I recently received a taxpayer funded mailing inviting me to a taxpayer funded Town Hall on Public Safety featuring Supervisor Michelle Steel and co-hosted by Newport Beach Mayor Duffy Duffield.
Ironically, this meeting will be held in the Community Center at Civic Center Park, which Duffield and Scott Peotter opposed building.
This is one of a series of meetings being held by Supervisor Steel to use public resources to help candidates she supports such as Duffield.
So, will this Town Hall focus on Duffield’s efforts to cut police and fire services by “1 to 3 percent” in 2016? This would have resulted in a loss of more than $3 million annually to the police and fire budgets and resulted in the loss of fifteen cops or firemen.
What about his proposed cut in the business license fee which would create a $3.5 million deficit resulting in public safety cuts?
With residential and vehicle burglaries on the rise, will the discussion include Duffield’s proposal to spend millions on a fire boat and millions more to staff it? This will require a substantial diversion of public funds away from our current police and fire budgets to implement.
When Joy Brenner recently held a public safety forum attended by over 200 Corona del Mar residents, a Peotter surrogate condemned her for taking our police off the streets by making them attend and claimed that “crime was down.” Will Duffield apologize to Brenner?
Will Duffield explain how he is going to fund his proposed replacement of the sheriff’s deputies in the Harbor with Newport Beach police?
While we are on the subject of crime, will Duffield finally address the conflict of interest charges he is facing for the failed “Port Plan” lobbyist contract, the recent $600,000 awarded to firms that provide income to Duffield, and his refusal to acknowledge that Scott Peotter works for him?
What about the campaign contribution limit violations shared by Duffield and Scott Peotter?
Since he skipped the Speak-Up Newport candidate forum and won’t commit to the Feet to the Fire debate, will Duffield even show up?
Gerald A. Giannini
Newport Beach
