Editorial

There sure is a lot of talk around the campfire about the Segerstroms’

Home Ranch proposal. And that’s a good thing for the most part, but some

of it has turned into name-calling and ugly words.

And that’s not good.

The proposal is a mighty big one. A 17-acre Ikea furniture store.

About 800,000 square feet of office space, 250,000 square feet of

industrial and close to 200 homes, either single family or attached.

That spurs many questions and rightly so.

What will be its effect on traffic?

Is the $2 million for Costa Mesa schools worth the price?

Will the current Costa Mesa population be better or worse off?

Will there be more jobs?

Will there be more money in city coffers?

Do the pros outweigh the cons?

We all should ask these questions and the city officials should find

the answers because they are out there.

But don’t allow the debate over what should become of this open bit of

land owned by the pioneer Costa Mesa family to turn bitter.

Let’s debate the merits of the proposal and leave the conspiracy

theories and innuendo of back-room deals and bribery where they belong --

in the trash bin. And when we have all the facts, we all should be able

to share informed, thoughtful opinions with the City Council on what we

think is best for Costa Mesa.

Hopefully, they will listen.

In the meantime remember, the Segerstroms are not hit and run land

developers. We all know the type. They make all sorts of promises and

then when it comes time to deliver, the development doesn’t come close to

living up to its billing. The city is then stuck with a white elephant,

and the developer, well, good luck trying to rope him down.

That is clearly not the case regarding Home Ranch.

These are the Segerstroms. A family that spends its time and

considerable money making Costa Mesa a better place. These are the people

who brought us, and continue to bring us, South Coast Plaza, Metro

Pointe, fine dining and entertainment and South Coast Repertory and the

Performing Arts Center, of which family patriarch Henry Segerstrom

recently handed over an additional $40 million toward expansion.

So please. Spare us the talk about how they don’t care about this

town.

That simply is not up for debate.