The mystery opponent

As suddenly as Newport Beach City Councilwoman Leslie Daigle lost her opponent in the Nov. 7 election, Mayor Don Webb learned he may have one.

A flier distributed earlier this week to some city voters — it’s unclear how many or where — urged those who oppose expansion of John Wayne Airport to vote for a slate of candidates that included airport activist Rick Taylor as a write-in candidate in Webb’s district. Webb had been running unopposed.

“That’s news to me,” Taylor said Wednesday, adding that he never heard of the group that apparently paid for the flier, the Newport Airport Action Team. “The only thing I’m running for right now is father of the year.”

Taylor ran unsuccessfully in 2002 for the District 4 seat, but the district boundaries have since changed, and he’s now in District 3 along with Webb. He’s been a leader in the Airport Working Group, which fought to limit airport expansion, and he ran with the blessing of the slow-growth Greenlight residents group.

He said Wednesday he has no intention of running for council again, but he vowed to continue as a watchdog and sue the city whenever it does something wrong.

The flier also urged votes for challengers rather than incumbents in each of the other five races.

Webb said he was surprised by the flier, which was left on his doorstep.

“I guess I’m a little disappointed that this group feels our City Council hasn’t made any efforts to control the airport,” he said.

Webb noted that the added gates and new terminal airport officials are now planning were included in the most recent legal settlement, which was signed by an earlier council. Councilman Tod Ridgeway, who is termed out this year, is the only one still on the council who signed the 2003 settlement agreement.

The flier did not include any other information about the Newport Airport Action Team, and the city clerk’s office had no record of campaign filings from the group.