Coffey’s vision of Costa Mesa exists today

Jennifer K Mahal

Some people have the uncanny ability to see how things might be.

George Coffey, Costa Mesa’s first city manager, was one of them. His

vision of the master plan for Costa Mesa in the early 1950s is very

close to how the city looks today.

Born in Riverside, Coffey graduated from the University of

Southern California. He married a woman named Vera and the couple was

“inseparable,” Costa Mesa historian and former mayor Bob Wilson said.

“Where one went, the other went,” Wilson said.

Coffey was a commander in the U.S. Navy during World War II with

the Third Amphibious Group. According to Wilson’s book, “From Goat

Hill to the City of the Arts: The History of Costa Mesa,” Coffey took

part in the invasions of Lingayen Gulf and Leyte in the Philippines.

He also participated in the occupation of Japan.

He started as city manager on July 30, 1953. His salary was $8,500

per year, a far cry from the more than $12,500 current city manager

Alan Roeder makes per month.

Wilson said Coffey had done a short stint as city manager in the

city of Riverside and “we heard good things about him.”

“We were looking for any live body,” Wilson admits.

Described as a quiet man who did good work, Coffey’s biggest

contributions to Costa Mesa were his ability to hire good people --

such as Costa Mesa’s first police chief, Arthur McKenzie -- and

creating the city’s master plan.

Wilson remembers that city leaders were talking about hiring

someone to create the master plan when Coffey said, “Let me save you

some money.”

“He got a couple of pieces of paper and pencil and outlined the

city of Costa Mesa on a master plan,” Wilson said. “Believe it or

not, it’s similar to how it is today.”

Coffey was only with the city a short time before he retired, said

Wilson, and then died. By 1955, he had been replaced by Robert L.

Unger.

* Do you know of a person, place or event that deserves a

historical Look Back? Let us know. Contact Jennifer K Mahal by fax at

(949) 646-4170; e-mail at jennifer.mahal@latimes.com; or mail her at

c/o Daily Pilot, 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627