I decided to run for City Council after I’d been serving on the Newport Beach Finance Committee and saw a need to invest heavily in infrastructure, public safety, and our harbor while reducing debt and unfunded pension liability.
We have fortunately had a majority on our City Council who have embraced those priorities, which has served Newport Beach well for the past six years. We fully funded our NBPD, advanced projects to rebuild Fire Stations originally built in the 1950s, maintained and enhanced hundreds of miles of road and water pipes, and reduced debt/liability by around $100 million.
Throughout, we have also been fortunate to have citizen leaders step up and serve on important policy-developing bodies like our Planning Commission, Finance Committee, and Harbor Commission.
We have a truly fantastic candidate named Joe Stapleton running for City Council in this cycle who has served this community on both the Harbor Commission (2013-2017) and the Finance Committee (2017-2022).
He has served this city honorably and faithfully for a decade-plus (being recognized in 2020 as Newport Beach’s “Citizen of the Year”). During that service, he has taken countless policy positions that advanced our city’s best interests.
Not only have I seen him take the right policy positions while I’ve served with him on the Finance Committee, but you know he has taken the right positions too. How? Because neither Joe’s opponent nor his opponent’s supporters have attacked even one vote on Joe’s record.
Not one.
Instead, they have complained that Joe would join a city council where he could be in the majority on the issues that matter to him and the residents who vote for him. We should all hope so! Well after I’ve served my time, I hope we still have a majority fighting for public safety, liberty, and fiscal stewardship.
Vote Joe Stapleton for the Newport Beach City Council. Joe’s had our backs for years. Now it’s time we have his.
Will O’Neill / Newport Beach City Council Member
