Mailbag: Councilman went the wrong way on police, library and fire station

In April, I asked the Orange County district attorney and California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) to investigate campaign finance issues surrounding Newport Beach Councilman Scott Peotter (“Newport Councilman Peotter says he returned Woody’s Wharf campaign donation,” April 14).

Peotter’s own records show he accepted excess campaign contributions from the owners of Woody’s Wharf and Councilman Marshall Duffy Duffield, and he failed to report his payment for campaign fundraising expenses to Woody’s and a return of the excess donation to Woody’s. He has since amended his reports, after the fact. (Editor’s note: Peotter later returned $1,100 to Woody’s, saying he disagreed with the interpretation of the campaign finance law.)

Peotter again demonstrated why he is unsuited for the City Council in the recent budget adoption. Peotter attempted to delay and effectively kill funding for the Corona del Mar library and fire station. In addition, despite testimony from Police Chief Jay Johnson that rapes, aggravated assaults and robberies are increasing on the peninsula, he tried to gut efforts by Mayor Pro Tem Diane Dixon to increase police protection for the community.

These efforts were not made with the goal of reducing spending but rather diverting funds for sea wall construction. This, in spite of the fact that the city already had more than $700,000 budgeted for sea walls and had not yet concluded community outreach on issues such as the height and scope of the project.

City staff was clear to tell him the additional money could not be spent effectively in the next fiscal year. Even after his proposal to gut police, library and fire enhancements was defeated, he proposed $5 million be spent on sea walls without any revenue offsets. This would have created a fiscally irresponsible $5 million deficit in the budget. Fortunately, the council majority rejected his initiatives.

Jeff Herdman

Balboa Island

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Irvine revokes living-wage law

The new Irvine City Council has revealed itself to be a mediocre bunch, interested in nothing more than running the city on the cheap. So much for a city with a sense of excellence.

Now we have a true counterpart to the gang in Newport Beach, and I suspect there is a secret contest between the two in a race to the bottom. Unfortunately, those of us who care about living in a city that we can be proud of will have the dubious honor of circling the drain as well.

Jan Rainbird

Irvine

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Coyotes are a concern countywide

In response to the May 30 front page article titled “Irvine residents ‘not scared’ in wake of coyote attack on girl,” I think it is common knowledge that most parents, whether in Irvine or elsewhere, are concerned about growing coyote incidents in our county. I have to wonder how many dozens of residents these two reporters had to interview before they could find two individual Neanderthals who took an opposing view.

Al Melone

Costa Mesa

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Thanks for the great sports coverage

Newport is an old hat name in Rhode Island and Virginia. The Daily Pilot’s excellent coverage of high school sports and the Daily Pilot Cup youth soccer tournament tempt us to change our name to NewSport Beach.

Al Wonders

NewSport Beach