The race for the Costa Mesa City Council

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- Running for City Council was a natural decision for Rick

Rodgers.

After all, he is used to following in his father’s footsteps.

He became a police officer like his father, and now they are both

running for City Council in neighboring cities. Pat, Rodgers’ father, is

running in Irvine.

Rodgers said he admires his father for his integrity, which he said he

inherited.

“I remember when I was 2 or 3 years old I took some Lifesavers from a

store and he made me take it back and apologize,” he said. “I always try

to do what is right, which is probably something that came from my

father. Hopefully, we’ll both win. That would be something.”

Rodgers, who said he is a quarter Latino, was born in Costa Mesa and

lived there until his parents moved to Irvine when he was in the sixth

grade.

After graduating from Cal State Long Beach, he bought a house from his

parents -- the one he lived in when he was 2 years old -- and has lived

there ever since.

Rodgers is an investigator on a Los Angeles police commission, but

said he hopes to go back to work as an officer in the vice department

soon.

“I’m only going to be able to do this a little longer,” he said.

“Sitting in front of a computer is driving me crazy. I like being outside

all the time and being in contact with different people every day. In

vice, every day is different. I never know what I’m going to do one day

to the next. But I like arresting the bad people and helping the

victims.”

Rodgers said he liked working in the vice department because he enjoys

solving problems, which he also hopes to do on the dais.

One of his projects was to deal with a group of parolees who

habitually drank alcohol, took drugs and engaged in prostitution at a

liquor store and nearby house, he said.

His solution was to involve a number of different departments --

including the parole and probation, gang, alcohol and beverages control

and the city abatement departments -- to clean them up.

“That’s the trick to solving problems,” he said. “Bringing in a

variety of resources. That’s the only was to solve a problem for the long

term.”

Rodgers said family continues to be the most important aspect of his

life.

He and his wife, Teresa, had a son, Matthew, 10 months ago.

“I just had a child and I want to ensure that Costa Mesa is going to

continue to be a good city and a city he can grow up in without having

any problems being safe,” he said.