COSTA MESA UNPLUGGED:

Well, that was ugly.

On Monday, Orange County Transportation Authority staffers, consultants and one member of its board of directors — Costa Mesa Councilman Allan Mansoor — hosted the first of two Costa Mesa community outreach meetings (the other is tonight at 6:30 in the City Council chambers) to collect public thinking on a slew of alternatives to push the 55 Freeway ever closer to Newport Beach. Or, to do nothing.

Here’s some notes from the dust storm.

OCTA — or its community outreach consultant — could use a refresher course on running orderly gatherings. The careening pow-wow rivaled Mud Wrestling Night at Wild Bill’s.

The question-and-answer segment of the show was riding on rims as soon as it began.

There are at least a few characters in Costa Mesa who — having tired of chasing Guinness records for consecutive hours of Wheel of Fortune viewing — seem to spend their time poring over the anesthetizing history of the 55 Freeway extension, concocting conspiracies and mastering tactics for commandeering a public meeting.

One chap controlled the podium for nearly 10 minutes, firing accusations of deception and fact mangling. He never asked a single question.

To Mansoor’s credit, he politely cajoled the man to resign the throne so others could participate.

And if the 150 or so folks who showed up are a representative sample of the 110,000 who call Goat Hill home, then this community is alarmingly ignorant of what its municipal government is doing while they muddle through their daily routines.

An ample number of folks hadn’t a clue that Newport Boulevard is on the cusp of being widened between 17th and 19th streets. This cluelessness reigns despite an extensive environmental study and numerous public meetings on the project over at least the last four years.

Too, the city’s denizens have trouble keeping their eye on the ball. Costa Mesa’s new Public Service Director Peter Naghavi — previously the city’s transportation chief — got sucked into the maelstrom for half an hour to discuss unrelated traffic issues on Costa Mesa’s residential streets.

Oh, and Costa Mesans are still really, really tired of the Newport Beach boot that’s pressed to their necks. Blood boiled at the revelation that Newport Beach’s charter disallows the extension of the 55 Freeway into Harbor Town without a vote of the people. And we know those good folks there will never cast a ballot in favor of such a thing.

And so came the revelation that the public confab was nothing more than the exploration of ways to move the 55 choke point closer to Costa Mesa’s border with Newport Beach. But still in Costa Mesa.

None of this is to chronicle that something material didn’t come from this Monday night massacre. Something did.

Armed with strings of green and red stickers provided by OCTA foot soldiers, the throng filed by displays of the seven 55 extension alternatives up for review, pasting green dots on the plans they liked and red dots on the alternatives that gave them fits.

The clear winner was the so-called “Cut and Cover” option. That blueprint tunnels the 55 south beneath Newport Boulevard to Industrial Way. The option is by far the costliest.

And where will the dough come from to fund the thing?

Said OCTA: We don’t know.

So here’s the rub. If you need to go potty, go now. And don’t ask if we’re there yet. We’re not. Not even close. Here’s an Etch-A-Sketch to keep you busy.

BYRON DE ARAKAL is a former Costa Mesa parks and recreation commissioner. Readers can reach him at [email protected].