Upcoming Candidate Forums

EASTSIDE NEIGHBORS GROUP ON OCTOBER 14TH.
On Thursday, October 14th, my friends at the Eastside Costa Mesa Neighbors Group will host a forum at the Neighborhood Community Center at which it is hoped all five candidates for the Costa Mesa City Council will attend. It's my understanding that Costa Mesa TV (CMTV) will be there to tape the forum for subsequent replay. This forum will run from 6:30, for a meet and greet, with the forum running from 7:00 to 9:00. In 2008 this group produced an excellent forum, so we have high hopes for this one, too. Mark your calendar.

COSTA MESA UNITED ON OCTOBER 6TH
Yesterday, on his Facebook page, irrepressible Costa Mesa Planning Commissioner Steve Mensinger - in his own inimitable style - jumped the gun and announced to the world that Costa Mesa United will host a forum on October 6th, also at the Neighborhood Community Center, which will be unique in my memory.

UNIQUE FORMAT
This forum, according to Mensinger and confirmed by Gordon Bowley, President of Costa Mesa United, will include all five Costa Mesa City Council candidates plus all four of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District board candidates in contested elections. To my knowledge, this has not been done before.

NARROW FOCUS - THE KIDS
Apparently, the format will be narrowly focused on issues that both the Costa Mesa City Council and the School Board either share overlapping responsibilities or common interests. According to Mensinger's "announcement", the theme will be "Academics, Athletics and Activities, and Ways to Improve the Infrastructure for our Community". Regarding that latter one, I'm assuming Mensinger meant playing fields, not better streets and gutters.

MORE "OFFICIAL" INFORMATION TO FOLLOW
This forum is in the early planning stages, so we're not sure whether CMTV will be available to cover it. Budget constraints have created severe staffing issues recently and, as of this morning, they had no knowledge of this event. I'll let you know more when I do. Mark your calendar for this very special event.