* A SKATEBOARD PARK: Perkins said...

* A SKATEBOARD PARK:

Perkins said the city needs not just one but several skate parks

to accommodate the growing number of skaters in the community.

Skateboarding is becoming more and more popular and city leaders must

provide a place for the thousands of children to ride. Perkins said

he wants to get skaters off the streets so they are not beating up

property while riding in unconventional venues.

* WESTSIDE CLEANUP:

Nobody can argue that the Westside of Costa Mesa needs to be

enhanced and polished, Perkins said; the difference between the

candidates lies in how they want to clean up the area. Perkins

supports collaborations with private companies to provide incentives

for new developments on the Westside. City officials can court

developers with a history in the city and ask them to partner up on

various projects, he said.

City leaders must also be willing to take a hard stance on

Westside issues. Council members should work together on a workable

solution and then stick by that decision, he said.

* TEAM BUILDING:

Regardless of how many enterprising ideas a city leader has, the

community will never benefit from them if there is not support from

the majority of the council. Perkins said he wants to work to make

the council a more tight-knit group -- a group that knows each

other’s family, history and can understand where each is coming from.

The council hopeful said he would encourage council members to have

cookouts together to foster a better team environment. If council

colleagues can appreciate where one another are coming from

thefalloutwould be less detrimental, he said.