Save Newport Real News in Newport Beach
Woody’s Wharf has gone through a long, hard, expensive, and emotion-wrenching rollercoaster ride in its legal battles with the city, but last night in a 4-3 vote, they finally prevailed.
First, I need to issue a correction: You may have seen my articles where I explained that Dixon had struck the deal with Woody’s, and I welcomed her to the good side of the aisle. I got a LOT of feedback on this, but I felt it was only fair to make way for positive change. After all, she had negotiated the deal with Woody’s and shook their hands on it. I felt it was only fair to give credit where credit was due, so I made sure to welcome her with open arms.
However, it has now become clear that even after a handshake deal on the matter, Dixon had begun calling other council people in an attempt to get them to vote against the very deal that she herself had negotiated. Now, politically speaking, I could see why she might want to vote against something she knew was going to pass– this way, it passes and she can still tell her constituency of haters that she did her best. Sick, twisted? Yes. Standard political move? Yeah, sadly. However, that’s not what happened here, and active lobbying behind the scenes to sabotage ones own deal is dishonesty at its core.
In the end, it didn’t matter. Duffy, Muldoon, Peotter, and Selich all voted to finally settle everything. At the end of the day between lawyers, settlement fees, and everything else, the final bill to taxpayers for Government Gone Wild was about a million bucks. A million dollars spent of YOUR money in an attempt to shut down a long-standing Newport Beach business.
Curry, Petros, and– of course– Dixon all voted to continue throwing money into the expensive legal moneypit. Hey, it’s not their money, right?
SIDE NOTE: Many people think Woody’s is some “ivory tower” monstrosity with unlimited funds. This simply ain’t true. This is a normal place run by normal people who drew their line in the sand and refused to be bullied by the city, fighting back at tremendous personal expense. During this process, the city caused so much financial harm to the business that one of the co-owners had to pick up a second job at Home Depot– No kidding. The owners were hurt so much by the city’s actions that they had to pick up side jobs just to make the bills.
All in all, though, it is finally OVER! This vote has solidified Woody’s historic rights. I cannot congratulate them enough on their hard-fought and hard-won battle. Pay them a visit this weekend to help celebrate with the good guys: People just like us.
