Ready to roll into the council chambers

Deirdre Newman

On Richard “Dick” Carroll’s campaign brochure is the phrase “Let’s

Roll,” emblazoned in the public consciousness by the brave airline

passengers who thwarted the terrorists on one of the planes hijacked

on Sept. 11.

The City Council candidate is using the phrase on his brochure

because he admires the heroism and patriotism of the battle cry.

“I have a great admiration for heroes -- we don’t have many,” he

said. “That’s why I joined the Marines. I wanted to be a hero --

families need heroes. That’s what motivates me -- those feelings --

patriotism always does.”

Carroll grew up in a suburb of Atlanta. He joined the Marines

after high school and then enrolled in college and began to work in

the furniture business, marketing Henredon furniture in New England

and New York. He also became a commercial pilot.

Ultimately, the company sent him to Los Angeles to oversee a

territory from San Luis Obispo to the Mexican border, including

Arizona. He moved to Costa Mesa in 1985.

“Costa Mesa is ‘Leave it to Beaver,’” he said. “That really

describes me. It has to do with values and lifestyle and families and

kids and bikes and trees and yards.”

After doing so much traveling for business, his wife suggested he

work closer to home. So he ventured into the real estate business and

started working with First Team Real Estate. He owns his own company

and works as an independent contractor with First Team Real Estate

helping homeowners in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa sell their homes.

He especially enjoys the negotiation involved in the sales, he said.

“I make it personal -- as an art, instead of a science,” he said.

He said he is running for the council for two reasons.

“The self-serving, academic answer is: I have a moral obligation

to give back what Costa Mesa has given to me,” he said. “The real

reason is the issue over athletic fields.”

The athletic field issue -- controversy over the city’s joint-use

agreement with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District governing the

use and maintenance of athletic fields -- is of paramount importance

to him because he is concerned someone is going to get hurt since the

fields haven’t been maintained properly. City officials are creating

a committee that many hope will find solutions to the field-condition

problems.

Carroll suggests limiting the use of fields and other public

amenities to mostly Costa Mesa residents, who would have to pay for

sticker to use the fields.

“The stickers would be for adult leagues, and we don’t need to

have these guys come from Santa Ana,” he said. “You should have a

sticker to use the skate park and the library too -- only for Costa

Mesa residents, unless a team is approved by the city, like an adult

league. That’s the way you can use the beach in Boston or recreation

areas in Atlanta.”

He considers himself a problem solver and has been trained as a

facilitator by 3M, he said.

“We all have points of view,” he said. “If we communicate and are

educated -- not a college degree, but have an understanding of the

problem -- mostly without bias, I bring that kind of understanding.”

He feels the immigrant population of Costa Mesa shouldn’t be

blamed for the city’s problems.

“It is very important that we embrace these people like all the

citizens of this town,” he said. “There is a gang problem on the

Westside. People in the community, especially children, need

something to do.”

A new library would be a great asset to the community and could

provide English classes for those who don’t speak English, he said.