WANT MORE POLITICS - HERE YOU GO!
Well, we're staring yet another warm and glorious weekend in the face and I doubt many of you will want to sacrifice your special time to wade further into the political morass that has become Costa Mesa politics this year. However, if you do wish to educate yourselves about some of the candidates beyond the rhetoric that is appearing here and in the press elsewhere, here's some information that will be helpful to you. Even if you don't watch these programs this weekend, they will run on the schedules indicated through the election. The streaming video links may be viewed anytime.
EASTSIDE COSTA MESA NEIGHBOR'S GROUP FORUM

Before I list the play schedules of the first three candidate forums for you I will remind you that next
Thursday, October 14th, my friends from the Eastside Costa Mesa Neighbor's Group will host the last council candidate forum before the election. This one, as was the case with the first one in August hosted by Mesa Verde Community, Inc., will be a "pure" forum - not contaminated by the presence of Newport Beach candidate or School Board hopefuls. The doors open at
6:30 at the Neighborhood Community Center, 1845 Park Avenue. (Lions Park) for a "meet and greet". The formal part, moderated by Eastsider
Marnie Primmer, will run from 7-8:30, with another short opportunity for chatting up the candidates following.
NO TELEVISION COVERAGE - LIVE, IN PERSON, ONLY
Unfortunately, this forum
WILL NOT be televised, either live or taped for future viewing. My Eastside friends had the opportunity to conduct their forum in the City Council chambers and have it televised live and placed into the tape rotation, but opted to to decline that invitation. Your last chance to see the candidates in action will be live next Thursday. See you there.
GRACIAS, CMTV
While we're on the subject of television, a tip of the hat to
Dane Bora and
Brad Long from Costa Mesa Television for providing most of the coverage you'll see on these schedules. You'll see I caught their good sides at the Mesa Verde forum here. Through their tireless efforts

and professionalism they continue to provide Costa Mesa residents with excellent video records of important events in our community. I encourage you to check the program schedule on the city web site - there's a link at the bottom right corner of the Home Page - to see the most recent productions. It's great stuff!
MESA VERDE COMMUNITY, INC., 8/18/10
The first candidate forum of this election cycle was hosted on August 18th by Mesa Verde Community, Inc., and was a good jumping off point. Moderator
Darnell Wyric
k did a great job of moving things along. I've written about it before,
HERE. You may wish to view the proceedings on CMTV Channel 24 (or Channel 99 on ATT UVerse). Or, you may wish to view it on streaming video at the city web site,
HERE. The following is the program schedule for that forum:
FEET TO THE FIRE, 9/30/10
The second forum, the "Feet To The Fire" forum, was held on September 30th at the Neighborhood Community Center and was a very special event because it included council candidates from both Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. The moderator was Orange County Register columnist
Barbara Venezia - dresse

d in a completely appropriate "flaming" outfit - and the interrogators were the cream of the local media crop - Register columnist
Frank Mickadeit, Daily Pilot Editor
John Canalis, Voice of OC Editor-in-chief
Norberto Santana, Jr. and Newport Independent Editor
Roger Bloom. I reported on it
HERE. If you wish to view the streaming video provided by Newport Beach TV and placed in the Costa Mesa rotation you can do so
HERE. The following is the program schedule for that event on CMTV and UVerse:
COSTA MESA UNITED, 10/6/10The fin

al televised forum was the one hosted by Costa Mesa United on Wednesday, October 6th, also at the Neighborhood Community Center. This was another hybrid, with Costa Mesa council candidates being joined by candidates for seats in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Trustees. Only candidates in contested seats were invited. The thrust of this forum was "Academics, Athletics and Activities", and it was moderated by Costa Mesa United Board President
Gordon Bowley. You can read my report
HERE. Interrogators for this forum were
John Canalis, Daily Pilot Sports Edito

r
Steve Virgen and Newport Beach Independent Publisher
Tom Johnson. If you wish to view the streaming video click
HERE. The following is the program schedule for that forum on CMTV and ATT Uverse:
THINGS ARE GETTING NASTY
If you follow the local media you know that the Costa Mesa City Council race is really heating up. The way it's headed now, it looks like it may be the most unsavory campaign locally in my memory. The tension between candidate
Jim Righeimer and the public employee unions is palpable. There are so many unpleasant incidents now that it's just painful to recall all of them. It now appears that an innocent bystander in this fray, candidate
Chris McEvoy, is going to be drawn into the battle, with Righeimer's crew now threatening to publicize an alcohol-related arrest McEvoy had several years ago - something he spoke about openly the last time he ran two years ago. I'll comment on how this race is going later. For now, please use this entry as a reference point when you wish to hear the candidates word unedited. Happy viewing...
Labels: Candidate Forum, Chris McEvoy, Jim Righeimer