HOUSING OPPORTUNITY WORKSHOP - 7/30/25

 WHAT AND WHERE?

Wednesday evening around 60 of your friends and neighbors attended the first of what is supposed to be 10 opportunities for us to express our preferences on the types of new housing being planned for Costa Mesa.  It began at 6:00 p.m. and was scheduled to run a couple hours. Seating was available for 70 and, when counting city staff and consultants, there may have been 90 souls in the Norma Hertzog Community Center.  I left shortly after 7:00.

GRUB AND KID-FRIENDLY

Refreshments were provided and there was a little table with coloring supplies for children attending.  I did see a couple children last night.

PHOTOS MAY HELP

I’ve included several photos of the evening, which might help give you a sense of the event.

THE THEME

The evening was themed “Neighborhoods where we all belong.”  

CARRIE KICKS IT OFF

Carrie Tai, our new Director of Economic and Development Services, kicked the evening off, then handed the proceedings off to representatives of the Dudek organizations - consultants for this process.  In addition to their team there were many members of the Development Services staff on hand to answer questions.  And, for the most part, there was good outreach to non-English speakers via translators - a very welcome change from years past.

THE USUAL SUSPECTS, PLUS

As anticipated, many of the usual resident activists attended this meeting to learn and opine.  I will list a few I recognized.  I saw council members Arlis Reynolds and Jeff Pettis, Planning Commission Chairman Jeffrey Harlan and current commissioners David Martinez and Angely Andrade Vallarta. Arts Commissioner Charlene Ashendorf and her hubby, Dennis were there.  Former councilman Jay Humphrey and his wife Sally were in the crowd, as was former councilwoman Wendy Leece and former Planning Commissioner Diane Russell.  Major property owner George Sakioka and current FIPAC committee member Ralph Taboada attended. Uber activists Cynthia McDonald and her hubby, Rick Huffman attended, as did my pal and super-blogger Jenn Tanaka of Goat Hill Rodeo fame.  I also saw Daily Pilot ace reporter Sara Cardine chatting with attendees and taking notes.  There were also a couple photographers scampering around, but I didn’t recognize them.

MANY NEW FACES

I was encouraged by the number of new, young faces in the small crowd last night.  After all, this will be their city and they need to express their wishes in this kind of setting.

SHORT VIDEO

Following the presentation of a short video which explained why we were there - too many people, not enough housing, and expensive housing when it is available.  We learned that Costa Mesa has 100,000 jobs, and that 7,000 were added in the last 10 years.  We were told the average home price exceeds $1,000,000 and that the average monthly rent is over $2,400.

BREAKOUT!

Following the video we were permitted to scatter around the room, view the various display boards and either affix “dots” where we could indicate choices or scribble post-it notes with suggestions/preferences.

WHAT DID THEY WANT?

Many attendees carefully crafted Post-it notes asking for things like "Affordability", 

"Safety", "Schools", "Affordable Senior Housing", "Pathway to Home Ownership", "More Light At Night For Residential", "Trees For Shade", "Mixed Use", and more.

WHAT THEN?

I was told that the information provided will be homogenized and blended with information for the remaining 9 similar opportunities for community members to gather and opine scheduled for the rest of this year.  Those meetings will take place throughout the city at different venues.  The data will then be compiled and presented to the Planning Commission and City Council sometime next year.

OBSERVATIONS

I noted with great interest that there was no mention of the Fairview Developmental Center property as an “Opportunity Site”, even though that more than 100 acre site could resolve many of our housing needs.  I also noted that only slight mention was made of the State-mandated RHNA numbers - 11,760 housing units demanded by the state for our city.  That, of course, is the prime motivator for this entire exercise.

BEEN THERE - DONE THAT

I came away with the feeling of deja vu - like we’ve been here before.  Yes, the folks from Dudek are bright and professional and have a proven system for gathering public opinion on these kind of issues.  Yes, the City Staff was helpful answering questions.  I’m concerned that this has been a long time coming and that it could get mired in the “process”, as has been the case many times in the past.  Several of us have gone through these kinds of exercises before, only to find the “progress” seemed to be slogging through quicksand.  We shall see.

AWAITING THE GOAT WRANGLER’S TAKE

I expect my pal, the Goat Wrangler, will provide us with a much better, more thorough account of this meeting.  When she does I will share the link to it on my Facebook page. 

MY OPINION?

Well, because we’re a 99% built-out city, Measure K authorizes us to re-zone certain commercial and industrial areas to accommodate housing and the ONLY way to make that work is to go UP!  (The image shown here shows those areas, although they should have used darker colors.)  Yeah, I know -  “Up” is a nasty word, but it’s a fact of life. We’re just going to have to figure out how to carefully plan for nearly 12,000 new dwelling units and the nearly 30,000 new residents they will accommodate.  Our neighbors in the City of Irvine have figured it out, which you can see in the Jamboree corridor north of the 405 freeway.  And, they’ve managed to soften the impact of big complexes by using lots of large trees! Traffic and parking will be HUGE considerations, too, as will the need for more schools, shopping areas, fire stations and police officers to keep us all safe.

FINGERS CROSSED FOR PROGRESS

In the meantime, I will keep my fingers tightly crossed that this process will move forward with quickness and, by this time next year, we will have some sense of what our city leaders plan to do on our behalf.  Of course, that will be in the middle of the runup to the 2026 municipal elections, when the balance of power on our city council could change dramatically.  As I said… we shall see.  

WATCH FOR FUTURE MEETINGS

Be alert for future similar meetings, where details can be fleshed out with consultants and staff.  It’s a chance for you to voice your opinion on what our city will look like downstream.

COSTA MESA COUNCIL MEMBERS CERTIFIED AND SEATED

SETTING THE SCENE - Thursday evening, December 5th, 2024, the Costa Mesa City Council held a Special Meeting at which the results of the 2024 Municipal Election would be certified and the four council members would be sworn in and seated.

THE RESULTS - The following images show the final results of the Costa Mesa City Council races.  We elected a mayor and three council members.

MY PLAN - Because this was to be the final time Mayor Pro Tem Jeffrey Harlan would appear on the dais - he was defeated by Jeff Pettis in the election by 82 votes - I planned to attend this meeting and speak during Public Comments.  Alas, circumstances  intervened and I was unable to leave the house.  I did watch the entire proceedings via Costa Mesa TV with great interest.  More about that further down the page.

MY "COMMENTS" - I spent a good amount of time writing, and re-writing and re-writing the words I wanted to say to fit within the 3 minute time provided.  Not unexpectedly, I had much more to say that could be crammed into that short time, so it took a lot of tinkering to make it fit.  Then, I couldn't make the trip to City Hall and chose to NOT call it in.  What follows is the transcription of my planned comments.  And, yes - I could read it in precisely 3 minutes.

                                                  ***

Good evening! 

My name is Geoff West. My wife and I have lived in the same home on the Eastside for more than 51 years. . 

Congratulations to Mayor John Stephens on his re-election. I’m very pleased he will be at the helm for two more years. 

Congrats to Council-member Loren Gameros for his return to the dais

Congratulations to rookie council members Mike Buley and Jeff Pettis for their victories, too.

I was disappointed that Planning Commission Chairman Adam Ereth lost his race. His dedication to the city, education and experience guiding that commission would have been valuable on the city council.  

I was VERY DISAPPOINTED that Mayor Pro Tem Jeffrey Harlan was defeated. His loss by only 82 votes shows the value of every vote.   I’m grateful to him for his service to our city both as a planning commissioner and as a member of the City Council. His intelligence, professionalism, preparedness, steady hand, wisdom, insight and courteous, calm demeanor will certainly be missed. 

To council members Buley and Pettis - thank you for stepping up to the challenges you now face.  If you do the job we’re hiring you to do, you will do your homework to understand the difficult issues before you. You will consult with our excellent staff to help you.

Those positions up there on the dais are supposed to be non-partisan, so I hope you will be able to park any partisan political agendas you might bring with you at the door and do a good job representing ALL Costa Mesans, not just those in districts 1 and 6, and not just those with whom you share a political party affiliation. 

As a “Reagan Republican” I have longed for a strong, intelligent, conservative voice on the council. I hope you two can become those kind of voices and work with your fellow council members in a conciliatory manner to craft decisions that are best for our city.  Departing council member Harper set a very low bar - we expect and deserve more from you. 

While I don’t agree with everything they’ve done, I must tell you that the most recent Democrat-controlled councils - those led by Mayor Stephens and Supervisor Katrina Foley before him -  have done a terrific job guiding our city through some very tough times. Through their efforts, and those of our excellent city staff, we managed to navigate through the calamity that was Covid, all the while balancing the budget and keeping essential services operating.  When they took over following the previous, disastrous, heavy-handed, Republican-led regime they had a huge job ahead to help restore effectiveness and confidence at City Hall - which they have done. 

During the recent campaign we heard lots of misleading partisan yapping about the poor condition of our city.  We hope that is behind us and that all of you up there will work together to meet the challenges ahead - like how to meet the onerous demand by the State that we plan for 11,760 more dwelling units, for example. 

Many of us will be out here watching and will be offering suggestions and critiques as you guide our city - we hope you listen. 

We know this will be a serious disruption to your personal and family lives. Thank you all for your service. 

                                                          ***

THE PROCEEDINGS - The meeting lasted 2.5 hours and was launched with singing of America the Beautiful and the National Anthem,  the Pledge of Allegiance, a Moment of Solemn Expression and presentations to outgoing council members  Jeffery Harlan and Don Harper.  Lots of kind words were said by City Manager Lori Ann Farrell Harrison about both men, presentations were made by former mayor and current County Supervisor Katrina Foley and State Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris.  Photos were taken.  Proclamations were presented.

OHIO HOUSE - City Attorney Kimberly Hall Barlow gave a brief comment about the very recent favorable ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on the "Ohio House" case, which has been in the legal process for a decade.  Mayor Stephens also addressed it, affirming that the city had spent $20 million litigating this case and, because of the far-reaching impact of the decision, cities all around the country will benefit from this battle.

PUBLIC COMMENTS - A few people stepped up to speak during Public Comments, led off by former council member and activist Jay Humphrey, festively adorned in his holiday shirt. His was the high point.  Others spoke, but the low point was the rant by James Peters, the man who ran against Stephens and lost, badly.  My assessment of him early in the campaign season was that he was a rabid right-wing MAGANUT.  His presentation affirmed my opinion when he basically said the election was fraudulent and if the council certified it they would be subject to legal action.  He ended by threatening  the potential wrath of President-elect Donald J. Trump!  Sadly, several of his sycophants called in to echo his rant.  It was pathetic and the wisdom of the electorate by rejecting him was loud and clear.

OUTGOING SPEECHES - Both Harlan and Harper were given an opportunity to "say goodbye".  Not unexpectedly, Harper used his time to weep about being outnumbered on the dais.  At one point he said he wasn't going to read a list of missteps he thought his council colleagues made - then did!  He demonstrated his partisan incompetence and will certainly not be missed.  Adios!  Harlan, on the other hand, made a very sincere, moving speech, talking about how much he had enjoyed his tour as a public servant.  He mentioned that, unlike Harper, who couldn't wait to get off the dais, he loved it there and loved helping to solve problems for the city.  As I said in my letter, his wisdom will be missed.

INCOMING SPEECHES - Following a short break to evict Harper and Harlan and juggle the seating on the dais, each of the elected and re-elected council members were given an opportunity to speak.  

Mike Buley, who defeated Planning Commission Chairman Adam Ereth for the District 1 seat vacated by Harper, led off.  Unfortunately, a technical glitch produced no sound for a minute or two.  When it finally came on and we could hear him speak he was very impressive.  He thanked many who helped and advised him during his campaign.  Unfortunately, that included former council members Steve Mensinger and Jim Righeimer - two men who nearly destroyed our city almost a decade ago with many ill-advised and illegal actions.   If Buley is "guided" by those guys, he will require close observation.

Loren Gameros, who ran unopposed for his District 2 seat, spoke briefly with gratitude to those who helped him.

Jeff Pettis, who managed to defeat Harlan by a narrow, 82 vote, margin, spoke with much less skill than Buley and affirmed his dedication to District 6.  I only hope he does not prove to be the marginally competent council member that I anticipate.  We'll see.

Mayor John Stephens then spoke about his commitment to our city and thanked his family for their support.  His was a very moving speech.

CHOOSING A MAYOR PRO TEM - The final item on the agenda, now that the new council was seated, was to select from their members a new Mayor Pro Tem to replace the departed Harlan.  Mayor Stephens nominated Councilman Manuel Chavez, Gameros seconded the motion and the vote to choose him was 6-0, with Councilwoman Arlis Reynolds absent.  I've watched Chavez grow during his six years on the council and have no doubt that his selection was a good one.  Congrats to him.

NOW WE WAIT - Now that we have a new council selected and seated we must wait to see what kind of an impact Buley and Pettis make on city governance.  Both men tilt hard right politically, in contrast to their peers on the dais, who lean left.  I have no doubt that Buley is a very smart fella.  I'm not so sure about Pettis - his body of work on his YouTube channel would indicate otherwise.  My hope is they will provide more breadth to the important discussion and decisions made in the future.  Fingers crossed...

THE MEETING VIDEO - Here is the link to the Costa Mesa TV YouTube recording of this meeting.  It's worth a couple hours of your time.  You can fast-forward through the boring parts.

https://www.youtube.com/live/oz1CahOxANI

FILING CLOSES - LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

CANDIDATE FILING CLOSED FRIDAY, AUGUST 7TH
I know... I'm supposed to be retired, but this issue is just too darn important to remain mute.  This local election - November 3, 2020 - will be the second time Costa Mesa elects a mayor by direct election AND it will be the first time that council members will be selected directly by the voters in voting districts 1, 2 and 6.

AN ELECTION SEASON UNLIKE ANY OTHER
So, I thought it might be appropriate to give you my take as we begin this campaign season - one that will be unlike any other in City history.  Because of the COVID-19 pandemic it is highly unlikely that any kind of face-to-face candidate forums will be conducted.  I wonder if there will be creativity shown and Zoom-style forums be attempted?  Right now, my opinion is that the City should sponsor forums of some type.  Perhaps they could be conducted the same way council and commission meetings are done using CMTV as the platform and retained on the CMTV YouTube site.

MY OPINION, BASED ON INFORMATION AVAILABLE AND OBSERVATIONS
So, with only the information I have available to me via the completion of ballot statements and the ballot designations for each of those candidates who have qualified for the ballot - plus my own personal knowledge from observations of incumbent and former council members - I'm going to give you my take.  You can agree, disagree, or none of the above, but it's a place to start.  Incidentally, you can view each of the aforementioned official forms by going to the city page, HERE.

ONE RACE AT A TIME, IN ORDER
So, let's take each of the four races to be contested in order and I'll give you my opinion of each candidate.  I'll go in the order they appear on that page I linked to above to make it easier for you to bounce back and forth if you choose to do so.

MAYOR
KATRINA FOLEY
Disclosure:  Katrina Foley is a personal friend.  I've known her for two decades and have had a chance to watch her in many roles in which she served our community.  I have not always agreed with her, but I have always admired her intelligence, energy, organizational and oratorical skills and her unceasing willingness to serve our community.
She is the incumbent and the first directly-elected mayor in Costa Mesa history.  In her race two years ago she brought a wealth of experience as a council member (including a tour as mayor a year earlier), Planning Commissioner and Trustee on the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.  She has often been at odds with the OC GOP power brokers that have run the city in the recent past.  She had been chosen mayor by her peers on the council, then de-frocked a year before the last election and replaced by multi-term council member, former mayor (and current candidate) Sandra Genis, the woman who was a co-conspirator in Foley's ouster.  In the last election Foley crushed Genis, setting the tone for a sea change mandated by the voters in the way Costa Mesa is governed.  Awkwardly, Genis remained on the council and her term expires with this election.  Foley's performance and leadership during the triple-crises of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic collapse and the nation-wide plague of civil unrest, has been outstanding.  She and Mayor Pro Tem John Stephens set the pace for the council and staff, all of whom have done an exemplary job of managing these issues, even though often facing painful choices.  It will come as no surprise to learn that I will enthusiastically support Katrina Foley for mayor in this election.

AL MELONE
Melone, whom I refer to as "Dog Park Al Melone", is a perennial also-ran and brings nothing to the race except for a love of dogs.  He will suck up a few votes, but really shouldn't get any.

QUENTIN "Q" PULLEN
Pullen is a new guy on the political scene.  I had never heard of him until he pulled his papers.  Since then he has become a Facebook friend and I've learned a little bit about him.  He's a fitness trainer and former Marine.  If being on the City Council included feats of strength - tug-of-war, for example - he might be my guy.  But it does not, and he is not.  I've asked him just why he is running and he told me he wants "change", but was unable to come up with a single thing he wanted to change.  He seems like a well-intentioned good guy and, based on the huge banner he has in his garage gym, a supporter of Black Lives Matter.

SANDRA L. "SANDY" GENIS
Genis, as mentioned above, is a multi-term council member who's service to our city stretches back three decades.  She's a land planner by profession and has a long history of being on the right side of issues - until recently.  When she participated in the ouster of Foley as mayor - the first time in our history that a sitting mayor was voted out by her peers - it was a purely partisan move.  This makes her claim on her ballot statement of being a "non-partisan" candidate ring hollow.  I thought it was interesting that, even though she's been a fixture on the Costa Mesa political scene for 3 decades, she apparently felt it was necessary to tell us on her disclosure form that she was a "female".  Curious.  During her recent tour on the council, when she and Allan Mansoor have often represented a minority view, she has been an obstructionist on many important issues.  Her disjointed, long-winded near-filibuster rants during discussions of important issues have contributed to many meetings running very long.  She now seems unable, or unwilling, to concisely craft her opinion.  Although she still has a cadre of supporters in the city, she will not get any support from me.

WENDY BROOKS LEECE
Wendy Leece has also served our community on the City Council and as a Trustee on the NMUSD Board.  I was not a Wendy Leece fan many years ago, when she ran as a Republican ticket with Allan Mansoor.  A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then and she was misused, ignored and abused by the OC GOP over those years.  As far as I know she's still a Republican, but probably painfully so.  When I heard she was running I contacted her to find out why, since she has been a supporter of Foley in the past.  She told me she wanted to give the voters a choice.  When I pressed her about what kind a choice she meant, she implied a choice other than Foley and Genis.  Well, she gave me no clue about what she would change - except maybe she is unhappy with the current mask rules because it hampers her exercise of her religious services.  Anyhow, much as I like and admire Wendy for her service to our community, she will NOT get any support from me.

DISTRICT 1
JOHN B. STEPHENS
Another disclosure.  John Stephens is a friend.
Stephens is the current Mayor Pro Tem on our City Council.  He and Katrina Foley make a strong team and have provided leadership for the newer council members over the past couple years.  His district is a hotbed of supporters for the previous regime, so this race could be interesting.  He has demonstrated a steady hand during his tour on the council.  He, like Foley, is a lawyer by profession and those skills are demonstrated frequently as he helps navigate complex issues from the dais.  He is a smart guy with skill in building consensus - something essential during these very troubled times. If I could vote in District 1 John Stephens would certainly be my choice.  His skills and experience are far and away superior to his two challengers.

DON HARPER
Harper is a familiar name to some.  He has served the city as a Parks and Recreation Commissioner with no distinction and has also served on the Finance Committee and on youth sports groups.  He is tightly aligned with the former GOP regime and will certainly get support from those folks.  I watched him while he was on the Parks and Recreation Commission and seldom did he contribute anything to discussions on those issues.  Even if Stephens was not in this race he would not be my recommendation.

JASON KOMALA
He is also a new name - I'd never heard of him before he filed for this position.  He identifies himself as an ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE CONSULTANT - whatever that is.  He apparently works for Target Corporation.  We have little information about him.  We are unaware if he has had any kind of involvement in civic activities in our city in the past.

DISTRICT 2
BEN CHAPMAN
Chapman describes himself as a PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT with 11 years experience.  We do know he's the darling of the OC GOP.  I know very little about him, although I did see him and his husband, a former Episcopal Pastor, speak before the city council back when we actually had meetings at the Senior Center.  I expect he will get lots of support from the OC GOP in this race.  He would not be my choice if I could vote in this district.

LOREN GAMEROS
He, also, is a new guy on the political scene.  In contrast to Chapman, he describes himself as a "boots-on-the-ground" kind of guy with strong family values.  He's a 40 year resident of Costa Mesa with a very strong, lengthy background in labor organizations.  He also is now a Facebook friend, so I've learned a little bit about him - we apparently share a love for off-road activities. If I could vote in District 2 he would likely get my vote, but I'd like to see how he handles interaction in the form of forums, etc.  I have no way of measuring his knowledge of civic affairs yet.

GARY PARKIN
He's a retired engineer, active in the Costa Mesa Historical Preservation Committee and also served on the Senior Commission.  He occasionally speaks before the City Council on issues related to those activities.  He seems like a good guy, but, in my opinion, does not bring the strength, energy nor awareness of important issues to be taken seriously as a candidate.

DISTRICT 6
This race will have four candidates - two potential contenders failed to qualify today.
HENGAMEH ABRAHAM
This woman is also a brand new face in local politics.  She says she's a wife, mother of two children and a wellness coach.  I see nothing in her background to tell us that she has a clue about important municipal issues.  She may be a very nice woman, but she is the weakest candidate, by far, in this race.

JEFFREY HARLAN
Another disclosure: Jeff Harlan is my friend.
Harlan is currently the Vice Chair of the Planning Commission, a lawyer with a strong background in land use issues.  His experience on the City Council will be invaluable at a time when the State expects us to create housing opportunities out of whole cloth.  Over the years I've had a chance to watch him in action.  He's a very smart, very steady guy who makes good, thoughtful, well-reasoned comments every time he speaks.  He is far and away the best candidate in this race.  No other candidate comes close to bringing the skills he has to the council seat for District 6.  He will get my vote.

JEFF PETTIS
He is another person about whom not much is known.  He describes himself as a NURSE MANAGER and a Mental Health Board-Certified RN.  I would probably like him, but I can see nothing in his background that prepares him for a seat on the council, even though it appears he has a job for which we critically need good management.  He will not get my vote.

LEE RAMOS
Last, and in my opinion least, is this man.  He's a multi-time candidate who, in years past, apparently had trouble with his identity.  At one time his signs said "Vote for Lee", apparently going after our small Asian community vote.  He also attempted to use his Latino heritage to appeal to our burgeoning Latino population - and failed miserably.  In his ballot statement he fails to mention Sober Living issues as problems with which we should deal - perhaps because he has been snuggled up to those folks for years.  I've had a chance to watch him on the various commission and committee assignments he's held and came away completely unimpressed.  He seemed to be having difficulty crafting a cogent thought.  He has never been a good candidate for a City Council seat and, now that his neighbors - those who know him best - will have a chance to address him specifically as a representative for our neighborhood, I expect him to finish well down the ballot again.

THERE YOU GO... 
So, there you have it... The opinion, at the very beginning of this race, of an old guy with too much time on his hands, but who actually does still pay attention.  You can weigh these opinions for whatever you feel they are worth.  I do encourage you to click on that link above to read the statements by each candidate - the Ballot Statement and Disclosure Statement.  If you choose to comment, one way or the other, you will have to migrate back to my Facebook page to do so.  I no longer accept comments on this blog.  I get two votes this time around - for Mayor and for District 6. Fortunately for me, those races are easy calls.  I will vote for KATRINA FOLEY and JEFFREY HARLAN.