A note from the editor

It’s hard to believe six months have passed since perennial Costa Mesa

City Council candidate Chris Steel stunned the community with a

resounding victory at the polls, leading all vote-getters in the

11-person field.

But the election of Steel, who had long railed against illegal

immigrants, local charities and the city’s job center on the Westside,

did something else.

It caused editors of this newspaper to stand up and take notice.

No longer was Steel an amateur on the fringe of the Costa Mesa

political scene. He was the political scene.

Along with him came all of the issues he had dredged up, not to

mention worries by many community leaders, publicly and privately, that

the fires of community discontent, and at times bigotry, were being

stoked to red-hot temperatures.

Nowhere is the evidence of this more clear than at the City Council.

With Steel’s election and, to some extent, the election of political

newcomer Karen Robinson, the council has become a lightning rod for

agents of change, many of whom helped push Steel to victory.

The activists have used the public lectern night after night to make

their case to the captive audience that is the City Council.

Again, we took notice.

And this time, we sent reporter Jennifer Kho to find out just what

these activists want and what makes them tick. What are their concerns?

Do they have agendas and, if so, what are they? And what is their

ultimate goal?

We learned they have a lot to say, a lot of ideas, both good and bad,

but most of all a lot of energy and the common goal of making Costa Mesa

a place they can be proud of.Today, we begin a four-part look at the

people, the groups, the problems and the community’s vision of the

Westside.

This series of stories will run each Thursday for the next four weeks.

While we hope you find it informative, engaging and insightful, we are

eager to hear your comments and responses, and we will make your reaction

part of the series by devoting our Community Forum pages to the topic for

the next three Thursdays.

You can send us your reaction and become part of this series by

calling our Readers Hotline at (949) 642-6086, sending an e-mail to

[email protected], or mailing a note to us at 330 W. Bay St., Costa

Mesa, CA 92627.

We look forward to your thoughts.

Tony Dodero

Editor