On Tuesday, June 7, Newport Beach residents went to the polls to vote for a variety of state, regional and local races. The sole Newport Beach issue: Measure B, the proposed amendment to the Newport Beach charter to provide for the direct election of the Mayor.
Currently voters elect council members from seven specific districts within the city to serve four-year terms. These members select one person among themselves every year to serve a one-year term as Mayor.
Measure B proposed to change the city charter to have voters elect a Mayor to a four-year term. Measure B would also change the number of districts from seven to six.
A Yes vote would mean agreeing to adopt Measure B, while a No vote would mean keeping the status quo.
With 100 percent of the local precincts reporting, Measure B appeared headed for defeat by a margin of 58.66 percent NO to 41.34 percent YES as of Wednesday morning, June 8. Voter turnout in Orange County was 18 percent. The results are unofficial as shown on the OCVOTE.gov website.
According to the California election results website, election results will change throughout the canvass period as vote-by-mail ballots, provisional ballots (including conditional voter registration provisional ballots), and other ballots are tallied.
The No on Measure B committee emailed a statement to the NB Indy about the vote.
“We appreciate that Newport Beach voters took the time to understand the complexities of Measure B and have defeated this flawed proposal. Measure B would have undermined term limits and created the most powerful mayor in California. Residents recognized that it is never a good idea to give that much power to one person.
The No on Measure B committee raised $155,000 from 190 donors, planted 2,000 signs on resident’s lawns, hand delivered 20,000 flyers and distributed 5,000 personally written notes. We mobilized our hundreds of supporters to tell their friends and neighbors about the dangers of Measure B and our former mayors and city leaders lent their names to our educational flyers and Emails.
Together we were able to defeat the elected mayor proposal. Our sincere thanks to everyone who worked to protect our city. We are pleased that the voters have made the right choice.”
The Elect Our Mayor committee also sent a statement to the NB Indy.
“With thousands of votes left to be counted, it’s too soon to call the race. But we understand the challenge of overcoming the first night’s deficit. We thank everyone who talked to neighbors, advocated for a directly elected Mayor, donated, posted on social media, and voted for Measure B. We are disappointed for the thousands of people who have voted for their Mayor who will continue to see a system where the Mayor is a step removed from them.
We continue to register our outrage with the politics that led to a violent, disgusting video being posted by the No On B campaign. We continue to call on each member of the No On B committee to denounce the video – which many still have not done – and commit to running cleaner campaigns in the future.
Ultimately, this has been about making sure people’s voices could be heard. They have been heard and will be over the coming week. We will abide by their decision and appreciate the chance to make our case directly to the good people of Newport Beach.”
