Words cannot express the disgust I felt, as a woman and Newport Beach resident, reading Bob McCaffrey’s letter last week (NB Indy, Aug. 24) in which he compared council candidate Joy Brenner and community activists Susan Skinner and Lynn Swain to drooling dogs.
All three women are longtime Newport Beach residents, successful professionals and mothers. Joy’s grandkids go to our local schools. What did they do to draw Mr. McCaffrey’s ire? They’ve dared to express concerns about the direction his hand-picked council is taking the city we love.
I share their concerns and believe enough residents are paying attention that we have a good chance of taking back our city in November. Many voters now see how toxic Mr. McCaffrey’s “Team Newport” is and how much we need independent candidates, not his slate, in City Hall.
It’s possible that Mr. McCaffrey is escalating simply because he’s reading the writing on the wall the same way I am. But still, that’s no excuse. There’s no place for this kind of openly misogynistic rhetoric in our public sphere.
Bob McCaffrey’s attack on these women is an attack on all women. And the candidates who are endorsed and bankrolled by him are complicit if they remain silent, as are all those who contribute to his causes and attend his events.
Mayor Duffield and the rest of Team Newport should publicly repudiate Mr. McCaffrey’s views. Scott Peotter should move his September 13 fundraiser to a location other than McCaffrey’s home. If the venue doesn’t change then council members, elected officials and all those who respect women should boycott it.
We’ll soon find out who has a sense of decency.
Jennifer McDonald
Newport Beach
