Newport council candidate returns disputed campaign donation

Newport Beach City Council candidate Scott Peotter says he has returned a $1,100 campaign contribution to Woody’s Wharf to avoid costly legal repercussions.

The four owners of the Balboa Peninsula restaurant and bar had already donated the maximum $1,100 to his campaign, City Clerk Leilani Brown told Peotter in a letter dated Aug. 1. The additional $1,100 donation from the restaurant violated the limit for campaign contributions because it was “attributable” to the same people, she wrote.

Brown requested that the contribution be returned and an amended campaign statement be filed. Otherwise, Peotter might face “criminal prosecution and forfeiture of office,” she wrote.

In a news release Monday, Peotter contended that none of the owners are “majority owners,” so the contributions complied with campaign contribution rules.

“However, at this point it is cheaper to return the contribution than to legally challenge the city and its apparently limitless (though debt-burdened) resources,” he said in a news release.

In light of the disagreement, the Woody’s Wharf co-owners plan to host a fundraiser for the candidate on Sept. 17 at the restaurant in hopes of raising $20,000, according to the news release.

“It seems every time we turn around, our rights are being infringed by government,” co-owner Mark Serventi said in the release.