Newport Beach City Council candidates talk transparency, safety and housing in forum
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As the election season begins to swing into full gear, incumbent members of the Newport Beach City Council touted their experience and defended their vision for the city’s future against challengers who called for more transparency at City Hall during a candidate forum Thursday.
Hosted by the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce and held at Witte Hall, the event was moderated by Lucy Dunn, president of the Orange County Business Council. More than 100 people came out to hear council hopefuls tackle questions about government transparency, public safety, housing and more.
This year, four incumbents are facing off against four challengers for seats representing Districts 1, 3, 4 and 6. Out of the eight candidates running, seven made an appearance at Thursday’s forum.
Mayor Lauren Kleiman, who is seeking reelection, had to attend a Southern California Assn. of Governments committee meeting in Los Angeles and was unable to take part in the discussion, Chamber of Commerce chief executive Steve Rosansky told the Daily Pilot.
Kleiman is defending her District 6 seat representing Corona del Mar against the sole registered Democrat in the field, Dr. Andy Gerken, a retired Hoag orthopedic surgeon.
Councilmember Erik Weigand is running against two men hoping to represent the communities of Santa Ana Heights, Dover Shores and Castaways in District 3 — author and historian Walter Stahr and retired construction executive Tim Stoaks.
In District 1, which includes the Balboa Peninsula and West Newport Beach, Councilmember Joe Stapleton is competing against Tina Babajanians, a businesswoman and mom who said she decided to run in response to the chaos that erupted as crowds took over the city’s streets on July 4.
Councilwoman Robyn Grant, who is running unopposed in District 4, offered a brief statement before leaving the stage to allow those in competitive races more of an opportunity to pitch their candidacy to voters.
“Good government is not simply about having answers,” Grant said. “ It begins with listening. It doesn’t mean we always agree, but it does require thoughtful consideration… we are better together. Newport Beach is stronger when electeds and the community work together.”
Dunn noted that numerous candidates listed transparency as one of their top concerns in questionnaires submitted ahead of the forum. On Thursday, Stahr blasted incumbents who moved to delay votes on ballot measures proposing reforms on term limits, district elections and transparency policies in the city’s charter. Weigand countered by claiming those initiatives were largely backed by a wealthy property developer seeking to sow discontent in the upcoming election.
Stahr, Babajanians, Stoaks and Gerken were also critical of proposals by the City Council and city staff to move the police department’s headquarters from an aging facility on Santa Barbara Drive to a new one that would be built in Civic Center Park. The idea has faced notable pushback from residents who value the public green space there.
“I’ve been out on the Civic Center green at concerts handing out literature, and not a single person to whom I’ve spoken at one of those concerts has turned around and said ‘Oh yeah, that’s a great place for the jail and the police station and the parking structure,’” Stahr said. “Not a single person. Residents have spoken: Not in the park.”
Gerken pointed out that support for using a portion of the park as the site for a future police station, like many other decisions made by city leaders, has been largely driven by an ad hoc committee comprised entirely of members of the City Council. Stapleton noted that he had been in favor of including more community members on that committee but was voted down by others on the dais.
“Do I believe this has been handled correctly? No, I do not,” Stapleton said.
Weigand said he believed it was possible to “have a park that coexists with the police department.” He also defended the practice of forming ad hoc committees made up entirely of councilmembers, noting that all recommendations from committees wind up agendized for discussion at council meetings.
“The decisions that are made come to the full City Council,” Weigand said, adding that having councilmembers working with city staff “sometimes speeds up a process that in government, red tape hamstrings. And we bring it forward faster, and then the public can see it quicker.”
Citing his background in construction, Stokes supported renovating the existing police station on Santa Drive. Stapleton and Weigand rebutted that the building was constructed in the 1970s and it would be a challenge to renovate in order to meet the demands of modern police work.
On housing, incumbents Stapleton and Weigand showcased the current council’s work to implement a housing plan that meets state mandates to increase the city’s supply of homes. They said their efforts have ultimately staved off direct intervention by state lawmakers.
“We’re doing exactly what we need to do… we’ve had an approved housing plan since 2021,” Stapleton said. “The biggest threat to quality of life here in Newport Beach is Sacramento. You don’t have to look any further than Huntington Beach to see what happens when you don’t have an approved housing plan.
“Talk about ‘builders remedy,’” Stapleton said, referring to the provision in the Housing Accountability Act that allows developers to work outside a city’s building rules if a state-compliant housing element isn’t in place. “Imagine Gavin Newsom’s in charge of your permit to remodel your kitchen.”
Challengers said not enough has been done to ensure new housing developments approved in the city are actually affordable for the people who live and work there.
Stahr noted that planning officials have “approved a paltry number of permits for affordable housing,” with many developers opting out of including units for lower-income household by paying in-lieu fees instead.
He went on to throw his support behind a proposed measure for this year’s ballot that would nix the city’s current housing plan, cut the amount of units planned in half and direct the city to focus on what the the Regional Housing Needs Allocation is really about — affordable housing.
Opponents of the measure saying doing so could set the city back years and risk imposed oversight from Sacramento.
