Mansoor support strong in Mesa Verde

Lolita Harper

The ghost of Home Ranch past may have played a crucial role in the

City Council campaign, as precinct numbers from the November election

indicate Mesa Verde residents put their support behind the only

candidate who opposed the contentious development.

Councilman Allan Mansoor was the only City Council candidate who

spoke against the Home Ranch project during candidate forums and,

before the election, worked closely with a community organization to

try and stop it.

Mansoor’s highest numbers came from the Gisler and Dakota avenues

polling spot, in the heart of Mesa Verde, according to final precinct

tallies from the Orange County registrar of voters.

Out of 422 who cast ballots at that location, 205 -- or about 49%

-- voted for the new councilman. The councilman also posted high

totals at Adams Avenue and Mesa Verde Street and Adams and Placentia

avenues, garnering 43% of the votes cast at both locations.

Mansoor’s most vocal supporters were a group of mostly Westside

residents who call themselves “improvers.” Precinct tallies, however,

show Mansoor’s greatest support did not come from that side of town.

Mansoor said Thursday he was not surprised by the numbers.

“My support was not necessarily just the Westside. I had a lot of

support from other parts of the city, too” Mansoor said. “I think its

because I spoke up on all the issues and people realized I wanted all

parts of the city to go in the right direction.”

Mesa Verde resident and vocal Home Ranch opponent Robin Leffler

said Mansoor’s resistance to the 93-acre development most likely won

him the Mesa Verde vote.

“I bet that counted for a lot with people around here,” Leffler

said Thursday.

Former Mayor Linda Dixon, Planning Commission Chairwoman Katrina

Foley and Planning Commissioner Bill Perkins each endorsed the

project and each lost their bid for a council seat in November’s

elections.

Incumbent Gary Monahan, who garnered overwhelming support at the

polls, retained his seat despite his vocal support for Home Ranch.

SITTING WITH THE VOTERS

While that quartet of candidates sat in their official seats and

listened to various public hearings on the Segerstrom development,

Mansoor spoke from the audience podium -- alongside Mesa Verde and

Westside activists -- against the anticipated traffic, crowds and

problems the project was feared to bring.

Mesa Verde residents did not forget his efforts when it came to

the November elections, Leffler said.

Although there was no organized effort to endorse Mansoor, Leffler

said Mesa Verde residents remembered Mansoor from last year while

working with the Citizens for Responsible Growth committee that

diligently opposed Home Ranch.

Leffler said Mansoor was the popular choice in her neighborhood

and that reputation spread by word of mouth.

Mesa Verde has proven to be a political powerhouse, having

elevated more than its share of council members to the dais.

Most recently, co-campaign managers Leffler and Cindy Brenneman --

both leaders on the Mesa Verde home owners’ association -- worked to

get new Mayor Karen Robinson on the dais.

Like Mansoor, Robinson also defeated an incumbent, beating Heather

Somers by a narrow margin of about 34 votes.

Other former Mesa Verde council members include Jay Humphrey,

Sandra Genis and Peter Buffa.

POWERFUL SUPPORT FROM ACROSS TOWN

Westside “improvers” have also proven themselves a political force

to be reckoned with, taking responsibility for the successful

campaigns of Mansoor in November and Councilman Chris Steel in 2000.

They agree that Mansoor’s support had a wide base, but argue that it

always held its roots on the Westside, where Mansoor lives.

Mansoor campaign volunteer Eric Bever said the improvers had a

“strong presence in Mesa Verde.”

“We walked every single street in that neighborhood,” Bever said.

Bever said Mansoor supporters mobilized on the Westside, but did

not concentrate their efforts there. Instead, they fanned out across

the entire city, he said.

Westside precinct numbers show a fairly even split between Mansoor

and Dixon, whom he successfully ousted. Out of 1,829 ballots cast on

the Westside, Mansoor received 753, or 41%. Dixon received 695, or

38%.

A SINGLE VOTE NOT ALL CLEAR

The precinct numbers also provide tantalizing, though

inconclusive, evidence of possible “bullet” voting, in which voters

choose fewer than the total number of candidates they are allowed to

support. In the case of the Costa Mesa election, voters had two votes

among the five candidates.

Many political insiders speculated that the Westside “improvers”

would run a bullet voting campaign on behalf of Mansoor.

A total of 22,494 ballots were cast in Costa Mesa. If each voter

endorsed two Costa Mesa City Council candidates there would have been

44,988 total council votes. Totals for all five candidates equaled

34,658, for a difference of 10,330.

The numbers do not necessarily confirm bullet voting, as there is

no data breaking down the ballot to indicate the total number of City

Council votes separate from votes being cast for governor, school

board members or other ballot initiatives.

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

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