Two years ago, I won re-election onto our Newport Beach City Council despite months of malicious and bruising attacks. I ran on my record as a Council Member and was proud of the work that we had done.
In contrast, hit pieces against me flooded mailboxes. Nextdoor became a cesspool of misinformation and outright lies. There was no line uncrossed.
I’m watching the same negative campaign by many of the same people being run against Noah Blom, whose sin is his desire to serve his community further. He already owns a successful restaurant called Arc that many people in our community frequent.
He and his wife Marin are involved with numerous charities in our area, including CHOC, UCI’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, the March of Times, the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation, OC Good Bank, the Newport Harbor Educational Foundation, and The CdM Foundation, to name a sample.
His stance on issues are laid out on his website, noah2020.com. And if you aren’t sold yet, then I encourage you to speak directly to Noah. You will find out immediately that he has a heart for service and a rich familial history in our city. He is charismatic with a positive vision for the Newport Beach where he was raised.
He is also humble in a way that I found refreshing. To experience that yourself, just read the letters to the editor this past week and contrast Noah’s substantive discussion with his opponent’s negative campaigning.
Noah’s letter starts by acknowledging that he needed to add the words “Associations” to be clear that our Newport Beach Police Association and Newport Beach Fire Association – representing around 200 of our frontline public safety personnel – endorsed him. He was contrite, apologized, and identified the concrete solution to the problem. He did not issue an excuse, even though his campaign manager had died suddenly after a cancer relapse.
I am frankly impressed by any candidate these days willing to own mistakes, no matter how minor, and remedy them. That is the kind of person I want to represent me.
Finally, incumbents need to run on their own merits and accomplishments. If they are worth reelecting, then their record should be sufficient to contrast with an opponent. When an incumbent issues negative and aggressive comments about his opponent, that says a lot more about the incumbent than the challenger.
I’m voting for Noah Blom and I hope that you will too.
Duffy Duffield / Newport Beach City Council Member and former Mayor
