Daily Pilot:  03.09.03

This letter to the editor appeared in the Daily Pilot, Sunday March 9th, 2003:

Don't oppress Independence (Day)

I would like to comment on Lolita Harper's March 3rd piece, titled, "Take their money before driving them away."  I've gotta hand it to her, "I COULDN'T HAVE SAID IT BETTER!"

For the record, I've been living in Newport   Beach (on the Peninsula) for almost six years now.  I'm a single male, 29 years old, college educated young professional.  I have family in New Orleans, and for the last nine years now, I've attended Mardi Gras.

That said, I've never understood the disdain with which the Newport Beach City Council and Police regard the Fourth of July here in Newport.

First of all, this is an all-American celebration!  The City Council admits that the Peninsula is full of renters.  We don't tell them what color to paint your mailboxes in their planned communities.  Let us enjoy ourselves in our - how do you refer to it - War Zone?  (a relic from times past)

And as for the Newport Beach Police, these guys need to do us all a favor and just relax a little.  I've never seen a larger group of police just standing around looking for some miniscule citation to write someone up for.  It's like trying to have a party in Tiananmen Square.  Why don't they just roll the tanks over us?  It's obvious that this policy isn't working.  They treat us like dirt every year, yet visitors still return and residents still party.  If anything, their repressive policies and poor attitudes incite negative behavior from the crowd.

On the other hand, every year, New Orleans entertains up to ONE MILLION drunk young people for up to two weeks solid without major incident, netting the city $1 billion.  Their officers are in control, yet professional, and relatively pleasant.

I even took the liberty of recommending to one of our two resident members of the Newport Beach City Council 4th of July committee, that perhaps we should send some of Newport's finest to Mardi Gras this year to learn from these guys (I'm sure they wouldn't complain).  They're truly a class act.  And yes, they do train police officers from other cities.

So it was a welcome relief to see Lolita's column.  I must point out one thing though, she overlooked our city council's largest insult to their residents, the now infamous, "Newport Beach 4th of July Survey"...

On January 24th, I received a 4th of July survey in the mail.  It was sent by the City of Newport Beach, and was accompanied by a letter from the Homer Bludau, Newport Beach City Manager.

For those of you who didn't get this splendid piece of creative writing, the letter basically pled their case:  every year over 50,000 visitors descend on Newport Beach, interfering with "public enjoyment of coastal resources" and making it  difficult for police and fire personnel to respond to crimes and medical emergencies.

It goes on to say that last year with over 200 police they made 160 arrests [isn't that just 0.32%?], wrote more than 1,300 citations [2.6%], and "faced the potential for a violent confrontation with large crowds."

It also stated that the increase in city services cost the city $100,000 last year [Is this offset by the additional tax and citation revenue generated?  I don't think so!].

Therefore, the letter stated that they Mayor has appointed a committee of Council Members, the police chief, and area residents [I later learned two residents!], to "study the problem and make recommendations to the City Council."

Anyway, they close by asking us to complete the following survey to help them develop a plan "that allows everyone to celebrate Independence Day in a manner that respects our values as a nation and as a community."  Here are some examples of their recommendations:

[ ] I would support additional street closures and fencing in the West Newport area on July 4th.

[ ] I would support restricting access to West Newport to residents for some period on July 4th.

[ ] I would support a system for limiting guest access in the restricted area that required tenants or owners' to register the guests' names and/or obtain a limited allocation of guest passes per residence.

After reviewing their survey, I must say that it looks like more of a temporary authoritarian controlled government than a celebration of our nation's independence.  It doesn't look like they are going to listen to myself, Lolita, or any other resident who actually resides in West Newport.  I took it as a personal insult to me, and every other resident of the Peninsula.  In fact, doesn't this go against everything that we're fighting for as a country?

My personal feel is that if the Newport Beach City Council is out of touch with their constituents in West Newport.  These people would never actually live in West Newport.  Our houses are old, too close together, and there is no parking.  They think that if they scare off the renters then maybe they will have a place to park when the relatives come in from out of town and want to go to the beach!  But who else would live here - not them, not millionaires, not families, who then?  Sorry guys, but we're all you've got!

So rather than the Newport Beach City Council trying to change the face of West Newport, maybe the residents of West Newport need to change the face(s) of the Newport Beach City Council!  And if they still don't represent us, then maybe we need our own city council!

You can read the survey in it's entirety (and links to the NB City Council e-mail addresses) at www.freenewport.com.   We need to get involved or continue to get ignored...

So, this 4th of July, have fun, party responsibly, respect the police, but remind them all that this is our neighborhood!

Bryan Clarkson
Balboa Peninsula