Mayor suggests that Nichols resign

June Casagrande

Mayor Steve Bromberg said Wednesday that Councilman Dick Nichols

should consider stepping down from the council in the wake of

Nichols’ comments about people he identifies as Mexicans using the

beach. But Nichols on Wednesday vigorously defended his statement.

“If Mr. Nichols’ comments about specific minorities reflect the

way he truly feels, he should consider resigning as councilman

because that’s not truly representative of the best interests of this

community,” Bromberg said.

Nichols had said during a phone interview Tuesday that he opposes

some of the renovations proposed for Corona del Mar State Beach,

including expanding the grass areas.

“With grass, we usually get Mexicans coming in there early in the

morning, and they claim it as theirs, and it becomes their personal,

private grounds all day,” Nichols said Tuesday.

In a phone interview from a Santa Ana hospital where he is being

treated for an infection in his leg, Nichols on Wednesday defended

the previous day’s comment and said that it had been taken out of

context.

“Why don’t you go down there and take a survey and see what

fraction of the people on the weekends are from where? You’re going

to see a predominance of people that don’t live in the area,” Nichols

said Wednesday. “My statement was honest. It doesn’t say I’m

discriminating against them. Where the hell am I in any way

discriminating or being a bigot by making a statement that is

blatantly true?”

Some of his colleagues criticized Nichols’ comment, but none has

publicly accused him of discrimination or of being a bigot.

Nichols pointed out that the comment was just one of about 25

points he had made in an extended phone interview on Corona del Mar

State Beach improvements. He said that the fallout over his comment

amounted to political correctness.

“This is P.C.,” he said. “Evidently, if you use one of these

special words, you’ve done a no-no and you’ve already been fired from

office if you’re a Republican. If you’re a Democrat, you can join the

Ku Klux Klan, and not a thing happens to you.”

Rusty Kennedy, who heads the county’s Human Relations Commission,

was speaking to the Newport-Mesa Interfaith Council at the Orange

Coast Unitarian Universalist Church in Costa Mesa on Wednesday. He

found Nichols’ comments surprising.

“It is hard to believe that someone in a position like that would

say something so insensitive,” Kennedy said. “He should apologize.”

Last week, Nichols’ colleagues debated censuring him for a comment

he made at a Planning Commission meeting. At that meeting, Nichols

told Planning Commissioners that he thought their opposition to a

variance request was illogical and unfair.

“It doesn’t look good,” Nichols said at that meeting. “It looks

like you’re taking money for this one.”

Nichols apologized for the remark, and colleagues ultimately

dropped the matter.

In October, Nichols drew heat from a community member for

describing a motorist as a “Mexican” in a televised council meeting,

even though Nichols did not know the man, his nationality or whether

he was a U.S. citizen.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.