Costa Mesa has reached a crossroads
Thanks, Gary. Now council, let’s get to work (“Monahan will seek
new term,” July 11).
We all know another council term was an enormous amount to ask and
we’re appreciative Councilman Monahan was able to hear our plea amid
the rising din of family and restaurant demands. But we never
doubted; the good ones always find a way to find the time to serve.
So, now that we all have a reasonably strong idea of who a simple
majority of next term’s Costa Mesa council members will be, maybe
this City Council can finally set aside its differences to work for
Costa Mesa’s greater good. (The jury’s out on Councilman Chris Steel,
and while I believe Mayor Linda Dixon has tried, she has clearly
shown she’s not up to our considerable challenges.)
Costa Mesa’s at a crossroads and the clearest evidence is the
school performance of Monahan’s constituency: the “blue collar,
ordinary folks.” Don’t these families deserve the opportunity to
receive a great education? It’s disingenuous for the council to
ignore the severity of our school problem or the uniqueness of our
opportunity. There is no question that council has a direct
responsibility to support academic improvement. And there’s no
question Home Ranch provides us a single chance to pull all the
needed resources together to develop an eight-year plan to improve
our schools to be among the best in the state. Our schools,
nonprofits, fraternal groups and community volunteers have been doing
their darndest, but cannot do it without council leadership.
I offered to find at least double-matching funds to start the
effort if the city would direct just $500,000 annually of its
$1.5-million annual Home Ranch revenue to academic improvement
programs of its choice. Residents very clearly told council we
supported Home Ranch because it would provide for much needed, but
underfunded programs. Dixon defended the city’s responsibility to
support Costa Mesa kids after council’s recent vote to dramatically
increase city recreational programs (with no matching funds). Come
on, council: don’t Costa Mesa kids deserve greater educational
opportunities more than they deserve city-sponsored birthday parties?
The council has been derelict in not developing the city’s
relationship with the Segerstrom family. They are not only Costa
Mesa’s greatest resource, they are its greatest supporter. Steel
recognized their importance to our future when, during the Home Ranch
approval process, he pleaded for their continued involvement with the
city, long after they’ve won their last needed city approval. There’s
no better time to nurture this relationship than now. The Home Ranch
Development Agreement calls for the city, with the cooperation of the
Segerstroms and schools, to select an existing or new foundation(s)
to ensure the educational endowment proceeds will be used as
accorded. Costa Mesa has existing foundations capable of working with
our Parent-Teacher Assns. and schools to fairly disburse the annual
funds (about $22 per student), so the only reason to discuss a new
foundation(s) is to look to the future. Costa Mesa’s one hope to
dramatically improve our schools is to enlist the Segerstrom family’s
assistance to help us organize and explore our opportunity to raise
the enormous additional funds and community backing we’ll need.
So, please council, let’s get together on this while the
opportunity exists. It does no one any good for the council to voice
its opinions contrary to the development agreement; both the
Segerstroms and the city signed it. It’s time for you to lead, not
further divide us. Take the time to do a little homework and you’ll
see that we need only one foundation with a very prestigious Board of
Directors whose job will be to organize, enlist wide support and
raise enormous funds. Your real challenge is to enlist a Segerstrom
principal to participate on a blue-ribbon foundation to unify all
constituencies to the task. All you have to remember is: Costa Mesa
is a great place to live and we deserve great schools.
There’s a lot more evidence that Costa Mesa’s at a crossroads,
needing of strong council leadership. One urgent need is for the City
Council, as the Redevelopment Agency, to rethink its approach for the
Westside (along with its subcommittee of 70). I’d like to see you
just say oops, before the process evolves into another protracted and
expensive fiasco like the last Westside plan. The Westside needs help
now, not in 20 years.
Any viable solution for our schools and the Westside, must begin
with city leadership, passionate to the opportunity to unite all
constituencies to make Costa Mesa a better place to live and raise
families. There’s no better time to start than now.
* DOUG SUTTON is a Costa Mesa resident.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.