By Keith Curry, former Newport Beach Councilman
My God, does it never stop?
As you know, I spoke against the efforts to require Newport Beach residents to print the entire EIR, along with hundreds of pages of extraneous documents as part of the Museum House petition.
It now appears that supporters of the Museum House project have engaged in the following:
-They printed up fake petitions that did not comply with the requirements of the law.
-They allowed themselves to get caught circulating fake petitions, generating a news story.
-They put out door hangers saying there are fake petitions and providing instructions on how those who sign can rescind their signatures.
-Signs were put up around town stating “Fake Petitions-Don’t Sign.” These were clearly marked as being paid for by “OCMA Urban Housing LLC, an affiliate of Related Companies of California”
Clearly the project supporters are engaged in a campaign to suppress voter participation that may very well be in violation of the Voting Rights Act.
When one considers this action in light of the prior actions including:
-Failure to enforce the law regarding excess campaign contributions against Scott Peotter and Duffy Duffield in 2014
-Failure to update campaign finance law to address deficiencies and to require disclosure of lobbying clients.
-Failure to enforce the law regarding excess campaign contributions against Lee Lowrey.
-Efforts by the City Attorney and City Clerk to remove Jeff Herdman from the ballot (denied by the courts)
-Efforts by Bruce Peotter, brother of Scott Peotter to require Fred Ameri to run as Farouk Ameri (denied by the courts)
-Illegal campaign signs in Farsi designed to imply “foreignness” on the part of Ameri
-Failure of the city council to condemn the signs or to request an investigation.
-Actions by the city council to require thousands of extraneous pages to be included in the petitions to make the process onerous on the citizen petitioners.
-Recent Op-Ed by Scott Peotter denouncing citizen activists for their opposition to the project.
It is clear to me that the voting rights and civil rights of Newport Beach residents are under a coordinated attack.
Keith Curry
Newport Beach Councilman
