Greenlight didn’t try to secure vote

In response to the Oct. 10 story and headline, “Cash-for-votes

contract alleged.”

Newport Beach City Council candidate Bernie Svalstad has not let

the truth get in the way of a good story. He has distorted

conversations he attributes to Greenlight supporters in order to get

anti-Greenlight publicity. He fooled the Pilot. In August, he almost

fooled Greenlight, as this letter will show. The Pilot included my

name in the Oct. 10 article but did not interview me. Here is what

happened:

This summer, Phil Arst and I had three meetings with Bernie

Svalstad to explore whether the Greenlight Steering Committee might

endorse him as part of the Greenlight slate in the 6th District.

There were problems: To us, Svalstad was a local personal and

political unknown with no volunteer activities. He had retained

expensive campaign manager Dave Ellis, who also represented three

pro-special-interest council candidates. He was a member of a major

political business and developer-sponsored organization. He claimed

to be financing his own campaign.

Arst and I discussed city politics and the Greenlight pro-resident

philosophy with him. We sought and made no promises, particularly

that he would be mayor. We explained our opposition to general plan

amendments, unplanned growth and traffic in the airport area, and we

informed him Greenlight was currently neutral on Marinapark.

I said personally I did not believe we could support a candidate

actively seeking developer, Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce and

city union support. He did not object. He provided us with

significant assurances, particularly claiming lack of involvement

with the Koll election. He appeared sincere. At a second meeting with

him and an associate, his assurances caused us to discuss numerous

endorsement issues, including his claims of non-special interest

bias.

For several reasons, we became suspicious that he might be a

Trojan horse actually supported by special interests. Just before our

last meeting at my home with Svalstad and an associate, I prepared a

2 1/4 page “Memorandum of Intent” to confirm Svalstad’s assurances

and our discussions -- for approval by the Greenlight Steering

Committee and Svalstad -- before going forward. Arst has never seen

the memo. In about a five-second conversation, I asked Svalstad if he

might be willing to sign a document reflecting his assurances and our

discussions. I believe I had the file or the document in my hand. He

immediately said no, waved his hand downward, and declined to look at

it. He never received a copy. There was never any “six-page

agreement.”

Svalstad said he had decided to seek our support as an independent

candidate, but without Greenlight endorsement. He stated, in a

complete change of face, that if we ran a candidate against him we

could expect no future cooperation or assistance if he were elected.

The meeting ended. Shortly thereafter, I complained to a Svalstad

committee member about Svalstad’s threat, and the ethical

implications over such an inappropriate use of power. I also prepared

a letter to Svalstad, which is still in my file.

Two days after our last meeting, Dick Nichols agreed to become

part of the Greenlight slate for the 6th District, and I so informed

Svalstad. Recently, we found Svalstad was a sponsor of the

duplicitous pro-Koll Greenlight Implementation Committee. In our

view, he was a Trojan horse.

Unknown to Svalstad, the “memorandum” he did not read contained a

sentence reflecting our discussions and which refutes his principal

claim. It states he would not be obligated “to act in a specific way

after his election on any issue, appointment, or other matter which

may come before him or the council.” The Pilot’s headline,

“Cash-for-votes contract alleged,” intended to apply to endorsements,

also sounds like bribery, and is terribly misleading to a casual

reader.

Other than possible election support, I repeat we made no promises

to Svalstad and asked for none from him. Unlike him, Greenlight

candidates Allan Beek, Madelene Arkakelian, Dick Nichols and Richard

Taylor are known quantities that support pro-resident Greenlight

principles. They have not signed any document or pledge. They will

vote independently based on truly representing the residents, not

special interests, Arst or myself.

GEORGE JEFFRIES

Corona del Mar

* EDITOR’S NOTE: George Jeffries is a Greenlight activist.