‘I hereby resolve to ...’

We shouldn’t be surprised.

If you’re Misty May-Treanor and you’ve already won more beach volleyball tournaments than any other woman and you’ve got two gold medals to boot, it’s safe to assume she’s driven.

So what do you do when you’re taking time off and healing a ruptured Achilles tendon? Oh, I don’t know. How about start a foundation, go back to school to earn a master’s degree, have a child... Yep, the Newport Harbor High graduate’s got all that on the 2009 agenda and more.

“The reason we wanted to start our own foundation is to better know where the money’s going,” said May-Treanor, the “we” referring to her husband, Detroit Tigers catcher Matt Treanor. The couple likes to generate money for charity, but sometimes it’s a mystery where it all goes, but a foundation could help them have more control over how it is spent, she said.

What causes might benefit from the Treanors’ fundraising?

“I work closely with the Special Olympics and I want to help with education and the disabled. I also want to help animals so there isn’t just one cause that we’re after,” she said.

As for starting a family, we’re all pulling for another generation of beach volleyball and baseball players.

We also checked in with several other notable Newport-Mesa figures to see what they resolve to do in 2009 and got a variety of fun insights.

Rep. John Campbell was the one leader who’s taking a pass on resolutions. Why? As he explained last year, he never manages to keep them, so why bother? We know the feeling.

“Let’s see now — do you want the ‘canned’ version? You know, work for world peace, lose weight, exercise more, er, a little, etc....

Or, do you want the real one?

I have lots of resolutions, some of which are mentioned above. Near the top of list of resolutions is:

In 2009 I will continue to be observant of municipal issues and continue to write about them to, hopefully, influence more people to be aware of things that affect their lives and encourage them to become active participants in the process of governing our city.”

Geoff West

Costa Mesa blogger

“My quest to lose 50 pounds is not finished. I have lost 40 so far.”

Scott Baugh

Orange County GOP chairman

“Tell my wife I love her more frequently, encourage my daughters more often, read more books, and walk the dog regularly.”

Assemblyman Chuck DeVore

“Well, I’d like to resolve to end our country’s economic woes, but I guess that’s a little too ambitious. I’ll settle for resolving to lower my golf handicap into single digits.”

Hal Landon Jr.

South Coast Repertory founding artist, best known annually as Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol.”

“I, Wendy Leece, resolve in 2009 to talk less and listen more, and to finish reading two books:

Margaret Thatcher’s ‘The Path to Power’ and Doris Kearns Goodwin’s ‘Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.’

So be it!”

Wendy Leece

Costa Mesa City Councilwoman

“I have been learning to play golf for the past four years and I have never broken 100. I resolve to hit straight, putt great and score 99 or better in 2009.”

State Sen. Tom Harman

“I resolve to pray and read more (including the Daily Pilot!) in 2009.”

Reverend Monsignor Lawrence J. Baird

Pastor, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church

Administrator, St. John Vianney Church

“Work out more, eat less, and control my obsession to constantly polish the chrome on my motorcycles.”

Ed Selich

Newport Beach Mayor

“In these times of economic uncertainty, I resolve to keep my eyes firmly focused upon the art.”

David Emmes

Producing artistic director, South Coast Repertory

“I resolve to gather my rosebuds whilst I may.”

Martin Benson

Artistic director, South Coast Repertory

“We’ve set the GPS on the Anteater Express and resolve that it will lead us all the way to Omaha.”

Mike Gillespie

UCI baseball coach

“I’ve got a lot of them, but I mostly intend to take Irrelevant Week out of just the mom-and-pop stage and make it a national celebration of the underdog... We intend to spend ’09 getting it more organized and maybe even paying some people to work for us. Oh, and to do everything I can to stay healthy.”

Paul Salata

Irrelevant Week founder

“If you pray or not you have to pray for the new president and for our country. Even thought I didn’t vote for the man, I wish him the best of luck because that’s good for all of us. We’ve got to get this country back on track and drop all of that partisan B.S. And for all of my friends I hope for health and happiness — and the same even for my ‘few’ enemies.”

Dan Marcheano

Arches restaurant owner

“I work 13-hour days so the projects at home just pile up. The to-do list gets longer and longer so my goal is to get more at-home time with the family... So I’m just trying to modify my time management so I can get a little bit more of the personal things done... I’ve been doing it since October and it’s already having a good impact so I want to keep it going.”

John Moorlach

Orange County Board Supervisor