Don’t oppress Independence (Day)

I would like to comment on Lolita Harper’s Monday column, “Take their

money before driving them away.” I’ve got to hand it to her: “I

couldn’t have said it better.”

For the record, I’ve been living in Newport Beach, on the Balboa

Peninsula, for almost six years now. I’m a single male, 29 years old,

a 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 minuscule 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 1

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 Fourth 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 Harper’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 Fourth of

July Survey.”

On Jan. 24, I received a Fourth of July survey in the mail. It was

sent by the city of Newport Beach and was accompanied by a letter

from Homer Bludau, Newport Beach city manager.

For those of you who didn’t get this splendid piece of creative

writing, the letter basically pleaded their case: Every year more

than 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 the Fourth of July.

* I would support restricting access to West Newport to residents

for some period on the Fourth of July.

* 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 me, Harper or any other resident who actually lives 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 its entirety (and links to the Newport

Beach City Council e-mail addresses) at www.freenewport.com. We need

to get involved or continue to get ignored.

So, this Fourth of July, have fun, party responsibly, respect the

police, but remind them all that this is our neighborhood.

BRIAN CLARKSON

Balboa Peninsula