Costa Mesa mayor’s dinner set for May 8

The second annual Costa Mesa mayor’s dinner will take place May 8 at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

The event, dubbed “Celebrating the Art of Leadership,” will be held in the center’s Samueli Theatre beginning at 5:30 p.m.

This year’s honorees are Costa Mesa’s first female mayor, Norma Hertzog, and the co-founders of South Coast Repertory, David Emmes and Martin Benson.

The founders of South Coast Collection, Scott Burnham and Bryon Ward, are slated to receive the Art of Leadership Award.

Hertzog was first elected to the City Council in 1974. In 1986, she left office after three terms to run her preschool.

Money raised through the $125 tickets will benefit arts programs at Costa Mesa and Estancia high schools, the Segerstrom Center and South Coast Repertory. More than 200 guests are expected to attend the mayor’s dinner, which will also feature live entertainment by Mesa music students and displayed artwork from Mesa and Estancia.

For more information or sponsorship opportunities, visit https://www.artofleadershipcelebration.com, or call Diane Pritchett at (714) 435-2109 or Ed Fawcett at (714) 885-9090.

At the inaugural dinner last April, Mayor Jim Righeimer honored former Mayor Jack Hammett, a World War II veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor, and the Segerstrom family, founders of South Coast Plaza. The event raised $31,500 for local arts programming and featured an original song about Costa Mesa by Dan Krikorian.

— Bradley Zint

Twitter: @bradleyzint