Newport political-reform talk will wait until after election, council decides
Newport Beach Councilman Keith Curry has proposed a series of campaign reforms for city elections.
Potential campaign reforms won’t be discussed in Newport Beach until after the November election, city leaders decided Tuesday.
The City Council voted 5-2 to table talks of political reform until January, after the elected council members have been seated. Councilmen Keith Curry and Tony Petros dissented.
Early this year, Curry began floating ideas for a series of political reform measures that would prohibit City Council members from raising money for reelection until the year of the election, establish a register of lobbyists and amend a city law to give the city attorney full power to enforce campaign rules.
Curry also proposed that any donation to a slate mail committee count as a donation to each of the supported candidates on a pro rata basis in an effort to keep candidates within the limits of campaign contribution laws.
The contribution limit is cumulative, meaning that donations to a candidate or a candidate-controlled committee are added together to reach the $1,100 cap.
However, committees not controlled by a single candidate, like slate mail organizations that send out mailers opposing or supporting groups of candidates, are not currently considered in the calculation of contribution limits.
Curry said the reforms would help “preserve and protect the integrity of our election process.”
In response to the proposals, Mayor Diane Dixon last month presented an idea that officials consider creating a working group of council members and other residents to look into campaign procedures and recommend any changes. The committee would consist of three residents, Dixon and another council member.
However, Dixon said Tuesday that while she supports the concept of election reform and finding ways the city can improve, she prefers to postpone the discussions until after the next council is seated.
She said the proposed reforms appear to be focused on “score-settling and payback” over the 2014 council election.
In that election, a slate of candidates made up of Dixon, Scott Peotter, Marshall “Duffy” Duffield and Kevin Muldoon swept the four available council seats. It was the first time in more than a decade that four newcomers had won seats on the Newport council.
Consultant Dave Ellis managed the campaign for the slate of candidates and was reportedly involved with groups that spent money opposing Curry’s campaign for state Assembly.
Peotter, who on the council often has gone toe to toe with Curry over various city issues, agreed with Dixon’s sentiment about the proposed reforms.
“It comes across as sour grapes,” he said.
Curry disputed those assertions, saying the proposals were simply intended to close loopholes that can enable candidates to get around city regulations. The public also has a right to know the motivations of those lobbying the City Council, he said.
“None of this is designed to change the rules of the last election,” he said.
Three council seats are up for grabs in the November election, with at least two candidates running for each one.
Petros, who represents District 2 — which includes Newport Heights and Newport Crest — is running for reelection. Shelley Henderson also is vying for the seat.
Local lawyers Phil Greer and Will O’Neill and former Planning Commissioner Fred Ameri are running to replace Curry, who will be termed out of his seat representing District 7 (Newport Coast and Newport Ridge).
Councilman Ed Selich, who represents District 5 (Balboa Island and Newport Center), also is being termed out. Mike Glenn, an 11-year Balboa Peninsula resident and activist, and Jeff Herdman, a 17-year Balboa Island resident, have launched campaigns for the seat.
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Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
