HOW DID THEY DO THAT?!

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

MESMERIZED!
I don't know about you, but I was mesmerized by the opening ceremonies at the China Olympics Friday night. In my lifetime I've never seen such a display of precision as was demonstrated in the choreography of those events. I was particularly impressed by the 2008 drummers who, regardless the camera angle used, were in sync, on beat and simply magnificent. It seemed at times as though the sweat was falling from their brows in unison!

TEAMWORK
Those displays of excellence got me thinking about what is possible when you get people all pulling together toward a single goal. It's certainly something I'm going to be giving a lot of thought as we now launch into our campaign season. I'm going to be interested to observe the various candidates to see which ones, if any, come across as true consensus builders. There has been so much rancor on the dais for the past half-dozen years that electing persons who will work hard to provide solutions to the many issues we face that meet the needs of all our residents, not just a favored few, will be important to me. I'll write more about that later.

ANY MORE SHOES TO DROP?
In the meantime, we'll all just hold our collective breath to see if anyone else comes out of the woodwork as a late added starter since the deadline has been extended a few days because Linda Dixon chose to leave the dais next year.

***
GENIS BACK POSTING AGAIN
Several months ago I provided a link to La Femme Wonkita, a blog authored by former mayor Sandra Genis. Following a very moving initial posting, she's provided new entries only sporadically. However, over the past week or so she's returned with a vengeance. I encourage you to slide your cursor over to the right side of this page, scroll down to her link and take a peek.

Blogging With Genis and the Winships, Plus Mayoralty Rumors

Another day of fun and games here in the land of Newport-Mesa.

GENIS DIVES IN!
First, some good news. Former Costa Mesa Mayor Sandy Genis has decided to dive headlong into the wonderful world of blogmania. Her brand new, hot-out-of-the-oven blog, La Femme Wonkita, is now available for viewing. I posted a link for her site over on the right of this page. Those who have followed politics in Costa Mesa in recent years know Ms. Genis as a smart, hard-working, astute student of the process and a woman who is, in her words, "one of the most opinionated people I know". Few would argue with that description. Sandy has stayed engaged in Costa Mesa politics following her tenure on the City Council and demonstrates time after time that she is a force to be reckoned with when she stands before the council to present her view of an issue in her own, special way. I hope she eventually permits Comments to be submitted on her blog because, if history is any judge, her postings will certainly be "comment-worthy". We welcome her arrival and look forward to her future entries.

WINSHIPS PROVIDE QUIPS
Another new link over there on the right is for a Newport Beach-centric blog, Newport Beach Voices. I'm sure many of you in Newport Beach already know of this resource. Among the contributors to this blog are Ron and Anna Winship, who also write the occasional entry on the Orange Juice! blog. They are producers of "Cutting Edge - a talk show" which, in their words, "brings together a provocative group of 'individuals' that uniformly believe in the defense of American liberty and freedoms." I'm happy to provide a link to their blog as a resource to those who are immersed in Newport Beach politics and players.


MAYOR, ANYONE?
I can't close tonight without mentioning the on-going rumors around Costa Mesa about the possibility of a change, soon to be proposed, that would result in the direct election of the position of Mayor in our fair city. Along with those rumblings are a few that indicate former mayor Gary Monahan would be a candidate for that position. There was a time when I thought our young jailer/mayor, Allan Mansoor, might also be a candidate for that job, should it be approved by the voters. However, he seems to be casting his net much more broadly in the Republican Party political pond. For example, last night, Thursday, he was scheduled to be the featured speaker before the meeting of a neighboring county's Republican Party. That explains why he was practicing his stand-up routine at the last council meeting. Trust me, Jerry Seinfeld he ain't!