Few disagreements arise in Costa Mesa candidates forum

Deepa Bharath

The five candidates vying for two Costa Mesa City Council seats

agreed on most of the questions, from skateboard parks to

revitalizing neighborhoods, they faced at a forum Tuesday night.

At the forum organized by the Mesa Del Mar Homeowners Assn. at the

Davis Elementary School Auditorium, the candidates also tended to

agree on issues such as tighter code enforcement and revitalization

of city neighborhoods.

Mayor Linda Dixon said that, if reelected, she intends to “finish

some of the initiatives I started.”

“I’ve always fought for lower density, voted in favor of four

lanes on 17th Street, supported the group home ordinance and was

responsible for bringing out the Costa Mesa newsletter,” she said.

On her agenda, she said, are revitalization of the Westside,

improving schools and general quality of life and conversion of the

hotels and motels on Harbor Boulevard into affordable or senior

housing.

Bill Perkins, currently a Costa Mesa Planning Commissioner, said

he believes in “keeping Costa Mesa the way it is.”

“We need to keep it exciting,” he said. “We need to keep it a fun

place.”

Councilman Gary Monahan said he will fight bureaucracy and

over-regulation.

“As a council, we need to empower every single citizen to lead the

best life they can lead,” he said.

Allan Mansoor, an Orange County Deputy Sheriff, said he believes

“Costa Mesa is going in the wrong direction.”

“Crime is up, traffic is up,” he said. “We need to start with the

basics of code enforcement in the worst parts of our city.”

Mansoor said the city has wrongly been allocating money for

programs and charities instead of spending money on more immediate

needs such as road repair, clean neighborhoods and better law

enforcement.

Katrina Foley, an attorney and currently the Planning Commission

chairwoman, said her focus will be on “cleaning up and revitalizing

our neighborhoods and parks.”

“We need to work with the business community so we can find a

balance between business and residential use,” she said.

All except Foley agreed that the city should not be in the

business of routinely inspecting rental units in the city. Foley said

the city should target specific properties that are not being

maintained properly.

“I support aggressive code enforcement in targeted areas,” she

said.

Candidates also agreed that there is nothing much the council can

do about group homes that are mushrooming in communities throughout

the city.

Monahan, taking a slightly different stance from the others, said

he supports group homes with six or less residents, especially those

that house the disabled or the elderly.

“I don’t see anything wrong with that,” he said. “Where are these

people supposed to go if not residential neighborhoods?”

All candidates agreed that skateboard parks, wherever they may be,

must be easily accessible, have adequate parking and be set away from

homes. They also believed that the city must work with the Orange

County Fair Board on the proposed amphitheater so that the noise and

traffic can be minimized, if not avoided.

Candidates were also unanimous on the airport issue and said the

city must fight to prevent the expansion of John Wayne Airport and

lobby at the county and state level to find an alternative to the El

Toro airport that was voted down in March.