Save Newport Real News in Newport Beach
“Lights off at 11pm”: It’s the event that the whole city was talking about, and last night, we really had a show of force with the city. Tuesday night, speakers from all parts of the city showed up to talk. There were bar owners, brewers, patrons, real estate agents, brokers, property rights and free market advocates, and people who spoke that were just sick and tired of dealing with the pressure of an ever-expanding government. The city took note!
This proposal, officially known as the innocuous-sounding “Balboa Overlay”, is the proposal which councilmember Diane Dixon presented, and later admitted was designed to strip property rights, specifically targeting businesses open past 11pm on the peninsula. We didn’t get an answer for weeks as to why this was presented, but when did, it was packed full of… well let’s just call it “misleading information“.
The true reasons behind this proposal may never be known, but one thing we can be fairly sure about is that will experience attacks on our late night businesses in the future. After our massive show of speakers and audience participation, the council decided not to move forward without a vote– a move in the right direction– but they are not dismissing it completely. Instead, the council decided to bring this up for a vote in the city council at a future date, so we will see this item again. This means we will need to rally together one [hopefully] last time in order to back the city off from sticking its nose into our late-night businesses.
This time around I printed out a couple hundred dollars worth of materials to contact the business owners, and spent several hundred more in paid for ads in various outlets. I can and will contribute my time freely and without reimbursement, but in order to fight this battle, it really does take money. I ask that you help me offset these costs so that I can more effectively fight this battle and battles yet to come. You can make a donation by clicking right here.
This money will be collected in the dedicated SaveNewport bank account. I will never spend any of this money for personal time, personal spending, or wild vacations to the Bahamas. This will all go efforts to preserve what we have and what we love: our home, Newport Beach.
So far, we have had success in every single avenue we have advocated in. We have seen the fire rings restored, the Dock Tax settled, dancing restored at Woody’s Wharf, it is looking strongly like we will successfully block the Lights Out ordinance. Our track record is strong, but our budget is not. Please, donate what you can– the price of a cup of coffee, a bar tab, or if you can donate more, then I would be eternally grateful.
To all of you who signed the petition, shared it with your friends, showed up, or spoke at the meeting: Your help has helped shine light on an issue that tried to be slid-in without anyone knowing. You have helped us– and our city– tremendously. Thank you for all your efforts. We truly could not have done it without you.
