Residents’ group takes Westside efforts public

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- Citizens for the Improvement of Costa Mesa is scheduled

to hold its first open meeting this evening.

“We’ve had lots of little meetings, but this is our first big one,”

Chairwoman Janice Davidson said Monday. “The meeting is about getting

things done in the city, and doing it better and faster. Whether we have

25 people show up or 100, I’ll be pleased. It’ll be a fast and quick

meeting.”

The group, which supported Councilman Chris Steel’s election and

continues to support many of his platform ideas, is dedicated to

improving rundown areas in the city.

Members favor ideas such as using eminent domain to create more

expensive housing on the Westside and cracking down on illegal

immigrants, efforts which they say would improve property values, schools

and the overall quality of life in the city.

Davidson said she hopes the open call for helpers will result in

residents forming groups to work on issues that interest them.

“If somebody’s interested in rezoning the bluffs, we’ll put a party

together to work on that,” she said. “If another is interested in

undergrounding utilities, we will work on how to get it done in a faster

time than it would take the city alone. We might look at how to stop some

of the traffic congestion, on getting Home Ranch single-family houses

instead of a higher density and on improving the Westside.”

Aside from those long-term issues, the group also will search for “the

little things” it can do to improve the city, Davidson said.

“There are a lot of little things we can do without waiting for the

city to do them,” she said. “We could watch out for kids coming home from

school and make sure they get picked up or get safely home if they are

walking. An easy little thing that makes your whole street look better is

just to ask our neighbors to sweep in front of their houses. There are a

lot of things we could do on our own, things that are easy and visible,

to make this a better city.”

According to a flier, some of the issues that may be discussed include

the possibility of rezoning property on the bluffs from industrial to

residential uses, a plan to widen East 17th Street, crime and

overcrowding.

The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. at the Neighborhood Community

Center, 1845 Park Ave.

For more information, e-mailo7 janbats4u2@aol.comf7 .