What’s the most important issue facing the...

What’s the most important issue facing the city?

Leadership is the most important issue facing our city. We have

many challenges: street repairs, traffic, Westside revitalization,

protection of parks, open space and athletic facilities, and of

course the threatened expansion of John Wayne Airport. These problems

will not be solved unless we have a City Council committed to working

together on solutions. We need less politics and more cooperation for

the benefit of the residents and the taxpayers.

What do you think of the city’s joint-use agreement with the

schools for use of playing fields?

I think the joint-use agreement is fine in concept, but there are

remaining issues that must be resolved. We need to determine who has

the responsibility of maintaining playable fields and who pays the

bill. Until these details are resolved, we will continue to have

inferior fields for our kids.

What would be the most effective way to improve the Westside?

The Westside is a hodgepodge of mixed uses with deteriorating and

overcrowded residential units along with various commercial and

industrial uses.

The residents of the Westside don’t need any more studies -- they

need the city to implement the plans developed by all of the

interested parties over the last two years.

Specifically, I support a targeted, medium-density “residential

overlay,” artist lofts and live-work “mixed uses” along 19th Street.

Let’s put a 19th Street bike trail to the ocean instead of a highway.

Are city leaders doing a good job handling the budget and the

pressures on it from the state?

Costa Mesa has many resources. We are, as cities go, fiscally

healthy. South Coast Plaza, for example, had $1.3 billion in sales

last year. Sales from Harbor Boulevard of Cars are also on the rise.

We share in their prosperity.

However, for a city with all these resources, for some reason it

is always difficult to find funds for street maintenance, crime

fighting, public infrastructure improvements and recreational

facilities. I will tap the expertise in our business community and

our citizens to get more resources into these needed programs without

raising taxes.

I will start by demanding that our city government operate more

efficiently and intelligently.