Between the Lines -- Byron de Arakal

May is the year’s most splendid time. It’s when the planet’s in full

bloom with new life and the anticipation of summer’s hot days, cold beers

and the early evening grilling of some choice beef. It’s when the

sports-crazed are drunk with the adrenaline of the Triple Crown races,

the NBA playoffs, the war for the Stanley Cup, the French Open and the

Indy 500.

Here in Costa Mesa -- it being an even year and all -- this May is

especially grand. That’s because it carries whiffs of the political

breezes that will fill the sails of the City Council election this fall.

My nosing about and observations of the city’s landscape tells me the

sprouts of this political season in Costa Mesa promise to yield a

windfall of riveting possibilities and colorful plots. They show signs of

intrigue and maneuvering among known candidates and those chawing on a

run for a spot at the city’s helm. All of which is what gives politics

its bite.

Now, the dynamics of this year’s City Council contest begin with the

two council seats on the ballot. The city’s highest-ranking elected

officials -- Mayor Linda Dixon and Mayor Pro Tem Gary Monahan -- occupy

them. Dixon, who’s winding up her first term, is seeking reelection.

Monahan, in the final months of his second term and eligible to run for a

third, has been saying he won’t seek another stint.

Nevertheless, several local business generals, community activists and

city leaders have been quietly urging Monahan for several weeks now to

give it another go.

They fear, according to some, the council’s increasingly perceived

hostility to business interests and property rights. Others worry some on

the council are only mildly interested in stemming the structural erosion

of the Westside. Still others are put off by the council’s increasing

appetite for new and restrictive codes that rely on residents’ complaints

for enforcement. They fret that the council is promulgating an

environment that turns neighbor on neighbor.

Those lobbying the two-term councilman say Monahan is seen as an

experienced, fair and reasonable voice whose leavening effect on the rest

of the council, if lost, would only hasten the city’s tilt toward

cosmetic dithering and a heavy regulatory hand.

Monahan says he too harbors concerns about the direction and actions

of the council the last two years. He confirmed Tuesday that he has been

heavily lobbied to seek a third term and is no longer ruling out the

option. “I’m giving it serious thought,” he said.

Ed Fawcett, president of the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce, said

Monahan would be tough to beat if he decides to take another run at it.

“Of all the people that I can think of who are running or might run, Gary

would be the one with the best chance of winning.”

Joining Monahan in the giving-it-serious-thought camp is Westside

resident and attorney Bill Turpit. Turpit, a longtime champion of equal

representation and economic opportunity for minorities in Costa Mesa,

said Tuesday he’s been seriously weighing a council bid and will decide

“within the next couple of weeks.”

What effect a Turpit candidacy would have on the campaign of Westside

activists Joel Faris, who is pondering a run, and Allan Mansoor, who

announced his candidacy Tuesday, isn’t altogether clear. But one can

imagine that Turpit would capture a majority of the city’s Latino vote,

and could woo moderate Westside voters who might go with Mansoor or Faris

absent another choice.

What a Turpit candidacy may do is fuel a decision by Planning

Commission Chairwoman Katrina Foley to forego a council campaign and make

a run for Jim Ferryman’s slot on the Newport-Mesa Unified school board.

Foley has been rumored to be interested in the school board but is

waiting to see the slate of council candidates before making a decision.

Foley couldn’t be reached to confirm her interest in serving on the

school board.

Knowing all of this, the election picture becomes far more dicey and

competitive for the candidates who have already said they’ll run --

Dixon, Planning Commissioner Bill Perkins and former Councilwoman Heather

Somers.

As the city’s mayor, Dixon has the clout of her title, her incumbency

and what many describe as pretty solid support among the “silent

majority” in certain quadrants of the city’s central, northern and

eastern boroughs. But she’s seen as vulnerable for, among other things,

having led the ongoing battle to ban recreational vehicle parking on city

streets. And it may well be that Dixon and an RV parking ban could occupy

the same ballot this November, which isn’t an ideal political scenario.

Perkins, in his first term on the Planning Commission and with the

experience of one council campaign under his belt, has been quietly

developing a strategy for capturing large voting blocs within the city

and is already raising funds. But some say he needs more name recognition

and experience.

Somers, who lost her council seat by just 32 votes two years ago, is

generally viewed as a strong and experienced leader skilled in

understanding and developing municipal and regional public policy.

Still, some say she has an abrasive and condescending style that’s

off-putting to City Hall staffers and to residents who speak at council

meetings.

And so our first dispatch on the election season. I just love May.

* BYRON DE ARAKAL is a freelance writer and communications advisor. He

resides in Costa Mesa. His column appears Wednesdays. Readers can reach

him with news tips and comments via e-mail at o7 byronwriter@msn.comf7

. Visit his Web site at o7 www.byronwriter.comf7 .