Venezia: Newport’s reputation and Councilman Peotter

Will the Newport Beach City Council vote to censure Councilman Scott Peotter Tuesday, as was discussed at the July 14 special council meeting?

Readers may remember the July meeting was called to deal with the controversy surrounding an email sent by Peotter. In it he expressed opposition to the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage and questioned the LGBT movement’s use of the rainbow flag. The email used a photographed image of the city seal, giving it the color of authority.

Blurring the lines between personal opinions and those of the city’s continues to be the real issue here — not Peotter’s freedom of speech rights, as some have suggested.

Mayor Ed Selich made it clear at that July meeting that the city is welcoming to all people, and Peotter stated his opinions were his own, not those of the city.

But even though Peotter agreed not to use the city seal again, and remove it from his website, in cyber space nothing ever really disappears. Peotter’s original email still can be found with the seal in place, as can his anti-gay-marriage message.

Taking a step back for a moment, is there a bigger public relations picture here that this council should be considering when it decides whether to censure him?

The act of censuring a council member doesn’t have teeth. It is merely a statement of “what we believe in as a city government. It is an official position rejecting that kind of thinking in the community,” says City Manager Dave Kiff.

I think there are bigger reputational issues for the city as a whole. Newport would not want to be branded as anti-gay.

Gary Sherwin, president and CEO of Newport Beach & Co., whose board members include representatives from American Express, Newport Dunes, the Newport Film Festival, and hotel chains like the Marriott, Hyatt and Radisson, says the traveling LGBT community is important to local tourism.

Since the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage, Sherwin says his office has received many calls from couples looking to plan weddings in Newport.

“We are a destination open to all and always considered ourselves a gay-friendly community,” says Sherwin.

Though Visit Newport doesn’t specifically track gay travel dollars spent here, it indirectly markets the city to this community. And for good reason: LGBT travelers spend an estimated $65 billion annually in the U.S. alone, according to Forbes.

Sherwin worries that if the council doesn’t make a strong public statement it could find Newport boycotted by the LGBT traveler — as Indiana was when it reignited a debate with its Religious Freedom Restoration Act earlier this year.

Many felt that measure permitted gay discrimination on religious grounds, and though an amendment was hastily revised, “When it comes to the state’s travel and tourism industry, the damage — at least in a public relations sense — has already been done,” according to an article in AD Week.

In the wake of the Indiana travel boycott, “Outright divestitures such as Angie’s List’s cancellation of its planned $40 million expansion in Indianapolis” demonstrated that even a perceived anti-gay bias is damaging, AD Week said.

Selich tells me the next council meeting “will be an opportunity for the City Council to have a thoughtful and open public discussion on the issues raised at the July 14 City Council meeting and decide what, if any, action is appropriate.”

Kevin S. O’Grady, executive director of the LGBT Center of Orange County, says their actions must be clear.

“The City Council has a responsibility to censure Peotter,” he says. “They must send an important message to the City Council member, city employees, residents of Newport Beach and the broader community, that Newport Beach is an open, affirming community and not a community willing to tolerate hate speech from its highest elected officials.”

O’Grady says censuring is not at attempt at censoring Peotter’s right to free speech.

“It is a reminder that the exercise of free speech is not without consequences,” O’Grady says. “Peotter is free to make hateful statements, just as we are free to call for censure. Hate shouldn’t find a home in Newport Beach, and the City Council must clearly send this message.”

Oddly enough, The Center is taking donations in Peotter’s name.

“The LGBT Center OC wanted to show him and others who agree with him that we can turn his bigotry on its head and use his name to encourage donations to fight the very bigotry he espouses,” says O’Grady.

So far the group has raised $700. Donations are being made online at lgbtcenteroc.org/donate-now.

Will O’Grady call for a boycott of Newport Beach, if the council votes not to censure Peotter?

He wouldn’t say, but my sense is that’s a real possibility.

And should that happen, making national news, those on the wrong side of history here can pretty much kiss their political careers goodbye. Especially if the financial fallout hurts Newport’s reputation and a travel industry vital to our local economy.

BARBARA VENEZIA lives in Newport Beach. She can be reached at [email protected].