First Gavin Newsom Closed the Beaches. Then His Cops Ticketed Those Who Came to Look at Them.

Orange County is a car show. On a normal (read: pre-coronavirus) Saturday morning, you can go to the local ocean front shopping center at 7am and see any manner of expensive car. No, not a BMW or Mercedes. Pfft! Those are daily drivers for the kids. Ferrari’s, Lambos and Bentleys are de riguer. I’ll never forget the first time I saw a McLaren. We were at a stop light and I got on the Google machine and exclaimed to my husband, “That guy’s driving a house.” I saw a million dollar car once. The guy joked it was his wife’s car. It was a VERY limited edition Porsche SUV.

My pastor was part of a Holy Harley gang.

This is a place where the late Kobe Bryant went to the local Starbucks and people left him alone. I once saw Magic Johnson and his wife Cookie at the grocery store. He was pushing the cart. Nobody bugged him.

I welcome it. I think it’s great that people can afford to buy fancy cars and Harleys. Mazel tov! Good for them.

Now before you hate on them, remember that the OC is also the most generous to the homeless and the under and uneducated, not just locally, but around the WORLD, so you can pipe down. They put their money where their hearts are. And their hearts are much bigger than their cars and houses. They’re bigger than an Orange County sunset.

And remember that the rich people, basketball idols, Justin Biebers and the Mark Cubans of the world aren’t the only ones who visit the world-renowned beaches. Families from the inland areas come to take-in the sights every weekend and to show off their low riders, tricked out Toyotas and crazy racing motorcycles. I once saw a bunch of guys doing sunset beauty photos with their old 1970’s era Datsons. My mom drove one of those.

The fact that the beaches are well used and loved by tens of thousands of Southern Californians from all social-economic backgrounds is one of the most galling things about Governor Gavin Newsom’s frivolous, petulant closing of them. He was punishing all people who used them for a little socially-distanced fresh air, salt water and exercise.

Now things just got worse.

Insult, meet injury.

Salt, meet wound.

Police all over Orange County, as well as Governor Newsom’s California Highway Patrol decided that people who came to simply see those closed beaches should also be punished.

The San Jose Mercury News gleefully reported that locked down people who just wanted to drive and see the beaches were fair game for a special crack down on drivers on the Pacific Coast Highway through Orange County.

Four police agencies cracked down on 126 motorists who were either speeding or had loud exhausts along Pacific Coast Highway on Saturday, May 2.

The special enforcement was prompted by incidents the weekend before in which more than 100 motorists — some in supercars such as Lamborghinis and Ferraris, some on motorcycles — sped through the coastal towns, drawing ire from residents. In Laguna Beach, more than 100 residents complained to the police department in emails and phone calls.

“The enforcement went very well,” said Laguna Beach police Capt. Jeff Calvert, who headed up the effort.

In one instance, an Orange County sheriff’s deputy clocked a motorcyclist at 103 mph on the Pacific Coast Highway near Dana Point, Calvert said.

“They will be out there in heavy enforcement again today,’ he said. “It will be warm today and I’m guessing a lot of people will be out.”

The highest number of tickets were handed out by California Highway Patrol officers who worked a segment of highway between Newport Coast and Laguna Beach. Officers cited 60 motorists along that stretch.

No one condones speeding (unless they’re doing it), of course.

Was this really about an enforcement against speeders or a way to tamp down the crowds who wanted to breathe free and get out and drive – and possibly put a toe in Gavin Newsom’s sand?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.