— Photo by Sara Hall ©
Time for round two.
Fight promoter and Newport Beach Parks, Beaches, and Recreation Commissioner Roy Englebrecht announced Monday that he would again run for City Council.
Englebrecht ran in 2014, but lost to Kevin Muldoon to represent district 4, which covers Eastbluff, One Ford Road, Bonita Canyon, and Baypointe.
In the city’s only three-way race that year, Muldoon came out on top with 50.4 percent, businessman and former Planning Commissioner Tim Brown followed with 37.1 percent, and Englebrecht ended with 12.5 percent of the votes.
The longtime Newport Beach resident said it was “pretty simple” why he decided to run again: To tackle the city’s toughest issue – unfunded pension liabilities.
“If we don’t address the current unfunded liabilities and health benefits that is reaching nearly $400 million dollars…. and if we don’t seriously tackle current city pension and health benefits reforms, the city of Newport Beach will be in serious financial trouble in the not so distance future,” Englebrecht said in a prepared statement. “Someone must finally say, enough is enough.”
This issue is the “elephant in the room,” Englebrecht noted in his announcement. He wants to be part of the council that addresses pension reform in a “meaningful way.”
Other serious concerns of his include increased development in the community, traffic, airport issues, election reform, and “the circumventing of our General Plan.”
“I will work tirelessly to address all these issues, but the first agenda item after the November 2018 election must be pension reform,” Englebrecht noted.
His 2014 campaign was “unconventional” with “no fund raising, no advertising, no mailers, and no campaign signs,” he pointed out. Although this year will be a bit different.
“As I said in 2014, I don’t complain, I compete,” he explained, “so I will aggressively compete in 2018 and, unlike my 2014 campaign, I am now asking the Newport Beach community to back my campaign with their contributions, prayers, and support, so that we can return our city council to the people of our community.”
Englebrecht is the promoter of Fight Club OC and promotes other Southern California regional fight events.
He and his wife, Nancy, have lived in Newport Beach for more than 30 years. Their two kids graduated from Corona del Mar High School.
For more information, visit joinroy.com.
