EDITORIAL

The only good thing to say about news that Costa Mesa City Manager

Allan Roeder is willing to consider moving to Anaheim’s top job is that,

for now, it’s premature.

But if Anaheim officials decide to seek a replacement for their city

manager beyond the doors of their city hall, it could come at that city’s

gain and Costa Mesa’s crippling loss.

Roeder, who has served as city manager since 1985, has won wide praise

from the council members he’s worked with and other city officials across

the county. While other cities, school districts and even the county have

been dragged through the mud for a variety of controversies --

bankruptcies, sexual harassment charges, embezzlements all come easily to

mind -- Costa Mesa has sailed steady under his firm control.

There are a number of reasons why Roeder would want to take the

Anaheim job. Anaheim boasts professional baseball and hockey teams, not

to mention an amusement park called Disneyland. It runs its own utilities

and is about three times larger than Costa Mesa in terms of both

population and area. Its budget of $960 million is more than 10 times

Costa Mesa’s. The challenge and change is obviously appealing.

But there are still challenges remaining in Costa Mesa. The proposed

Home Ranch project -- the last major new development in an otherwise

built-out city -- is far from a done deal. The Westside awaits

redevelopment. Next year’s election, with Councilman Gary Monahan’s

announcement that he won’t run, ensures at least one new face and

therefore a council majority with little experience.

The most telling fact may prove to be this one, however: Roeder has

spent his entire professional career in Costa Mesa, starting in 1974 as

an unpaid intern. It is simply natural that he would want to move on.

And unfortunate.