LETTER TO THE EDITOR:Mayor, running mate will help fix city

My family and I have been under siege for the past 20 years or so. Now, I don’t expect all of the candidates who are running for Costa Mesa City Council to understand or to even read this. After all, none of them have to deal with what I experience on a daily basis.

How many times have well-meaning friends and neighbors — and by neighbors I mean people who live in Costa Mesa but have no idea what goes on a few blocks away from their own genteel existence — advised me to just “sell everything and move away?” Yet we persevere, my wife and I. Our kids have grown and moved elsewhere. Perhaps they were the wiser ones. But now we are under even more threat.

I am informed by some candidates, both directly and indirectly, that my own eyes and nose are fooling me, and not they. It seems that what I see — the vandalism, the constant discarding of trash by uncaring passersby, all manner of uncivil acts, such as destruction of landscaping — does not exist because they have never experienced it. This constant disrespect is heaped on the two of us and some of our good neighbors. We have graffiti; trash; public drunkenness; year-round illegal fireworks; drug sales with all associated activity; overly loud late parties; stabbings; shootings; and men with concealed guns. I’ve witnessed three deaths outside my own front door. We continue to endure foul, acrid odors from large industrial plants too near to where people live, even though many of us were here before the plants were even allowed to come into our community.

All this we have long endured in one of the most pleasant, temperate climates in the world, where I have lived these past 57 years.

At a candidates forum this year at our Costa Mesa Senior Center on 19th Street, the same street that our present City Council has managed to transform into the beginnings of a revitalized Westside, my wife and I listened intently to the candidates as they touted their agendas. Afterward, she and I continued the questions.

Said one candidate: “Noses are for smelling, not detecting pollution.” Well, I suppose I couldn’t have expected that a candidate who is mainly supported by large donations from the generators of these “smells” to understand. The air he breathes is well removed from this area.

Another candidate informed us that our attempting to deport illegal immigrants convicted of violent felonies is a waste of our resources. “Leave it to the federal government”, he advises. Return to Reason candidates support that position. I wonder how long we must wait for this federal help. Personally, I would like to see some action, not more rhetoric.

It appears that “Americanism” is now an anachronism, out of place, out of time. We should let someone else solve our problems. After all, it may cause extra work for the police officers we hire if we try to solve our own problems, as Americans used to do.

So, I suppose it’s only natural that these candidates are also unconcerned about more housing density in our city and burgeoning traffic problems, as well. If the numbers fit, it must be fine. Just because it stinks doesn’t signify pollution. Just stink.

Well, as it happens, I support our current mayor, Allan Mansoor, a long-time Costa Mesa resident and sheriff’s deputy; he has taken a strong stand against many of the things that I have enumerated above. Of course I support him. Who wouldn’t?

We have yet another insult; I have a number of yard signs on my property supporting the mayor and his running mate, Wendy Leece, as do several of my neighbors. In fact, several business owners who agree with the mayor’s positions have also put up signs of support.

To date, 20 of these signs have been slashed, removed or destroyed, all within our small Westside neighborhood area. In order to emphasize that this wasn’t just a philosophical disagreement, they also demolished a tree planted by the city. Think about it: If you disagree with the position of a candidate, you simply destroy his signs and public and private property. Is this the American way? I find it hard to imagine that any real American would stoop that low.

If I disagree with a position, I will happily argue the pros and cons with anyone, that is a 1st Amendment right. People who steal signs in the dark? That is cowardly. Is free speech only free for them and no one else? It appears to me that the American way of government is in serious jeopardy if the biggest bully, the cowardly vandal or the loudest mouth is allowed to prevail over fair play and rational thought. Costa Mesa deserves better than that.

Because of all of this, I am going to redouble my efforts to spread the word: We need to reelect Allan Mansoor and elect his running mate, Wendy Leece.

CHRISTIAN ERIC

Costa Mesa