Looking back at the election that was

A little time has passed now since the Nov. 5 elections, so I have

the following observations for your consideration. I have written a

similar letter to Alan Roeder, voicing my opinion on the process.

First, let me say I was very pleased with the coverage the Pilot

provided to us. I especially liked the candidate profiles. Each was

well done and provided an excellent thumbnail of the candidate.

Despite criticism from some folks, I think the staff at the Pilot did

a good job of coverage in Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and the

Newport-Mesa Unified school board. Thank you for that.

Regardless the number of candidates for City Council in 2004, the

number of candidate forums should be reduced. I attended five of the

six, missing only the first one at the Costa Mesa Senior Center, and

found the candidates and attendees to be running out of gas near the

end. The forums sponsored by the Mesa Verde and Mesa Del Mar

associations seemed to be the best from the standpoint of questions

asked, pace and attendance. The finale, sponsored by the Daily Pilot

and ATT Broadband, came in a close third. Of course, the first and

last were moderated by ex-Mayor Peter Buffa, who kept things moving

and interesting.

The other two I attended, which were apparently intended to reach

the Latino community, missed the mark badly. The first, sponsored by

the Latino Business Council, was well run and was well attended, but

the only Latinos who showed up were from the sponsoring organization.

The other, at St. Joachim church, was poorly attended -- only three

candidates and about 45 people showed up. Because of the need to

translate both questions and answers, the format was cumbersome and

difficult to follow. As a result, the few questions that were asked

didn’t really get answered. I’m especially concerned about this,

since fewer than 60 Latinos appeared at the forums I attended. I

realize that a sizable portion of the Latino populace of this city

may not be eligible to vote, but there must be a way to reach into

that segment of the population to encourage greater participation.

This is a group that is purportedly one third of the population of

this city.

I realize that there are many diverse constituencies in this city

who wish to be an active part of the process, but six forums in such

a compressed time period is too much for most of the candidates --

and loyal observers -- to handle. I’m sure there were many scheduling

conflicts that detracted from some of the candidate’s participation.

My recommendation is to hold only three forums next time around,

beginning in late September and finishing by the end of October. Two

weeks between forums will give candidates time to meet other

obligations, too. Each forum should be a little longer, giving an

opportunity for a broader range of questions and more time to each

candidate to answer.

I was never able to attend a school board forum because of time

and scheduling constraints. Fewer council forums might help resolve

that kind of problem.

Greater publicity should be given to each forum. During that last

week, I suspect, only the Mesa Del Mar community was aware of their

forum, since it came only one day before the finale at the City

Council chambers. I would like to see the Daily Pilot do a better job

of publicizing the full slate of forums -- perhaps a box appearing

every Monday in the same location during the election season showing

the schedule of remaining election events. If it’s a matter of cost,

I suspect funding can be found as the next round of elections grows

near.

I was very pleased that Channel 74 covered some of the forums and

broadcast them via tape delay in the weeks prior to the election.

They did an excellent job, and I’m sure it gave residents fortunate

enough to subscribe to ATT Broadband the opportunity to get a close

look at each candidate. I hope that practice will continue, and that

other forums will be included.

Of course, in two years, the new council will have accomplished

all their goals, and there will be absolutely nothing for the

candidates to debate. As the kids say today, “Yeah, right!” I am

confident that, despite all the campaign promises and all the good

intentions, there will be many issues unresolved for future

candidates to discuss.

For whatever they are worth, those are some of my thoughts about

the election process. I avoided any comment about the results --

that’s a whole different kettle of fish. Perhaps, influential media

moguls such as yourselves may be able to influence change in the

process the next time around. In the meantime, thanks for doing a

terrific job.

GEOFF WEST

Costa Mesa