THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE:Groups to protest Harkey

Dana Point City Councilwoman Diane Harkey had plenty of friends in Newport Beach when she campaigned for the 35th District State Senate seat in 2006, but a planned fundraiser on their turf today may also bring out enemies.

Harkey narrowly lost the open seat to Tom Harman in an April 2006 special election. Now she’s running for a state assembly seat in a district that doesn’t include Newport but following the trend of fundraising in town.

But when she gets to Newport, Harkey may face protesters who are trying to recall her from her council seat.

Attorney James Lacy — a former Dana Point councilman who is coincidentally working on the city hall ballot measure in Newport — said about 20 demonstrators with signs will crash Harkey’s $1,000-a-plate party to bring attention to the recall effort. He said they’re angry she’s run for statewide office twice in two years instead of attending to her duties on the City Council.

Lacy said Harkey moved the event from the Ritz restaurant in Fashion Island to the private Pacific Club on MacArthur Boulevard when she learned of the protest plans, so her opponents will simply stand outside the venue.

Harkey said the event hasn’t been relocated — she declined to say where it’s going to be — and dismissed the recall attempt as sour grapes from Lacy, who lost a council reelection bid last year.

“The voters chose not to put him back into office,” she said. “I find this all kind of ludicrous. I’m not expecting a big turnout for the picketing.”

Newport Beach City Councilman Keith Curry thinks voter control over public employee pensions is the wave of the future, but it’s also likely to result in a backlash from unions representing the employees.

The city’s public safety unions said Wednesday they’ll oppose Curry’s proposal of a ballot measure that would let voters decide any future increases in city employee pensions.

“I’m philosophically opposed to it based on the fact that we have elected representatives that make those decisions, and it essentially takes away from our collective bargaining rights that we’ve worked hard to achieve,” said Jeff Boyles, president of the Newport Beach Firefighters Assn.

Damon Psaros, president of the Newport Beach Police Employees Assn., agreed with Boyles. He added some of the current City Council members including Curry have opposed Greenlight, the slow-growth law that requires a vote on major developments, and he sees this as “basically the same thing — to me it’s a little bit contradictory.”

Curry’s ballot proposal will be vetted by the council’s finance committee, and the council would vote later on whether to place it on the ballot in 2008.

It might not be the only such issue in Orange County. County Supervisor John Moorlach and Orange County Taxpayers Assn. President Reed Royalty both said they’re interested in seeing a similar voter control on pensions county-wide, but neither has formally proposed it so far.

“There’s a real conflict of interest when the people getting paid decide how much they’ll get paid,” Royaltysaid.

A group of Orange County residents hoping to halt violence in Darfur have been meeting with their federal representatives on the issue, and this week they’re preparing to launch a new campaign. Orange County for Darfur volunteers will meet at Inspiration Point Friday in Corona del Mar to spell out the word “Enough,” which they’ll photograph to use on postcards to raise awareness of problems in Darfur.

The group needs about 100 people to spell the word, and it’s suggested volunteers wear black, red or another bright color. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. at Orchid and Ocean Boulevard, and a beach party will follow the photo shoot. For information call (949) 235-6200 or e-mail info@livingubuntu.org.