Council should work for residents

Sandra Genis

Traditionally, in Costa Mesa, commission applicants have been

interviewed by the City Council as a whole and chosen by vote of the

entire council. Past councils experimented with various means of

ranking candidates, weighted voting, etc., but it was always a group

project.

In the early 1990s, we sought candidates who were capable and

interested in serving the city. We tried to create a balance with

commissioners from various parts of the city and with diverse

strengths and viewpoints.

For example, when Councilwoman Libby Cowan was selected as a

planning commissioner, it was because, in her interview, she appeared

to be bright, knowledgeable about Costa Mesa and interested in issues

facing different parts of the city. And that is how it should be.

Because selection was conducted by the City Council as a group,

the process was open to the public, though few residents ever

actually showed up. Still, the public had the opportunity to observe

and comment upon the proceedings.

And that is how it should be, too.

Now, it’s proposed that each council member independently select a

commissioner to serve at the will of that council member. That way,

if they vote “wrong,” they’ll be removed. As practiced in other

cities, “at-will” appointments are used to control more than just

commission votes.

One local planning commissioner mentioned he was thinking of

running for City Council. He was yanked off the commission.

Elsewhere, a commissioner endorsed the wrong candidate for a state

office. She, too, was yanked.

Commission seats are used not just to reward past supporters, but

to ensure ongoing fealty of political lackeys. And that is most

definitely not how it should be.

This proposal is a bad idea in and of itself. However, beyond

that, it’s symptomatic of larger problems plaguing recent Costa Mesa

councils.

First, the council seems unwilling or unable to work as a team,

not just to appoint various commissions in a balanced matter, but in

other matters as well. That is not to say that all issues should be

settled unanimously.

However, the council should study the issues together -- without

setting a stopwatch, deliberate together and then move on. Together.

Several council members were willing to meet together to evaluate

commission applicants, but others were not, wishing instead to carry

on privately. Too often, this is the case. In addition, disagreements

on one issue frequently spill over into acrimony on another.

Hand in glove with this problem is the scramble for more power.

What better way to enhance your power than to pass out commission

seats as political plums, to be grabbed back at the first sign of

disloyalty?

Recent councils have also had a tendency to micromanage,

reexamining, overruling or modifying a relatively high proportion of

commission decisions. Now, the council won’t even have to wait until

after the commission meeting to start second guessing commission

votes. They’ll be able to give orders in advance.

Further, the council has repeatedly gotten bogged down for months

in continued, repetitive discussions of relatively minor issues. They

decide, undecide and redecide issues over and over, from zoning

matters to public improvements. Now, they don’t even want to commit

to commission appointments for any fixed time. Each council member

could redecide every couple of weeks.

Finally, this proposal is just another step down a disturbing path

toward backroom politics in the city of Costa Mesa. Whether it’s

discussion of the Home Ranch development agreement, spending of the

Segerstrom education endowment, or selection of commissioners, it

looks as if it’s the goal of some folks at City Hall to keep the

public out. Sometimes, they seem to put more energy into trying to

evade open meeting laws than trying to comply.

Responding to those who suggested the council interview commission

applicants in an open forum, Cowan expressed her desire for private

interviews, stating, “The public will find out soon enough.” What a

shocking display of contempt for the public.

It’s time our City Council members set aside any personal

differences and ambitions to work together for the public, in public

view. We have one new council member and a couple of relatively new

members who are just coming into their own on the council. I hope

they will be able to build a team with the other council members and

the public so we can all move forward, together, to tackle the

problems facing our city.

* SANDRA GENIS is a former Costa Mesa mayor and council member.