Newport council hopeful can be called businessman on ballot

Newport Beach City Council candidate Tim Brown will be described on the Nov. 4 ballot as a planning commissioner and businessman, despite a resident’s attempt to have the latter term removed.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Kirk Nakamura denied the petition Monday, City Attorney Aaron Harp said.

Bob McCaffrey filed the lawsuit last week against the county’s registrar of voters, Neal Kelley, and Newport Beach City Clerk Leilani Brown, alleging that the occupational description for Tim Brown, a candidate in District 4, was deceptive. The Browns are not related.

Among other arguments, McCaffrey’s petition alleged that Brown’s “primary source of income” came from Riverside City College, not his educational consulting firm, Tim Brown and Associates.

“I sued Brown because I believe politicians should be transparent and honest about their profession,” McCaffrey said in a statement after the ruling.

Brown said in a statement that he could use only three words for the ballot description and chose planning commissioner and businessman because more of his time is devoted to those pursuits.

“I am proud of my faculty status as a professor,” Brown said. “However, I am equally proud of my consulting business and that I serve on the Planning Commission.”

— Emily Foxhall

— Emily Foxhall

Twitter: @emfoxhall