UPDATE, AUG. 12, 12:26 P.M.: After all that holler, the Newport Beach City Council decided not to censure Councilman Scott Peotter for his homophobic hate speech nor seek an investigations of his misuse of the city seal.
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With Peotter whining he'd become the target of a witch hunt and supporters slithering out from under rocks to speak up on his behalf, the council instead voted to “disassociate” itself from the controversial remarks. And rather than an investigation by the district attorney, the council opted to prohibit use of the city seal and its images for council members' personal communication with constituents, including political, educational or fundraising uses. Kevin O'Grady, executive director of LGBT Center OC, had informed the council Peotter's original rant contained “hate speech” and that by not censuring him, the LGBT community may not think the city is safe for them.
Newport Beach Councilman Scott Peotter Now a “Victim” After Whipping Up LGBT Shitstorm
ORIGINAL POST, AUG. 11, 6:05 A.M.: Attacking the sexuality of a critic of your bullying rhetoric and, when that sparks a huge backlash, you throw down the victim card.
Wonder if Donald Trump is taking lessons from Scott Peotter?
For those who may have had the pleasure of being out of town on vacation during the shitstorm that struck the Orange Coast early last month, the June 26 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that essentially legalized same-sex marriage across the land drew the wrath of Peotter in his conservative political newsletter.
Nothing wrong with that, it's a free country, he's entitled to his opinion no matter how wrong he is and all that. BUT, Councilman Peotter chose to unleash his rant–which questioned the appropriateness of “nine guys in black robes” making such a decision and of the LGBT community embracing the rainbow as a symbol–under the official Newport Beach city seal. Here is an example:
That prompted a debate on the appropriateness of Peotter using the city seal with a vehicle for his personal political stances, not the city's, something the councilman himself agreed was probably wrong at an early July council meeting that featured the mayor, community members and Orange County LGBT representatives teeing off on him for a couple hours.
It seemed to the Weekly that Peotter was thus in need a new seal for his newsletter, so we solicited candidates …
Behold These Nominees for Newport Beach City Councilman Scott Peotter's New Logo
After that post went up, another nominee trickled in from Paul Bayer, who offered, “How about a Jeopardy seal-meme for old Scotty?”
(Nice, Paul, but I think I'm still partial to Graziela Camacho's taut entry.)
Peotter, probably not a reader, went another way with his latest logo:
Yes, it's difficult to make out the type. On the left it reads, “Bunny Henge Boondoggle.” That's a reference to public art outside the newish Newport Beach Civic Center that Peotter believes has nothing much to do with the city other than representing a misuse of taxpayer funds. In the middle of the logo says, “Audit of the Taj MaHall.” The councilman contends the city went too far into debt to pay for the lavish digs and that cuts must be made and/or city property must be sold to reduce the shortfall. At the right it states, “Pretty Boy City Funded Art in the Park.” Peotter does not like the sculpture in a park for the reasons he can't stand the bunnies.
Those are principled conservative stands. And at least the councilman doesn't just hate on the LGBT community. Which brings up tonight's City Council meeting. Peotter's colleagues are going to vote on whether to censure the councilman for his remarks about same-sex marriage and the rainbow symbol as well as whether to refer the possibly illegal use of the city seal to the district attorney's office for an opinion. Fortunately, no one wears black robes over there.
Peotter reacts in his latest newsletter to the censure vote by turning the debate around and blaming the councilman who proposed it, Keith Curry. If Peotter makes any comments about blood coming out of Curry's eyes and blood coming out of Curry's … uh … wherever, Mr. Trump, we've found your running mate.
Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.