Newport group still seeking party favor

June Casagrande

FreeNewport, the group that is fighting city moves to curb drinking

and crime in West Newport on the Fourth of July, says it plans to

continue its campaign on May 27, when the council will vote on the

second portion of its Independence Day plan. The group will also try

to schedule a public meeting for its supporters, city leaders, law

enforcement and other West Newport resident in hopes of finding some

common ground.

“I welcome it,” City Attorney Bob Burnham said. “I think it would

be a very productive meeting.”

If the group’s efforts are fruitful, it probably won’t make much

difference for this year’s celebration, which is less than two months

away. The council has approved a first reading of the ordinance to

prohibit stores from selling or storing liquor outside their

buildings, and has shown no sign of budging from their plans for this

year’s Fourth of July.

FreeNewport will continue its fight, members say.

“We’re again going to put up posters around town,” said Brian

Clarkson, spokesman for the group. “We now have over 125 members on

our mailing list. We’re going to encourage them to go out and voice

their opposition to the alcohol storage law.”

In two consecutive City Council meetings, FreeNewport and its

mostly young and fun-loving supporters have gotten a crash course in

government that has already brought some important lessons.

“Yeah, we’ve learned a little from our first introductory meeting

at the council on April 22,” said Clarkson, who at that meeting

indirectly compared the city to Saddam Hussein for what he

characterized as a rollback of freedoms. That comparison proved to be

a costly mistake, as it became the focus of council members’ comments

and newspaper articles.

“We learned to kind of take some of the rhetoric out so they’re

forced to focus on the content of the speech rather than focusing on

one statement,” Clarkson said.

They have also learned that working with the city, if not a way to

get exactly what they want, is still certainly worth a try.

“We were disappointed in the condescending attitude which the City

Council demonstrated on their meeting Tuesday,” Clarkson said. “We’re

not optimistic in our ability to be able to work with them

effectively.”

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

[email protected].