Tom Johnson is ready to walk through the `Fire’

Keeping it local is what I’m all about, so I always enjoy chatting it up with Tom Johnson and Lynn Selich on their weekly Sunday radio show, “Brunch with Tom and Lynn,” from 11 a.m. to noon on KOCI-FM.

If you haven’t tuned in online, or with a radio, Johnson and Selich chat with community leaders, promote local happenings and, of course, talk politics.

On the show last weekend, I invited Johnson to once again be my co-host for the first set of upcoming Feet to the Fire Forums, Aug. 17-18 in the Robert B. Moore Theater at Orange Coast College.

I’m happy to report Johnson didn’t hesitate jumping on board the F2F train with me again!

Since 2010, Feet to the Fire’s political talk show format has informed and brought out the best — and sometimes the worst — in candidates and issues facing voters each election cycle.

This year, we’ll change things up a bit with only me and Johnson interviewing candidates running for Newport and Costa Mesa council seats in August.

September Feet to the Fire returns to OCC with forums related to countywide issues, not candidates. On stage as my co-host will be my pal Norberto Santa Jr., publisher of VoiceofOC.org.

So we’ve changed things up a bit for 2016, as we continue to reinvent this format bringing voters an unfiltered look at the local political scene.

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Book signing with Walt Hackman

Also on the radio show last week I promised Selich I’d give a shoutout to her dad’s new book and launch parties.

“No Problem Mr. Walt: A Memoir of Loss, Building a Boat, Rebuilding a Life, & Discovering China,” was written by Walt Hackman.

He’ll be signing books from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. June 2 at 101 N. Bayside Drive and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 4 at the Balboa Yacht Club Wooden Boat Show.

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Watt still lights up SPON

And in other news, I attended the 42nd annual Still Protecting Our Newport (SPON) meeting May 21 at the Environmental Nature Center.

For those unfamiliar with SPON, the nonprofit organization has a rich and interesting history. It was started in 1974 after a torrential rainstorm filled Newport Bay with “every variety of unsavory clutter. Claudia Hirsch and Jean Watt, noticing the huge proliferation of debris, used this as a catalyst issue whose time had come: protect and preserve Newport Beach’s unique environment,” according to SPON’s website.

This opened the door for much-needed “environmental awareness of Newport Bay,” and other issues followed, such as the expansion of John Wayne Airport, intensity of planned development, traffic, loss of open space and the protection of the “resources that make our city a unique environment.”

The John Wayne Airport citizens watchdog group AirFair, and two key limited growth campaigns, Greenlight and No on Measure Y, grew out of SPON, as did the newer political action committee Line in the Sand.

In every culture throughout history there have been women who initiate change for their time; folklore calls them “warrior princesses.”

In my book, Watt embodies these qualities, as she certainly has been a warrior in protecting Newport’s environmental health.

Though she chuckles at the compliment, there’s nothing funny about her commitment to preserving the quality of life in her town.

And after 42 years, one could make the argument SPON and Watt are more important than ever to this town in light of the controversy over high-density development now being proposed, especially in the Fashion Island area.

Looking around the room last Saturday, as the 50 to 60 folks mingled and enjoyed tasty goodies before the meeting, what impressed me most was the amount of institutional knowledge about the city these folks carried in their heads, having lived through decades of Newport politics.

It’s this lack of this knowledge, held by the majority of Team Newport council members, which seemed to concern most of the folks with whom I spoke.

With group members such as these paying attention to local politics and influencing their neighbors with their grassroots efforts, one would think the SPON annual meeting would be a fertile ground to farm votes for anyone seeking a council seat this season.

Yet the only candidate in sight was City Council hopeful Mike Glenn. Though all current council members were invited, only Councilman Keith Curry and his wife, Pam, attended.

At the meeting, Line in the Sand members announced they have been meeting with potential Newport council candidates.

I’d love to be a fly on the wall in some of those meetings, as these seasoned residents make their way through candidates’ political spin.

Will they buy what these folks are selling?

Stay tuned, because in the coming weeks Line in the Sand will post the results of those meetings on its website for voters to review.

This should be interesting!

BARBARA VENEZIA lives in Newport Beach. She can be reached at bvontv1@gmail.com. Listen to her weekly radio segment on “Sunday Brunch with Tom and Lynn” from 11 a.m. to noon on KOCI/101.5 FM.