutemanMayor createsCosta MigraSee Page 3

Will HB’s Ascon waste dump ever be cleaned up?By SARA ELLISContributing Writer

No. 1 Serving Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa and surrounding communities Sept. 2006

Should SeniorCenter be builtin HB Park?See Page 4

Scottie Dawgvisits the CMPublic LibrarySee Page 6

Councilmemberin HB warnsabout ‘peak oil’See Page 8

ABOUT OC VOICE PAGE 2LABOR NOTES PAGE 6CALENDAR PAGE 7INTERVIEW PAGE 8

Gala celebration in Costa Mesa begins with Segerstrom Center opening

After decades of changingownership and numer-ous failed promises, the

Ascon waste dump, Surf City’stoxic foster child, located at theSouthwest corner of HamiltonAvenue and Magnolia, is onceagain being readied by its reluc-tant parents for a long overduebath.

After heavy rains in 2005 ne-cessitated an Emergency Actionthat strengthened the northernberm of the site, in order to keepwaste from seeping out into thesurrounding residential areas, theCalifornia Department of ToxicSubstances Control (DTSC) andthe site’s current owners, CanneryHamilton, LCC, are presentlyinching through initial stages ofremediation.

The 38-acre site, a lifeless alienlandscape hidden by thick green-ery and high dirt banks, revealsas much about the history ofAmerica’s industrial-corporatefoibles as an ice core sample doesclimate change. As MaryUrashima, a public information

representative for CanneryHamilton describes it, Ascon—named for some of the site’s lesserpollutants, asphalt and concrete—is a laundry list of industrialchemical wastes. The waste,which was produced from as dis-parate sources as oil drilling,

World War II industrialization,and the construction booms thatfollowed that war, has contributedto a nasty hodgepodge that readslike a who’s who list of toxicity.Arsenic, lead, and benzene perme-ate the site, while lesser siblings—what the International Agency for

Research on Cancer classifies asgroup 2B carcinogens — such asstyrene, swirl in the depths of theoft written about Pit F.

Ascon’s size, long history, andmulti-layered contamination haveensured that any concentrated ef-fort to remove the waste will be along and complicated process, andwhile the Emergency Action lastJanuary has halted erosion of thesite’s northern berm, repeated fail-ures to remediate the site in thepast have also battered public con-fidence that an actual cleanup willever get underway.

This possible sentiment of res-ignation is apparently reflected onthe Huntington Beach citywebsite, where old plans and adead link to the DTSC are theonly information provided on theissue. A search for Ascon throughthe minutes of the Southeast Areacommittee also comes up blank.“It’s a long sordid history,” saysCity Council member DebbieCook, who, while reassuring thatthe mood is in no way apathetic,admits that (Ascon) “is just not aburning issue right now.”

“I think the DTSC has done a

By DAVID L. M. PRESTONEntertainment Editor

W hen you hit twenty years old, are still growing and just had anew primo-quality makeover, it’stime to celebrate!

The Orange CountyPerforming Arts Center is goingto hold such a party, one that ismade up of six weeks ofperformances and events, incelebration of the opening of itsnew Renée and Henry SegerstromConcert Hall, the SamueliTheater, and more.

The construction of thecompleted concert hall and theaterhas taken nearly three years. Bothvenues are parts of a $200 millionexpansion to the arts center, ofwhat will eventually be named theSegerstrom Center for the Arts.This new arts center, which willalso contain the South Coast

Repertory, an arts plaza, and a sitefor a future visual arts museum,when formerly coupled to theOCPAC, will be one of the largestperforming arts complexes in thecountry.

Performances during the galacelebration, the first ofwhat is dubbed the“Celebration 2006”series of events, willinclude the PacificSymphony, PacificChorale, inauguratingthe new hall for theOCPAC with operalegend PlácidoDomingo, performinga world premier songcycle by composer WilliamBolcom, on Sept. 15. The newwork was commissioned by thePacific Symphony and itsconductor Maestro Carl St. Clair.

World PremiresOn Sept. 16 the Pacific

Symphony and the PacificChorale, two organizations thatwill call the new Segerstrom hallhome, will perform a worldpremier piece, “The Passion ofRamakrishna” by renownedcomposer Philip Glass, who is

later joined by violinsuperstar Midorip e r f o r m i n gBeethoven’s violinconcerto. ThePhilharmonic Societyof Orange County andOpera Pacific will alsocall the new hall home,and will each holdindividual celebrationconcerts in honor of

the completion of construction.“This is a monumental

moment in the growth anddevelopment of Orange County’sPacific Symphony,” said St. Clair.“We will signal the dawning of anew era in the cultural life of

Orange County as well as itsPacific Symphony.”

The Samueli Theater willofficially open on Oct. 14 with aconcert by rock-icon Sheryl Crow.

It may be easy to assume, ifyou’re new to the area or simplydon’t look around, that thecultural life of Orange County issomewhat pale from our largerneighbor to the direct north. Inquantity, maybe that argument canbe made, but Los Angeles is alarger scene; but in quality, pale isso far from the truth to belaughable. The music, theater andfine arts of Orange County canstand in vibrancy with the largestcities in the world. One just needsto know where to look, and theOCPAC in Costa Mesa is a primeexample. Why travel an hour intodowntown LA, find parking andbattle the traffic, when the greatsin the artistic world are just a short

Plácido Domingo

See ACOUSTICAL SCIENCE, Page 7

See ASCON DUMP, Page 5

2 / SEPTEMBER 2006 / THE ORANGE COAST VOICE

419 Main St., #209Huntington Beach, Ca 92648

(714) [email protected]


PublisherDuane J. Roberts

EditorJohn Earl

Entertainment EditorJames L. M. Preston

Contributing WritersSara Ellis, Lisa Wells

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Except for oxygen, nothingis more essential thanwater for basic survival.

Yet, poor water resource man-agement and agribusinesses’ soar-ing use of this finite resource iscausing water shortages in abouta third of the world, the Interna-tional Water Management Insti-tute, a leading authority on freshwater management, said inAugust.

“We will not run out of bottledwater any time soon but somecountries have already run out ofwater to produce their own food,”said the institute’s director-generalFrank Rijsberman, as reported re-cently by the Reuters news service.

The Sri Lanka-based instituteis funded by the ConsultativeGroup on International Agricul-ture Research, founded by theWorld Bank, and is supported byvarious government and privatefoundations.

And while water crises havelong been relegated as a problemfor only the poorest of popula-tions, the world’s poor may bethe metaphoric “canaries in thecoal mine.”

The World Wildlife Fund(WWF) also released a report inAugust, titled “Rich Countries,Poor Water”, claiming that a com-bination of climate change anddrought, the loss of wetlands thatstore water, along with poor re-source management and inad-equate infrastructure, is creatinga global water crisis.

Even analysts from Shell, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Cargill,and others which heavily dependon secure public water supplies fortheir profits, filed a recent reportdescribing bleak future scenariosdue to water shortages—includinggrowing civil unrest due to floods,potential outbreaks of diseases likecholera, boom and bust economiccycles in Asia, and the risk of massmigrations to Europe. But theyalso say scarcity will encourage thedevelopment of water-saving tech-nologies and better managementpractices. By 2010, they predict,water will be seen as the most se-rious social and political issue ofthe time.

“Economic riches don’t trans-late to plentiful water,” says JamiePittock, Director of WWF’s Fresh-water Program.

Citizens of the United States,the richest country on earth, “arethe most profligate water users onthe planet,” the report claims.“Such high rates of water runheadlong into the reality thatmany areas of the country arenaturally dry,” according to thereport.

Orange County is no excep-tion, according to Newport Beachresident Larry Porter, who hasbeen closely following water issuesin the county for ten years. He saysthere’s not enough water for theexisting population if one takesinto account the fragility of thewater sources and unfettered de-velopment. An earthquake, for ex-ample, could wipe out leveesmaintaining our Northern Califor-nia delta source or drought con-ditions combined with growing

demand on water could suck theColorado River source dry.

But the Planning and Conser-vation League says thatCalifornia’s water needs can bemet until 2030 through the samemild conservation measures thatthe state’s Department of WaterResources says have adequatelysupplied 3.5 million additionalCalifornians with water since1995 without increasedwater usage.

Overuse isn’t the only threat toAmerica’s water supply, the WWFsays. Declining environmentalprotection standards, as well asaging sewer and water pipes haveled to an increase in untested tox-

Water WorriesWill Orange County have enough water?

By LISA WELLSContributing Writer


Water flowing from Santa River passes AES power planton its way to the sea.

Critics also questionwhether Poseidon’s HB

plant will ever be built ...because of rising fueland related electricalcosts and a lack of

buyers for the expensivewater— as much as

$2,000 per acre-foot —it would produce

ins and pathogens in our watersupplies, the latter causing “massillnesses and deaths in recentyears,” according to the report.

The agencies responsible formanaging water in our area are theMunicipal Water District of Or-ange County (MWDOC), whichcoordinates the imported waterfrom Northern California and theColorado River; and the OrangeCounty Water District (OCWD),which manages the local ground-water and supplies north OrangeCounty with over half ofits water.

These two agencies continuallysearch for new water sources andMWDOC considers desalina-tion—the extraction of salt fromocean water to produce potablewater—a viable option to supple-ment water supplies, under certainconditions. MWDOC is currentlyworking with the city of DanaPoint in south Orange County todetermine the feasibility of build-

ing a desalination plant onDoheny State Beach. That facilitywould utilize underground wellsand suck ocean water up at anangle from under the sand—with-out harming, theoretically, the ma-rine environment or disturbingbeach goers.

Unlike Huntington Beach,which gets two-thirds of its waterfrom local groundwater wells,South Orange County relies onNorthern California and the Colo-rado River for 95 percent of itswater needs. Farther south, SanDiego County imports between70 and 90 percent of its waterfrom the same sources. But theColorado River is so overtaxed bythe demands of agriculture andsuburban sprawl that only 0.1 per-cent of its natural water flow nowreaches the river’s delta, accord-ing to the WWF.

That’s why the San Diego Re-gional Water Quality ControlBoard recently voted to help thecity of Carlsbad go forward withplans for Poseidon Resources Inc.to build a $270 million desalina-tion plant with the potential toturn 100 million gallons a day ofpublicly owned seawater into 50million gallons of drinking waterwhich it would sell for a profit.

Ironically, however, that voteoccurred directly after the WaterAuthority refused to certify thesame Environmental Impact Re-port that Carlsbad had approvedand voted to kill its own previouslyplanned involvement with in theproject in part because it could notreach a financial agreement withPoseidon.

The other factor in San Diego’spullout was the eminent closureof the Encina power plant, whichcurrently uses a cooling systemthat Poseidon would rely on togather the ocean water it plans toconvert. But plans call for the plantto be torn down and replaced withan air cooled facility, thus elimi-nating Poseidon’s water intakesource. In that case, Poseidoncould not proceed unless its claimto contract rights for the originalcooling system are upheld and itchooses one of the more environ-mentally friendly desalinationmethods normally avoided by thedesalination industry.

In February the HuntingtonBeach city council approved

See POSEIDON, Page 5

THE ORANGE COAST VOICE / SEPTEMBER 2006 / 3

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(714) 567-01882000 E. 4th Street, St. #120Santa Ana, Ca. 92705

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ORANGE COAST VOICE419 Main St., #209

Huntington Beach, CA. [email protected]

Did I have a nightmare or do theroad signs at every Costa Mesaborder crossing now read “Wel-

come to Costa Migra”?I have to admit I was worried about the

open border policies of our cities one Sun-day afternoon last July when I witnessedfor the second time Costa Mesa’s mayortaking official honors from members of theworld famous Minuteman Project.

If you ever watched CNN “news” anchorLou Dobbs, you know that the Minutemenare the guardians of America’s porousborder with Mexico (Canada’s border,where 911 terrorists crossed, doesn’tmatter), protecting us from terrorists. Theirleader, Minuteman Project co-founder JimGilchrist, claims that he is “proud to be avigilante” and warns that he will turn a blindeye to armed rebellion by his imagined 240million followers.

The Sunday spectacle was a fund raiserfor the mayor—who is running for reelec-tion—under the auspices of “Gilchrist’sAngels,” the women’s auxiliary of the Min-uteman Project.

About 80 true believers attended. Manycame from outside Costa Mesa. The Mayor,who is also a Deputy Sheriff, oftencomplains about immigrant rightsadvocates who come to his town tocomplain about how he treats immigrants—which reminds me of the old news reel Isaw from the 60s showing a southernlawman, maybe Bull Connor, complainabout outside agitators stirring up “ournigras.”

These outsiders were the Minutemen,Minutewoman and Minutechildren (aretheir Minutesperms?), as Gilchrist likes tocall them, who came from as far as Temeculato show moral and financial support for the“courageous” mayor, their hero, as hepretends to save Costa Mesa and thenation from what they say are murdering,gang banging, child raping “illegal aliens,”even though almost every law enforcementofficer in the nation knows that the Mayor’splan to mix police and immigrationenforcement will result in moreunsolved crime.

Among the honored and unhonoredguests was local congressman DanaRohrabacher, who hates undocumentedimmigrants so much that he might blamethem for global warming when he finallylearns that humans, not termites, aredestroying the delicate balance of the earth’satmosphere.

Also present was Newport Beach citycouncilmember Dick Nichols, who wascensured by his council colleagues in 2003for making ongoing racist insults aboutMexicans.

Nichols had told a reporter that he wasconcerned about a proposed expansion ofthe park area at Corona del mar State beachbecause “with grass we usually get Mexicanscoming in there early in the morning andthey claim it as theirs, and it becomes theirpersonal, private grounds all day.”

Also not introduced by the mayor wasRay Herrera of Victorville, the officialnational spokesperson for the MinutemanProject. Señor Herrera warned city councilabout the “immoral invasion of Costa Mesaand all America” and explained thatAmericans are a “divine” and “moral”society based on an Anglo-Protestant creed

of “common decency, respect, freedom ofreligion and equality. Mexico (full ofCatholics), however, is based on the Spanishculture of “rape, oppression and thedesecration of the people of Mexico.”

“As you know,” he explained, “when youlook at the child, you will see the parent.The same thing can be said for a nation.Look at the people, you will see the nation.The American creed, the Mexican creed.”

Absent from the gala event was CostaMesa resident, Martin H. Millard, who the

pressure, the mayor recently disavowedMillard, but the two men still seem eerilyalike when it comes to issues likeimmigration.

For example, at a recent communitymeeting held by the Costa Mesa PD’s anti-gang squad, Millard referred to the city’sChicano neighborhoods and suggested thatthe best way to get rid of the city’s gangswas to “close down” its “slums.”

Just minutes after disavowing Millard ata city council candidates’ forum held inAugust, the Mayor, speaking about “qualityof life” issues related to crime control, saidthat “If you have vending trucks that arehonking their horn to the tune of LaCucaracha all night long or all day, whowants to live next to that in a residentialneighborhood?”

A few weeks eariler Mansoor reacted toa drive by killing that occurred in a Chicanoneighborhood by telling the Daily Pilot that

“It shows we still have work to do, but ittakes time to remove the welcome mat.”

The Mayor elaborated.“When you have job centers, soup

kitchens and a high concentration ofdownscale rental units,” the Mayorcontinued, “it drives the city down, and Ifavor a multi-faceted approach to includestronger gang enforcement and overlay-zone revitalization, and I also think a socialworker holding the hand of a hardenedgang member has not worked inother cities.”

At that same candidates forum, theMayor denied that he joined theMinuteman Project, the group that his anti“illegal” immigrant and pro “law and order”rhetoric pandered to when he voted to closedown the day labor center and use the policeto enforce immigration law.

The Mayor recalled the January 25thmeeting of the California Coalition forImmigration Reform in Garden Grove,where he spoke to 150 cheering MinutemanProject members and their allies. “Theymade me an honorary member,” he said,“I did not join. They said ̀ we want to makeyou an honorary member. I said thank you.”

But the ceremony I saw was a lot moreelaborate. Gilchrist himself was there thatnight to bring the mayor into the fold. Themayor walked up to the stage to the wildcheers of his Minuteman fans. Gilchristturned to him and said, “You’re a dreamcome true, Mayor.”

“Mayor Mansoor,” Gilchrist gushed, “onbehalf of everyone in this room, all theseMinuteman women and children, andabout 200 million [soon to become 240million] supporters of the MinutemanProject, you are hereby by the power vestedin me as founding member of the Project,an honorary Minuteman and I wish to giveyou a hat.”

Allan Mansoor took the hat and becamethe Minuteman Mayor of Costa Mesa.

This grainy photo shows Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor (on theright) officially becoming the Minuteman Mayor on January 25thwhile Jim Gilchrist stands in the background.

mayor and other council members votedto appoint to a community redevelopmentcommittee on two separate occasions. Mr.Millard writes for several whitesupremacist websites, includingwww.nationalvanguard.com, which wasformed by members of the neo-Nazi groupNational Alliance.

Millard says that oppressed whites arebeing exterminated by blacks and calls onwhites to learn race and gene consciousnessin order to prevent “devolution” andannihilation of the superior white racethrough contamination of the whitegene pool.

Millard resigned under public pressurelast winter. After months of additional

Hungry Minuteman seems to say“bon appetit” at Mayor Mansoor’sJuly fundraiser.

By JOHN EARLEditor

PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN FROM A VIDEO SHOT BY JOHN EARL


Minuteman Mayor & local “gene purist” agree: no mas la cucaracha

MY VOICE

H untington Beach voters will beasked to revise the city’s CentralPark Master Plan to allow

construction of an estimated 45,000 squareft., $23 million senior center to be locatedon five acres of open park area, roughlyacross from the Central Library onGoldenwest Street.

The new senior center would relocateand upgrade the 11,881 sq. foot MichaelE. Rodgers Seniors’ Center now nestled on17th and Orange streets.

The procedure used by the city councilto place the proposal on the November 7thballot and the vague wording of the ballotstatement challenge the public’s ability tocontrol development in the city’s 356 acreCentral Park.

In 1990, a group of HB residents,hoping to stop plans for a golf course inCentral Park, put Measure C, also knownas the Save Our Parks initiative, on theballot. It became Section 612 of the CityCharter and requires a vote of the peopleon proposed developments on city park orbeach land that rise above 3,000 sq. feet or$100,000 in costs.

Proponents of the senior center ballotmeasure say that Section 612 gives the citycouncil the final vote of approval, butopponents say that the voters have finalapproval after all city approvals havebeen met.

The city council passed a minute actionin 1994 clarifying that Section 612 intends“a vote of the people be the final approvalof projects approved by the city forconstruction on park land or beaches,”adding that all projects that fit the charteramendment’s criteria “must obtain all cityapprovals prior to being submitted to a voteof the people.”

The minute action was to remain ineffect unless rescinded by the city councilat a later date and has not been rescindedyet. But the city council virtually ignored itat meetings on July 3rd and 17th, whenthe senior center proposal and its ballotlanguage were discussed and voted upon.In fact, City Attorney Jennifer McGrath toldthe council that for the purpose of a Section612 (or Measure C) vote, the public hasno right to know detailed cost or designdetails or to be allowed the final vote onproposed park developments.

The City Attorney also stipulated that a“yes” vote on the ballot measure does notmean that a senior center will be built. Buta yes vote would require the land area inquestion to conform to the ballotdescription.“There would be a concern ifits not used as a senior center,” McGrathsaid, “and anything less than that will causethe same [legal] question.”

McGrath modeled the senior centerballot language after language used for the1996 measure that approved the SportsComplex, an unsettling thought for manyHB voters who remember that costs for theComplex soared from an estimated $1.9million to $19 million before completion.

Council members Don Hansen andKeith Bhor agreed that it is better to have apublic vote on the senior center before itsdetails are known than to wait untilthousands or even millions of dollars havebeen spent on research, only to have itrejected by the voters. “We shouldn’tundertake ...allocating it out for a site thatmay be flatly rejected by the people,”Hansen said at the July 17th city councilmeeting. He added that sufficientinformation about the senior center will be

available through voter education materialsand public debate.

Consequently, HB residents will basetheir November 7th vote on vague andlargely hypothetical information—including a $23 million non-site costestimate—provided by LPA, an Irvinebased architectural and interior designfirm. That fact lead council memberDebbie Cook to declare the vote

The ballot measure reads:

Shall a centrally located senior center building, not to exceed 47,000 squarefeet, be placed on a maximum of five acres of an undeveloped 14-acre parcelin the 356-acre Huntington Beach Central Park, generally located west of theintersection of Goldenwest Street and Talbert Avenue, between the disc golfcourse and Shipley Nature Center, following City Council approval of allentitlements and environmental review?

As currently envisioned by the city council majority, a ‘yes’ vote would lock in the park sitefor a future senior center, but public hearings and city council approval are required beforeconstruction begins. By giving approval to a preliminary proposal lacking precise cost anddesign details, the public loses its right to give final approval to actual rather than conceptualpark developments that meet Section 612 criteria.

Section 612 of the City Charter reads:

No golf course, driving range, road, building over three thousands square feetin floor area nor structure costing more than $100,000 may be built on or inany park or beach or portion thereof now or hereafter owned or operated bythe City unless authorized by affirmative votes of at least a majority of the totalmembership of the City Council and by the affirmative vote of at least a majorityof the electors voting on such proposition ...

“meaningless” and to warn of possible legalliability for the city. “I just can’t believe thata court will not say that it’s [the ballotlanguage] not misleading,” she said.

Bhor, trying to understand the motivebehind Cook’s opposition, asked if therewere any conditions under which she wouldsupport putting the issue on the ballot “oris it straight out that you don’t want to loseopen space?”

“First and foremost,” Cook answered,“is that the city can’t afford this–and evenwithout any study, without figuring outwhere the money is coming from.”

Referring to the possible but as yetundetermined funding from $19 million inother developer fees, and pointing out thatthe city’s parks and recreation fund isalready tapped out, Cook said thatproponents would “spend it all in one place”rather than use it for a multitude of“desperately needed” park and

infrastructure projects throughout the city.“If we decide we can afford it after we’vestudied that, then, yes, let the citizens decideif they want it or not...”

Nothing will happen without money, ofcourse, and the senior center has had itsshare of funding problems in recent years,especially with efforts by President Bush toall but eliminate federal Community BlockDevelopment Grant funds to cities. “We’re

always struggling with how we’re going todisperse that limited money,” Cook told theOrange Coast Voice. “They’re reducing theamount of money each year.”

In fact, minutes prior to approving ballotlanguage for the senior center vote, the citycouncil voted to take $32,000 from thecity’s general fund and give it to the currentsenior center in order to make up for lostCDBG funds that are used to provide socialservices and infrastructure improvementsbenefitting lower income residents.

For Bob Detloff, co-organizer of theCommittee to Support Our Seniors, there’sno reason to worry about runaway costsassociated with the senior center proposal,lack of details in the ballot measure or takingaway funds needed for other park and cityneeds. The $23 million estimate, he toldthe council, “is padded with contingency”to be on the safe side. Giving specific cost

Pros and ConsProponents say that the city’scurrent senior center located on 17thand Orange is sorely outdated andthat a modern and much larger facilityis needed in order to meet the futureneeds of HB’s expanding and moreactive senior population. Theproposed site would be ideal for anew senior center, they argue,because it sits on city owned land,thus eliminating the need to buyproperty, and its central locationwould serve the greatest number ofseniors more efficiently. Besides, theyargue, if equestrians, frisbee throwersand dog owners can have a dedicatedpark area, why can’t seniors?http://www.soshb.com/

Opponents of the ballot measureacknowledge the need for a newsenior center, but prefer to maintainthe proposed site area as openspace. The senior center proposal istoo vague and too costly, they say,at a time when the city has over $849million in infrastructure repairs,including streets, parks, libraries,flood channels, beaches, sewers andfire stations that, if unmet, will causediminished property values and adecline in tourist revenue. A morefrugal alternative and other locationsshould be considered, they argue.http://www.savecentralpark.org/

Some Facts About theMichael E. Rodgers

Senior Center(Based on the LPA report, Center

officials, and OC Voice observation)

The goal of the Senior Center, accordingto Senior Services supervisor Randy L.Pesqueria, is “to maintain independenceas long as possible and maintain thedignity of life.”

Main building at 17th and Orangewas built in the early 1940s.

Began operating as a senior centerin 1975.

The center is 14,505 square feet,including the Senior Outreach Centerbuilt in 1992.

Most senior center users are low tomoderate income.

The Meals to the Home programprovides three meals per day to 140clients.

In 2005 about 110,000 meals weregiven to HB’s frail and elderlyresidents.

No person is turned down who needsfood. The price is $2.50 for over 60and $3.50 under 60.

The Center provides freetransportation to any HB senior toany location inside of the city, about2,700 trips each month provided bypaid and volunteer drivers.

The Center offers a myriad of social,legal, educational and recreationalservices to HB seniors.

There were over 53,000 visits to theCenter between January and July ofthis year.

The current building is overtaxed:each room gets multiple uses andare unable to adequately serve agrowing number of healthier andmore active senior visitors.

A 64 percent increase in HB’s seniorpopulation is predicted by 2020.

According to the LPA report:“Using the 1970 census figure, thelevel of service [at the RodgersCenter] was 10,531 square feet per5,000 senior population when theCenter opened. In 2005 there hasbeen 79 percent decline in the servicelevel to 2,200 square feet per 5,000.Without increases in square footage,the level of service is expected todecline to 1,354 square feet by theyear 2020.”


Proposed Senior CenterCreates Stir in HB

Voters will be asked to revise city’s Central Park Master PlanBy JOHN EARLEditor


Proposed 5 acre senior center site located directly north of disc golfcourse in Central Park.

See SENIOR CENTER, Page 6

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good job of getting the original dumperson the hook,” she says, “but the city can’tdo anything. We don’t have any authority.The state and the owners call the shots.”

Both the DTSC and Cannery Hamiltonassert, however, that this time the plans forclean up will be seen through to completion.“We are confident,” says Urashima, “thatthis site will be implemented under detailedstate orders.”

Christine Chiu, the DTSC projectmanager, concurs. “A lot of the problemhistorically” she says, referring to previousowners’ failures to cleanup the site, “wasbecause the people kept filing forbankruptcy. In this case, even if one of theresponsible parties goes bankrupt, then theothers can carry on the work.”Consideringthose on the hook bankruptcy seemsunlikely. Cannery Hamilton, whichpurchased the site in 2003, is comprised ofChevron and Conoco-Phillips; other partiesinclude Dow Chemical, Shell, and ExxonMobil. While neither the DTSC norCannery Hamilton was willing to give anestimate of the eventual cost, Urashima saysthat assessment and planning alone will bein the tens of millions. But backing out isnot likely to be an issue. “Circumstanceshave changed,” says Urashima, “Stateorders now legally mandate theremediation.”

While both parties are confident aboutthe end result, they admit that the four-and-a-half year timetable on the city’s websiteis optimistic. Assessment of the site andremedy planning require a four-stageprocess that began with a remedialinvestigation in 2004, and will end whenboth the public and the site owners havegiven input on both the cleanup alternativesand the DTSC’s Environmental Impactreport. That process alone, says GregHolmes, unit chief for the DTSC’s Cypressoffice, will take anywhere from two to threeyears. “You need to allow the publicprocess,” says Urashima, “While everyoneis anxious, it’s too important, and youdon’t want to rush it. Every stephas to be deliberate.”

The actual removal of the waste couldtake anywhere from three to six years,perhaps more, depending upon which ofthe six cleanup alternatives, ranging from ano response option to complete removal

and off site disposal, is chosen. “If theyremove a large portion of the waste, you’retalking about truckloads,” says Holmes.

Some even wonder, Cook says, whetherremoval might prove more dangerous thanjust leaving it alone. “There are people whohave expressed that to us,” says Urashima,“When you remove a lot of material, thereare trucks, there are more materials, thereare air quality issues.” She added, however,that wording of the no response alternativeis slightly misleading, as even that optionrequires the removal of at least some of thewaste. Currently, the owners are leaningtoward the fourth alternative: partial source(waste) removal with a protective cap. Ifthis option is chosen, the hazardous wastewould be removed, while leftovers likeconcrete would be mixed with other

materials and used to fill in the site. Thecap material has not been decided upon.

During the long wait, however,Urashima states that stronger measureshave been taken to secure the site. Whilethe foliage around the outside perimeter hasbeen left in place, the overgrowth inside hasbeen cleared to secure the area. Outsidefencing has also been strengthened, whilemore fences and coverings have been putup within to secure the more dangeroussubstances. The Huntington Beach policedepartment is also doing regular flyovers.“The (formal) public process will begin indue course,” she says, “We appreciate andunderstand that people are being patient.”

In the meantime Urashima encouragesinformal participation. People withquestions can visit the new Ascon websiteat http://www.ascon-hb.com or dial thehotline, at (714) 388-1833. Hopefully thecity will soon update their onlineinformation. MISSION STATEMENT

The Orange Coast Voice is an independently owned monthly newspaperpublished for the purpose of disseminating news, analysis and opinionthat allows and encourages all residents of Orange County’s coastalcities to become more involved politically, socially and economically intheir communities.

To fulfill its goals, the Orange Coast Voice will do its best to:

Report, analyze and comment on political, economic and socialissues that affect the quality of life for all persons who live,work and play in Orange County’s coastal communities;

Provide a forum wherein ideas and opinions can be freely andhonestly expressed so that Orange Coast Voice readers maybetter understand the perspectives of others and themselves;

Acknowledge those persons, groups and organizations whosework, actions and achievements deserve commendation andrecognition and;

Increase awareness, appreciation and respect for the richcultural and ethnic diversity of our coastal communities.

These goals will be achieved by:

Providing readers with editorial content that raises the localstandard of journalism to a higher level;

Providing advertisers with the most effective means possiblefor communicating their message to potential clients and inorder to increase their sales and;

Providing readers and advertisers with a newspaper that iswell designed and visually attractive.


Poseidon’s request to build another 50million gallon capacity desalination plantnext to the antiquated AES power plant onthe corner of Newland Avenue and PacificCoast Highway—in the vicinity of theAscon toxic waste dump, also in the city’ssoutheast section. Poseidon plans to use theAES seawater intake and outtake coolingsystem which, according a California En-ergy Commission report, kills every formof marine life that passes through it, a totalof hundreds of millions of individual or-ganisms of various species every year.

Poseidon Inc., a multi-national corpo-ration that specializes in building privatelyowned water treatment facilities, but whoseonly other attempt at building a major de-salination plant, in Tampa, Florida, endedin technical failure, multiple bankruptciesand huge cost overruns for ratepayers, mar-keted the proposed plant as an answer topotential state and local water shortages.

The current HB city council majority(Hansen, Bhor, Green and Coerper) boughtthat argument, but not MWDOC, whichcalled Poseidon’s claims “misleading, incor-rect, and self-serving” and added that cur-rent plans by public water agencies “assure

an adequate water supply well into thefuture.”

Huntington Beach residents formedResidents For Responsible Desalination(R4RD) in order to oppose Poseidon’sproject and were joined by local and state-wide environmentalist groups. R4RDmembers claimed that the project Environ-mental Impact Report ignored or inad-equately considered key environmental is-sues and that the plant would add to neigh-borhood blight already caused by the AESplant and the Ascon toxic waste dump.TheCoastal Commission has agreed to hear anappeal of the city council’s approval as soonas October.

Critics also question whether Poseidon’sHB plant will ever be built, regardless ofhow the Coastal Commission rules, becauseof rising fuel and related electrical costs anda lack of buyers for the expensive water—as much as $2,000 per acre-foot—it wouldproduce.

A more efficient solution to potentialwater shortages than desalination may comefrom OCWD’s plan to bring its groundwater replenishment system on line nextyear. This system will divert highly treatedsewer water currently discharged into theocean into the groundwater basin. OCWDclaims that the addition will actually im-prove the overall quality of the groundwa-ter basin by lowering its mineral content.

John Earl also contributed to this article.

PoseidonFrom Page 2

The actual removalof the waste could

take anywhere fromthree to six years,perhaps more ...

Ascon DumpFrom Page 1

Previous owners’ failed to clean the site

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Featured book: Times Atlas of theWorld, 8th ed. New York:Random House, Inc., 1990.

Iwas recently hanging out inthe Costa Mesa Library whenI came across the “Times At-

las of the World.”This high-profile, physically

large book is hard to miss. Librar-ians prominently display it in theReference Section, the entranceinto the shelves through which allreaders must pass.

The ancient art of cartographyhas guided travelers and capti-vated seekers of knowledge sincethe earliest of times. This color-ful collection of maps is noexception.

While appreciating the sublimecontours of our continent, I wasstruck by the surreal geographyof Newport Beach CouncilmanRichard Nichols. Nichols gainednotoriety in June of 2003 by pub-licly declaring his contempt forMexicans on Corona Del MarState Beach, in hospitals, and inother public places.

Contemplating NorthAmerica, my gaze shifted left tothe southern California coastline,which Nichols feels is presently

invaded and occupied by Mexicans.Then, my gaze shifted right to

the State of Indiana, whereNichols was born and raised. Iwas then able to arrive at somerough calculations based on theAtlas’ scales.

As the crow flies, the Tijuanaborder lies about 100 miles southof Newport Beach. Meanwhile,land-locked Indiana is about1,800 miles northeast

of Newport Beach.Of course, Nichols does not

distinguish between people bornin the U.S. and people born in theRepublic of México, nor does heacknowledge that California hashistorically been part of México,and – of course – inhabited by thedreaded Mexicans.

Apparently, Nichols immi-grated 1,800 miles to southernCalifornia only to find that it was

Hanging out in the library with Scottie DawgCheck it out!

inhabited by people whom hedespised. As a councilman, he hasspoken out against the presenceof these undesirables.

I am no stranger to Indiana;in fact, I myself am a second gen-eration “Hoosier.” Bigots likeNichols give Indiana a bad name.

But I can’t so hastily giveNichols all the credit or the blamefor Indiana’s reputation. For ex-ample, it’s the only state I’ve trav-eled through where you can buyKu Klux Klan flags from streetvendors, along the 37 Highway,for instance.

The typical account of the CivilRights Movement in rural Indi-ana is: “We never had muchtrouble with the colored people.They always left town before thecurfew.”

The largest monument in thecapital, Indianapolis, commemo-rates the Indiana militiamen whovolunteered to fight in the Mexi-can American War. (Someoneshould tell Nichols it ended in1848.)

Perhaps due to his environ-ment, it should be no surprise thatNichols moved to California, al-ready molded as a vocal and un-repentant racist.

Councilman Nichols was re-cently welcomed as the “honoredguest” of Costa Mesa MayorAllan Mansoor during hispolitical fundraiser.

Mansoor, a member of the vigi-lante hate group “the Minute-men,” has taken common causewith Nichols, although usingsomewhat more cryptic language.Mansoor’s policies perhaps speakmore loudly. He voted to grantlocal Costa Mesa police officersfederal immigration powers, close


Scottie Dawg says rap on down to your local publiclibrary and read.

Costa Mesa’s Job Center, shutdown the Human RelationsCommission, and approve aknown white supremacist withneo-Nazi ties to a citizen’s board.

Mansoor has also squelchedfree speech by having a CostaMesa resident arrested whilespeaking during Public Commentin the Jan. 3rd, 2006 City Councilmeeting. Also a deputy sheriff,Mansoor cited his lawenforcement training in justifyingthe arrest in the Jan. 17th, 2006Council meeting.

Mansoor sternly emphasized inthe Aug. 15th, 2006 Councilmeeting the need to remove the“welcome mats,” such asaffordable housing and jobcenters, to undesirables in CostaMesa. I hope he doesn’t considerthe public libraries to be thewrong kind of welcome mats.

I would like to remindMansoor and Nichols that theyare both definitely welcome tocheck out their local libraries.

The theory is simple:ignorance breeds fear, and fearbreeds hate and intolerance.

Hopefully, through education,we can reach out to these bordervigilantes and old-school racists inorder to build a world where weall fit.

Editor’s note: Scottie Dawg likesto go to the library to sniff out longforgotten books that we can all learnfrom. If you know of an underappreciated book hiding out at oneof our local libraries, shivering on adusty shelf for fear of deportation tothe ten cent book bin, tell ScottieDawg about it and he mightfeature it in a future column andenlighten us.


By SCOTTIE DAWGGuest Columnist

and construction figures would bemisleading, he said, “possiblyskewing the vote.” Details shouldbe developed by city contractors,he said, and “exuberant architectsand runaway costs” held back bythe checks and balances of citygovernment.

As for taking away universallyneeded but scarce city funds,Detloff says it’s up to city servicesto figure out how to spread themoney. It’s a job they do well, hetold the Orange Coast Voice. “Theyare doing that, whatever theopposition says.”

For Hansen, the core questionis “do we build in the park or dowe not build in the park.”Councilmember Jilly Hardy

already gave her answer to thatquestion at the July 3rd city councilmeeting: “When it comes topaving Central Park, it just goesagainst what the whole purposeof the park was from thebeginning.”

Whatever the outcome onNovember 7, and pendingpossible legal action, HB residentswill not have the ultimate powerof approval over parkdevelopment that many originalsupporters of the Save Our Parksinitiative envisioned.

How they voted: Yes: Hansen, Bhor, Green,

Coerper, Sullivan No: Hardy, Cook

Senior CenterFrom Page 4

Q. I have worked for the sameemployer for more than a year nowand have an excellent performancerecord. Do I have the right toreceive paid sick days, holidays orvacations?

A. There is no law that requiresemployers to pay sick days, holidaysor vacations.

It is true that the Family MedicalLeave Act gives workers the rightto 12 weeks leave without payafter having a baby or to care fora child, spouse, a parent oryourself for serious illness. Thisstate and federal law requires

employers to return you to yoursame job and benefits when youreturn to work after an approvedfamily medical leave. Employershave to offer a minimum of 4months leave for pregnantwomen. This pregnancy leave canbe taken when necessary, before ofafter birth. The employer mustreturn the worker to her job shedid before the pregnancy leave. Inaddition, pregnant workers mustreceive whatever other benefits theemployer offers to other disabledworkers. If you are injured andsick from work so that you can notperform your regular job, your

boss or the company’s insurancemust pay part of your wage,medical costs and sometimestraining for another type of job.This is called WorkerCompensation. If you are injuredor ill on the job, tell your bossimmediately. If your boss does nottell you about WorkerCompensation, you should immediately contact a lawyer orworker compensation officenearest you. If you do not havework documents, you can stillreceive all benefits except fortraining for another type of job.If you are injured or sick because

Labor Notes: Do employees have the right toreceive paid sick days, holidays or vacations?

of something away from work andcannot return to work you canreceive State Disability Insurance(SDI) that you pay for as part ofyour wage deductions. To qualifyyou need:* To be employed in a job whenyou are hurt that is part of SDI.* To have earned at least a salaryof $300 during the past year.* To have obtained a medicalcertificate saying that you can notwork.

Undocumented workers canreceive benefits. The benefits last

for 1 year, but you must applywithin 40 days of when you werenot able to work. To obtaininformation about the amount ofmoney benefit, you must talk tothe SDI office nearest to you.

Information you need to knowprovided by the UnitedElectrical, Radio and MachineWorkers of America, ademocratic national unionrepresenting some 35,000workers in a wide variety ofmanufacturing, public sectorand private non-profit sectorjobs. www.ranknfile-ue.org/

What do youthink of us?

The Orange Coast Voice wants to know what you think aboutour first issue. If you have any suggestions, comments, orcriticisms, feel free to drop us a line!



drive away in Costa Mesa?World Class in Costa MesaThe OCPAC opened in September of

1986, and has, from the first, been a strongplayer in the performing arts center venuescene (also being somewhat unique inbeing totally fiscally stable and that it isfunded only by corporate and privatedonations, without any governmentalmonetary help), and the addition of its newacoustically built hall and theater will makeit only more commendable.

The new hall, named for HenrySegerstrom and his late wife Renée, is builton land (as is much of the OCPAC), whichwas donated by the Segerstrom family. InAugust 2000 the family then donated, whatwas the largest charitable cash gift in thehistory of Orange County, $40 million tothe center’s capital campaign. The SamueliTheater is named in recognition of a $10million gift to the center from the HenrySamueli Family.

Groundbreaking for the new arts centerand performances spaces was on Feb. 6,2003. And while some additional acousticequilibration may be necessary (the designsof the halls were done to make the space as“acoustically perfect” as possible) thegeneral consensus is that the buildings willbe ready to open to the public on Sept. 15.

“This is going to be the Stradivarius ofconcert halls!” said Cesar Pelli, the majorarchitectural designer of the buildings, ina press concert. He may very well be correctif all the expectations of beauty of form andfunction (appearance, and acoustical

purity) come to fruition. Pelli, of PelliClarke Pelli Architects, is a world-famousdesigner and architect that has worked onbuildings throughout the world and has aparticular affinity for performing artscomplexes, including ones in KualaLumpur, Malaysia; Charlotte, NorthCarolina; Cincinnati, Ohio; and even theMiami Performing Arts Center, in MiamiFlorida, which will open this fall as well. Alocal example of his work is also the PlazaTower in Costa Mesa.

Russell Johnson, with his company,Artec, is the acoustical designer; PeterWalker and Partners are the landscapearchitects; and Fluor is the design-buildgeneral contractor of the project.

Acoustical ScienceA fascinating, and impressive, part of

the hall’s design, includes acoustic joints

and floating isolators used to separate thenoise of machinery, such as air conditioningand heating equipment, from theperformance area. This avoids anyvibration or sound interference duringperformances. This has been done in manyother newer concert halls with muchsuccess. The better the acoustics the moreperformers can concentrate on their artistryand less on compensating for theidiosyncrasies of a performance space.

The Renée and Henry SegerstromConcert Hall will be able to seat 2,000;and the Samueli Theater will seat 500. Arestaurant, named Leatherby’s Café Rouge,named after Ralph Leatherby for a $5million donation by the Leatherby FamilyFoundation in 2002, will open on Sept.23 at the center. It will be able to seat 130diners. The new complex also includes a

includes an education center which willcontinue the OCPAC’s numerouscommunity outreach programs, nine at lastcount, that provides access to theperforming arts and artists to elementary,high school, university students; andfamilies.

Six Weeks of GalaSix weeks of events. Too many to list

here (see the OC Voice’s calendar sectionfor a more complete listing) but rangingfrom symphony, jazz, musicals, rock andopera. Wagner’s complete Ring Cycle isparticularly impressive, presented as partof the “Mariinsky Festival” Oct. Oct. 6, 7,9, and 11; with the North Americanpremiere by the Kirov Opera, with PlácidoDomingo playing Siegmund in “DieWalküre” to boot! The world of the arts iscloser than many think.

Tickets for “Celebration 2006” eventsmay be purchased at the center’s box office,600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa;online at www.ocpac.org; or by phone at(714) 556-2787. The TTY number is(714) 556-2746. For more informationabout these or any other events, please call(714) 556- 2787.

MUSICALS

“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”7:30 p.m. Tuesdays throughFridays; 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.Saturdays; and 1 p.m. and6:30 p.m. Sundays, Aug. 29through Sept. 10. AtSegerstrom Concert Hall,Orange County PerformingArts Center, 600 Town CenterDrive, Costa Mesa. Cost: $22to $72. Contact: (714) 556-2787 or www.ocpac.org

CONCERTS

“Inspirations”, OpeningNight Gala Concert

Presented by the OrangeCounty Performing ArtsCenter and the PacificSymphony; 7 p.m., Friday,Sept. 15; at SegerstromConcert Hall, Orange CountyPerforming Arts Center, 600Town Center Drive, CostaMesa. Orange County’s PacificSymphony inaugurates theirnew home. Program includesPlácido Domingo performingthe world premiere of a songcycle by composer WilliamBolcom on texts by Spanishpoet Federico García Lorca,commissioned by Carl St.Clair and Pacific Symphony.Cost: call for prices. Contact:(714) 556-2787 orwww.ocpac.org.

“Reverberations”Presented by the OrangeCounty Performing ArtsCenter and the PacificSymphony; 7 p.m., Saturday,Sept. 16; at SegerstromConcert Hall, Orange CountyPerforming Arts Center, 600Town Center Drive, CostaMesa. The Pacific Symphonyand Pacific Chorale perform

Orange Coast Voiceentertain-ment writer David L.M. Preston has been workingas a professional andfreelance journalist since1997. His experience in thenewspaper media business iseclectic, having spent timeas: an editorial assistant,copyeditor, page-layout

designer, weekend court and police reporter, web-site editor, features reporter, music critic andfreelance writer and critic. Preston’s undergraduateeducation was at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa;and earned his MA in Journalism from New YorkUniversity, New York City, in January 2000. He haslived in California since 2003 and moved to OrangeCounty in January ofthis year.

a world premiere by PhilipGlass titled The Passion ofRamakrishna. For the secondpart of the evening, they willbe joined by violin superstarMidori in Beethoven’sConcerto for Violin andOrchestra in D major, Op. 61.Cost: call for prices. Contact:(714) 556-2787 orwww.ocpac.org.

The Magic of MozartPresented by PhilharmonicSociety of Orange County; 7p.m., Sunday, Sept. 17; atSegerstrom Concert Hall,Orange County PerformingArts Center, 600 Town CenterDrive, Costa Mesa. TheMozarteum Orchestra ofSalzburg. Conducted by IvorBolton, the orchestracelebrates the 250thanniversary of WolfgangAmadeus Mozart’s birth.Pianists Louis Lortie andAngela Hewitt will performMozart’s Concerto for TwoPianos and soprano MojcaErdmann makes her NorthAmerican debut. Cost: $100-$175, box seats $250.Contact: (714) 556-2787 orwww.ocpac.org.

Symphonic Jazz: TheRussian Connection

Presented by the PacificSymphony; 8 p.m., Thursday,Sept. 21; 8 p.m., Saturday,Sept. 23; and 7:30 p.m.,Sunday, Sept. 24; atSegerstrom Concert Hall,Orange County PerformingArts Center, 600 Town CenterDrive, Costa Mesa. Carl St.Clair leads the PacificSymphony in a program thathighlights the jazz connectionbetween American andRussian music. The programwill include Stravinsky ’sConcerto for Piano andWinds and Gershwin’s

“Rhapsody in Blue” for Pianoand Orchestra. Cost: $22-$85, box seats $150.Contact: (714) 556-2787 orwww.ocpac.org.

Takács String QuartetPresented by the OrangeCounty Performing ArtsCenter; 8 p.m., Friday, Sept.29, at the Segerstrom Centerfor the Arts, Orange CountyPerforming Arts Center, 600Town Center Drive, CostaMesa. Cost: $65. Contact:(714 556-2787 orwww.ocpac.org.

FESTIVALS

Community Arts FestivalPresented by the Orange

SEPTEMBER CALENDAR

County Performing ArtsCenter; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.,Sunday, Sept. 24, at theSegerstrom Center for theArts, Orange CountyPerforming Arts Center, 600Town Center Drive, CostaMesa. The public is invited tocelebrate the opening ofSegerstrom Center for theArts as well as the 20thanniversary of the OrangeCounty Performing ArtsCenter. The community eventwill feature tours, music,dance and theatreperformances, art activitiesand refreshments. Cost:Free. Contact: (714) 556-2787 or www.ocpac.org.

Persian Harvest Festival:Mehregen

At the Orange County Fair

& Expo Center; call for time;Saturday, Sept. 9 andSunday, Sept. 10; atCampground Arlington Fieldand Tent #8, 2701 FairviewRoad, Costa Mesa. Contact:(714) 740-2000.

POPULAR MUSIC

Tony BennettPresented by the OrangeCounty Performing ArtsCenter; 7:30 p.m., Friday,Sept. 29, at the SegerstromConcert Hall, Orange CountyPerforming Arts Center, 600Town Center Drive, CostaMesa. Cost: $64 to $106,$300 ticket includes orchestraseat and dinner. Contact:(714) 556-2787 orwww.ocpac.org.

Open Mic for BandsAt The Brigg; 9 p.m. onSundays, Sept. 3, Sept. 10,Sept. 17 and Sept. 24; at17208 Pacific Coast Hwy,Huntington Beach. Contact:(562) 592-2200.

Acoustic MondaysAt Gallagher’s Pub & Grill;9:30 p.m. Mondays,Sept. 11, Sept. 18 and Sept.25; 113 Walnut Ave.,Huntington Beach. Acousticmusic. Cost: Free. Contact:(714) 536-2422.

DJ’S

DJital.At Aire at the Camp;8:30 p.m. on Saturdays, Sept.16, Sept. 23 and Sept. 30, at2937 Bristol St., Costa Mesa.DJ spinning trip-hop/soul.Cost: Free. Contact: (714)751-7099.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF ORANGE COUNTY PERFORMING ARTS COUNCIL

Carl St. Clair leads Pacific Symphony Orchestra in Costa Mesa.

AcousticalSilenceFrom Page 1

DJ WhiteyAt Club Krump at theMemphis Soul Café; call fortime; Saturday, Sept. 16, at2920 Bristol St., Costa Mesa.Hip-hop dance party.Contact: (714) 432-7685.

DJ Brayks and DJ BeejAt Vegas Nightclub; 9 p.m. onSaturdays, Sept. 16, Sept. 23and Sept. 30; at 1901Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa.Top 40, hip-hop and ‘80sjams. Contact: (949)548-9500.

DANCE

West Coast SwingAt The Shark Club; 7 p.m.Wednesdays, Sept. 13, Sept.20 and Sept. 27; at 841 BakerSt., Costa Mesa. SwingDancing. Contact: (714)751-6428.

MISCELLANEOUS

Walk for the AnimalsAt Huntington Park CentralEast; 9 a.m., Sun, Sept. 17; atGoldenwest St., HuntingtonBeach. Fundraising walk tobenefit Orange County Societyfor the Prevention of Cruelty toAnimals. Cost: $20-25.

Hot-Rod Show: “Cruisin’for a Cure”

At the Orange County Fair &Expo Center; 7 a.m. to 5:30p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23; at 88Fair Drive, Costa Mesa.Largest one-day hot rod showin the nation. Benefits UCLA’sJonsson ComprehensiveCancer Center. Free prostatecancer screenings. Cost: $12;free for children younger than12. Contact: (714) 803-9216or www.cruisinforacure.com.

The Orange Coast Voice welcomessubmissions for its entertainment calendarand tips on potential story ideas. Pleaselimit suggestions to events taking place inHuntington Beach or Costa Mesa andprovide the basic “who, what, where, andhow much” information, and a contactphone number.

Not all qualified submissions, unfortunately,will be published, but as the paper expandsso will entertainment coverage. All calendarnotices are presented at the editors’ andentertainment writers’ prerogative andreflects no overt or implied endorsementof said event.

Presently please make all submissions [email protected], to the attention ofDavid. Contact address and phonenumbers will be available in forthcomingVoice issues.


I N T E R V I E W

D ebbie Cook is an environmentalattorney serving out her secondterm as a member of the Hunting-

ton Beach City Council. She has served onthe Orange County Sanitation District, Or-ange County Harbors, Beaches and ParksCommission and the State DesalinationTask Force, in addition to many otherregional governing bodies, and is widelyrecognized as an expert on energy andwater issues. In addition to speaking togovernment officials and holding publicseminars, she has established a web site athttp://web.mac.com/energyinfo in order to“educate the public, policy makers, andelected officials about the world’s energychallenges ahead.” Besides lecturing others,Cook practices what she preaches by ridingan electric bicycle around town instead of acar whenever possible. On August 3rd

Orange Coast Voice interviewed Cook at hersolar powered home, which has a backyardfull of water conserving native plants in-stead of grass, about the world-wide con-sequences of indulging in fossil fuel and de-nying the need to change ourself-destructive life style.Explain your theory of peak oil.Peak oil is not a theory. Oil fields peak, re-gions peak, states peak, countries peak.Eventually the world will meet the maxi-mum amount of oil that it can produce.When will peak oil occur?Geologists who realize that this is an issuebelieve we are there or it’s within the nextcouple of years. The official agencies,though, put it out to 20, 30 years. It’s re-ally irrelevant because it takes so much timeto prepare for the eventual decline in oilproduction because once you hit the peakit’s all down hill from there. In fact, con-ventional oil already has peaked inproduction.What’s the difference between conventionaloil and unconventional oil?Conventional oil is the typical oil. You drilla well and you pull oil out. Unconventionalis tar sands, shale oil and some of thosethings that were always thought to beuneconomical.Supposedly there’s an eternal supply of shaleoil in Canada.It all goes back to the rate of production.There’s gold in the ocean.You could alwaysextract it, but it’s going to be difficult totake gold out of the seawater, very expen-sive. Oil shale and tar sands take so muchenergy to extract and they can be sodifficult to access that you will never use it.Why should we be worried about peak oil inHuntington Beach or Costa Mesa?Anywhere in the world? Because our livesare so energy intensive. Everything wetouch has oil in it whether it’s our food,clothing or transportation. What kind ofsociety do you have once you keep askingfor more energy but you don’t get more?The United States has five percent of theworld’s population but uses 25 percent of theenergy resources. It’s not just population, it’sour life style, isn’t it?Oh, yeah, but this is not an American prob-lem, this is a world problem because oilknows no boundaries. If Iran says “We’renot going to sell you oil,” we go somewhere

HB Councilmember confronts peak oil & global denialDEBBIE COOK

else and somebody else buys Iran’s oil. Thiswhole notion of being independent or get-ting off of Middle East oil is absurd.What do we have to do to stop thedependence on energy from oil?We’re going to have to do a lot of conser-vation and a lot of efficiency.What are some efficiencies that we could do?Obviously, vehicles don’t have to get 11miles per gallon. People don’t have to driveHummers. You can make your buildingsso energy efficient thatthey’re basically neutral,just like my house. I don’thave an electricity bill be-cause my solar panels gen-erate as much as I need forthe year. Switching lightbulbs off, all of thosethings.Mass transit uses up a lotof energy too, doesn’t it?I think most of the citiesthat are looking into thisare looking into electrify-ing everything....There’s going to be a lotof nuclear, whether people like it or not.Obviously, that’s not sustainable in the longterm either. But at least when you are elec-trified it gives you the option of using re-newable energies, like wind, solar and oceanwaves. Electrifying is probably going to bethe best solution.All of our housing is based on the use of theautomobile–the invention of the suburbs.People just have to learn how to live morelocally. Back in World War II everybody wasgrowing a lot more foods locally. They hadtheir victory gardens. They were collectingscrap metals. The car companies didn’t evenmanufacture cars during World War II. But

By JOHN EARLEditor


there needs to be leadership that explainswhy the most patriotic thing that anyonecan do right now is to reduce their con-sumption of fossil fuels.What’s going to happen in HuntingtonBeach in 60 years if we don’t change?I think that in 60 years we will have workedout a lot of the problems. Hopefully, wewill have figured out that we can’t keepgrowing, that there are limits to growth.But the crucial time is not 60 years fromnow. The crucial time is this next ten years.

But people aren’t going tobe concerned in the nextten years if they don’t –I believe they will be. Idon’t believe that we haveten years. There are na-tions right now that arenot able to get the energythat they want. Just twoweeks ago there was a re-port that Taiwan is desper-ate for liquefied naturalgas and they can’t find any-body to sell it to them.

What’s being done in Huntington Beachto save energy?We have contracted for an energy audit ofall our facilities. As monies become avail-able we can go after those buildings thatare the most energy inefficient. Our build-ing and safety directors just purchased anumber of hybrid vehicles. Will we be pre-pared? I don’t think anyone is going to beprepared adequately for the kinds of energyproblems that we’re facing.What can Huntington Beach realisticallydo in a relatively short time?We can update our building codes to makeit as easy as possible for people to dorenewable [energy] projects and require that

all new homes are solar ready or actuallyinclude solar panels.There are conflicting numbers with peak oiland global warming. How do you knowwhat’s accurate?You actually have to put in the time to learnit. I can give you one example and that’sthe oil situation. Whereas the official num-bers include reserves that are inflated andthey’re a lie. They [OPEC countries] justdid it [in the 80s] because...the morereserves you had, the more you wereallowed to produce.What can be done to get environmentalistsand labor to work together more and see thattheir interests are linked?My mom always used to say you have toreach the teachable moment. And thesepeople have not reached the teachable mo-ment. Certainly [not] in the labor side. I’msorry, but I believe that they are much moreignorant than the environmental side.The vast majority of the people in this worldare ignorant of what’s going on.And when you tell them they don’t care.People are selfish and self-centered.Okay.A lot of them aren’t, but ... I don’t know asan individual what I can do. I don’t own aTV station.Looking not just at the individual.Obviously, we need stronger leadership inthis country to educate the people. But youhave to understand the problem before youcan solve it and there are not enough peoplewho understand the problems.How are we going to create a sustainableworld? I don’t think we will. I readCollapse. What was the guy thinking whenhe chopped down the last tree on EasterIsland?What would you be thinking? There’s an-other tree around the other side of the is-land, technology will save us?It’s like with oil. [People think] it’s not ourproblem; we’re not going to have to dealwith it in my lifetime, that’s our kid’sproblem.What kind of mentality thinks that way?It’s definitely a genetic defect.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF DEBBIE COOK

‘[T]he mostpatriotic thing

that anyone cando right now isto reduce theirconsumption of

fossil fuels.’

Oil Facts:* World-wide oil consumption is 80 millionbarrels per day.

* The USA consumes 21 million barrels of oil aday, or 26 percent of the world total. The nexthighest consumer of oil is China at 6.5 millionbarrels a day.

* The USA imports 12.1 million barrels of oileach day, more than any other country. China,ranked third at 2.9 million barrels of oil a day.

— Energy Information Agency

Natural Gas Facts:* U.S. supply is not likely to growmeaningfully over the remainder of thedecade in our view.

* The limited ability to increase drillingactivity, lack of attractive drilling prospects, andaccelerating decline rates highlight the prob-ability of future domestic production declines.

* Canadian imports reversed trend and are nowdeclining, a significant change from the 10%average annual growth experiencedduring the 1990s.

— Simmons & Company, Energy Industry Research Report, January 18, 2005

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THE ORANGE COAST VOICE · new primo-quality makeover, it’s time to celebrate! The Orange County Performing Arts Center is going to hold such a party, one that is made up of six