BREAKING NEWS

The leader of a slow-growth group is suing Newport Beach over how the city worded the Greenlight initiative for the November ballot.

The measure, commonly known as Greenlight II but officially called Measure X, would tighten the voter controls on major developments in the city.

With the suit, filed Monday in Orange County Superior Court, Phil Arst seeks to block the ballot language drafted by the city attorney and have it replaced with a description he wrote.

What the city wrote, Arst said Tuesday, will confuse and possibly bias voters because it focuses on technical issues and only mentions voter approval - the hallmark of the measure - at the very end.

“People that signed the initiative petition can’t recognize that what they signed and approved of is being voted on,” he said.

The suit names as defendants City Clerk LaVonne Harkless as well as the City Council. Harkless said she had not read the suit and so could not comment, but she added that City Attorney Robin Clauson typically writes the official title and summary of ballot initiatives and does the required impartial analysis.

Clauson could not be immediately reached for comment.