Venezia: Campaigns reach the final, weird days

This week in Newport you can just smell the crazy in the air as Election Day approaches.

From those trying to “spin” stories, to those frustrated that rules mean nothing, to the oodles of campaign mailers we’ve all received — again proving that candidates/electeds like to spend other people’s money foolishly — it’s been a weird week.

Why, for example, is Diane Dixon, who’s already won her Newport council seat since she has no opponent, still spending money on mailers asking for votes?

And here’s one that’ll have you scratching your head. Newport resident Lorain Petry complained to City Hall about the illegal posting of campaign signs on utility poles. The municipal sign code clearly prohibits this.

Code enforcement tells her the poles are owned by Southern California Edison, so the city can’t legally remove the signs. Edison then says it’s the city’s responsibility to remove the signs, not the company’s.

City Atty. Aaron Harp sympathizes with Petry’s frustration, acknowledges the signs are illegal and writes, “Given the difficulty of removing the signs, safety issues with sign removal and the fact that the signs are reinstalled very soon after removal (based on past experience), city management made a decision to wait until after the election to address the signs.”

What nerve! He knows nothing will change.

And spinning hard this week was the package of candidates known as “Team Newport,” though they are now calling themselves “Team Duffy”: Marshall “Duffy” Duffield, Scott Peotter and Kevin Muldoon.

I imagine the team name changed because even their political consultant, Dave Ellis, who’s had his own public relations issues recently by ranting against former Sen. Marian Bergeson and others on Facebook, realizes Duffield is his only viable candidate.

And even that’s questionable.

Tongues close to the Duffield campaign are wagging, trying their best to spin the story that even after quadruple bypass surgery, Duffield is back campaigning and feeling fine.

Really?

I’ve known more than a few who have had this serious operation. Recovery is no walk in the park. It doesn’t happen overnight, as these folks would like us to believe.

On the road to recovery, patients usually must change their eating habits, exercise and reduce stress. One has to question those behind this man who are still pushing him to move ahead into a council position, which is nothing but angst and stress.

And speaking of pushing, Newport resident Bob Rush, a former Assembly candidate, has been wanting me and others to print something about his recent complaint to the Fair Political Practices Commission against Newport Councilman Mike Henn.

Rush alleges Henn didn’t follow FPPC campaign rules when he placed a recent Daily Pilot ad. Rush writes, “California’s Political Reform Act, Govt. Codes 84305 and 84506, independent expenditure-paid ads must include these statements: ‘Paid for by …. (name)’ and /or ‘Not authorized by the candidate or a committee controlled by the candidate.’”

Rush goes on to say, “The disclosures were not in Henn’s ad, thereby making that ad illegal,” and claims that Henn’s independent expenditure reporting was either “underreported” or Henn used his councilman status to get a price break.

If you didn’t see it, Henn’s ad is an open letter to Duffield. In it Henn warns Duffield that because of his Duffy boat business, Duffield could face conflict-of-interest issues on the council when dealing with certain harbor-related matters. Those conflicts could result in an FPPC complaint against him, an investigation and possible fines.

Funny thing is, back in May, when I wrote a column about Duffield entering the race, I brought this up.

At the time, he felt he wouldn’t be precluded from voting on harbor issues unless he stood to reap direct financial gain.

But his business is all about the harbor, a fact not missed by his opponent, Mayor Rush Hill, who in the column said, “If you take someone whose whole livelihood is from the harbor, if the dock fees come up or tidelands issues, for example, he can’t even be in the room.”

Henn, who had no idea Bob Rush had filed this claim until I contacted him about it, says he feels the complaint is without merit.

“There’s no point in commenting further about it until the FPPC weighs in as to whether they believe it is worthy of investigation,” Henn said. “As my personal experience has borne out, the mere filing of a complaint does not mean a violation has in fact occurred.”

But Rush would have us believe he filed this new complaint against Henn for the greater good.

I doubt it.

Rush hates Hill, his FPPC complaint against Hill in 2011 really went nowhere, and he’s mad that Hill spent taxpayer money to defend himself against it, as is city protocol.

He and I have talked about the fact that the FPPC has proved time and again to have no teeth in these situations, yet Rush continues to file complaints and then moans when tax dollars are used to defend the councilman he’s turned in.

Two wrongs don’t make a right, but why would you do the same thing over and over again, getting no satisfying results?

I’ll be so glad when election season is over.

BARBARA VENEZIA, whose column appears Fridays, lives in Newport Beach. She can be reached at bvontv1@gmail.com.