Calling it over early

Being a councilman isn’t as much fun as it once was for Gary Monahan

and, as a result, the bar owner and father of four has decided not to

seek another stint when his third term expires in November 2002. But he

still has another year left and discussed some issues he’ll tackle in

that duration with Assistant City Editor James Meier at Skosh Monahan’s

on Wednesday.

Q: What convinced you not to run for reelection?

A: I think it’s just time to step down. I don’t have the passion that

I had for a quite long time. You know, it’s been seven years, coming up

on the end of two terms and eight years, two terms, is enough for

anybody. It’s time to get out and get a fresh perspective and move on to

some other things.

I’d have to admit that having four children and one on the way and a

relatively new business that requires an awful lot of time are definitely

contributing factors.

Q: What got you onto the council to begin with?

A: I think the real kicker was -- well, it all started when the City

Council was trying to shut down the Goat Hill tavern, and I felt they

didn’t give us a fair shake. We made some changes to allay all the

concerns, and they refused to listen, insisting that we close down at

midnight, which didn’t make sense for a bar.

So, Sid Soffer, being the owner, filed a lawsuit. So, I, being the

manager at the time, became the spokesperson. We had a lot of dealings at

the City Council meetings, and I was observing what was going on and

wasn’t very happy with it. I felt the council didn’t listen to the

people, that it was very anti-business. I actually earned myself

membership on the board of directors on the Chamber of Commerce, and one

thing led to another and next thing I knew I was running for and

eventually winning a seat on the City Council.

Q: Any regrets in joining the council?

A: Is that a leading question or what? No, I don’t have any regrets. I

think it’s been really good for myself, and I think I’ve done some good

things for the city and the constituency that I feel I represent. It’s

been a good seven years so far, and hopefully I’ll have one more good

year before it’s over.

Q: What are you planning to do with your last year now that you don’t

have to really impress anyone?

A: A couple of things I’d like to finish -- things that I’ve managed

to get started over the years or have been started while I’ve been in

office.

The Home Ranch project is a big one. It’s really time for the

Segerstroms to develop out there, and we have that in front of us right

now, and hopefully can answer that question of what the last major

undeveloped chunk of Costa Mesa will look like.

I’m still working on improving some softball fields at TeWinkle Park.

That’s been a mainstay since I first started on the council.

Westside redevelopment area -- it’s going to take longer than a year.

My goal has been, since taking over chair of the Redevelopment Agency, to

kick-start it. It’s been a very slow and quite fractious process to date,

and I think it’s going to get even worse. The big challenge for me is to

keep everyone focused and move that down to where some benefits can come

out of it.

Also, ever since the election, the council has been pretty -- there’s

been some rough edges. There’s been quite a bit of disagreement and,

hopefully, I can help keep it together until the next election and keep

it on a positive note.

I’d also like to see us get more involved in the airport process. I’ve

been pushing that for a while, and with Councilman Chris Steel on board

there’s two of us. But we’re still trying to get the commitment from a

third, if not a fourth, council member. We seem to be getting there, but

there’s still a long way to go.

Q: Do you plan on staying involved in the community in another role?

A: I imagine I will. Not that my life isn’t busy enough, but there’s

other things I’d like to be involved in, like my daughter’s school and

other organizations that I just haven’t had the time for. You want to go

to a fund-raiser or an outreach meeting, and you’ve got a City Council

appointment on the same night. Obviously my responsibility is to the city

and to the council. There are other areas I like to get involved.

Q: How do you think the Home Ranch project will turn out?

A: I think it’s running its course, and there’s plenty of opportunity

for the public to discuss it. There’s lots of pros and cons, and I think

at the end of the day, I think the council’s going to make a very sound

decision on it. I think we’re getting a pretty good idea of what it’s

going to look like, but I think the final project may be a little

different than what’s on the table.

You know, you asked me a question earlier of what got me into this. I

think there’s a pendulum approach. You go from liberal to conservative,

and also from pro-business to anti-business, or whatever you want to call

it. I think one of my concerns is that the little guy gets left out.

Again, as Sid Soffer once said and reminds me on occasion, “When my

neighbors have more say on what I do with my property than I do, it’s

time I sold it to them and told them what to do with it.”

That’s one of the concerns I’ve always had and continue to have, is

that so many individual rights get trampled on and, hopefully, I can keep

that out in the public eye and, once I’m gone, I hope someone else will

pick up on that. Again, it’s far too often that the little guy gets beat

on.

A prime example is the Halloween house right now. Code enforcement is

having some problems with the sheds out there. This is a mainstay on the

Eastside -- one of the nice things about the Eastside. Someone does this

at no profit of their own, and here the city’s beating up on them. Let’s

get real here and decide what’s important. People talk about the

character of the Eastside. That’s what I consider the character of the

Eastside.

And we need to protect things like that. The character of the Eastside

really came out of and still is the individuality of each property. We’re

not in Irvine and, with the more codes and the more development

requirements that pass, the more vanilla the Eastside will become. That’s

why I live on the Eastside, because I like the individuality part.

Q: What do you hope happens to the Job Center?

A: I really haven’t advocated closing it. I remember what it was like

when we had a lot of workers on the street, especially near Lions Park.

It was a nightmare. What I’ve advocated all along and, for some reason I

can’t gain any support, is to make it self-functioning. You’ve got

employers that are saving a ton of money by hiring somebody there. If you

charge them $5 per employee picked up, that would pay for the center over

the course of the year. It boggles my mind I haven’t been able to get any

support for that.

Everyone argues about whether to close it or not close it, and I think

that would be an easy, in-the-middle compromise, at least for now. Part

of the argument is that we put a bunch of taxpayer money into it. This

would take that out of the equation. It’s a bigger problem than just

that, but that’s a start because once you take the money out of it, we

can use the money for other things. That money could be used to keep

dayworkers out of other areas. We can have a special task force out of

the Police Department or something. That would be a logical first step I

can’t get any support for.

Q: Any final thoughts?

A: Just tell everyone to come down the Skosh’s and have a good time.

BIO BOX

Name: Gary Monahan

Age: 42

Residence: Eastside for 14 years

Education: Cal State Fullerton, bachelor’s degree in history

Occupation: Owner of Skosh Monahans at Newport Boulevard and 20th

Street.

Family: Wife Deborah; daughter Echo, 8; and sons Ethan, 7, Aaron, 2,

Quinn, 1, and another on the way

Hobbies: With his children, owning a business and serving as a

councilman, he doesn’t have any time for hobbies