Back to basics of good government

ALLAN MANSOOR

As the new mayor of Costa Mesa, I would like to take this opportunity

to share some of the things I would like to accomplish over the next

couple of years.

First, I would like to thank my fellow council members for their

unanimous support of my tenure as mayor. I would also like to thank

members of the community who have expressed their support.

One of the main responsibilities of the mayor is to run the

meetings. We got off to a lively start at my first meeting as mayor.

I think the current makeup of the new council guarantees good

discussion, with a variety of perspectives represented. Some have

suggested that council decisions should be made by some type of

consensus or groupthink process; however, I think our decisions

should be based on facts, sound reasoning and public comment.

For reference, the word “consensus” comes from the Latin root,

meaning with the senses or with feeling.

Sometimes council members will find themselves on the losing end

of a vote, and that is OK. I was on the losing end of a 4-1 vote on

the PBS Butterfly Initiative -- which set up an endowment to fund

education in the arts and sciences -- and I accept that. Our system

of local government provides for decisions to be made by a majority

vote of the council. Yes, we should take all views into

consideration.

Then, ultimately, we are expected to vote on an issue and be

accountable to the people for how we voted.

So where do we go from here? All council members can bring issues

forward, but these are my thoughts on where we should go:

* When I ran for council, I was committed to getting back to the

basics of good city government. The basics include a renewed focus on

fiscal responsibility, infrastructure repair and public safety. I am

pleased that our staff is implementing these goals.

I just returned from a League of California Cities conference in

Sacramento, which provided a good opportunity to get more training on

topics such as the Brown Act and open government. League leadership

and members celebrated the strengthened unity of cities in the wake

of the successful passage of Proposition 1A.

As a result of the leagues’ efforts, the governor is paying more

attention to the needs of cities than prior administrations had. I am

hopeful that this turn of events will translate into a focus on the

need to keep local funds local. At the city level, we will soon begin

to prepare our new budget for fiscal year 2005-06. It is imperative

that we prepare this and future budgets with the approach that all is

not over with potential problems and changes at the state level.

* I am reminded that we have much work to do every time I drive

our streets. Infrastructure and street repair will continue to be a

focus of mine. We have just applied for $35 million in Measure M

funds, most of which will be for arterial streets. Much of the money

we end up receiving from Measure M will be matching grant funds. In

other words, we will still need to find room in future budgets for

the remaining part that the city must come up with.

This continues to point to the need to focus as much as possible

to be set aside for street repair. The use of Measure M funds will

also free up funds for residential street repair. Expect to see a lot

of street repair in the near future.

* The council recently approved staff to go forward in the

research and groundwork necessary to put utilities underground. This

is something that many people in the community have mentioned to me

that they want to see accomplished. This is a long-term commitment

that will need the support of the community in order to see it all

the way to completion.

Hopefully, when this goes through, we will try to coordinate it

with street repair as much as possible. We are also seeking grant

funding for signal coordination on Harbor Boulevard north of the San

Diego Freeway.

* In terms of public safety, we are involving the community by

encouraging people to attend the citizen’s police and fire academies.

This is a great way for members of the community to better

understand how these agencies function and how to get better service

to the city through improved communication with the public.

* Getting back to the basics will lay the groundwork for the

improvement of Costa Mesa. Along those lines, I am also committed to

pursuing a residential overlay zone to help kick-start the

improvement of the Westside.

These are some of the important issues I will be focusing on. I

believe the council can get behind most of the issues that come

before us as long as we stick to the basics of what government is

intended to do. If we stray from that realm, expect some

disagreement. Ultimately, Costa Mesa has so much potential to truly

be the best of Southern California, and sticking to the basics will

get us there.

* ALLAN MANSOOR is mayor of Costa Mesa.