A tale of Balboa doesn’t end happily

June Casagrande

Business association representatives say it was a legitimate

discussion on whether a link to the FreeNewport.com Web site was

consistent with association goals. A FreeNewport spokesman says it

amounts to city officials policing the Internet and using their

influence to shut the group out.

At a meeting of the Balboa Business Improvement District on

Tuesday morning, TalesofBalboa.com Webmaster Jim Fournier was

discussing with district members his hope to put a feature on his Web

site called “This Week in Balboa,” highlighting some of the

happenings at local businesses. But the discussion took a turn as

members questioned TalesofBalboa.com’s link to FreeNewport.com -- a

site and affiliation that some members found inconsistent with the

group’s goal of promoting local business.

In a series of e-mails after the meeting, district members asked

their city staff liaison, Dan Trimble, his opinion on the affiliation

with FreeNewport.com.

Trimble responded: “I think anybody who claims to be supporting or

promoting Balboa or Newport Beach cannot, in good conscience, also

claim that the Web site/link referred to is consistent with that

objective. The graphic at the top of the Web page should speak for

itself. A red hammer and sickle next to the letters NB in a red

circle with a line through it. It is Jim’s choice which links are on

his site, but it also the choice of the [business improvement

district] who they link with and those links and sites should be

consistent with the [business improvement district’s] mission.”

The hammer and sickle images appear on FreeNewport.com’s Web site.

Spokesman Brian Clarkson describes the image as an anti-communist

statement to support freedom in Newport Beach.

Business improvement district member Gay Wassall-Kelly, who

attended the meeting, said that no one told Fournier to remove the

link. Trimble on Wednesday said that he never meant to tell Fournier

what to do. He had simply been asked his opinion and gave it.

But for Clarkson and Fournier, the discussion by the business

association members and particularly the comment by Trimble amount to

bullying to the point of censorship by trying to get Fournier to

remove the FreeNewport link.

“They are applying pressure on a private Web site not to link

FreeNewport.com. It is none of their business as a city to regulate

what private Web sites do on their own,” Clarkson said. “The Internet

has become one of the last sanctuaries for free speech in the

country, and for free press, and it’s unfortunate that the city of

Newport Beach is trying to silence that free speech.”

FreeNewport, best known for opposing the city’s Fourth of July

restrictions on drinking and gathering in West Newport, has been

critical of a number of city policies and practices.

On Wednesday, Fournier’s Tales of Balboa site contained the sudden

and unexpected announcement that the site would shut down for

“personal reasons.”

Fournier would not say Wednesday whether the flap with the

business improvement district was a factor in his decision.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

[email protected].