KIDS THESE DAYS:

The federal and state governments were organized with a system of checks and balances. The system is not perfect, but over the years, it has served us well.

That this is the greatest nation on Earth is due, in part, to that system, which helps prevent autocracy.

Locally, an autocracy exists in the form of a voting majority on each City Council and on the school board. When a law or rule is passed, there is no governing body to overrule it, unless it is taken through the court system and tested against the state constitution.

In Costa Mesa, the voting majority of Allan Mansoor, Eric Bever and Wendy Leece have been in power about 18 months. In a sense, they are an autocracy, for when they vote together, as they most often do, that’s the final word — no appeal unless you want to take the city to court.

It would seem that with that much power, Costa Mesans would have the type of city they envision, an “improved” city void of crime, blemishes, adult soccer players and barking dogs.

After all, these so-called “Improvers” have been in charge for a while now.

Instead, Costa Mesa still has the same problems — even the supporters of the majority are complaining about the same problems. The serious discussion of whether these “Complainers” (formerly the “Improvers”) could very well be scaring away potential investors in the city is a column for one of my colleagues.

But now, we have a different problem, one the city is finding difficult to solve.

On their watch, Costa Mesa is about to go into the red.

This is not good for our children. Just as the city and the school district were finally inching toward an agreement that would open up more places for kids to play, Costa Mesa may not have the money for the program.

Yes, it takes money to open up fields at schools. The money is needed for staffing, as light as it may be, and for liability insurance and maintenance, among other things.

Many residents, even those who do not have children, believe if we make our decisions in the best interests of our children, we can never make a bad decision. Sure, there could be some ambiguity about what is best for our kids, but today, there is only one subject: more places for Costa Mesa kids to play.

I doubt anyone would object to that.

What we have gotten instead from the Complainers is a potential new law aimed at adult soccer players but which would include teams of kids and prevent both groups from using city parks for certain play.

And now we have a looming budget deficit that could throw a monkey wrench into a long overdue and very beneficial field joint-use agreement between the city and the school district.

This Thursday, you will get a chance, live and in person, to ask the Complainers on the dais, Mansoor, Bever and Leece, whether they plan to vote in favor of the recommendation of the Parks and Recreation Commission to limit team play.

You can also ask the other candidates how they would vote on the issue if they were in office today.

You can ask the complainers about the potential demise of any field agreement with the city due to the budget deficit that has happened during their time in power.

And you can ask whether they would also be in favor of adding the two high school gymnasiums to the agreement so kids can play basketball and volleyball there on weekends.

That is, of course, if they can find the money.

The fun begins at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Downtown Community Center.

STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer. Send story ideas to dailypilot@latimes.com.