Balboa Island’s Jeff Herdman, a ‘Team Newport’ critic, running for City Council
Jeff Herdman, a member of the Balboa Island Improvement Assn., has entered the 2016 race for Newport Beach City Council.
Herdman, a registered Republican, filed paperwork Thursday declaring his intent to run for the District 5 seat, which represents Balboa Island and the Fashion Island area.
If elected, the 69-year-old Balboa Island resident would replace Mayor Ed Selich, who will be termed out next year after serving on the council since 2006.
“I’m looking forward to it, and I’m excited about it,” Herdman said. “It’s in the very early stages. I’m gearing up and starting to raise a little seed money and get my website up and running.”
Herdman declined to provide specifics of his platform.
“It’s just too early,” he said.
After Herdman became a board member of the Balboa Island Museum and Historical Society last year, board President Ed Trainor wrote in an announcement: “Jeff’s passion for and love of the island have already been felt by his fellow board members, and we are so happy to have him involved in this capacity.”
While he’s lived in Newport Beach full-time for 17 years, Herdman said he has been visiting the city seasonally since 1953.
“My home on Balboa Island was purchased by my parents in that year,” he said. “We moved from Los Angeles every summer to the island during my growing up years. I have seen lots of changes over the years.”
Herdman, who made his living as a teacher and principal, is no stranger to the city government. He has served on the city’s charter revision committee, the tidelands management committee and is currently a member of the civil service board, which provides advice to the council on personnel matters and conducts appeal hearings of city employees for disciplinary issues, among other things.
Herdman has been openly critical of council members Scott Peotter, Kevin Muldoon and Marshall “Duffy” Duffield, all of whom were elected in 2014 on a slate known as “Team Newport” along with Mayor Pro Tem Diane Dixon.
In April, Herdman sent a letter to the California Fair Political Practices Commission alleging that a campaign contribution Peotter received last year violated Newport Beach’s municipal code and the state Political Reform Act. Peotter denied any wrongdoing.
Herdman also has suggested in published letters to the Daily Pilot that the city should request that the FPPC conduct a full audit of all the candidates in last year’s election to examine their “independent expenditures, slate mail committees and other expenditures spent to influence the election.”
“All of us need to know who had investments in the outcome of the election and how those contributions may influence council decision-making,” he wrote in an Oct. 15 letter.
Three City Council seats will be in play during the November 2016 election.
In addition to Selich, Councilman Keith Curry, who represents District 7 (Newport Ridge and Newport Coast), will be termed out. Fred Ameri, a longtime Newport Beach resident and a former planning commissioner, and local lawyer Will O’Neil, a Finance Committee member, have launched campaigns for the seat.
Councilman Tony Petros, who represents District 2, which includes Newport Heights and Newport Crest, has declared his intent to run for reelection, according to city documents.
