News
Daily Pilot, August 15, 2007 - Groups to protest Harkey
The councilwoman's fundraiser dinner will see those who want a recall because she isn't focusing on job.
By Alicia Robinson
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." |
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"Despite public denials from her own Assembly staff, just a few months ago,
Diane Harkey disclosed under penalty of perjury an interest of up to $1,000,000
in "Point Center Financial," a company being sued by investors for fraud
and under investigation for operating "Ponzi scheme," bilking investors,
according to the Los Angeles Times and KNBC News. Harkey's
recent mandatory financial disclosures as an elected official now prove her connection
to the troubled company and may become evidence in the fraud litigation."
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Diane Harkey's sad legacy in Dana Point-
- a failed Town Center project;
- more government spending;
- more regulations;
- more city union employees;
- fewer businesses.
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