From the Westside, looking citywide

Deirdre Newman

At a young age, Eric Bever’s parents made an indelible mark on him

when they demonstrated the take-charge skill of finding a void and

filling it.

“That made a strong impression on me and I’ve functioned like that

almost my entire life,” he said.

Bever is running for City Council for just that reason.

“I believe we need to change some of the fundamental philosophies

going on with the City Council for nearly two decades,” he said.

“It’s imperative that citizens are considered first and foremost.”

Bever made his mark on city politics last year when he was one of

the last two contenders vying to be appointed to the council to

replace former Mayor Karen Robinson, who left to become a Superior

Court judge. He bowed out of the running when the council kept

deadlocking to save a costly special election. He was then appointed

to the Planning Commission by Councilman Allan Mansoor.

Bever grew up in Los Angeles County and was drawn to the field of

graphic design after receiving an Indian Guides invitation that

impressed him. The father-son bonding group frequently held meetings

and one of the fathers “made the coolest invitations,” he said.

He moved to Costa Mesa in 1987 to take a job with Vision

Skateboards, one of the original skateboard clothing companies. He

then moved on to Crazy Shirts and created some award-winning designs

that lasted a decade, he said. He met his wife, Tami, when they were

both working at the Los Angeles Times -- he was a junior artist and

she worked in marketing research.

Together, they began collecting art and antiques, which they

currently buy and sell through a company called Modern Artifact. He

also does restoration work on cars as a hobby.

They bought a home on the Westside in 1990 and soon found out

their homeowners’ association was in the red and not able to fix

roofs that were falling apart, he said.

“Upon realizing this, we rallied and organized other homeowners,

took petitions around and threw out the leaders that had been running

the board for 12 years,” he said.

They and the other rebel homeowners got a majority on the board

and started down the path of fiscal responsibility, including getting

a loan from a bank to get the roofs fixed quickly. In four years, the

loan was paid off and in seven years all the infrastructure work on

the homes was complete, he said.

“That was trial by fire,” he said. “I ended up devoting half my

time to the association because our home is our biggest investment.

We turned it all around and got to the point where we were feeling

pretty good. Then we stopped to take a breath and looked around and

said, ‘Costa Mesa needs help.’ It was just a larger version of the

same thing.”

And the Westside Improvement Assn. was born. It attracted a

membership of 300 people and motivated the council to start paying

attention to the Westside, Bever said.

“This was a grass-roots effort,” he said. “After a couple of

years, we realized the real issues were not limited to the Westside,

but that fundamental city issues needed to be addressed,” he said.

So, the group began addressing citywide issues, and members

ultimately decided they would have the greatest effect by getting one

of their own on the council. They supported Chris Steel’s candidacy

in 2000 and Mansoor’s run in 2002.

The group is not supporting Steel this time around, though. It is

supporting Bever, who offered to represent the group as its

candidate.

“I’m this year’s human sacrifice from the ranks,” he said. “We all

turned inward and said, ‘Who’s up this time?’ I don’t think anyone

relishes this. I really never had political aspirations, but it’s a

natural outgrowth of my love for the city and my desire to see Costa

Mesa be the best city it can be.”

He touts himself as an innovative problem solver.

“I don’t start from necessarily the same way someone else looks at

it,” he said. “I always feel it’s important to research how other

entities deal with similar situations. There’s no point in

reinventing the wheel if an existing approach is out there. Barring

that, I usually find a good alternative. I’m good at finding

acceptable compromises.”

His outlook on life was transformed when he was in a serious car

accident in 1987, breaking his neck in two places and fracturing his

sternum, he said.

“It took a period of time to overcome the bitterness because it

robbed me of a good portion of enjoyment of my life, but it made me

stronger,” he said. “I figured I was at the end of this part of my

life. It led me to a place where I think I was willing to take more

risks. I think in a sense it led me to understanding there’s

something here I need to do -- unfinished business. I’m not sure what

it is.”

His supporters hope it’s sitting on the dais as a councilman. Some

of his endorsements come from Mayor Gary Monahan and County Treasurer

John Moorlach.