Councilman calls flier creator the ‘hateful’ one

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- A group relatively new to the city’s political landscape

made another forcible mark this week, as it distributed a startling flier

at the Orange Coast College swap meet depicting Councilman Chris Steel

with horns and a swastika.

Since landing on the city’s political radar screen a few weeks ago,

the Orange County Residents’ Council has taken a hard-line stance on many

of Costa Mesa’s most controversial issues. Outspoken members of the

organization have been vocal in the ongoing controversy regarding

allegedly intolerant posts on a local Web site from members of the Human

Relations Committee.

But the group’s most recent campaign has crossed the line, Steel said.

The flier states that Steel is “on a crusade against swap meets and

people of color in the name of property values” and lists some of the

councilman’s quotes regarding illegal immigrants. It is illustrated with

a picture of Steel -- with horns drawn from his head -- and a speech

bubble from his mouth that reads, “Costa Mesa should be for rich people

only.”

Swastikas and icons of angry mobs also appear on the leaflet. At the

bottom, the flier’s creator encourages people to speak out at the Costa

Mesa City Council meeting and lists the phone number for the Orange

County Residents’ Council for more information.

Steel had plenty to say in his defense, calling the flier ridiculous

and unfounded.

“Who are they kidding?” Steel fumed. “What’s wrong with these people?

Why would they attack me like this? If these people were sincere and

mature, it would be different, but they are not. They are hateful.”

Steel said it was almost laughable that the focus of the flier was the

OCC swap meet, given that he has never taken a stance on the issue.

Recent action that ultimately cut the campus swap meet in half was the

result of efforts by Councilwoman Libby Cowan and Mayor Linda Dixon to

reduce traffic on Fairview Road.

“This council has never taken an adverse vote -- or any vote for that

matter -- on this issue, so I don’t know what their complaint is,” Steel

said. “Their claims are totally false and intentionally put out there

just to demonize me and make me look bad.”

Mira Ingram, who sparked the ongoing Human Relations controversy, said

she works with the Orange County Residents’ Council but was not

personally responsible for the fliers.

“This is just my personal opinion, but as far as the swastika, that is

representative of white supremacy,” Ingram said about the icons printed

on the flier. “Chris Steel claims he’s not racist, but the impact of most

of his positions targets and adversely affects people of color, while

having minimal or no negative effect on white people.”

Ingram said she knows the creator but did not name him. She forwarded

requests for him to contact the Pilot, but he had not responded as of

press time Friday.

The councilman acknowledged he has an “image problem” and that some

people characterize his comments as racist, but he denies harboring any

hateful feelings toward any specific group of people. To the contrary,

Steel said he thinks he has been a victim of hate and intolerance and

would like to see the Orange County Human Relations Commission step in on

his behalf.

“If they don’t come clean and apologize to me, I’m going to take them

to the Orange County Human Relations Committee, and they’ll have some

serious explaining to do,” Steel said.

Rusty Kennedy, the executive director of the county Human Relations

Commission, who vocally criticized members of the city Human Relations

Committee for allegedly hateful posts, was out of the office Friday and

could not be reached for comment.