Save Newport Real News in Newport Beach
Last night, the Bar and Tavern Association held its first public meeting with Diane Dixon in the old City Hall on the peninsula. There was not a single negative comment from the crowd, showing that increased education has really helped the public to understand that we live in a truly fantastic community.
Police Chief Jay Johnson praised the peninsula for its success in crime prevention, noting that of all the areas of the city, Balboa Peninsula was the only area to see a crime reduction over last year— the lowest overall crime rate year in the history of Newport Beach (last year, the peninsula also led in crime reduction, dropping by 15% while the rest of the city dropped by 9% as an overall average).
However, with four new officers starting to give tickets just two weeks ago, tickets for infractions will be on the rise. These are not true “crimes” in the sense that they do not harm either other people or anyones property, but are mainly nannystate items such as ticketing people on electric bikes without a bicycle helmet, citations for skateboarders on sidewalks, riding without a bicycle light, and other things designed to protect people from themselves. (personal note: two weeks ago, a friend received a citation for skateboarding on the sidewalk, and it was a $100 ticket)
A representative of Malarkys was asked to speak at the meeting on behalf of the Bar & Tavern association and outlined the steps that the small businesses in the area have taken to help alleviate concerns of others, and also to streamline internal practices. These include:
– Creating private security plans unique to each establishment
– Increasing communication with our police department (they now have the personal cell numbers for each establishment owner)
– Certifying over 200 employees in a course run and managed by the ABC
– Holding regular meetings (4 in the last 8 months alone) with establishment owners
– And even developing an app to help with inter-establishment communication (disclaimer: I have a software development company and am personally funding this application).
Over all, the meeting tended to focus on anything but the local businesses, and instead all resident concerns tended to be about bringing help for the growing homeless population, traffic, and boardwalk issues. You know– the stuff that people normally complain about. 🙂
