THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE:

Foiled again in his bid for the 48th District seat, three-time congressional hopeful Steve Young is focusing his energies on a new club for area Democrats.

With more than 115,000 nods from voters Nov. 4, Young claims to have garnered more votes than any other Democrat in the history of the 48th Congressional District, albeit not enough to beat incumbent Rep. John Campbell. Now Young hopes to transfer some of that momentum to Club 48.

Members pay $48 a month to increase the visibility of Democrats in Orange County. The club has already gathered about a dozen members in its first week of existence, said Marion Pack, Young’s campaign manager.

Young’s campaign has dedicated a staffer to stay on to oversee the club and donations will go to pay her salary.

“Imagine meeting other Democrats each month in your town, for dinner, and speakers, and enthusiasm, and energy,” Young said in an e-mail. “Could we change the district with that level of activity?”

Democratic voter registration is up in Orange County, Pack said, something she and others want to capitalize on.

“I want a billboard on the 55 freeway that says there’s more Democrats in Orange County than in San Francisco,” Pack said. “There just happen to be more Republicans here as well.”

For more information on Club 48, visit www.actblue.com/ page/club48.

Is that a fire hazard?

Costa Mesa is making some significant budget cuts (or “deferments,” as the city staff and City Council unsuccessfully tried to refer to them at a meeting Wednesday night).

If things go forward as planned, vacant staff positions wouldn’t be filled, street and park improvement projects would be delayed, and aging police and fire vehicles wouldn’t be replaced as scheduled.

City officials said none of the proposals will cause a noticeable reduction in service for residents.

Some items are projected to save the city more than $1 million, at least in the short term; but as Councilwoman Katrina Foley reviewed the items, asking for clarification at the City Council study session Wednesday night, a $2,000 item was brought into the spotlight.

It was listed as “replace exterior windows” for a fire station.

Foley asked why it was necessary to replace the windows and if it could be held off without negative consequences.

Maintenance Services Manager Bruce Hartley came to the table to field her questions.

The windows need to be replaced because they were installed backward, Hartley said.

What do you mean they were installed backward? Foley asked.

They lock from the outside, Hartley sheepishly replied.

The windows, it turns out, were installed so that they lock the firefighters in, not the outsiders out, and will remain that way until better economic times.

Cables may be checked

A proposal to inspect Time Warner Cable’s wiring in Costa Mesa was met with some concern Wednesday night as the City Council looked at the possible cost of hiring a consultant to do a study. The inspection would determine whether problems need to be fixed to improve cable reception.

The city has received only seven complaints in the past few months about Costa Mesa’s exclusive cable provider, and some council members thought it might be imprudent to spend money on a study during economic hard times.

“It looks here like the number of complaints have gone down so I don’t know if the problem is as great as it was,” Councilman Allan Mansoor said.

Mansoor suggested asking Time Warner if the company would front the money for the study. No Time Warner representative was present to answer the question, but Assistant City Manager Tom Hatch said that asking the cable company to chip in for the expense would probably be the city’s next step.

Meanwhile, as the city has only received seven complaints about Time Warner’s service in the last few months, the Daily Pilot has received more than seven complaints in the last few days.

Many residents report that they simply gave up hope that Time Warner’s service would become less spotty, and others said they had never thought to call the city and complain: Instead they dealt directly with the cable company.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com. ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at alan.blank@latimes.com.