Threat on Person shocks officials

Deepa Bharath

Community members and former city officials say they are shocked by a

threatening letter addressed to a former planning commissioner who

helped bring down a successful chain of seafood restaurants in the

late 1980s.

The letter, sent to the Daily Pilot, presumably talks about

getting back at former Planning Commissioner James “Buzz” Person for

helping police arrest Francis Delaney -- who was then the owner of

Delaney’s Seafood Restaurant in Cannery Village -- on bribery charges

13 years ago. Person wore a wire to help police to record his

conversation with Delaney.

Former City Councilwoman Jan Debay, who was a planning

commissioner at the time, said she vividly remembers the high-profile

incident, which caused quite a stir in this relatively quiet coastal

town.

“That was a surprise to all [the planning commissioners],” she

said. “[Person] hadn’t told us about it, and so, obviously, when it

broke, it was a big shock to all of us.”

The letter, threatening to “escort” Person to “the Catalina

Channel half way between Catalina and Laguna Beach” and leave him

there, was “very troubling,” Debay said.

“I read it two or three times,” she said. “It was frightening to

think that that would be hanging over someone’s head after all these

years.”

Debay said she feels sorry for Person.

“It must have been very disturbing for him,” she said.

Person has declined to comment on the issue.

Person had his enemies, says Bill Hamilton, owner of Malarkey’s

Irish pub in Newport Beach.

“A lot of people were mad at him for one reason or the other,” he

said. “But this letter, it’s pretty drastic.”

Hamilton, who owned the Cannery seafood restaurant until 1999,

said he and other restaurateurs in Cannery Village felt Person did

not do the right thing by setting up Delaney.

Person was somewhat ostracized by the “circle” after that

incident, Hamilton said.

“It wasn’t overt, but you could sense it,” he said.

Delaney pleaded guilty to one felony count in connection with a

$20,000 bribe he offered Person in March 1988.

Person’s action and the felony conviction proved disastrous for

Delaney. Barely a year later, he filed for bankruptcy protection for

himself and his corporation. By October 1989, Delaney’s

nine-restaurant chain had begun to crumble, and he owed more than $5

million to debtors and $500,000 in back taxes. He eventually sold his

business and reportedly lost millions of dollars.

As for the letter to Person, Newport Beach police are still

investigating the case and there have been no developments, Sgt.

Steve Shulman said. Detectives will be looking into whether the

threat is real or a hoax, he said.