Cooperation key to improvement

We have often been critical of the Costa Mesa Community Redevelopment

Action Committee.

We saw the committee as too big with too many personalities to

deal with to come up with any meaningful direction or change that

would benefit the Westside of Costa Mesa, which it was asked to

improve.

And some of our concerns were came in the early days of the

committee, which has since paired itself down by more than half.

Having said that, we must take a minute to give the committee a

thumbs up for now. It’s not that we agree with all or even some of

the 28 recommendations the committee has forwarded to the City

Council’s Redevelopment Agency. However, we agree with the spirit of

the effort and commend committee members -- who are all volunteers --

for attempting to create a vision the will benefit the future of the

Westside for years to come.

Some of the committees ideas are grandiose and improbable, and the

members have run into a buzz saw of opposition from some Westside

residents and business owners, who are steaming mad over the idea

that the city could dictate the fate of their property.

We urge those business and home owners to let cooler heads

prevail.

The committee has no power to make changes, only suggestions, and

as city leaders have indicated, the details are far too sketchy right

now to say anything is concrete.

But some of the arguments have merit.

Would the Westside be better served by a new shopping center on

19th Street with a supermarket?

Are the bluffs that currently house industrial offices and

manufacturing plants better suited for high-price homes and ocean

view neighborhoods?

Would a bridge over the 19th Street hurt or help the area’s

economic well being, security and safety?

It is not possible to adequately answer any of these questions

right now, but it doesn’t hurt to at least put them up for a lively

but civil debate.

One thing is certain, we reject the notion that nothing should be

done to improve the Westside. That the Westside is not blighted and

needs no effort to clean it up is just a denial of the facts.

Another thing that is certain is we would also stand on the side

of residents and business owners who want to protect the property

rights they so cherish. We agree that no home should be lost and no

business closed, unless of course those property owners are willing

sellers who are compensated fairly.

Since that day is clearly a long time coming, if it even comes at

all, we urge all to stay involved in the debate and not lose focus on

the goal.

It doesn’t have to be one way or another, there is a happy medium

that rhetoric and name calling cannot achieve.

As the Community Redevelopment Action Committee members have

learned and can attest to, there is too much work to be done and too

much at stake to get bogged down in all of that.