Westside meeting heats up

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- Heated debate and emotional argument helped to define

the Westside battle lines at the Citizens for the Improvement of Costa

Mesa’s first public meeting Tuesday.

“We are closer to the beach than some parts of Newport Beach and some

parts of Huntington Beach,” resident Martin Millard said. “Why are we so

different from the cities on both sides of us? Why are we the city dump?

Why do we have the industrial buildings on our bluffs? Why do we have the

charities? Why do we have the slums? Why do we have the gangs? Why do we

have the affordable housing?”

Citizens for the Improvement of Costa Mesa, a group that supported

Councilman Chris Steel’s election and continues to support many of his

platform ideas, put out an open call for helpers at the meeting.

Members favor such ideas as using eminent domain to create more

expensive housing on the Westside and cracking down on illegal immigrants

-- efforts they say would improve property values, schools and the

overall quality of life in the city.

Although the group has a citywide focus, most of the discussion at the

meeting concentrated on the city’s aging, rundown Westside.

Many speakers vented their frustrations about problems they think most

affect their lives -- the safety of their children, the quality of the

schools, the cleanliness of their neighborhoods and their property

values.

“I can’t let my 6-year-old daughter walk to the store,” said Craig

Peterson, another longtime resident. “I used to walk all over when I was

young.”

Several speakers shared a perceived decline in safety on the Westside,

but others said they feel conditions are not that bad.

“A 6-year-old has no business walking alone anyway,” resident Gladys

Olmedo said. “I walk all over the Westside, and I’m still here.”

Speakers disagreed about what caused the rundown conditions.

Some, including Peterson, said the problems stems from apartments and

densely populated areas. Others, including members of the Wallace Area

Improvement Group -- a group of apartment owners and managers --

disagreed.

Community members also pitched the sometimes controversial changes

they want to make.

A major issue was the possibility of rezoning the industrial area on

the Westside bluffs for residential use.

The area is close to a now-defunct oil field, making it a bad place

for housing but ideal for manufacturing, Millard said.

Now that the oil field is out of operation, proponents say the bluffs

would be perfect for pricey single-family houses.

Businesses would be grandfathered in -- not forced to move -- but when

property owners decide to sell, the properties would have to be sold to a

residential developer.

Millard said he thinks rezoning would make the land more valuable,

giving businesses the opportunity to sell the land at high prices.

But not everybody agrees that the plan would be the best move for the

city.

Olmedo said rezoning would be unfair to businesses that have been

there for years. Resident David Martinez said he doesn’t want the city to

lose the businesses’ tax revenue but would support the rezoning if the

businesses could be moved within the city.

One emotionally charged argument unrelated to disagreements about

improving the city sprang from racial tensions on the Citizens for the

Improvement of Costa Mesa Web site.

Olmedo and Martinez said they were offended by comments that they said

stereotyped Latinos as being dangerous, illegal immigrants.

Others disagreed, saying that comments made by Olmedo and Martinez

offended them. Janice Davidson, the group’s chairwoman, said members

should be more careful about the words they use.

“I think we have to learn to talk with a little more sensitivity to

what might offend others,” she said, adding that she had hoped more

Latinos would attend the meeting. “But there is no racism here. I don’t

understand why they brought it up.”

At the meeting, Davidson said she was disappointed by the arguments.

“I wanted this to be a wonderful meeting, and it’s turning into a

riot, which is not what I wanted,” she said.

But Wednesday, she said she was encouraged toward the end of the

meeting and convinced that community members left promising to work

harder to make changes on the city’s Westside.

The group is forming committees to work on some of the issues

discussed at the meeting, she said.

Community members made checklists of the issues they are interested in

working on. Some of the likely committees include one to eliminate

vending trucks, one to improve the Westside for children, one to raise

standardized test scores at the schools and one to rezone the bluffs from

industrial to residential use.

“We had a little excitement there,” she said. “But it turned out

really good at the end. There was a lot of laughter and fun, and I think

a lot got done. We are setting up committees, and we are going to get

things done.”

STAY TUNED

Beginning next Thursday, the Daily Pilot will take an in-depth look at

the issues, problems, history and future of Costa Mesa’s Westside. The

four-part series will focus on the people trying to improve the area,

what they hope to accomplish and the challenges they face. As part of our

coverage, the Pilot will encourage you, the readers, to send your

thoughts and comments about the stories and the Westside.