Race an issue in swap meet vote

Lolita Harper

Vendors at the Orange Coast College swap meet can once again sell

their wares all weekend, the City Council decided Monday, though not

before members were taken to task for suspected prejudices.

While the major concern was traffic management, Councilmen Chris

Steel and Allan Mansoor had other concerns about the venue.

Steel had asked that college officials verify the legal residency

and state tax numbers of all vendors, and Mansoor suggested they try

to “upgrade the venue” to attract people from Newport Beach and

Garden Grove instead of those traveling on Fairview.

Resident Rachel Perez-Hamilton took both men to task, saying their

suggestions were proof of a prejudice against the customers and

vendors at the swap meet, who are largely Latino.

“Mr. Mansoor says he wants to see less traffic from Fairview,

which really means less Latinos from Santa Ana,” she said, while

Mansoor shook his head on the dais. “I wonder if you are concerned

about all of the [sport utility vehicles] and Mercedes that would

come from Newport or all the traffic from South Coast Plaza that

backs up Bristol [Street] and the 405 Freeway.”

Many of the working poor of this community benefit from that swap

meet and they are the same neighbors that many of those opposed to

the swap meet see everyday but refuse to acknowledge, she added.

Perez-Hamilton said she was disturbed that Steel and Mansoor were

only concerned about the competition that OCC swap meet vendors

present to various Costa Mesa businesses, but have never given a

second thought about the same type of retailers who gather just

across the street for a much larger and more expansive swap meet.

Her comments were met with overwhelming applause, which Mayor

Karen Robinson did not quell.

Mansoor denied that he had any prejudice against any race or

ethnicity and said his concern was with traffic, not color. The

traffic problem was on Fairview Road and the fact that the street

happens to run directly from Santa Ana was purely geographical.

When the council is set to consider the widening of the Costa Mesa

Freeway, which turns into Newport Boulevard and runs into Newport

Beach, Mansoor said he will be as concerned about the cars that

travel that path, even if the drivers are predominantly white.

“The issue is traffic, no matter what color the people are,”

Mansoor said.

After almost two hours of scrutiny and public comment, council

members voted 5 to 0 to grant the permit for a return of the swap

meet to Saturdays, saying enough of their concerns had been

addressed.

Swap meet vendors have been running a Sunday-only swap meet for

almost eight months, since college officials agreed to scale back

operations because of traffic problems on Fairview Road.

Council members had vowed they would not endorse another day at

the swap meet until they saw tangible plans to alleviate the traffic

problems. Planning staffers and outside consultants scrambled last

week to ensure that the City Council could review a detailed traffic,

parking and management program before Monday’s meeting.

In that time, city and college officials worked together, a

private consultant was hired, options were proposed to the Planning

Commission and a new swap meet was approved with an average of 260

vendors per day.

A detailed presentation was made by consultant Paul Wilkinson from

Greenspan, Law and Linscott, proposing a variety of signs on the

perimeter and interior of the venue to better direct traffic.

Additional swap meet staff would also be posted throughout the area

to keep track of parking spaces and help direct patrons to more

vacant lots.