Save Newport Real News in Newport Beach
First, I am travelling the last two weeks, so my apologies if my tone is not the same and my updates are less frequent. As you know, I operate this as a one-man show, so life (and my software development company) often conflict with normal updates.
But let’s get to the meat here: Balboa’s Bus system (which Dixon insists is a “trolley”– even though it meets none of the definitions of the word) costs taxpayers $33 to move a family of 3 as little as a single block, and was renewed a few weeks ago with self-proclaimed “fiscal conservative” Scott Peotter casting a vote in support of the system.
Even if that same family of four took the entire length of the bus system on a 2x surge pricing, the total cost would be merely $12– again, that’s if they were taking the route at a 2x surge.
As the city itself proclaims that there are an average of 3.1 people per car on the peninsula, this is actually an under-estimate for the pricing, and the actual expenses (a normal rate of $6 for uber vs a cost of $34.10 for the so-called “trolley”) are even higher.
As I wrote about previously, the police made an error and physically prevented people from speaking against this measure, accidentally creating a situation which prevented people their legal right to speak at a council meeting. I informed Councilpeople, including Scott Peotter, about this on the phone the very next day, and Peotter offered to bring up the one item I was really concerned about as a peace offering. Perhaps selfishly, I agreed.
Then, Peotter– who barely survived a recall earlier this year, and who also bailed on establishing a Dog Beach (after he ran with headlines proclaiming his support for it, of course)– bailed on bringing up the trolley topic, too.
Now, thanks to Peotter’s inaction, we have both renewed and expanded the trolley system which forced Balboa Peninsula’s much-beloved Downtowner to go out of business, ending a locally-owned service that gave free rides to people and paid its employees with ad revenue from the sides of its vehicles.
It is odd that Peotter and Dixon both proclaim themselves to be advocates of the free market, and yet also join together, with both of them voting to create socialized systems on their own watch, destroying what was previously a system that transported people for free– without the use of any taxpayer dollars.
To say I am disappointed in Peotter would be an understatement. His behavior after the recall is akin to “splitting the baby”, by sacrificing his integrity to please people who will never like him regardless of what he does, he is now alienating the supporters who elected him specifically because he was an anti-socialist and fiscal conservative. If I had to bet, he will not fare very well in November.
Now let’s see if Mayor Duffy Duffield will do anything about taxpayer dollars from the parking meters flowing to line the pockets of Dixon’s friends to promote their own businesses in the “Balboa Village Merchants Association”.
