Long, narrow forum letters ruffle feathers

JOSEPH N. BELL

Two lengthy letters appeared on the Forum page of the Pilot recently

relating to the upcoming Costa Mesa City Council election. Both

letters seemed to me to raise about as many questions as they

purported to answer.

Current Councilman Allan Mansoor used the Forum to come out

foursquare for Eric Bever, whom he described as having a pro-family

ethic and “believing in equal rights, not special rights.” He

contrasted these qualities with one of Bever’s principal opponents,

Bruce Garlich, whose self-description as a “fiscal conservative and

social moderate” should make him -- according to Mansoor --

unattractive to “socially conservative Latinos with pro-life and

pro-family beliefs.”

So what do we have here? Is Mansoor suggesting that Garlich is

anti-family? And what exactly does that mean? And is he obliquely

identifying Garlich as pro-choice -- and, if correct, what possible

bearing does that have on business that comes before a Costa Mesa

City Councilman? And could Mansoor be a little more specific about

equal rights vs. special rights. What rights is he talking about, and

how do they apply to the Costa Mesa election issues?

M.H. Millard spent much of his letter trashing the “liberals and

good old boy candidates,” which apparently takes in everyone who

doesn’t agree with Millard. In the process of urging specific policy

changes relating to Costa Mesa’s Westside, he accused the people who

don’t support them of being in the pocket of “out-of-town interests,”

of “being controlled by special interests who want to keep our city

downscale,” of “feathering their personal nests by being surrogates

for Newport Beach interests.”

These sound like serious charges. What “interests” -- specifically

-- is he talking about here? Who and what in Costa Mesa have they

controlled? And how are their nests being “feathered”? Both Mansoor

and Millard are quick to criticize what Mansoor called

“unsubstantiated baloney” when referring to the charges of another

Forum letter writer. So they should be pleased to fill in some of

these blanks.

Meanwhile, it occurred to me that it might be helpful by way of

balance to ask Mike Scheafer -- who was appointed to the Costa Mesa

City Council last year and has decided to seek election to that

office in November -- if he agrees with Millard’s assessment of him

as one of the “liberal” or “good old boy” candidates?

He thought the question over before he said: “I don’t think so.

I’m a registered Republican. Does that have any bearing on governing

this city? Whatever personal beliefs we hold has no bearing on what

is going on in Costa Mesa. My approach to every issue that comes

before us on the City Council is what is best for the overall city --

not for one specific area of Costa Mesa over another. That’s how I

want to be perceived -- as a resident of Costa Mesa and not just of

Mesa Verde, which is where I live. I try to balance what we’re

spending to the needs of the entire community.”

The Forum letters from Mansoor and Millard were at least partly in

response to accusations of a cabal forming to take control of the

City Council on behalf of the Westside. Does Scheafer see that

happening? And is he concerned?

“I don’t see any conspiracies here,” he said. “I do think the

Westside would like to get a majority on the council -- and I don’t

see any other identifiable group with the same agenda -- but that’s

just part of the political process. The voters will decide if that is

going to happen, and it certainly isn’t the case now.

“Look at the voting records on the council. You won’t see any

tight relationships or bloc voting. It’s true that most of our

industries are owned by people who don’t live in Costa Mesa, but are

any of us being controlled by them? I’d have to see some evidence of

that.”

When I suggested he might share those views on the Pilot’s Forum

page, he said: “I haven’t written a letter to the Forum since I’ve

joined the council. I don’t need the editorial page to express my

opinions or offer explanations. It’s not my style. If I did write a

letter to the Forum, it would be to try to change the intolerance

people have for others who disagree with them.”

I asked Scheafer what he had learned in his rookie year of service

on the council that made him decide to run for that office in

November, and he said: “I have a better feeling about government

since being a part of it. I’ve learned how we have to relate to state

and county issues, how we fit into the big picture. I see that local

government deals much more closely with us on a day-to-day basis. I

think it works, and a large part of it is being blessed with the best

city manager I’ve ever seen.

“The biggest surprise in this council job is the amount of time it

takes to prepare properly. As I get older, I look toward retirement,

but exciting things are going to be happening here in the next few

years -- including some Westside visions I’d like to see coming to

fruition. I want to be a part of those solutions.”

Meanwhile, it would be wise for any Costa Mesa residents who are

thinking about running for the City Council to forget it if they are

either anti-family or feathering their nests through outside

interests. They have been warned.

* JOSEPH N. BELL is a resident of Santa Ana Heights. His column

appears Thursdays.