LETTER OF THE WEEK

It’s easy to get peace in the Middle East. It’s easy to get Protestants

and Catholics to unite in Northern Ireland. It’s easy to get the Balkans

to unite harmoniously.

I’ll tell you what’s going to be hard: making a harmonious community out

of West Side Costa Mesa (“How will West Side story end?” Feb. 26). Look

at the foot-dragging so far. The members of the business subgroup didn’t

get involved until they got their own special meeting to advocate their

positions. The Latino subgroup didn’t get involved until they got their

own special meeting to advocate their positions.

Secondly, look at the plan itself. On the one hand, the suggestions for

physical changes are so modest that they seem to be motivated by no more

than the least common denominator, (“Hey, we all agree this place is the

dumps, so let’s fix some potholes and plant some trees”).

On the other hand, the plan is perhaps too revolutionary for Costa Mesa,

suggesting that the West Side should plan to become a community. This

flies in the face of tradition, which is more comfortable with just

drifting along as balkanized islands of special interests.

Finally, there’s Plato. True, Plato’s not in the same league with Yogi

Berra as a philosopher, but he wrote something 2,400 years ago in The

Republic that is eerily appropriate to Costa Mesa.

For indeed any city, however small, is in fact divided into two, one the

city of the poor, the other of the rich; these are at war with one

another; and in both there are many smaller divisions, and you would be

altogether beside the mark if you treated them all as a single state.

Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but get excited as I read the West Side

plan, thinking that it could be a catalyst to bring all the warring

parties together to battle the common enemy: the dumps. I could see that

stakeholders, working together, might forge relationships that could lead

to a strong, healthy community. (You are a stakeholder if you are

interested enough to have read this far.)

If, to change a city, it takes leaders and followers who are committed to

a common goal, then we have a start, since the plan seems to have

identified some common goals.

All we need to do is find leaders and followers in Costa Mesa who will

work devotedly to reach the goals.

Or should we just take the easier route and get the Serbs, Croats,

Bosnians and Kosovo residents to kiss and make up?

TOM EGAN

Costa Mesa