STEVE SMITH -- What’s Up

As a politician, Costa Mesa Mayor Libby Cowan is supposed to be loud,

obnoxious, stubborn and selfish. During our recent interview, however,

she was gracious, conciliatory and quite calm, considering the chaos that

has occurred since the city’s November elections. Since that time, Costa

Mesa has, among other decisions, canceled a planned skate park, shaken up

the city’s planning commission, questioned the value of the Noguchi

Garden and put us right behind the South Bronx in the public’s perception

of safe neighborhoods.

Since November, Costa Mesa has gone from the city that works to the

city with quirks, a city for which bickering has become the norm instead

of the exception. It is no wonder why the residents of Santa Ana Heights

want us less now than before.

“I have lived here for 22 years and I have always felt that Costa Mesa

has always been the city that does its job, but we’re struggling right

now,” said Cowan. “Unfortunately, right now, I think there are some

things coming up, some people taking hold of some negatives and really

beginning to pound them and you begin to feel -- at least I begin to feel

-- like I don’t know where I live anymore.

“It’s time now to promote our city again. I’m not saying that we’re

perfect or that we don’t have work to do, but when you look at things

like our sales tax base and our revenue base, what we’ve been able to do

has been incredible.”

“This is a community that has accepted everybody for who they were.

You accept the person next door because they’re your neighbor and if you

have issues, you talk to him. This is how it has always been and I don’t

get this.”

The “this” Cowan referred to was the inability of a few loud mouths to

use more discretion in their approach to the few serious problems that

the city faces and the inability of those people to understand that no

one has cornered the market on righteous indignation.

We talked about crime.

“I have always felt very safe in Costa Mesa. I have never felt awkward

walking in any neighborhood [in Costa Mesa] in the evening,” said Cowan.

I agree. The problem of Costa Mesa’s image as a high-crime area would

not be so bad, but this cancer has spread to other communities that now

look upon us as a lawless land, thanks to the irresponsible comments of a

handful of people who can’t wait to drive away new business and force

property values to decline, thus making their predictions a

self-fulfilling prophesy.

The difference in the new City Council is dramatic. “I loved my first

four years,” said Cowan. “I struggled at times but we always communicated

with each other. We talked and we got to know each other. I’m right now

dealing with council members who won’t even come to the dinner session

prior to the council meeting because they don’t think it’s of value. That

tells me they’re not interested in getting to know anyone.”

The dinner session is a meeting held before each City Council meeting,

during which the members talk with each other. Mindful of the Brown Act,

the conversations are designed to form bonds and a spirit of respect and

civility. But, just as we’re seeing in the Middle East, it’s hard to

understand someone’s point of view when they won’t meet you halfway.

In case you missed it, Cowan did something that is going to give her

profession a bad name. In publicly apologizing for the way she ran a

recent City Council meeting, Cowan did not use such cheap political

euphemisms as “It was an error in judgment,” or “I made a mistake.”

Cowan merely said, “I’m sorry.” Why did she apologize when almost any

other course of action would have been more politically expedient? “It

was eating me up,” said Cowan.

I showed Cowan’s apology to my kids and then we discussed it. It was,

as Pilot columnist and former school board member Jim de Boom would say,

a “teachable moment.” I told them that what the mayor did is exactly what

they are to do when they do something wrong.

Even though I disagree with Cowan on several key issues facing the

city, I am glad she is mayor. I’m glad because her Emporia, Kan. roots

will always force her to maintain her integrity, her conscience and her

work ethic. And she’ll say “I am sorry” when she is wrong.

That’s the difference between the new council and the old. Costa Mesa

does not have an “abnormally high crime rate,” but the city bashers who

spew this nonsense and ruin our reputation do not have the courage or

integrity to admit their mistake and say, “I’m sorry.”

* 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.