Hereby proclaiming the silliness of proclamations
Los Angeles Times
News from Newport Beach in the Times Community Newspapers
by NOAKI SCHWARTZ
Thursday, June 8, 2000 One year, the city declared itself a safe haven for victims of pornography. The next, it embraced clean air. And then there was the time Newport celebrated women real estate agents.

While most proclamations signed by the mayor are for serious issues, a few have wandered away from those formal boundaries over the years.

Proclamations are not legally binding and, for the most part, are simply for recognition. However, mayors are annually deluged with requests for proclamations honoring various causes deemed of citywide importance by their promoters.

The most recent proclamation stated "that the City of Newport Beach will continue not to display or exploit wild or exotic animals." Among the 16 animal groups listed were nonhuman primates, ursids (bears) and hyenas.

Even civets and genets made it onto the list.

Oftentimes prominent city officials or residents are honored with proclamations. Last year, former Cannery restaurant owner Bill Hamilton was honored as "Mr. Newport Beach." Not only did Hamilton contribute $1 million in tax money from his restaurant, but was also honored for his more personal contribution of three male citizens to the city.

Former city manager Bob Wynn, upon retirement, was honored with a proclamation complimenting "his sweet tooth and love for chocolate well-known by many."

A few years ago, a resident was honored for staying alive for 70 years.

And a couple was feted for getting married.

"Whereas Jill and Greg met at law school, fell in love and have decided to join together as partners in the law firm of holy matrimony," read the proclamation.

Still another resident was honored for a rather different achievement -- having the fifth-largest publicly traded waste service company in the nation.

Other requests, obscure yet approved, have been Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week and Escrow Month -- no doubt promoted by righteous lawyers and real estate agents.

Perhaps the most interesting requests for proclamations, however, appear in the "rejected" folder. International Forgiveness Day, World Populations Awareness Week and Day of the African Child all made it into that pile.

The Church of Scientology makes an annual request -- and is annually turned down -- to honor L. Ron Hubbard.

What actually gets the mayor's stamp appears to depend on who's in charge at the time. Busy Mayor John Noyes generally leaves it up to his secretary's recommendation.

Last year, former mayor Dennis O'Neil apparently read through each request and after rewriting several lines, approved the majority.

Former mayor Jan Debay's proclamations folder is thicker than most.

However, getting a proclamation out of ex-mayor John Hedges was a difficult task. And former mayor Tom Edwards focused on proclamations that were directly related to the city.

Persistence, however, appears to eventually pay off. National Garden Week, a worthy cause, was rejected for years but finally got the nod this year.

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