Uprooting Goat Hill’s history

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- When Bob Wilson moved to the city in 1948, it was just

flat land with dirt roads, small animals and people getting around on

horses.

“You’d call it a goat hill,” said Wilson, 83. “We had lots of skunks,

rabbits and coyotes, and we had brown water that smelled terrible and

left half your clothes yellowish brown when you washed them. East of

Irvine [Avenue] there were mostly yams and sweet potatoes.”

Costa Mesa’s struggle in becoming the City of the Arts was a story

that Wilson, a three-time former mayor of the city, said he thought more

people should know.

He spent four years writing his part of the story, convincing other

people -- other mayors, city managers and police commissioners -- to

write their own, and compiled it all into a coffee table book: “From Goat

Hill to City of the Arts: The History of Costa Mesa.”

Wilson is scheduled to sign copies of the book at 3 p.m. today at

Borders Books & Music, 1890 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa.

Mayor Gary Monahan, whose story is included in the book, said Wilson

attempted to retain the small-town atmosphere in Costa Mesa.

“Being a student of history, I, as the last mayor involved in 47 years

in Costa Mesa, thought it was very important in giving a perspective as

up to date as possible,” said Monahan. “I had a blast. [Wilson] put in a

lot of work and did a good job, and I hope a lot of people will buy it

and read it. It’s important for people to know the city’s roots and how

it has grown up. Costa Mesa still has a small-town flavor to it and we’d

like to keep that there.”

Wilson, who spent 16 years on the City Council and seven years on the

Planning Commission, said several other people declined to write the book

before he decided to write it himself.

“I kept pages of the paper every time my name was in it,” he said. “It

was my ego trip, but actually it was the history of Costa Mesa because I

was involved in so many things. But when I started to write it down, I

noticed everything was [about me.]

“A lot of other people were involved, so I spoke with [former mayor]

Jack Hammett and [former vice mayor] Bert Smith and found out they had

both just finished writing their histories for their families. I’m lazy,

so I took those and decided to try to get every mayor to write a

chapter.”

The variety of perspectives makes the book a more complete history,

Wilson said. But he said he thinks of it more as a success story than a

history book.

“I think everyone should know how someone became successful,” Wilson

said. “Since I read about Abraham Lincoln in grade school, I’ve always

read all kinds of success stories. That’s just part of me, and I think

kids need to know how we did things so they can do better.”

Wilson, who was raised in a poor family and accomplished “all the

things I set out to do -- owning my own business, heading a large

business organization and being mayor of a city” by the time he was 45,

said he hopes his own success story will be inspiration for others.

“I think because when you get older, you begin to look back at your

life and think about what you’ve done,” he said. “Elected officials are

often egotists and I figure, with all the things I’ve done, that at least

my grandchildren should know about them.”