Save Newport Real News in Newport Beach
Wow, if you didn’t catch last night’s council meeting, you really missed it. I’ll let Jon Pedersen just explain it in this column, this is straight from the sheet he read off:
Mayor Muldoon, Council
Today I want to discuss the environment, in particular our harbors and our beaches, for without them we surely would not be Newport Beach. There are those among us that publically profess to care about the environment while their actions and deeds behind the scenes tell a decidedly different story. Imagine for a moment if we had a local citizen who willfully and purposely dumped 10,000 gallons of fuel into the Harbor and was fined hundreds of thousands of dollars by the EPA. Outrageous right? To add to the absurdity let’s pretend that even after committing a heinous environmental crime that this person was voted onto the Harbor Commission by the current Mayor.
Unfortunately, a similar scenario actually happened and that person is sitting on our Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission today.
As a third generation Newport Beach resident I wouldn’t expect a newcomer to Newport Beach, especially one that is crowned Mayor inside of 36 months, to recall past events from our local history, this is just one of the dangers of electing someone with no local knowledge. However, I would expect Dave Kiff to recall the intentional destruction of critical habitat in West Newport as he was quoted in the Orange County Register regarding the crime “Of the things residents wouldn’t like, crowds and storms, you can you’d add sand dunes to that list” “The residents will hate them if they’re right up against their homes, harming their views, yet they do have those habitat values”
So you can imagine my surprise, or possibly lack thereof, when a known destroyer of our environment, one who aligns with statements such as “Were not anti-dog, we are pro environment” ends up on the very commission the city has tasked to protect our beaches.
(EDITORS NOTE: Bruce Boyd made this false claim at a council meeting. The anti-dog people are not only clearly anti-dog when it comes to Dog Beach, but they are also anti-environment when it comes to the adjacent lands, as Pedersen’s call-out proves)Diane Dixon on her campaign website speaks of “doing the right thing” and is frequently quoted in the media stating “I’m all about process”. Let me be the first to inform this council that nothing could be further from the truth regarding the “process” of vetting and voting for David Granoff for Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commissioner.
Diane, had you performed a simple Google search of “Dave Granoff Newport Beach” on page one is a link to the story documenting the criminal destruction of Least Tern and Snowy Plover habitat. One can only assume that as Mayor at the time not performing your own due diligence, on an applicant from your very own district, or even a Google search was either due to negligence or worse “the fix was in” to ensure an anti-dog beach commissioner over two fully qualified female applicants.
David Granoff, as part of a cabal, willfully and intentionally destroyed critical habitat in violation of multiple Coastal Act statutes , was fined $225,000 by the Coastal Commission and was forced to reimburse the Newport Beach Police Department $4,100 dollars for their criminal investigation costs.
Equally disturbing, is Commissioner Granoff’s “Application for Appointive Position” received by the city clerk on May 11th, 2016. The very first question asked “Have you ever been convicted of any crime OR any violation of any law or statute other than minor traffic violations? Mr. Granoff checked “NO”. Diane, if you truly cared about the environment you would have never voted for someone who intentionally destroyed the very thing you proclaim is stopping your support of a dog beach not even in your jurisdiction.
Mayor Muldoon, per council policy A-13 I believe it is incumbent that you immediately ask for Mr. Granoff’s resignation.
UPDATE @10:54am, this has been updated with the video of the event:
