Campaign sign calls attention to Newport candidate Ameri’s Persian heritage
Newport Beach City Council candidate Fred Ameri said Friday that a yard campaign sign spotted on the corner of West Coast Highway and Dover Drive that has words written in Farsi is a “racist” ploy by those seeking to discredit his candidacy.
The red sign, which was placed in front of Ameri’s own blue campaign sign, has the words “vote for Fred” written in Farsi — the language spoken in Iran — and Ameri written in English. At the bottom of the sign, the words Newport Beach City Council are written in English.
“The reason they picked on mine is to advertise that this guy is not one of us,” Ameri said. “They’re saying ‘Be careful, if you vote for this guy, you’re voting for an Iranian terrorist.’”
Ameri, who was born in Iran, is running to replace termed-out Councilman Keith Curry representing the District 7, which includes Newport Ridge and Newport Coast. Also vying for the seat are local attorney Phil Greer and Finance Committee member and attorney Will O’Neill.
No one has taken responsibility for publishing or posting the sign. O’Neill and Greer said their campaigns had nothing to do with the sign.
Ameri, a 19-year Newport Beach resident long active in the Republican Party, said he planned to remove the sign from West Coast Highway and drive around the rest of the city to make sure that was the only one.
This isn’t the first time that Ameri’s Persian heritage has been scrutinized this campaign season, he said.
“Even though I’ve lived in this county for 55 years, they want to send a message that I’m Persian, not American,” Ameri said. “This is so dirty, so low. I’m just dumbfounded.”
The sign showed up about two months after Newport Beach resident William Stewart filed a lawsuit against Orange County Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley and Newport Beach City Clerk Leilani Brown seeking a court judgment mandating that Ameri use his given first name — Farrokh Ameri — instead of his nickname “Fred” on the ballot.
Stewart’s attorney, Bruce Peotter, brother of Newport Councilman Scott Peotter, argued in court documents that the state election code requires that a candidate’s legal name be used on the ballot. A fictitious name, the lawsuit states, would mislead voters.
Ameri maintains that the lawsuit was a ploy by his opponents to force him to use his legal name in an effort to alienate voters.
In September, Orange County Superior Court Judge David Chaffee ruled that Ameri has a common-law right to use an assumed name by which he is known and recognized.
“It seems [the] petitioner is hoping to marginalize [the] candidate by forcing him to use a birth name he is not commonly known by,” Chaffee wrote in his decision.
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
