STEVE SMITH -- What’s Up

Having read Costa Mesa City Councilman Chris Steel’s comments over the

past few years, I know that he is big on headlines and short on details.

So it was no surprise to read once again that Steel would like only the

rich to live in Costa Mesa.

Except that I’m fairly certain that’s not what he meant or meant to

say. I’d like to tell you I know for sure, but he did not return the two

phone calls I placed prior to my deadline.

The statement I hope that Steel wanted to make was one supporting an

end to any rent subsidies or any other residential support.

Steel’s libertarian side shows up now and then, especially when it

comes to determining who should be walking the streets of Costa Mesa. The

criteria used to be only that we must be ready to produce papers

declaring our right to be here. Now it seems we must also carry our last

bank statement to prove that we’re not on the dole. Steel’s statement

about the new condition he’d like to impose, that the city needs to

attract people who can “afford to live here,” has such a great touch of

irony that I can’t let it pass.

One of Steel’s favorite collections of sound bites has been Costa

Mesa’s “abnormally high crime rate, “ its “declining property values” and

its “declining schools.” I cautioned Steel about the use of these terms,

but he is more insistent on telling what he perceives to be the truth

than he is in attracting to Costa Mesa both the new businesses the city

needs and the type of residents he wants. I then pointed out that he was

mistaken on all three points.

Steel has been spouting off this three-point shot for years. Last

year, about 10,000 voters in Costa Mesa agreed with him and voted him

into office. Many more than that did not vote for him, but that hasn’t

stopped him from believing that he has a mandate to trash this great

city. And that is exactly what he has started to do.

Instead of heeding warnings about how his comments could affect

property values and business relocations, Steel continued his tirade.

Now, the chickens have come home to roost as Costa Mesa is tagged as a

high-crime area.

Here’s the ironic part.

Three weeks ago, in a span of two days, I received two e-mails from

colleagues who were thinking of relocating to Costa Mesa. One person is

renting in Newport Beach and the other owns a home in Aliso Viejo. Both

of these people are married, one has a child and both are the type of

residents Steel would like to attract: American-born citizens with money

to spend. Neither household is likely to receive government assistance

and neither is likely to stand in line at the city-supported job center.

The e-mails wanted to know more about Costa Mesa, and having lived

here for 15 years, I’m qualified to answer. But did these people ask me

about the state of the city’s infrastructure? No. Did they ask about the

city’s position on the El Toro Airport? No. Did they ask about whether

the city was solvent? No. Both of these potential residents -- the kind

Steel wants to attract -- had heard about high crime in Costa Mesa and

they wanted to know if it was true.

You see, as long as people like Chris Steel continue to be

irresponsible with their comments, they will continue to repel these

people -- exactly the type they believe are best for Costa Mesa. It’s

funny how that works.

That’s bad enough, but the real truth is that these statements are

just not true. School test scores are up. Property values are up and the

city does not have an “abnormally high crime rate.”

The declaration that Costa Mesa is safer comes directly from police

chief Dave Snowden, who was quoted in the Daily Pilot on March 29 as

stating, “Numbers are misleading. . . The city’s overall crime rate is

still down, as it has been for the last 12 years.”

I believe the chief. And I hope that Steel will schedule a chat with

him so he can start telling the real truth about Costa Mesa: This is a

great city in which to work, live and play.

So, city bashers, please take it down a notch or two because you’re

only making things worse. If you can’t say anything nice about Costa Mesa

in public, don’t say anything at all.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer. Readers

may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at (949) 642-6086.