Winships Thumb Their Noses

RUFFLING OUR FEATHERS
A couple of our good neighbors over in Newport Beach, Ron and Anna Winship, posted an entry on the Newport Beach Voices blog yesterday that is sure to ruffle the feathers of more than one Costa Mesa resident. The Winships, who also post on the SantaAnaCentric Orange Juice Blog, have set a new low water mark for smarmy, snooty, in-your-face comments in the battle for annexation of county lands between Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.

OFFENSE TAKEN
At a time when officials from both cities profess to be attempting to mend fences between our cities, this kind of condescending tripe can only harm those efforts. There are already plenty of Costa Mesans who are offended by the holier-than-thou attitude displayed by more than a few Newporters without the Winships rubbing our municipal nose in the loss of West Santa Ana Heights. In fact, if I were one of those new Newport Beach residents annexed recently I'd take offense at the childish "instructions" provided by the Winships on how those good folks should act as new Newporters.

IS THIS HUMOR?
Now, I've read many of the Winships previous posts and I know they sometimes stumble in their attempts at tongue-in-cheek humor. Occasionally it seems that what might have been funny in their heads loses something when it hits the page - or screen, in this case. If this effort was one of those times, then I apologize. Read it for yourself and decide. You can find it HERE.

COMMON INTERESTS DEMAND RESPECT
Newport Beach is a fine city with municipal wealth we Costa Mesans can only dream about. Our neighbors in Newport should feel very proud of their city and all it's assets. However, there are many issues in which both cities share an interest, including the probable expansion of John Wayne Airport, our school district, Banning Ranch and the future of the 55 Freeway extension, to name a few. Residents thumbing their noses at us across our common border certainly isn't very neighborly and won't help with our relationships on those issues and others.

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!