Advertisement

Commentary: Group’s behavior belies stated mission

Share

As a longtime Costa Mesa resident who possesses a degree of knowledge about planning issues, and who was involved in the Westside overlay process, I felt it would be instructive to hear what Costa Mesans for Responsible Government (CM4RG) had to say in these regards.

I attended the group’s General Plan Information Fair and was astounded to see obviously incorrect charts and graphics and hear the Westside presenter make a rapid-fire series of errors on the topic before incorrectly characterizing a function of the overlay zones.

At that point, knowing that CM4RG, by its own statements, has complained that others don’t provide truthful information, I assumed the group was interested in facts and stood up to politely say: “That is incorrect.” With accuracy as my goal and being well-versed on the topic of Costa Mesa’s award-winning overlay zones, I was prepared to help put the discussion back on a factual track, but to my surprise, I was told that the group would get back to that later, which never happened.

Advertisement

That’s not what I had expected from a group that claims on its website that it wants a City Council that “provides truthful, unbiased information … respects citizens … does the right things for the right reasons.”

In my brief encounter with CM4RG, none of its standards were met. Clearly, presenting the facts and respecting our citizens is not what this group is interested in.

One wonders what its vague statement, “Does the right things for the right reasons,” really means because what I heard was hours of “council majority” bashing and pitches for donations to the CM4RG political action committee and for the campaigns of Katrina Foley and Jay Humphrey. There was plenty of fear-mongering but nothing constructive.

Do we trust our future to a power-hungry PAC that only articulates what or whom it doesn’t like, is full of animus and has no tangible plan, fiscal or otherwise, or do we trust our experience and vote for staying the course, reelecting Jim Righeimer and continuing the improvement of Costa Mesa? Our council choice this November really is that simple.

ERIC BEVER is a former Costa Mesa mayor.

Advertisement