MAILBAG:

When I read of the passing of Phil Arst (“‘He was a warrior,’” July 4), it was yet another sober reminder that as we grow older we find ourselves losing more of the people and things we love quicker than we gain them.

Phil was a treasure to the city of Newport Beach, and his friends and family.

You may not have always agreed with him, but you had to admire his tenacity and courage to stand up for what he felt was right.

He was the epitome of the old adage “stand up and be counted.”

He was always polite, always unassuming, but once he got his teeth in an issue he was a fierce warrior, committed to his principle and his convictions.

I was fortunate to sit with Phil on the Airport Working Group board of directors, but never really got to know him until I seriously considered a run at the City Council and he took me under his wing.

It was then that I truly had the opportunity to get to know him and really see, firsthand, both his intellect and political savvy.

I found myself impressed by this “senior” citizen, who would walk, talk, eat and breathe, 24/7, issues that impacted the community he lived in.

When it was election time, for every hour I put in campaigning, Phil put in 10. It was amazing to watch this man, nearly 30 years my senior, show more drive, more energy and yes, more initiative, than the very candidate he was trying to get elected.

Few know that during one critical election cycle, Phil was undergoing chemotherapy on a weekly basis, yet he never wavered from walking precincts, collecting signatures, debating the opposition, or standing up at the dais at council meetings to argue a point.

Those of us who were working with him could see how ill and weak he appeared, yet he would never waiver.

Clearly there were and are those who found him, at times, too strident or direct.

I was not in that minority however. As a litigator and a former Airport Working Group member, I was schooled for years in Barbara Lichman’s philosophy that to get anything done, you have to live by the mantra of, “It’s better to go ahead and do something now and later ask forgiveness, if necessary, than beg permission before hand.”

Phil took that principle and ran with it.

While not everyone agreed with Phil, no one, who was truly honest, could deny his passion and sincerity.

He was a true gentleman, a mentor and an inspiration, and he will be sorely missed by all in our community, whether one agreed with him or not.

With Phil it was always about doing something for others.

It was never, never about him.

RICK TAYLOR

Newport Beach