A Mixed Message in Newport

After what some are calling the dirtiest local campaign in memory, voters in Newport Beach on Tuesday delivered a mixed message about the future of development in the city.

Measure K, the controversial traffic-management initiative hailed by proponents as the remedy to traffic congestion and by opponents as another attempt to stall new development, was soundly defeated, as were two candidates who supported it.

But in a key match-up, a candidate backed by development forces, Ralph Rodheim, lost decisively to Jean Watt, a well-known proponent of slow growth.

In final, unofficial returns released by the county registrar’s office Wednesday, District 7 incumbent, Mayor John C. Cox Jr., defeated challenger Paul Ryckoff by a margin of 55.2% to 44.8%.

In District 2, incumbent Ruthelyn Plummer received 40.3% of the vote. The closest challenger, Geneva Matlock, received 28.5%.

In the District 5 race, Watt, a member of the slow-growth Newport 2000 group, won with 57.4%

Watt, Matlock and Ryckoff had run as a slate backed by Newport 2000, the latest incarnation of SPON, or Stop Polluting Our Newport, a group of activists that in 1986 successfully opposed a $300-million expansion of Newport Center.

Measure K, which sought to alleviate traffic congestion by restricting new building permits, was defeated 46.2% to 53.8%. Plummer called Tuesday’s vote a rejection of “unreasonable” growth limits.

“I was extremely confident that once voters found out what this measure really said, they would reject it,” she said. “What people tell me is that you have to be reasonable, that you can’t stop growth, because if you do the city will decay.”

But Newport 2000 adviser John Gardner said:

“I don’t view this as a defeat and I think we should feel good about the vote. It’s more difficult to get people to vote in favor of an abstract principle than to vote against a specific project. But I think the message is clear. The vote showed a solid 45% of the people are for slow growth and that is a big and permanent force in Newport Beach politics.”