Newport City Council appoints Brad Avery as mayor and Kevin Muldoon as mayor pro tem
Newport Beach swore in its new mayor and mayor pro tem — Brad Avery and Kevin Muldoon — during Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.
Avery and Muldoon were appointed by the Newport Beach City Council to their new positions as part of the annual reorganization of the seven-person panel. Also nominated for the mayoral position for a second term was previous Mayor Will O’Neill by new Councilman Noah Blom. Councilwoman Joy Brenner nominated herself for mayor pro tem.
Both appointments were secured by a 6-1 vote, with Blom and Brenner casting the lone dissenting votes in each race.
Avery was elected to the Newport Beach City Council in 2016 and won his bid for reelection this year with 59.83% of the votes over opponent Nancy Scarbrough. Avery was sworn in Tuesday with Councilman Will O’Neill, who ran unopposed, and freshman Noah Blom, who edged out incumbent Jeff Herdman.
Muldoon was elected to the Newport Beach City Council in 2014 and served as mayor pro tem in 2016. He was mayor for 2017 and followed then-outgoing Mayor Diane Dixon.
O’Neill said he was thankful to people who have reached and offered their support for him, but that he felt the city found itself in a better position than neighboring cities in the county. O’Neill said one of the best things that the city has done was provide its residents consistent and transparent communication.
Julian Dunn was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma in 2008. Though he died in 2013, both his family and childhood neighbors are raising funds in his memory at Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
“I think in this coming year, we’re going to owe it to our residents to continue that strong, consistent and transparent communication because this is going to be a tough year,” O’Neill said. “It’s going to start off tough. It’s going to continue to be tough and one of the nice things about this past year — because you have to look for silver linings — has been serving with [Avery].”
The roles of mayor and mayor pro tem are largely ceremonial, but O’Neill said the pandemic changed that.
Avery took his place at the center of the dais after the vote.
“I think anyone that takes this seat, especially for the first time, you’ve got to be humble,” Avery said. “It’s really important that you don’t have all the answers. You’ve got to be able to reach out to people and I certainly intend to do that because I have those feelings of having to meet the expectations and, really, the needs of this community. I take solace in always understanding that seven of us up here have to work together. One of us really can’t change much, except maybe Mr. O’Neill. He’s made some big changes, not by any decree, but just by his personality and his ability to reach out to people.”
“Moving forward, I’m confident we’ve got a great council. I’ve seen it,” Avery added. “I welcome Mr. Blom to the council and he’s demonstrated his clear vision of his commitments and what he’s about and I think that’s important. It’s important to have that and I know he will represent his constituency going forward.”
Avery said that it was “something” to see O’Neill go into action in March at the start of the pandemic.
County officials say the state’s stay-at-home order for Southern California counties is too overreaching and provides little evidence a shutdown will effectively curb soaring coronavirus cases and COVID-19 hospitalizations.
“It’s one thing to inherit it as I’m doing, it’s another to just get hit with it right from the very start,” Avery said.
At his first council meeting, Blom thanked his wife, Marin, for her support. He said he was extremely honored to represent his district.
“Growing up here, being raised here, spending all my time here — you have a different view of what this city is. Leaving and experiencing the rest of the world and getting the opportunity to make it back has been one of the greatest things in my life,” Blom said. “Building businesses here and family and seeing us grow, rise and adjust, there’s nothing like it in this world.”
“No matter what happens on any other side, I will always speak from my heart and do what I believe is right and there is no swaying me,” Blom added. “I think most of us know that, especially my wife. I will do everything in my power to make this the greatest city that I can,”
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O’Neill thanked the voters for allowing him to serve again on City Council and his family and friends for their continued support.
“Throughout this year, we have seen the good that can be accomplished when our city is built on a firm foundation of kindness, neighborliness, charity and resilience,” O’Neill said. “Indeed, that kind of resilience shows up most in the relationships that we have.”
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