Newport's City Council Has a Lot of Friends With Checkbooks. Here's the Money Trail.

Published November 2, 2026

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NEWPORT BEACH | CITY HALL WATCH | NOVEMBER 2, 2026

Updated Originally published Nov 2, 2026 · Updated Nov 3, 2026

NEWPORT BEACH | When City Hall makes decisions about peninsula flooding, housing, a new police headquarters or where to put a fire station, locals are the ones who live with the results.

So it’s probably worth knowing who’s spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to help decide who sits behind that big council desk.

And after digging through campaign filings, developer contributions, political committees and enough paperwork to qualify for a second college degree, we’ve got a pretty good picture.

It’s an expensive one.

First came the politicians and developers

In our earlier reporting, we showed how Newport’s supposedly nonpartisan council elections have a very partisan support system.

The Republican Party of Orange County, chaired by former Newport Mayor Will O’Neill, endorsed four incumbents: Lauren Kleiman, Erik Weigand, Joe Stapleton and Robyn Grant.

In 2021, O’Neill also chaired a campaign for a charter amendment that would have made the mayor directly elected and given the mayor primary responsibility for setting council agendas. Critics warned the shift could concentrate power and invite influence from campaign contributors. Voters rejected Measure B in June 2022, so the proposal did not change Newport’s system. The debate is relevant context for this money trail, though it is not evidence that corruption occurred or that a donor bought a vote.

By October 23, the county party had spent roughly $130,500 opposing council challengers Walter Stahr and Andy Gerken and Measure H.

Apparently, nonpartisan means the political parties can still come. They just don’t get their names printed on the ballot.

Then we followed the developer money.

Starpointe Ventures, headed by Patrick Strader, contributed $48,000 to California Leadership Today, a committee supporting Kleiman and Weigand while opposing their challengers.

Other records showed contributions involving property interests, the county Republican Party and political organizations active in Newport.

These are disclosed political activities, not proof of improper deals. But when developers help finance council elections in a city where the council controls major land-use decisions, locals have every reason to pay attention.

Then we followed the police and firefighter money

This is where the numbers get particularly interesting.

According to their October 22 campaign filings, the Newport Beach Police Association PAC and Newport Beach Firefighters Association PAC reported a combined $199,400.17 in cumulative independent spending supporting three councilmembers through October 17.

Here’s the breakdown:

Lauren Kleiman
Firefighters PAC: $54,195.89
Police PAC: $23,604.16

Erik Weigand
Firefighters PAC: $47,695.90
Police PAC: $23,604.19

Joe Stapleton
Firefighters PAC: $37,195.88
Police PAC: $13,104.15

Totals from the two PACs
Firefighters PAC: $139,087.67
Police PAC: $60,312.50

That’s spending on campaign activities such as mailers, digital advertising, texts and signs. It’s not money handed directly to the candidates.

The firefighters’ filing also shows $20,140 from their association’s general fund, $10,000 from California Professional Firefighters IE PAC and $10,000 from the International Association of Fire Fighters during the reporting period.

Individual firefighters contributed, too.

Nobody’s questioning the right of firefighters and police officers to participate in politics. Their work matters, and their associations are entitled to support candidates.

But there’s another side to this.

The same City Council they’re helping elect makes decisions affecting their departments, facilities and employment agreements.

The council approved police-association and other public-safety management agreements on September 8. The city is also weighing a new police headquarters and a potential move for Fire Station No. 3.

The firefighters association supports moving that station to the Newport Transportation Center, saying the location would improve response times. Critics have raised concerns about the proposed move.

Those competing arguments deserve to be judged on costs, response times and actual public benefit, not the size of anybody’s campaign budget.

Funny how a $20 contribution requires a line in a public filing, but understanding the bigger political picture takes an archaeological expedition.

And then there’s Alliance for Prosperity

The Alliance for Prosperity Political Action Committee adds another layer.

Its October 22 filing reported $173,991 in contributions and $113,263.41 in expenditures for September 20 through October 17.

The disclosed contributors included Howard F. Ahmanson at $49,000, Paul Black at $40,000 and Kurt Winrich at $40,000.

The committee reported spending opposing Measure H and the candidacies of Stahr and Gerken. Subsequent filings also reported activity supporting incumbent councilmembers.

Alliance lists Omar Herrera as a principal officer and Kelly Lawler as treasurer.

There’s another documented connection worth knowing.

Herrera, who is associated with Dynamic Shotcrete, wrote to City Hall in March supporting the idea of locating a new police headquarters at Civic Center Park. He sent another letter supporting that location in July.

His public support for the headquarters location is not evidence of wrongdoing. Nor have we found proof that the police or firefighter associations control Alliance for Prosperity.

But here’s the question City Hall ought to welcome: When politically active donors or committee officers support major city projects, are locals getting a clear picture of the people advocating for those decisions?

Now put the whole picture together

We’ve got developers financing campaign committees. A county political party spending heavily. Police and firefighter PACs paying for campaign advertising. And another well-funded committee entering the same election fights.

These aren’t necessarily one organization, and their interests don’t always align. Developer Ken Picerne, for example, has financed the opposite side of the Measure H fight.

There’s no documented proof here of a secret agreement among these groups or a purchased council vote.

What is documented is substantial spending by organizations with interests in decisions City Hall makes.

That’s enough to deserve serious public scrutiny.

Before Newport commits more money to a police headquarters, moves a fire station, approves another major development or negotiates an employment agreement, locals should be able to see the costs, the alternatives, the votes and the relevant campaign financial relationships in one understandable place.

Not hidden across hundreds of pages of forms, websites and committee filings.

And especially not while the peninsula is still asking what permanent flood protection is going to cost and when it’s going to happen.

The next council has an obligation to explain its decisions to the public, regardless of who helped finance the campaigns that put its members there.

Newport’s council seats belong to the locals. The people paying for all those campaign mailers don’t get to buy the furniture.

Sources and original records

Newport Beach NetFile: Firefighters PAC #1243243, October 22, 2026, FPPC Form 460, Filing ID 217716321; see pages 3, 10, 34, 53 and 82–87.
Newport Beach NetFile: Police Association PAC #1319106, October 22, 2026, FPPC Form 460, Filing ID 217706843; see pages 3 and 42–45 and its 2024 Form 410.
Newport Beach NetFile: Alliance for Prosperity PAC #1496776, October 22, 2026, FPPC Form 460 and Form 410; plus later independent expenditure disclosures.
Newport Beach City Council, September 8, 2026: public-safety employment agreements, Resolution 2026-74.
Original city correspondence: Omar Herrera, March 2026.
Original city correspondence: Omar Herrera, July 2026.
City police headquarters facility options.
Daily Pilot: Public-safety unions, developer and OC GOP election spending, October 23.
Voice of OC: Who’s spending on Newport Beach elections?.
Newport Beach Firefighters Association PAC: endorsements and Fire Station No. 3 position.
The Balboa Local: Newport’s Nonpartisan City Hall Has a Very Partisan Support System.
The Balboa Local: Newport’s Builders Are Backing Council Candidates. Here’s the Paper Trail.

This story is checked every 3 days for its first 30 days. When there’s news, we add a dated update here. How we keep stories current →

Newport’s City Council Has a Lot of Friends With Checkbooks. Here’s the Money Trail.

First came the politicians and developers

Then we followed the police and firefighter money

And then there’s Alliance for Prosperity

Now put the whole picture together

Sources and original records

Help us out, Newport.

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