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Jeff Herdman filed paperwork Thursday to run for Newport Beach City Council. Herdman is known for being a past-president of the Balboa Island Improvement District.
I met with Jeff a few weeks ago when he was mulling over his run. Please do not get me wrong: He is a very pleasant man, but my interaction with him left a lot to be desired when it comes to a council candidate. He began the conversation by saying that he read my Woody’s Wharf article and told me he was glad that we were both on the same page. There’s only one problem– I had also read his article on Woody’s Wharf, and we couldn’t be further apart on the subject: He wants more government involved with our local businesses, and I want less.
But that wasn’t the end of his… clarification issues. When speaking, I asked him how he viewed economic theory. I sputtered and mistakenly stated that I was of the Keynesian school, but before I could correct myself, he agreed with me. I then said that I had misspoke, and that I was of the Austrian school, and he agreed with me again. For those who study economic theory– you know that those two could not be further from each other.
While Herdman has loudly and consistently criticized Team Newport for his perception that they violated election laws, he has actually been running a campaign and fundraising for several weeks– without filing to do so, as the attached image shows, this has been happening since at least Oct 27, 2015 (he didn’t file until Nov 5, 2015)
In an interview with the Daily Pilot, Herdman refused to state his platform, saying that it was “just too early”. I can’t help but wonder: If you don’t know why you are going to run, then why on earth are you running? As I was once told when I first began in politics: “There are two types of people who run for office: They’re either pissed off or power hungry”. When someone won’t tell us why they are seeking office, it is very apparent precisely why they are seeking office.
Now once again: Jeff is a really nice person. I don’t want to lead anyone to believe otherwise.
But given the fact that he lied to my face twice in our first meeting, that he has already begun his campaign with highly questionable tactics, and that he has refused to state what his platform is, I simply do not believe he is what Newport needs.
Oh, he also endorsed Diane Dixon.
