Council may ax committee

Alicia Robinson

A sword of Damocles hanging over Costa Mesa’s human relations

committee may fall tonight.

The council in June slashed the committee’s annual $3,710 budget

and will vote tonight on whether to disband the group -- almost a

moot point, since it is now unfunded.

The 11-member committee was formed in 1987. Its goals are lofty --

reducing prejudice and discrimination in the city, encouraging

respect and understanding between different cultures, offering an ear

to residents with grievances, and broaching social issues with the

City Council.

With members who represent a cross section of religious and ethnic

groups, the committee was a good sounding board for people who might

not feel comfortable going to the City Council with a problem, said

Dennis Short, a Harbor Christian Church minister who has been on the

committee for three years.

The committee’s signature event was an annual volunteer

recognition, but it also has tackled controversial issues. In 2002,

it supported the Orange County Dyke March, a lesbian pride event.

That same year, the committee discussed allegations that some of its

members -- including current Mayor Allan Mansoor -- had posted

racist, homophobic or otherwise intolerant comments on a website.

Short said he’s puzzled by the council’s motive for axing the

committee and wonders why the committee wasn’t approached before the

cut.

“Our whole budget was just a couple thousand dollars, and they’re

giving hundreds of thousands to a number of other things, and the

money is really not the issue,” he said. “It seems to me the issue is

a committee that is made up of multi-ethnic, multi-religious

organizations is very important to have.”

Councilwoman Katrina Foley said she thinks the human relations

committee has done useful work.

“It seems to be a pattern when there is a controversial item to

just blindside people with it without allowing for full public

discussion,” Foley said.

Councilwoman Linda Dixon, Councilman Gary Monahan, and Mansoor,

who proposed cutting the committee’s budget, could not be reached for

comment.

Councilman Eric Bever was skittish when asked about whether he

thought the committee should be dissolved.

“I’d rather not even talk about that one,” Bever said.

One former committee member said it will be no surprise if the

council decides to disband the group tonight. Although the committee

shied away from hot-button issues such as the Job Center, the

positions it would have taken are different from those of the current

majority on the council, said Arlene Flanagan, whose four-year term

on the committee ended in April.

“I could see all along that it was going to be short-lived....

Everything we would do had to go through the City Council first,” she

said.

* ALICIA ROBINSON may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.