HomeMy WebLinkAbout05 - Formation of Ad Hoc Committee on Election Reform - CorrespondenceReceived After Agenda Printed
April 9, 2019
Mulvey, Jennifer Item No. 5
Subject: FW: Letter sent to local media
From: jenmcdl0@aol.com <jenmcdl0@aol.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 9, 2019 10:19 AM
To: Dept - City Council<CityCouncil@newportbeachca.gov>
Subject: Letter sent to local media
Good morning,
Please see below a letter signed by 50 residents that will appear in StuNews today.
Copies have also been sent to other local news media as background information.
Thank you, Jennifer McDonald
We are shocked that Mayor Diane Dixon plans to create an election reform committee and appoint
two fellow Team Newport council members to it but not Jeff Herdman. Campaign finance reform was
part of the platform that got Councilman Herdman elected. He was on the original committee formed
in 2017 (which never met), and he's the one who asked for it to be reinstated.
It was also Herdman who called out the 44 campaign finance violations that appear to have been
committed in 2014 by Team Newport members Dixon, Duffy, Peotter and Muldoon, and their
campaign consultant and treasurer. They are currently negotiating a settlement with the FPPC.
Will O'Neill and Brad Avery are from the second wave of Team Newport and use the same consultant
and treasurer. They've been appointed to oversee campaign finance reform despite these ties, and
even though they have never, to our knowledge, expressed any interest in the issue. Why doesn't one
of them step aside and give his seat to Herdman, who's been talking to the community about this
since 2014?
The real concern for us is that Team Newport controls five of seven council seats (it was six until Joy
Brenner beat Peotter last year) and can use that majority to deny those who have challenged them
the chance to serve on committees that will impact future elections. This campaign finance reform
committee is only one example. They can also keep passing the mayor and mayor pro tem titles
around amongst themselves, which is what they've been doing since 2015. This gives them great
power over the agenda as well as commissions and committees. If this game of musical chairs
doesn't stop, longterm residents who want to serve on the council merely to give back to the
community, like Jeff Herdman, may just become too disgusted to run for office.
Maybe it's time for Newport to directly elect its mayor. Or perhaps residents simply need to rise up
and demand to see a new face in the mayor's seat next year - someone who's not part of any team
and will appoint fellow council members to committees based on their knowledge and their passion
rather than political alliances.
Jennifer McDonald
Nicole Reynolds
Bill Cool
Portia Weiss
Dorothy Kraus
Lynn Lorenz
Joni Nichols
Jean Watt
Jeane Ruston
Dennis Baker
Melinda Seely
Lynn Swain
Karen Clark
Jan Landstrom
John H. Nichols
Carol Crane
Hyla Bertea
Andy Lingle
Vicki Cubeiro
Tim Stoaks
Daniel R. Trevino
Mike and Polly Smith
Pam Marks
Teri Bassman
James R. Percival
Margaret Lai
Susan Skinner
Sue Dvorak
Tim Stephens
Cecily Burke
Vicki and Don Ronaldson
Roy Englebrecht
Jeanne Spudick
Marcy Weinstein
CL Miller
Joan Miller
Kayvon and Marjaneh Goodarzy
Stephanie and Tay Sandoz
Steve and Nova Wheeler
Allan Beek
Karen Carlson
Mary Peikert
Liz Barnam
Lu Baker
Georgia Foell
ra