Robinson not right mayoral pick for...

Robinson not right mayoral pick for city

Once again, some members of the Costa Mesa City Council have shown

their disdain for the residents of Costa Mesa.

At Monday night’s City Council meeting, Councilman Chris Steel

nominated Councilwoman Karen Robinson for mayor. Councilwoman Libby

Cowan seconded the motion, then they closed the nomination without

discussion (so much for protocol).

Robinson is now our mayor.

They purposefully disregarded the fact that Councilman Gary

Monahan garnered more than 9,000 votes to be reelected, was vice

mayor and is the most knowledgeable of the council members -- the

only one that has common sense when it comes to the people of Costa

Mesa

Our city has major problems that need to be addressed, and these

council members don’t care.

I will pray for the well-being of my beloved city.

RACHEL PEREZ-HAMILTON

Costa Mesa

Costa Mesa needs to be consistent in its laws

In response to your question, “What issues should Costa Mesa’s new

leaders tackle first?”

The city council should address the issue of discretionary

enforcement of its own municipal code. How many of us have heard

council members lament the need for new municipal code when they know

that there already exists applicable code.

What they are really saying is that they choose to ignore or

disguise the existing code.

Witness the following: Costa Mesa needs a gang ordinance. Nope,

got one, and a state law.

Or how about “We need a code that deals with vagrancy,

solicitation, loitering and contractors approaching day laborers.”

Nope, already had one of those, too, but they have rewritten the

existing code, making it all but impossible to enforce any aspect of

the previous code.

One of the all-time great “nonenforcement” efforts can be found in

the RV parking code. It has always been a violation of city ordinance

to park any vehicle more than 72 hours; now we have extended parking

by permit for RVs . And although this calls for “adjacent” parking,

the city now pretends that this means anywhere in the city.

It can’t go unnoticed that many residents constantly complain

about the abundance of broken shopping carts littering our lawns and

sidewalks, only to be told at council meetings that nothing can be

done. Horse feathers. There are no fewer than seven sections of

municipal code addressing this item and giving the council, code

enforcement, public safety and even private contractors the ability

to deal with these violations. Does it sound like we need a law to

address “shopping carts” or that council is powerless to act?

My personal favorite “nonenforcement” has to be the infamous flea

market controversy, where City Council pretended to struggle with

Orange Coast College’s violation of its permit. Does the council

really believe that code enforcement has not been advised of this

violation for the last 20 years? I doubt it, but now we will be

forced to listen once again to the cries of “we are helpless” or “we

need a new law,” at which time OCC will be granted some kind of

waiver, exemption or dispensation.

Why don’t our elected officials review existing code? Simple: They

don’t want to act.

MICHAEL BERRY

Costa Mesa