Andrea Marr's View of Candidate Dan Morgan

AN IMPORTANT OPINION FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Costa Mesa City Council member Andrea Marr has offered an opinion of Dan Morgan, a candidate for her 3rd District seat to replace her when she is termed out this year after 8 years of exemplary service to our city. 

You will recall that Marr is a United States Naval Academy graduate who subsequently spent 5 years providing shipboard leadership to sailors before leaving the US Navy to launch a very successful civilian career.  Eight years ago she became part of a city council team that dragged our city back from the brink - a time when misguided leadership by then-elected officials nearly sunk our city.  

While I have not always agreed with some decisions made by Marr and the team that included now-supervisor Katrina Foley, current mayor John Stephens and her fellow council members Arlis Reynolds, Mayor Pro Tem Manuel Chavez, and, more recently, councilman Loren Gameros, they have done a great job providing leadership to return our city to solvency and to approve initiatives that serve all residents, including restoring our once-beleaguered Costa Mesa Police Department to full staff.  

Her opinion is valuable when considering candidates for City Council, and particularly for the district she has represented.  She's been in the trenches, knows the commitment it takes to represent the residents of her district and the city as a whole.  And, of course, she understands and demonstrates leadership.  For these reasons I have offered her space here on my blog to present her opinion on who she feels will best fill her spot on the City Council.  The following is her opinion, presented verbatim:

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I’ve been thinking a lot about the District 3 City Council race, and I want to say something that may be uncomfortable because I genuinely like Daniel Morgan and his family. I’ve done business with both him and his wife, and I think they are good people.

I do not want Morgan representing me at City Hall.

I have real concerns about the degree to which his campaign and his real estate interests seem intertwined. Start with the money. By my review of his campaign filings (and backed up by Save Costa Mesa), only about 10% of Morgan’s contributions come from Costa Mesa residents.. A significant share of his financial support comes from people connected to real estate and development. And unsurprisingly, most of what he seems to be concerned with (FDC, faster permitting processes) will have direct benefits for the exact people who are donating to his campaign. That combination deserves scrutiny.

He is currently leveraging his many multi family properties in Mesa del Mar for campaign signage. Imagine being a tenant and having your landlord put his own political campaign sign in your yard. Would you feel completely comfortable taking it down? Would you wonder whether your landlord expected you to support him at the ballot box? And because Morgan manages properties for other owners, I have questions there too. Are out-of-town investors being asked whether they want their buildings used to advertise a Costa Mesa political campaign?

  
While there may be easy answers to those questions, the fact is that the dynamic bothers me. There is an inherent power dynamic between a landlord or property manager and a tenant, and I think someone asking to hold public office should be especially thoughtful about it. But my bigger concern is actually about how he talks about governing.

The message I hear over and over from him is that City Hall is incompetent, the people making decisions don’t understand what they’re doing, and he is the guy who can come in and fix it. Having served at City Hall, I can tell you that governing is harder than that. Governing requires curiosity. It requires listening to people you disagree with. It requires understanding why something works the way it does before declaring everyone involved an idiot. It requires working with staff, residents, businesses, nonprofits, developers, neighboring cities and other levels of government. It requires compromise without abandoning your principles. And it requires the humility to occasionally discover that an issue is more complicated than it looked from the outside.

That is a big part of why I support Cara Stewart.

Cara is thoughtful, serious and genuinely interested in the whole job. She listens. She asks questions. She wants to understand an issue before deciding what the answer should be. She brings optimism instead of outrage and approaches problems with the assumption that people can work together to solve them.

I want someone who will do the unglamorous work. Read the staff reports. Meet with residents. Ask the second and third question. Learn the budget. Understand the tradeoffs. Build relationships with her colleagues. And recognize that sometimes the best solution isn't the one that makes the best angry video.

Most importantly, I want someone who approaches public service with some humility.

You don't have to arrive at City Hall knowing everything. I certainly didn't. You need to arrive ready to work, ready to listen, ready to learn, and ready to represent all of Costa Mesa.

Cara Stewart is that kind of candidate.

I like Morgan. I wish him and his family well. But liking someone and believing they should represent you are two very different things.

District 3 deserves a serious councilmember who is interested in the whole job, not a single-issue candidate whose answer to complicated problems is that everyone at City Hall is doing it wrong.

I'm supporting Cara Stewart.

FDC AGAIN - "ONCE MORE UNTO THE BREACH "

THE SHAKESPEARE QUOTE SEEMS APPROPRIATE - When considering the most recent Fairview Developmental Center Workshop, held on Thursday, July 23, 2026 at the Norma Hertzog Center, William Shakespeare's quote, "Once more onto the breach, dear friends, once more", seems perfectly appropriate. For those of us who have been following this drama since 2015 and have attended every meeting during which the future of this 100+ acres of prime Costa Mesa property is being considered, it certainly seems like one of those "We've been here before" issues.

THE ENTRANCE - When we arrived each of us signed in so we can receive future communications.  Then we wandered around the back wall of the room where display cards were available to help us get some context.  I've provided images of those cards here for your review.

BIG TURNOUT - This latest meeting, which started promptly at 6:10 p.m., stretched well beyond the anticipated stop time.  All speakers had spoken (I was last) and all questions/comments were responded to in real time by the time it wrapped up at 8:45.  I did not do a head count, but it certainly looked like there were at least 150 interested parties attending this one.

OFFICIALS IN ATTENDANCE - City Council members Andrea Marr, Arlis Reynolds, Mike Buley and Jeff Pettis were in the crowd, as was Planning Commissioner Jon Zich.  None of them spoke, but all seemed to pay close attention to the concerns of attendees.

GREAT STAFF MANAGEMENT - City Manager Cecelia Gallardo-Daly kicked things off and handed the baton to Carrie Tai, Director of Community Development, to run the show.  They were supported by Broc Coward, Community Relations Manager, Anna McGill, Planning Manager and Paul Martin, Transportation Services Manager.  Other staffers were there for support, too.

THE FORMAT - The staff presented a thorough background to the evolution of the availability of the Fairview Developmental Center property which began in 2015 and has gone through much back-and-forth negotiations with the State of California.  At first The State said, "Here's 110 acres of prime real estate for your use to help meet your housing needs." - (that the state had imposed upon the city in the form of Regional Housing Needs Allocation of 11,760 dwelling units).  Then The State said, "Uh, we were only kidding... we need 15 acres for an Emergency Operations Center", and then selected the absolutely best site for residential development and the least satisfactory venue from an access standpoint for that EOC.  Then, they said, "Oh, yes, we need another 15 acres for State-operated special housing.  Now that 110 acres is down to 80!

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - Following the staff presentation, during which the assembled masses became a little anxious, Director Tai began fielding questions as folks lined up at microphones on either side of the room.  Manager Broc Coward kept a tight leash on the speakers, imposing a "yellow card" warning that the speaker had 15 seconds left and a "red card" which told them to stop speaking.  Director Tai attempted to answer every single question, sometimes with the help of other staffers, immediately after they were asked.

THE CONCERNS - I'm not going to attempt to give you every question and answer.  The Costa Mesa Brief team was on hand and recorded the entire event - 2 hours and 27 minutes - and I will link to that video at the end of this entry so you can view it at your pleasure.  (Hint: The final speaker was especially dynamic).  Although the staff attempted to answer every question to the speaker's satisfaction, I don't think they completely accomplished that goal.  Sadly, in some cases there are just no satisfactory answers.  Many people were concerned about the increase in traffic so many new dwellings (maybe 4,000) would generate.  Director Tai and team estimated something in excess of 20,000 more trips per day! Several speakers from nearby neighborhoods were especially concerned.  Many were concerned about what this is going to do to property values in the City.  There seemed to be the implication by more than a few speakers that "affordable housing" means an increase in the number of "undesirable residents" - you know, the kind of folks the ICE thugs snatch up off our streets. Impact on schools was a major concern.  Also, our ability to properly provide public safety - police and fire - for this site was addressed by many.  Access to and from this site is a major concern, expressed by several speakers.  Currently there is ONE route into the property - the defacto extension of Fair Drive across Harbor Blvd.  The solution is to carve another access road across the golf course that wraps around this site on 3 sides.  The many golfers in the audience were not happy.  And, this particular issue is exacerbated by the EOC presence.  A couple years ago I wrote to the State suggesting an alternate location - one had been identified as available in Tustin - 24 acres near the lighter-than-air site, in a commercial area with easy access to 3 freeways.  That was rejected out of hand.  The original 15 acre demand for the EOC was necessary for the proposed helipad and related maintenance facilities.  That has now been abandoned so the administrative offices/warehouse could certainly be accommodated in a MUCH SMALLER space - 5 acres or less.  Sometimes it seems bureaucracy has no common sense. 

WE OBSERVED THE GRADING - My wife and I took a drive through the Fairview Developmental Center site on Thursday afternoon, just to see what's happening.  What's happening is the site of the EOC is being graded - it actually looked like a much larger chunk of land than the 15 acres - and roadways are being refurbished.  Most of the FDC buildings remain.  There apparently is no stopping The State once it get's a head of steam up.

THE SPEAKERS - There were 46 groups of questions - 41 were delivered in person by speakers at the microphones and 5 were read from comment cards by Manager Coward as they were picked up be staffers and delivered to him.  I grabbed images of about half the speakers.  The light was a problem for the other side.  In no particular order, we saw former council members Jay Humphrey and Wendy Leece step up with questions and comments.  Pastor Christine Brooks Nolf and her hubby, Michael Moses Nolf spoke to concerns about their particular flock - low income folks in need of affordable housing.  Moses slipped a zinger into his comment when he asked how many Flock cameras would be placed in the FDC site.  Former Planning Commissioner Diane Russell spoke on the affordable housing issue, as did affordable housing advocate Kathy Esfahani (no photo). The husband and wife team of Rick Huffman and Cynthia McDonald (operators of the Costa Mesa First site and frequent speakers before the City Council and various commissions) addressed the appearance of "red lining" and more.  Council candidate Steve Smith and Assembly candidate Urson Russell stepped up, too.  

THE OTHERS - I saw many old friends in the crowd - folks who actually pay attention to municipal issues and attend these kind of meetings.  It was great to be "out among them" since I've been sidelined with a bum leg for nearly 2 months.  Most of these folks influence the opinions of others because it is clear they do their homework and have credible, informed opinions to share.

WHO OWNS THE GOLF COURSE? - Near the end of the meeting retired City employee Mike Moran stepped up to the microphone as the next-to-last speaker and opined that the City doesn't own the golf course, the State does, and has just leased it to The City, so the State could take it any time it wanted.  The response he got from the Staff was that Moran was incorrect - that the city owned the land.  So, since the reply seemed kind of tentative, I called Director Tai on Friday afternoon and asked for a clarification.  She told me - and sent me a copy of the deed papers - that the City does, indeed, own the land and has done so since 12/30/79.  There IS a condition in the deed, however, that requires the City to use the land for open space and it would be a breach of the sale if The City decided to, for example, build a shopping center on that 200+ acres.

MY TAKEAWAYS - First, I think most of the attendees were glad they had another opportunity to hear the facts of this project.  However, even though their questions were answered, I had the impression that many attendees left with only limited confidence in the process.  Much of that has to do with the length of time - A DECADE - that it's taken to get this far, and there seemed to be a general distrust in The State.  Some of that certainly has to do with the recent lawsuit filed against Costa Mesa and four other cities for not being responsive enough with their required Housing Element submissions.  I am told by reliable sources that The State is, in large part, responsible for the delay because they have not given The City a required timely reply to information The City submitted.  And, of course, there is the old "The State giveth and The State taketh away" situation with the size of the parcel.  More communication with the community is important on this "once in a lifetime" opportunity.  

MORE CHANCES TO BE HEARD - On Monday, 7/27/26, in their meeting beginning in City Council Chambers, the Costa Mesa Planning Commission will hold a "Study Session" on this issue as part of their broader agenda.  Interested parties are encouraged to attend and speak if so moved.  Then, at their meeting on August 10th, the Planning Commission will discuss this issue and make a recommendation to the City Council.  The public is welcome to speak here, too.  And then, at its meeting on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, the City Council will hear the recommendation of the Planning Commission and provide YET ANOTHER chance for the public to be heard.

TAKE YOUR TIME - There's a lot of stuff here. Please take your time to review the numerous exhibits I've included and, if you have a couple hours to spare, watch the Costa Mesa Brief video of this meeting, linked below.

COSTA MESA BRIEF VIDEO  

FEAR - AND CONTEMPLATING THE FUTURE OF OUR REPUBLIC

 A TRULY GREAT LIFE - You know, I’ve had a really great life. Before I retired more than 20 years ago I had a very successful business career and I followed that with a successful second career writing political commentary about local events here and elsewhere.  Even though I’ve throttled that back, this blog has received more than 4.3 million page views and still gets thousands every month. I’m proud of the positive impact I’ve had on my community.

PARTNERS - And all of this has been shared with my wonderful wife, Susie.  For  more than 58 years she has been at my side, through thick and thin, through the many high points and those few low points that happen along the way. I’m a very lucky guy.

DEEP ROOTS - We’ve lived in the same home in the best neighborhood in Costa Mesa for more than 52 years. Our neighbors in this community are also our friends and we’ve helped raise three generations of happy, accomplished children.

I’M A PROUD COSTA MESAN - I’m very proud to live in Costa Mesa. Throughout its nearly three quarters of the century history my town has been a clean, safe place to live. Over the decades it has been guided by some very forward-thinking, dedicated, caring, elected officials and some outstanding city staffers. Yes, we’ve had some bozos who were trying to steer us off the rails a decade ago, but that changed when the voters realize what was going on and voted them out.  I helped with that.

THE PARALLELS ARE UNDENIABLE - But lately I have become very depressed. In the year since Donald J.Trump was inaugurated for his second term as President of the United States I have watched as he seems determined to abandon our hard-earned leadership role in the community of nations, destroy our democracy and turn it into a dictatorship. As a student of history I see the clear parallels between what he is doing and what Adolf Hitler did in the late 1930s. It is terrifying!

FROM DAY ONE IT WAS CLEAR - From the very first day of this term, when Trump pardoned more than 1500 convicted criminals, it was clear that our country was in big trouble.  His heavy-handed attempts to deport “3000 dangerous criminal illegal aliens a day" has resulted in the terrorizing of many of our cities as innocent American citizens are being swept up by the poorly trained thugs that have been hired to accomplish that unrealistic goal.

CHAOS IN MINNEAPOLIS - All this came to a chaotic crescendo in Minneapolis this month when first Renee Good was murdered by a federal agent and then, yesterday, when peaceful demonstrator, Alex Pretti, was murdered -  shot 10 times as he lay helpless in the street after having been pepper sprayed while attempting to help another demonstrator who had been knocked off her feet by a federal agent and pepper sprayed.  Gestapo Barbie, Director of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, immediately attempted to paint Pretti as a “terrorist”, Intent on inflicting violence on federal agents who were “just doing their jobs”.  Nothing could be further from the truth. Video evidence clearly shows him recording events with his cell phone while calmly attempting to direct traffic through the turmoil those agents had created.  He then attempted to assist a woman, who had been knocked from her feet by one of those agents, regain her footing while both were being pepper-sprayed by agents. It was at that point that Pretti was dragged off his feet by an agent, surrounded by at least a half dozen other agents who began kicking and punching him. At one point, one of them removed the pistol from Pretti’s waistband and tossed it aside. Almost immediately thereafter we heard the first shot, followed by a very slight pause, then four more rapid fire shots, then at least five more bullets being pumped into his lifeless body. At no time had there been any visual evidence that Pretti had attempted to reach for his gun or, in any other way, threaten the agents. 

THEY WERE MURDERED! - I’ve watched videos of these two murders - one of a 37 year-old peaceful mother of 3 and the other a 37 year-old Emergency Room nurse at the local Veterans Administration hospital -  several times, trying to understand what happened and trying to see anything that made these two events make sense. I cannot and they do not. The senseless killing of Renee Good was bad enough,  but the slaughter of Alex Pretti, is incomprehensible. As we watch the videos, see him shot multiple times and hear the sounds of the gunfire echoing in the neighborhood, it leaves us aghast and terrified. Those lifeless bodies could be one of us!

IT’S ALL TRUMP’S FAULT - So, my friends, I’m very depressed. All this is happening as a direct result of one person, President Donald J. Trump. That vulgar, ignorant, deranged, vindictive, lunatic is destroying our country. In 12 short months, he’s managed to alienate every ally we have in this world. He invaded a sovereign nation, Venezuela, and kidnapped their president and his wife and dragged them to the United States for trial as drug traffickers. He has threatened to take over Greenland either by purchase or force, if necessary. He has made overt threats that perhaps Cuba and Mexico might also be on his conquest agenda.  He has consistently ignored the Constitution and made our country a much less safe place to live. My friends in the Latino community are terrified. Even brown-skinned American citizens are afraid to take their children to school or go to work or go shopping for food for fear of being swept up by the Gestapo-like federal agents that now infest our cities like some virulent cancer on our society.

CONGRESS MUST ACT - Members of Congress can fix this by invoking the 25th Amendment and removing Trump from office. That, alone, would not be enough, though. It would require sweeping most of his boot-licking sycophants in charge of federal agencies out, as well.  And, I don't know if Vice President J.D. Vance is up to the challenge.  Will he flip again, and return to the guy who articulated what he thought about Trump a couple years ago, repudiate what he's done and provide the necessary leadership to right the ship of state?  Repairing the damage done, both nationally and internationally, seems almost insurmountable.  I just don’t know how that happens peacefully. I feel helpless and, quite honestly, hopeless. Something needs to be done, but I can’t do anything to help.

HOPING FOR DISTRACTION - Today I’m going to watch two football games to try to distract me from what’s going on in this country. I’m not sure it’s going to help. God save us all.