NOW Assails ‘Sexist Pigs’ at Newport City Hall Rally : Demonstration: Twenty protesters condemn decision to reinstate fired police officials and allow them to retire.
NEWPORT BEACH — Waving caricatures of city officials’ faces transformed into pigs, about 20 women clipped clothespins on their noses “to avoid the stench†as they entered City Hall on Monday night to protest the city’s settlement with its former police chief and a captain.
Earlier, the women staged a slapstick rally on City Hall steps decrying the city’s decision last week to rehire and immediately retire former Chief Arb Campbell and Capt. Anthony Villa, who had been fired months ago amid allegations of sexual harassment. In exchange, Campbell and Villa agreed to drop their federal lawsuits against the city and waive their right to hearings to clear their names.
Ten current and former female Police Department employees filed a lawsuit last fall accusing Villa of lewd behavior and Campbell of condoning it. Among the plaintiffs is a dispatcher who claims the two men raped her at a police party in 1991.
At the Monday evening rally, led by the local chapter of the National Organization for Women, the protesters ceremonially swept a line of manure into the City Hall garden, parodied “Patriarchy’s Oldest Game show, Deal A Fortune, brought to you by the Old Boys Network,†and announced the first annual “Newport Beach Sexist Pig Awards.â€
“This little piggy harassed women, and this little piggy did nothing,†NOW spokeswoman Tamara Mason said, waving pig-shaped photos of Villa and Campbell.
“This little piggy fired these two piggies,†she said, waving the pig caricature of City Manager Kevin J. Murphy. “These piggies squealed, and this piggy rehired them.â€
As mementos of their Sexist Pig Awards, Murphy, City Atty. Robert Burnham and the four male council members received plastic yellow pigs. NOW members ignored the three female City Council members in the protest.
City officials missed most of the colorful protest and said later they had no comment.
Also outside City Hall on Monday, a dozen residents with about a dozen horses and dogs protested a plan to build a parking lot and all-purpose recreational trail in the Upper Newport Bay. Residents oppose the plan because horses, dogs and bikers now roam free in the park area, but the council approved the plan 4-2 Monday evening.
Times correspondent Bob Elston contributed to this report.
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