Opportunity for consensus building in Costa Mesa

Costa Mesa residents are very fortunate. With three seats open this

November on the City Council, 12 candidates, many with top-flight

credentials, have stepped up and offered to take the job.

Now, the burden is on the voters, and us, to decide which of the

12 are capable of leading Costa Mesa with consensus building,

experience and vision for the next four years.

The three candidates who we believe have the right qualifications

are Mike Scheafer, Linda Dixon and Katrina Foley.

Why you ask? The answers are simple.

No one can doubt Scheafer’s commitment to his hometown through his

work with the Lions Club, in building back the Fish Fry, in helping

to create a skate park for local kids, in working with Little League

and in his skill on the council. He works for solutions to help the

community he loves and is adept at building consensus with his

council colleagues.

Dixon also loves Costa Mesa and has proved it through her eight

years of work on the Planning Commission and four years on the

council. This 30-year resident has been a beacon in her College Park

neighborhood for years, has tried to keep a balance between the

interests of residents and business and has experience that no other

candidate can offer.

The mother of two young boys, Foley has five solid years on the

Planning Commission. She has learned how to maneuver through the

tricky political minefields at City Hall with light steps. What she

brings is a vision for the future, a desire to make Costa Mesa the

best place for her family to grow up that is much-needed on the

council.

Scheafer, Dixon and Foley are the best picks on Nov. 2.

But like we said, the voters are lucky.

Of the remaining nine candidates, five of them stand a bit above

the rest in consensus building, experience and vision. Sadly enough,

incumbent Chris Steel isn’t one of them.

We’ve never made it a secret that the positions Steel advocates in

regards to Costa Mesa’s Latino community are abhorrent to us.

Singling out a segment of the population to blame for all of Costa

Mesa’s ills is cowardly politics, mean-spirited and simply untrue.

But after four years on the dais, Steel’s mantra hasn’t changed

one iota, as he makes vague references about the city’s “magnets” and

how officials are forced to “educate and recreate” the Latino

population. It’s a tired and disgraceful refrain that has no place in

politics.

Indeed, Steel seems to have even disenfranchised himself from

those who aided in his election in 2000. Several of his former

supporters have been increasingly frustrated with Steel’s council

votes, which are inconsistent with his public statements, and for not

carrying the day on their key issues.

Chris Steel lacks the experience, vision or consensus building

skills that residents of Costa Mesa need for the next four years.

Those who do possess many of those skills are Bruce Garlich, Eric

Bever, Mirna Burciaga, Dick Carroll and Sam Clark.

Garlich and Bever are able members of the Planning Commission and

well-schooled in city issues and affairs. Garlich will someday make a

good City Council member, but we just don’t believe it’s his turn

yet.

Bever is also an impressive and quick study that we think has a

future in city politics. Bever is a driving force within the Westside

improvement community and a needed voice in the city. But the council

already has a good dose of that viewpoint now that Bever’s close ally

Allan Mansoor is on the dais.

A strong argument could be made that Burciaga, the owner of the

popular El Chinaco restaurant on the Westside, would be a much-needed

voice for the city’s growing Latino community.

We agree with that and are impressed with her ideas and energy.

But like Garlich and Bever, we’d like to see Burciaga, now a city

parks commissioner, move to the Planning Commission and get better

versed in city government before making that leap.

Carroll and Clark are just too new to the process to get our nod,

but we were impressed with their ideas also and expect to see them in

future races -- Carroll perhaps better suited for school board.

Finally, it’s time to talk about how our blue-chip choices,

Scheafer, Dixon and Foley would be a good fit with their colleagues,

Mansoor and Mayor Gary Monahan.

We can’t think of a better council that would balance the

interests of the Westside, of businesses, of residents and of the

youth. It’s a council that the residents of Costa Mesa deserve and

one that we believe will bring three keys to success: Consensus

building, experience and vision.