COMMENTS & CURIOSITIES

Peter Buffa

By now, you’ve heard it all. Over and over, I might add. About 2,307

people have asked me what I think about it. I try not to get involved.

Fourteen years was more than enough, thank you. That’s almost a third of

my life, for heaven’s sake.

Everyone has tossed their two cents about Home Ranch in the pot except

me. Wait, that’s not true. There’s a 16-year-old kid on the drive-through

window at In-and-Out and an 87-year-old woman in Bethel Towers who

haven’t been heard from yet.

That’s it, Jimmy, Gwendolyn and me. Jimmy wouldn’t know the difference

between Home Ranch and Home Depot, and Gwendolyn doesn’t have a phone,

which leaves just me. So let’s begin, shall we?

I’ll dispense with the suspense and tell you where I stand right up

front. Contrary to a lot of what you have heard, Home Ranch is not a good

project. Home Ranch is a great project.

That’s it, in a nutshell. A proposal like Home Ranch comes along once

every 10 years, maybe. Smart cities don’t pass up opportunities like

this, and Costa Mesa is a smart city.

By the way, anything I tell you is strictly between us. Please don’t

mention any of this to the City Council. When you’re on the dais, there’s

nothing more annoying than having to listen to some has-been mayor.

Eeesh.

What don’t you know about Home Ranch? At this point, not much. In

fact, if you scanned the pages of this fine publication just this Friday,

you saw a very thorough analysis of Home Ranch from every angle, pro and

con, with site plans and pictures and cool graphics.

So, what’s all the rumpus? You’ve already heard more than you ever

wanted to know, but remember, never confuse politics with reality. Crafty

old council members who are all bent over and have gray hair have to read

between the lines. And what’s between the lines is this: there is very

little opposition to Home Ranch.

“Wait,” you say. “All those stories and quotes and Citizens for This

and Citizens for That. How can that be?” Stay calm. You have to ask

yourself two key questions: Who is the opposition? And what are they

saying?

Over the last year, there have been more community meetings on Home

Ranch than you can count. Go ahead, try it. Count as high as you can.

I’ll wait. No rush. Done? Good. Whatever number you came up with, there

were six more meetings on Home Ranch than that.

More importantly, there were very few people at those meetings, as in,

very few. But most importantly, you heard from the same six or eight

people, meeting after meeting. Be that as it may, what were the opponents

saying?

Talk about deja vu all over again. The environmental impact report is

desperately flawed. The traffic is going to bring this city to its knees.

There will be gridlock and smog at levels foretold only in the Book of

Revelation, which could trigger a post-nuclear winter in Mesa Verde.

Plant life will disappear first, then all traces of animal life.

Oh, and the bridge on Gisler. Never forget the bridge on Gisler. Any

action taken for any reason by anyone, anywhere in this city at any time,

will result in the Gisler Street bridge.

Sound scary? It should. It’s meant to. Sound familiar? See if this

helps. Choose one of the items in parentheses to complete this sentence:

“The environmental impact report for (MetroPointe, the Auto Club

expansion, Harbor Center) is desperately flawed.”

Why don’t the predictions of impending doom come true? A number of

reasons:

1) Developers who build businesses that are a pain in the patoot to

get in and out of are called “former developers.”

2) City planners and traffic engineers are very good at what they do.

They know how to move people and cars in and out of a project and how to

relieve developers of large amounts of dollars to make sure it happens --

in the case of Home Ranch, $12 million of them.

Which brings me to the wonderfully offensive issue of the $2 million

“bribe” to Newport-Mesa schools. It is quite interesting, is it not, that

when a city or a school district or neighbors are working a developer

over like a speed bag for tot lots and parks and double-paned windows and

who knows what all, that’s not “extortion.” But when a developer offers

$2 million to a school district as part of its proposal -- that’s a

“bribe.”

It is particularly offensive to anyone who knows that the Segerstrom

company and family have a record of giving in this community that is

beyond generous.

Every youngster in every Newport-Mesa school during the past 30 years

has worn a uniform or used a computer or a stage or a laboratory or a

playing field that wouldn’t have been there without the Segerstroms’

generosity. But now, stepping up with $2 million for the same schools is

a “bribe.” Ah, politics. No wonder people love it so.

When you’re on the dais, some decisions are easy and some decisions

are hard. With apologies, this one is a no-brainer. This thing is a

home-run for everyone involved and the bases are loaded. Let’s get on

with it. I gotta go.

* PETER BUFFA is a former Costa Mesa mayor. His column runs Sundays.

He may be reached via e-mail at PtrB4@aol.com.