After the election, what’s new and exciting?

For the first time in six weeks, the message light on my phone was

not blinking when I walked into the office.

There were no anonymous faxes on my chair.

No angry voicemails. No calls about campaign conspiracies.

Thursday morning marked the calm after the political storm in

Costa Mesa. And I, like the rest involved in this harried campaign

season, took a minute to relax, breathe and reflect on the past

election frenzy.

Despite the fatigue from the increased workload in covering

late-night forums, writing candidate profiles and investigating the

scandal du jour -- while managing to keep on top of all the “regular”

news -- election time is really one of the most exciting in a

newsroom.

This was exemplified by the synergetic air in the office Tuesday

night.

Election night is one of the few when you will find the Daily

Pilot newsroom teeming with liveliness at midnight, as journalists

flirt with extended deadlines to bring readers up-to-the-minute

election results.

Knowing it would be a long night, our day started at about 2:30

p.m. I rolled into the newsroom fresh from a midday nap, ready to hit

the polls and start election 2002 coverage.

The first four or five hours at work were business as usual. Go

out, talk to people, come back and formulate it into story. Although

this portion of the evening fell along the lines of the status quo,

it provided a sobering reality. For all the stories I had written

about campaign contributions, alliances, debates and mud-slinging, I

found that most voters I talked to hadn’t read any of it. Ouch.

The restless environment of the newsroom made me forget all about

the blow to my ego. It was about 7 p.m., and I had walked into the

eye of the election storm. Keyboards were quiet, but fingers

anxiously tapped the desks, waiting to be put to work.

Reporters browsed the Internet while periodically checking the

county registrar’s Web site for preliminary tallies. No results yet.

We called our sources to check and double check that we had all their

contact information: home phone, cell phone, work phone, pagers, etc.

Then we sat back and waited.

“Still nothing,” someone would report before grabbing another

slice of pizza.

Then it began.

“It’s been updated!” Managing Editor Steven Cahn announced.

I clicked on the Web site and saw Councilman Gary Monahan with a

sizable lead, followed by Allan Mansoor.

This changes everything, I thought to myself, and started writing

my story based on the initial results. Each time the results were

revised, I held my breath to see how my story might change. The trend

stayed consistent throughout the night and, at 11:45 p.m., I was knocking on Mayor Linda Dixon’s door to get her reaction.

Her election party was winding down, but with only half the votes

tallied, hopes were still high.

“The night is young,” she told me.

I called in the final quote of the story just minutes before the

drop-dead cut-off. My story was filed and the night was finally over.

After the feverish pace of the past hours, it was hard to wind down.

With all the character and eclecticism in Costa Mesa, I couldn’t

assume the preliminary reports would remain when I came into the

office the next day. Anything can happen, as Costa Mesans

continuously prove.

And anything did. Political newcomer Allan Mansoor ousted Dixon.

Now what I am going to do?

* LOLITA HARPER covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.