Newport has the upper hand

I didn’t want to believe it before but I must admit it’s true. Costa

Mesa is in Newport Beach’s shadow. While I think it’s a great place

to live (and so does half my family) the fact remains that Newport

Beach seems to just barely top us in every category.

Sure, Costa Mesa is a coastal community (hence the name) but we

don’t actually have a shoreline. We would, but way back when the

boundaries were being drawn, Newport Beach officials kept the

remaining strip of oceanfront property that runs along our Westside

and out by Talbert Park.

So Newport Beach actually has an ocean and Costa Mesa can’t even

get “by-the-sea.”

Score: 1-0, Newport.

Now, let’s talk about home prices. Homes are being built in Costa

Mesa that are a stone’s throw from the San Diego Freeway and all the

smog and traffic it brings with it. They will also be directly across

the street from a major retail furniture store that attracts traffic

from all over the region and a business district. Price tag: about

half a million. Not bad. Costa Mesa must be a great place to live.

Of course, Newport Beach has got us there. The -- yes average --

home price in the neighboring town is around $900,000. You could pay

more than $2 million for a tiny home on the sand that is about six

feet away from your neighbor. But having the beach as your backyard

is priceless.

Score: 2-0, Newport.

OK. Here in Costa Mesa we have free reign to light explosives on

Independence Day. Hah. Top that. What? You’ve got bikini-clad boozers

and non-stop parties in West Newport? Oh, yeah, well Costa Mesa has

the annual Mesa del Mar community parade. How’s that for a war zone?

Score: 3-0, Newport.

We’ve got South Coast Plaza.

Fashion Island.

Score: 4-1, Newport.

All right, last category counts for five points. We gotcha here.

The city of Costa Mesa still wins in the “non-politically correct

comments made by a City Councilman” category.

Costa Mesa City Councilman Chris Steel has been saying he doesn’t

want “illegal immigrants” in Costa Mesa for years now. A quick search

with the words “Chris Steel” and “illegal immigrants” in the Pilot

archives shows 65 hits. Articles about the Job Center, various

charities and affordable housing pop up. Not all of them are about

Steel, or even directly quote him, but at least half of them have

examples of what some people in this city -- and apparently the

progressive city of Newport Beach -- would consider offensive.

Now to be clear, Steel does not scapegoat Latinos and has never

flat out called them all Mexicans. I doubt he has any problem with

them hanging out at the beach. (At least they’re out of Costa Mesa.)

Steel says he is simply realistic about the fact that there are a lot

of “them” in Costa Mesa and “they” are driving down property values

and test scores and raising crime rates.

Steel was the top vote-getter in 2000. He has a dedicated, vocal

following in the city and I would argue, an even larger, silent one.

Costa Mesans are tolerant people. Sure, some of us cringe at Steel’s

comments but hey, live and let live. He is merely stating what he

believes to be the truth.

So, we in Costa Mesa thought we cornered the market on “the truth”

when Newport Beach pulled out its secret weapon -- Councilman Dick

Nichols.

Costa Mesa resident Chuck Cassity says its only fair.

“I’ve come to believe that each city council should have at least

one member who’s politically incorrect, says the wrong thing at the

wrong time and is of questionable intellect so that the others will

shine a bit brighter. We in Costa Mesa have had ours for quite

awhile. Now Newport is lucky enough to have one of its own,” he wrote

in a letter to the Pilot.

Not only has Newport Beach shown brighter, it’s hogging the

spotlight.

Nichols says one public comment about Mexicans on the beach and

it’s all over the news. The entire City Council has asked for his

resignation. If Nichols does not resign, there is a recall effort

underway. Broadcast news agencies snubbed car chases and fires to

cover the Nichols controversy. Rumor has it, the Nichols comment is

the talk around the Congressional water cooler in D.C.

Costa Mesa Councilwoman Libby Cowan said she definitely noticed a

contrast in response. She said she respects people’s opinions -- even

if they differ from her own -- and thinks most people in Costa Mesa

feel the same way. Again, live and let live.

“It is very interesting how people can express the same sentiment

but phrase words differently and therefore get a much different

reaction,” Cowan said. “Is it really what Nichols said, or just

because he blew the veil off the underpinning sentiment?”

Good question.

This kind of thing has been going on in Costa Mesa City Hall for

three years now. Anyone care? Apparently not. Thanks a lot, Newport,

you had to outperform us in that category too.

Final score: Newport 9, Costa Mesa 1.

* LOLITA HARPER writes columns Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and

covers culture and the arts. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275 or

by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.