EDITORIAL

There are a number of pressing, critical issues facing Costa Mesa.

The Home Ranch project, with its proposed 17-acre Ikea store, offices

and 464 homes, leads the list. Already residents are lining up to keep

the Segerstrom lima bean field located next to the San Diego Freeway from

being developed.

There is the defunct Westside plan. The city is going to have to

refocus on this section of town, which already has proven to be a

divisive, emotional task.

And as of last week, the city once again has no plan to build a

skateboard park. The momentum for both those who desperately want a park

and those who just as stridently don’t is too strong for this issue to

quietly roll away.

So it was disheartening Monday to see the council expend valuable

energy on what amounts to nothing more than a useless political squabble

over appointing new commissioners.

The process, led by Mayor Libby Cowan, was frenetic. Council members

lost track of their votes. Substitutes were tossed into nominations.

There were plenty of interruptions.

Afterward, some in the audience said it was a “railroad” job, and they

directed their anger at Cowan for at times refusing to allow Councilman

Chris Steel to nominate a candidate.

Even those intimately involved appeared shocked.

“The process needs a lot of work,” said Councilman Gary Monahan.

The discord was no surprise. When the council in December initially

decided to clear away the planning and parks commissions, emotions wore

thin.

But nearly two months later, it was not too much to hope that the

reappointment process would be smooth and professional. Judging by any

standard, it wasn’t.

And with so many substantive issues to tackle, council members

certainly don’t need to add their inability to get along to the list.