Save Newport Real News in Newport Beach
Last night– we WON! In a council meeting regarding quite a few items– the most popular by far were the Fire Rings. As speakers approached the microphone for about an hour and a half, the sides were evenly split. Much of the talk was repetitive, with anti-fire-ring advocates labeling themselves as health advocates and damning the woodsmoke for its effects on their lungs. One standout was a new homeowner who purchased his home after the firerings had been banned, and was now facing implementation in front of his house.
Fire-ring advocates had largely the identical stories themselves, with most everyone saying that fire rings were simply traditional. Perhaps I am a bit biased, but I thought I was a standout there. I said that for those on council who believe in the free market– simply reference it. The beachfront homes by the firerings are the most popular homes on the peninsula and are rarely up for rent. If residents didn’t want fire rings, these would see frequent rotation of tenants… They don’t. Furthermore, I stated clearly that while I thought nobody was arguing that fire was healthy, there are plenty of other things that alone is not a reason for them to be banned. Cars are also unhealthy. What else is? Butter. Now, some people are more sensitive to butter than others, and for those people, I don’t recommend butter-saturated dishes. Likewise, there are a few people in the audience who– by their own claims– are sensitive to smoke. I don’t know why they chose to live by fire rings, but I would recommend that they don’t. I am not going to advocate for a butter ban, and I don’t think they should advocate for a fire ring ban.
I speak on whims without a plan, but had I thought more about it, I would have certainly likened it to the Nannystating NYC banning large sodas.
Either way, our efforts worked. With Curry and Dixon dissenting, all 5 other councilmembers voted to reinstate wood burning at the fire rings. Many thanks to the dozen or so people who stood up and spoke yesterday; many thanks to all our readers and to the activists who I have worked with over the last year to gain traction and headway on this item; and a limitless thanks to Howard Ahmanson Jr for taking the reigns here and dropping his own money in as an activist for freedom and small government. It has been a long, hard battle, and I frankly don’t know if we could have done it without him.
It has been a long, hard road getting the fire rings back– but after state-wide humiliation, we have come together as a city and finally done it. Bravo to us. Bravo.
Now, who will be joining me by throwing a log on the fires tomorrow in Balboa?
