Remarks by Robyn Grant
30 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 2
- Play at 56:22
“Councilmember grant. Thank you. I want to switch gears first a minute and maybe just address a couple questions to the city attorney I'm curious where we are in the appeal process as far as The court order the stay of the court order has been denied so that's why we're moving forward with what we're doing today Do we have anything else pending? For example, if we go ahead and have this election and then the appeal if we have a pending appeal or elaborate on that and it comes back with a different decision, what's the effect of that? Do we understand? Can you give us some clarification?”
City Council · Sep 11, 2026
- Play at 59:05
“OK, so is it conceivable that we could have this election if we were to vote to move forward? And the judge didn't change that on Monday. It's conceivable that we could have this election on November 3, but it could somehow be invalidated later down the road due to further action? Is that what you're saying?”
City Council · Sep 11, 2026
- Play at 1:15:29
“So, first I would say, you know, we are absolutely dealing with very grave issues here. This is our city charter. It's like the Constitution of the United States. I mean, this is the most important thing that we deal with here on the dais, is making sure that we comply with our city charter. And these are very uncomfortable decisions for us, as well as the general public. I mean, and I understand everything that my colleagues have said. And I think, you know, I came in here, I also went through the election code. requirements that come from the county from the state federal requirements and…”
City Council · Sep 11, 2026
- Play at 1:17:08
“Blair, so I actually have more confidence in our ability to comply if we can legally hold an election, and that's a big if, and I'm hearing that from our city attorney, but let's just take that for granted that we could. I did actually get quite a bit of confidence from our consultant, Jessica Blair. I felt that her answers, this has been a thoughtful, mindful process for her working with city staff and that anything that was presented today, she is able to accommodate. That actually was a good process, and I appreciate Councilmember Wigand bringing all of that up, because I think, for me, I…”
City Council · Sep 11, 2026
- Play at 1:34:28
“Council Member Grant. And I'm going to disagree. I think that I'm hearing from the city attorney that the safest approach is to move forward with the resolution that we have presented here today. We can be doing that in two different lanes. Sure, it costs us some money. We've already spent a lot of money. And sure, it's inconvenient for our staff and for us up here to be potentially violating some laws, if not other laws, court orders. But we certainly can move forward with... miss blair's recommendations we can get her started that shows a very good faith effort on our behalf when we go back…”
City Council · Sep 11, 2026
- Play at 1:37:18
“Thank you. I just wanted to continue shortly. I appreciate you making that very clear. I did have one question. I don't know that we've addressed. Are we positive that we cannot get on an earlier agenda, the next week's agenda for the county? I had understood that we had till a certain point today or maybe even a supplemental that could be, you know, is there absolutely no way that we're going to get on an earlier agenda? We have to wait for two county meetings?”
City Council · Sep 11, 2026
- Play at 1:38:10
“Is there another county official that can put it on the agenda, or is it only the registrar?”
City Council · Sep 11, 2026
- Play at 1:38:34
“So we can come from Bob page or our 5th district representative to be Katrina Foley and we reached out to Katrina Foley.”
City Council · Sep 11, 2026
- Play at 1:38:54
“OK. So do we know a deadline for that? Or I'm just curious. It was yesterday, 4 o'clock. It was yesterday at 4 o'clock. And is there any potential for a supplemental? I think we heard a discussion about that at some point.”
City Council · Sep 11, 2026
- Play at 1:39:55
“Wait, can I have a clarification? We're going to continue this vote to Tuesday at four, so we have a special meeting Tuesday at four? Is that what we're saying?”
City Council · Sep 11, 2026
- Play at 1:41:09
“I'll make that motion. I'll move to accept full staff recommendation on all matters.”
City Council · Sep 11, 2026
- Play at 1:41:42
“Okay, I would bifurcate that piece of it. I just want to move forward with the resolution first and then talk about if there's going to be arguments for or against and who would vote for those. So, that would be my motion to take just that piece out and move forward with the resolution at this time.”
City Council · Sep 11, 2026
- Play at 1:43:08
“Yes, I think those can be a separate motion because there might be differing opinions about that. But the motion to move forward as recommended by the city attorney's office and get further clarification on Monday, that's my proposal.”
City Council · Sep 11, 2026
- Play at 1:25:10
“Councilmember Grant. Thank you. I'll echo those compliments to our Public Safety, MOD, Public Works. Obviously we had an incredible weekend and past couple weeks and it's worked out very well for us. So thank you so much. I also want to compliment the Newport Fire Foundation They featured a Vietnam veteran, Captain Charlie Plum at Woody Hall. He was able to share his remarkable story surviving as a Navy fighter pilot who endured over 2,000 days as a prisoner of war. It was really an honor to have him here at Woody Hall. He had some really good takeaways, including always pack a parachute,…”
City Council · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:40:40
“Councilmember grant. Thank you. I will echo the compliments to our police department and to chief minor. I think the recommendation that we have on the agenda tonight Can provide significant benefits that protect our public safety, especially during the peak holidays, but just in general and I'm really I you know highly complimentary of all the work that's gone into that and this is an important you know a bit of advice from our public top top public safety officials so obviously we take it with um you know the highest regard i do propose that Rather than rushing through adopting measures,…”
City Council · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:53:29
“Just one quick clarification. You know, I think I was clear that I am supportive of this. I think that it's important for us to maintain, you know, the public safety at these important times. I am hopeful, you know, I am going to support this initiative tonight, but I am hopeful that as we move forward that we will have an opportunity to bring together a group COUNCILMEMBERS OR OTHERS TO GO THROUGH ALL OF THESE MEASURES THAT WE ARE ENTERTAINING SO THAT WE DO HAVE A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH.”
City Council · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:55:21
“I'll just again restate that I do believe that it's important for us to create a committee to work in partnership with our public safety professionals to accomplish emergency preparedness policies and resources. The purpose of the ad hoc is to support public safety as they coordinate these evidence-based recommendations and protect our community. Thank you.”
City Council · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:26:13
“YES, THANK YOU. IT'S BEEN FOUR WEEKS SINCE WE'VE HAD A REGULAR MEETING. WE DID HAVE A SPECIAL MEETING, BUT A LOT OF THINGS HAVE BEEN HAPPENING IN TOWN OVER THESE LAST WHAT I CALL DOG DAYS OF SUMMER. I WAS ABLE TO ATTEND THE OCTA'S LONG-RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLANNING ROUND TABLE. which included two important conversations, I think, for our community. One was about Newport's expanded trolley system, how supportive they are. You know, we have gotten some grant money from them, and so it's exciting to see us be able to utilize that money for expanding our trolley system. And then they also…”
City Council · Aug 25, 2026
- Play at 1:46:58
“JUST A QUICK QUESTION. I KNOW THAT SOME OF OUR SPORTS FIELDS HAVE ARTIFICIAL TURF. HOW DOES THAT AFFECT THOSE FIELDS? ARE WE GOING TO REPLACE THOSE OR JUST LEAVE THOSE AS ARTIFICIAL TURF?”
City Council · Aug 25, 2026
- Play at 2:03:03
“Councilmember grant sure I think it would be a good idea to have a staff report so the public knows what we're discussing”
City Council · Aug 25, 2026
- Play at 2:23:13
“Okay, so tonight we're at an important juncture and we have an opportunity to replace a lot of uncertainty that we've had over the last number of months with some clarity and basically to bring this process to a responsible conclusion. The notice issue that we've been struggling with and have brought to the courts has been ruled sufficient and we're beyond that now. We're not making any value judgment appear at all about the individual merits of any of these initiatives. I would mention that I do strongly support transparency in open government, but we already operate under the Brown Act, and…”
City Council · Aug 25, 2026
- Play at 2:32:33
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Council · Aug 25, 2026
- Play at 39:58
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Council · Aug 18, 2026
- Play at 40:23
“Well, that's my opinion that we should add that.”
City Council · Aug 18, 2026
- Play at 40:38
“I'll make that motion then, that we move forward with all three provisions as modified in the first provision, adding of these provisions to be adopted, of these provisions.”
City Council · Aug 18, 2026