Saturday 21 December 2019

Political Irony and Unfulfilled Expectations - 7/26/2005


Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Political Irony and Unfulfilled Expectations
Those of us who pay attention to such things got a clear view of one of the interesting ironies in local politics at the Costa Mesa City Council meeting on July 19th.

A long time activist - a woman who meets the definition of "seasoned citizen" by any stretch of the term and who, for years, has fancied herself "housemother" for the Westside - presented herself before the council during the Public Comments segment and proceeded to rip the members for not doing enough for her part of town. She singled out for special condemnation Mayor Allan Mansoor and Councilman Eric Bever - two men she had supported during their candidacy.

I found myself wondering just what it will take to make this woman happy! The Westside has absorbed a disproportionate share of municipal funds over the past few years for street improvements and undergrounding of utilities. It has benefited by an increase in law enforcement and code enforcement presence. Bever's quick pitch of the process that ended up applying a residential overlay over the industrial Westside has made it possible to evict those industrial businesses she has complained about for years. The Job Center, which has been stuck in her craw for a long time, is on it's way out. What is she expecting next - for buses to line up on 19th Street, waiting to load up the "illegals" in her neck of the woods to be transported back across the border? I wouldn't be a bit surprised.

Perhaps she's frustrated by the failure of her "chosen" candidates to live up to her expectations. First there was Chris Steel - arguably the least competent elected official in this city for decades - who took up valuable space on the council dais without making any discernible contribution during his tour the first four years of this decade.

Now she watches as Mansoor and Bever attempt to turn the council into a body devoid of compassion. Their definition of local government apparently starts and stops with fixing potholes, extinguishing fires and catching bad guys, period. A measure of their compassion was the recent de-funding and subsequent disbanding of the almost two decades old Human Relations Committee - a committee organized specifically to help bridge issues between diverse constituencies within the city.

This activist was one of the people behind the controversial Concerned Costa Mesa Citizens web site a couple years ago. Mayor Mansoor was an active participant for many months. That site, while it was up and running, opened a window into the minds of many Westside activists as they posted rant after rant, many of which were laced with racial intolerance. However, once Daily Pilot reporter Lolita Harper cast light on it in her excellent three-part series and the county Human Relations Commission stuck it's unwelcome nose under the tent, the door was slammed shut. Despite much "progress" being made on the Westside it seems impossible to satisfy this activist and some of her cronies. She may, in fact, precisely represent the attitude of many of the "Westside activists" who appear eager to return Costa Mesa to the days when it was known as Goat Hill - when English was the primary language of most residents.

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Thanks to the Orange County Register for publishing my comments on eminent domain in The Current, a weekly supplement distributed in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, on Friday, July 22nd. That letter was an abbreviated version of the first entry on this blog - dated Saturday, July 9th - if you wish to refresh your memory.

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Those of you who watched the brief July 25th Planning Commission meeting had a chance to see Chairman Bill Perkins display his complete lack of leadership on the dais once again. Perkins, who as "mini-me" to Mayor Pro Tem Gary Monahan, demonstrates in meeting after meeting just how ill-prepared he is for any kind of leadership role in public life. Although he seems like a nice enough young man, Perkins continues to demonstrate his immaturity as he blathers on and on, apparently seeing no need to filter his thoughts before he blurts them out. If the Planning Commission is the de facto "prep school" for a shot at a spot on the City Council, Perkins needs to enroll in several remedial courses before trying to take that giant step.
2:52 pm pdt

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