Feet to the Fire: Recap

Feet to the Fire was an interesting one, this time around.  The three candidates running as a slate with Dave Ellis as their campaign manager did not bother to even show up.  However, they did provide those candidates with empty chairs with their name on them, to shame them publicly (which was well-deserved).

Those candidates were the following:
– Kevin Muldoon did not bother to show up, who is running against Roy Englebrecht and Tim Brown
– Scott Peotter did not bother to show up, who is running against Mike Toerge
– Duffy Duffield– who we fully endorse– embarrassed Newport by not showing up to face off against current mayor and opponent Rush Hill.

This, frankly, is just sad.  In the most-publicized forum in Newport, candidates of all three contested districts decided not to show up to tell the public what their views are or how they will run the city.  Instead, they have decided to rely on mailers to do their talking for them.  This is no way to run a clean campaign.  If they can’t answer the easy questions by the press and instead will rely on negative campaign mailers, then exactly what kind of candidates are they, at their core?  Without mincing words: The worst.

This was no “oversight”, either– the date for Feet to the Fire was set over 4 months ago.

While the forum mostly focused on the already-known factors, Jack Wu certainly had some good financial jabs at current mayor Rush Hill.  Hill, to his credit, kept his composure and had calm answers to every single question– even if I disagreed with them.

Norberto from the Voice Of OC brought up the only “new” point of the evening (as you are aware, we’ve been complaining about it for a while!) which is the fact that Measure Y violates property rights for Newport Beach property owners as a whole, while only advancing the property rights of the Irvine Company.

HURRAY!  Mainstream OC news is finally digging into Measure Y and seeing it for what it really is!  I was so giddy when I heard him say that that I nearly jumped out of my seat– but Venezia warned that anyone who pulled that kind of nonsense would be ejected, so I maintained my composure… barely.
It’s not a full restoration of my faith in the mainstream Newport/OC media– but definitely a jump in the right direction.

The normal questions were asked (“What would you do if X”), but the only recipient of actual blows was Rush Hill, as he was the only one who is running for re-election.  Hill made the fantastic point– likely the only thing that I agreed with him on– that Dave Ellis is “using” Duffy to crush Hill– not for “reform”, but because Hill was the only one that has beaten Ellis, and Ellis is out for blood.  “Reform” is merely a convenient battle cry.  Remember: Ellis has installed more than 80% of all council people in the last 30 years in Newport– so trusting him for “Reform” is a little ridiculous.  On this one, I tend to agree with my nemesis, Rush Hill.  I just gave myself the shivers.

But perhaps– by the same token– Duffy is also using Ellis?

The only person who made memorable comments was– as usual– Roy Englebrecht.  He stated he would cut staff by 15% across the board, and would hold a weekly breakfast to allow citizens to talk to councilpeople without time restrictions.  How he planned to fund the weekly breakfasts was not asked.

Over all, I think everyone who showed up held their ground, and I think Duffy, Peotter, and Muldoon had heavy casualties, with Duffy suffering considerably less than the other two.  I believe that because Hill kept his composure the whole time and had reasonably-sounding-answers (even if incorrect), that he likely picked up a few votes that would have normally gone to Duffy.  Partially for his composure, but mostly because he showed the respect to those in the audience to actually show up.  Peotter definitely lost votes to Toerge with his absence, and I believe Englebrecht was the likely recipient of Muldoon’s on-edge voters, as Tim Brown’s supporters are not necessarily anti-establishment.  All and all, it was a great night and there were a lot of familiar faces in the audience.

I even congratulated Rush Hill afterwards for his answers– but we parted on a divisive note when he said ideological views have no place in city government.  I could not disagree with him more.

A great night over all, but a very slow burn for the candidates who decided not to show.

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