Council candidates can’t possibly represent everyone

Oh, good grief! Planning Commissioner Bruce Garlich is reported in

Saturday’s story, “Commissioner announces run for council seat,” to

have said that if he’s elected to the City Council he will work to

represent all constituencies: homeowners, business owners and

property owners.

What a dopey and meaningless thing to say. That’s like a sign on

an automobile repair garage that says “We specialize in all cars.” If

you specialize in everything, you specialize in nothing.

How is Garlich going to represent homeowners who live in Costa

Mesa at the same time he represents the many business and property

owners who don’t live in Costa Mesa and who can’t vote here?

If Garlich has been paying attention, and I’m not sure he has,

he’d understand that Costa Mesa is unbalanced. We have too much

industrial zoning in our city, and we have too few owner-occupied

homes. The Westside bluffs are full of polluting factories that

should not be on the best land in the city but out in the boondocks

someplace. Many residents of Costa Mesa want to see homes on the

bluffs, but the business owners and property owners -- most of whom

live in Newport Beach and other home owner-friendly cities are

fighting to keep the area mired in factories.

So how, exactly, will Garlich represent both interests? He’s

either going to have to be with the residents of Costa Mesa who want

to see the Westside improved or he’s going to have to be with the

out-of-town industrialists who want to keep the Westside as the other

side of the tracks for Newport Beach.

Costa Mesa does not need any more huggy-kissy-can’t-we-all-

get-along liberals on the council who are afraid to do the heavy

lifting that is needed to improve this city for fear that they’ll

anger this or that constituency. It’s time we elected some bold and

competent, improvement-minded residents who know that their loyalty

is only to the people of Costa Mesa and that they are expected to

make our city a better place for the residents of this city.

M.H. MILLARD

Costa Mesa