LETTER TO THE EDITOR:Daigle, Venezia equally impressive on public safety

During her candidate interview with the Daily Pilot editorial board, Newport Beach City Council candidate Barbara Venezia announced her withdrawal from November’s election. Venezia is a well-known activist within our community. She serves as chairwoman of the project advisory committee for the Santa Ana Heights Redevelopment Agency. In large part due to the efforts of this committee, the Newport Beach Fire Department will be opening its own and much needed Fire Department Training Center in Santa Ana Heights next year.

The Newport Beach Firefighters Assn. held City Council candidate interviews in August. After interviewing both candidates for District 4, Councilwoman Leslie Daigle and Venezia, we found ourselves in somewhat of a quandary — the kind of quandary one hopes to be faced with in local politics.

Daigle has been very supportive of public safety during her tenure on the dais. Before voting to increase the staffing on our ladder truck from three people to four, she attended a four-hour, hands-on training symposium in which she learned all about search and rescue, auto extrication, and how paramedics perform in the field. She wore fire department turnouts and climbed an 85-foot aerial (at least part way, anyway). Daigle has been supportive of the high level of service that the city of Newport Beach has come to expect from its public safety employees.

The choice seemed simple to us. That is until Barbara Venezia entered the race.

Not only did Venezia work tenaciously in bringing a new fire station and training center to Santa Ana Heights, but she has also volunteered for more than 16 years on behalf of the Orange County Burn Assn. The firefighters have volunteered side by side with Venezia for years doing charitable events such as Yoga with Firefighters and the annual O.C. Burn Harley ride that benefits the burn association.

The Newport Beach Firefighters Assn. takes great pride in its charitable causes, and relationships that we have built with the citizens, visitors and community leaders. This happens by holding ourselves to a high level of integrity. We felt that the right thing to do in the interest of fairness was to endorse both candidates. This was a bold step for us — but nonetheless, an appropriate one.

We stand by our decision to support two outstanding women who both have a deep sense of understanding, are willing to learn and have a commitment to our city’s safety and the morale of public employees.

The Newport Beach Firefighters Assn. wishes Venezia well in her future plans. We know that she will continue to be an advocate for issues within the city and for firefighters, police and lifeguards.

JEFF BOYLES

President,

Newport Beach

Firefighters Assn.