Newport council candidate Ameri can use his nickname, Fred, on ballot, judge rules
An Orange County Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that Newport Beach City Council candidate Fred Ameri can use his nickname on the November ballot.
Ameri, who was born in Iran and whose legal name is Farrokh Ameri, is a 19-year Newport Beach resident, a retired business executive and a former city planning commissioner. He is running to replace termed-out Councilman Keith Curry representing District 7, which includes Newport Coast and Newport Ridge. Also vying for the seat are local attorney and Finance Committee member Will O’Neill and attorney Phil Greer.
Newport Beach resident William Stewart filed a lawsuit Aug. 22 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 instead of his nickname on the ballot.
Stewart’s co-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.
But Judge David Chaffee ruled that Stewart did not establish “clear and convincing evidence that use of the name Fred is false or misleading.”
Ameri’s attorney Mark Rosen submitted documents showing that Ameri has used the name Fred extensively over several decades. He argued that the community knows Ameri as Fred.
During a court hearing Thursday, Chaffee pointed to a copy of a 2014 campaign contribution report filed by Scott Peotter showing a donation Ameri made when Peotter was running for City Council. In the document, Scott Peotter refers to Ameri as Fred — proof, Chaffee said, that Ameri is known by his nickname.
Chaffee wrote in his ruling that every person has a common-law right to use an assumed name by which he or she is known and recognized. According to Chaffee, the only case in which such a name is not permitted on a ballot is if a candidate changes his or her name within one year of an election, unless the change was made by marriage or court order.
“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.
Ameri has said the attempt to force him to use his legal name is a “racist” ploy by opponents.
“It’s ... clearly defamation of character to my spotless record of 55 years of residency in Orange County,” Ameri said Thursday.
Rosen argued during the hearing that “it’s an attempt to make him sound foreign, not a resident of Newport Beach, and play to prejudice.”
Stewart’s co-attorney Chad Morgan said that forcing Ameri to use his legal name would provide voters with greater access to public records on the candidate, which could help inform their decision.
Objection to candidate statement upheld
Though Chaffee ruled against Stewart on the name issue, he ruled in favor of his request that Ameri’s candidate statement, which will appear in documents received by voters, remove what he interprets as a reference to other candidates.
The California election code says any candidate’s statement “shall be limited to a recitation of the candidate’s own personal background and qualifications and shall not in any way make reference to other candidates for that office or to another candidate’s qualifications, character or activities.”
Stewart took issue with Ameri’s statement that since Ameri is providing the funding for the majority of his campaign expenses, he is “the only independent candidate.”
Following Chaffee’s ruling, the statement will now read, “I am personally providing the majority of my campaign’s funding, making me independent.”
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
