Daily Pilot:  04.29.03

This article appeared on the Daily Pilot Front Page, Tuesday April 29, 2003:

Group Fights for Their Right to Party

By June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH Do some city policies parallel the brutal rule of Saddam Hussein? Do a hammer and sickle on a red flag make an apt symbol for Newport? The Web site FreeNewport.com answers yes to both.

The site and a fledgling group of residents by the same name appeared on the local political scene about two months ago to fight what they see as some ill-conceived and iron-fisted city policies. Topping their list of gripes is the city's crackdown of Fourth of July partying in West Newport.

But spokesman Bryan Clarkson said the group plans to fight for its version of freedom on a number of fronts. Noisy police helicopter patrols, alcohol sale and delivery restrictions that "are nothing short of prohibition" and city policies they say are designed to drive bars out of the area are also raising the FreeNewport's ire.

"Our mission is to inform, educate and motivate the residents of West Newport as to what's going on," Clarkson said.       

For example, he said, the city's approach to Fourth of July problems is all wrong. While city leaders decry statistics like the 162 arrests and 1,344 citations handed out in West Newport last Independence Day, Clarkson said this paints a skewed picture.

"Consider the percentages," he said. By his math, of the 50,000 visitors who descend on West Newport for the holiday, arrests represent only 0.32%, which he says isn't so bad.

The group also challenges the city's emphasis on the cost of policing the area for the holiday. The $90,000 cost of extra police is easily offset by the sales tax revenues and fines issued on the        holiday, according to estimates on the group's Web site.

"They're misinforming the residents," Clarkson said, adding that the group has dozens of supporters. "This really isn't good reason to go putting all those laws into effect. If the problem is the outsiders, then why are they creating laws that restrict residents?"

FreeNewport debuted on the local political front at Tuesday's City Council meeting. Clarkson and        several supporters came out to oppose a council item on Fourth of July restrictions. The restrictions included prohibiting alcohol deliveries to liquor stores on the Fourth of July, forbidding stores from using their parking lots to store or sell liquor and designating a portion of West Newport as a "safe zone."

The council approved the first reading of the restrictions, passing the matter on for a final vote their May 13 meeting.

FreeNewport will be there.

"We hope to get dozens of people out to show them that they don't represent the residents,"        Clarkson said, adding that the group is conducting a petition drive with the help of some local businesses.

City leaders don't seem swayed.

"What we have down there is a significant problem and it's just a matter of time before someone suffers a serious injury," Councilman Tod Ridgeway said. "The city has an obligation to protect the        residents."

Ridgeway also defended the city's approach, saying that city policies are designed to protect residents.

"There are bars up in L.A. where you see advertisements to ride a bus down to Newport for the        day for the Fourth of July. Things are getting worse, not better. We're trying to create a deterrent for future visits of this type to Newport Beach," Ridgeway said.