Between the Lines -- Byron de Arakal

If you’re of the mind that local politics and turf wars occupy the

same end of the Richter scale as, say, a game of patty-cake, then

consider this: They nearly had to carry Costa Mesa City Councilman Gary

Monahan out of Council Chambers on a stretcher in the wee hours of

Tuesday morning. Probably they’re still mopping up the blood. And seeing

how Monahan is a tough and scrappy Irish bloke, this is saying something

about just how bare knuckled the fight has become for this city’s future.

Put another way -- and you’ll have to go with me on the mixed metaphor

-- this week’s council session revealed the crowning of Costa Mesa’s

future as a mature municipality. We’re fully dilated and pushing. Some

folks are hoping for a boy, others pulling for a girl. Which it’ll be, we

won’t know until the votes are counted in November.

But one thing’s for sure. Alliances are emerging between city leaders

on the dais and certain others girding to nab a council chair come fall.

It’s the shape and skew of these little klatches of common thought that

have opposing interests worried. And so we can say politics -- and with

it contrasting notions of what this city is to become -- is making for a

messy and painful breach birth of Costa Mesa’s future.

Now that’s not to say any of this is wrong or that this awkward course

is flawed. It merely makes for a colorful and contentious remake of Costa

Mesa. What we had Monday evening into Tuesday is evidence of this.

Monahan, bothered by a May 28 Planning Commission vote that mobilized

city staff to begin exploring the nuances of an ordinance that would

protect the views of homeowners from the ambitious second-story additions

of their neighbors, appealed the move to his council colleagues. It would

be a clumsy use of staff time to turn dirt on a view ordinance was one of

his gripes, when the council hadn’t given any sign it was interested in

kicking one around, let alone adopting one. And he openly questioned

whether the commission had the authority under the city’s municipal code

to direct staff to draw up new ordinances.

Now Monahan is not known for soft-balling what he’s thinking. He threw

hard inside pitches under the commission’s chin in press reports,

implying that it was pressing the envelope of its authority without the

council’s blessing and unnecessarily tying up staff resources already

stretched thin. Some in City Hall privately were siding with the two-term

councilman, pointing to a long-standing council policy that legislative

projects and policies demanding more than four hours of staff time

require a nod from the City Council. Nevertheless, Planning Commission

Chairwoman Katrina Foley -- who took the brunt of Monahan’s broadside --

said in an interview Tuesday that her reading of that policy turned up no

convincing evidence that it applies to the Planning Commission.

Aside from the obvious turf battle that unfolded here, Monahan’s

history of swatting down excess government regulations that cramp what

folks can do with their property clearly says a lot about the cut of his

political jib. And so that he moved to quell this one surprised no one

who knows him.

That includes Planning Commissioner and City Council-candidate Bill

Perkins, Monahan’s political twin, who publicly backed him and mildly

chided his commission colleagues during the council session for

overstepping their authority. This despite the fact he voted with his

mates at their May 28 confab to look into a view ordinance. Clearly,

though, Perkins’ public support of Monahan revealed his hope that Monahan

will take a stab at a third term as he campaigns to take Mayor Linda

Dixon’s chair.

Perkins’ clear politicking didn’t overshadow the other political play

of the evening. Earlier, Councilwoman Libby Cowan and Planning Commission

Chairwoman Katrina Foley took turns holding Monahan up while the other

mugged him for stirring up, by their measure, a tempest in a thimble.

Foley argued that the commission never directed the staff to draft a view

ordinance, only that they research and “consider” one. Whether that’s the

case is unclear. The staff report on the matter and Monahan’s appeal

application say the commission directed staff to commence preparing a

“zoning code view ordinance.” But the commission’s May 28 minutes reveal

only a directive to “research” and “consider” such a law.

For her part, Foley said the commission would never hatch a

legislative initiative without having some sense that there would be City

Council support to kick it around. Indeed, she confirmed that she had

chatted with some members of the council about the appeal of the Westside

bluffs remodeling project that had sparked talk of an ordinance

protecting peoples’ views. And Foley said there was general agreement

from the council members she spoke with that it was a concept worth

exploring.

Foley, a recently announced candidate for City Council, didn’t say who

those members were. But there’s widespread consensus that she’s generally

like minded with Mayor Linda Dixon and Cowan as to the city’s direction.

This little dust-up revealed as much.

* BYRON DE ARAKAL is a freelance writer and communications advisor. He

lives in Costa Mesa. His column appears Wednesdays. Readers can reach him

with news tips and comments via e-mail at [email protected]. Visit his

Web site at www.byronwriter.com.