Newport Beach mayor hopes to preserve past while embracing future of city

To a crowded room of guests and both former and current elected officials, Newport Beach Mayor Noah Blom delivered his first address earlier this month, calling for a “reimagining” that both preserves the city’s character and brings it into the future.

Blom ran on this platform when he was first elected to the City Council in 2020. Then a newcomer to local politics but a longtime resident of Newport Beach, Blom said he felt residents were excited to consider new ideas that didn’t adhere to the “status quo.” He was named mayor pro tem in his first year over former Councilwoman Joy Brenner, then voted mayor by his colleagues in December.

In his remarks during the 41st annual Mayor’s Dinner, sponsored by Speak Up Newport and held at the VEA Newport Beach, Blom described himself being like the “front man of a band” as both a restaurateur and mayor.

“I don’t really do much. I just look pretty in tight pants, and I sit out there and make you all love me,” Blom joked. “My wife, [Marin], though; she’s the drummer. She keeps the rhythm. She keeps the beat. She makes sure everyone is kind of moving along and then everyone else is in the band. I think a lot about that when I think about the city. My job isn’t to come in here and start changing the beat.

“I look at Newport. Look at how great we are. Look at how wonderful the city is. I had the opportunity to go to D.C., and I saw we do not have the problems the rest of this country does. We’re doing OK, just in case you were wondering. We’re OK.”

Blom thanked city staff and public safety for their work, describing them as the drummers of the city that keeps “the beat going,” while the council was the band.

“Everyone adds their piece and, so right now, my job is to be the front man, and what’s that mean? It means that we have to reimagine. It’s time for the new album,” he continued. “That’s what I’m here for and that’s what I like to do. We’re going to look around and decide, ‘How can we reimagine Newport?

“How can we use the beat we have? How can we find the strength of who we are and elaborate on this beautiful place that we get to live in?’”

Blom said all past council members were given the opportunity to look at what they felt the future of the city should be. He said the state of the city, as it is, is great, but he described his goal for this year is to propel the city forward.

“Let’s preserve the villages, maintain the charm and grow where we have the ability to do so and hopefully in the next year, we can accomplish some of those goals,” he said. “We’re going to do it together; we’re going to do it as friends.”

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