CM PRESS # 70

WE SEND A LETTER TO THE OC REGISTER

Editor OC REGISTER:

Re: "Costa Mesa opens up arrest log," Local 1, Saturday, Jan. 27.07, by Kimberly Edds

Dear Editor:

In your story about the Costa Mesa police department starting to report whether or not arrestees are illegal aliens or not, we read this from Paty Madueno of the Orange Country Congregational Community Organization: "Should we have our paperwork with us? People want to know that if I look Hispanic, should I have my paperwork with me all the time?"

How silly. Why should Hispanics carry driver's licenses or have proof of auto insurance or have auto registrations like the rest of us?

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CONDOMINIUM CONVERSIONS THAT AREN'T WHAT THEY APPEAR TO BE ?

As most readers of the CM PRESS know, many improvers believe that one of the ways to improve Costa Mesa is by increasing home ownership. With this in mind, many improvers have supported the conversion of existing tri-plexes, four-plexes, apartments and even industrial units into condos and have spoken in favor of such conversions at public meetings.

Remember, a condominium is not an architectual style or type of building. It is a building or complex in which units of property, such as apartments, are owned by individuals and common parts of the property, such as the grounds and the building structure are owned jointly by the unit owners.

So, when, say, an apartment building is converted over to condos, the former apartments are, in theory, no longer occupied by renters but by owners. And, it's a long established truism in real estate that when one owns real estate, one is more concerned with the property and the city in which it sits, which would be good for Costa Mesa.

Recently, however, the CM PRESS was contacted by an improver who believes that some of the condo conversions in the city are being done for tax or other purposes and that the original owners of what were rental units often continue to own all or a majority of the condos after the conversion and just continue to rent them out as before.

So, instead of the City getting more condo owners, which is desirable and would help improve our city, we're just getting the same old apartments that are called condos on paper, but nothing has really changed to improve the city.

Thus...

If the improver who contacted us is correct, and if the City Council truly wants to start the evolution of Costa Mesa to a city with a better balance of owners vs. renters (Our present upside down ratio is appx. 60 per cent renters vs. 40 per cent owners. And,these figures should be just the opposite), then it has to ensure that when it approves condo conversions, the units are really going to be sold on the open market and not still be owned by the original owner.

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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 69

A LITTLE KID DIED IN COSTA MESA--HAS ANYONE ASKED WHY?

Marco Anthony Perez, a fourth grader, died on Wednesday, January 24, 2007. Anthony had an inoperable brain tumor. Just a little kid full of life who didn't have a chance to live that life.

Anthony is not the only kid or the only person who has died with such tumors or various cancers in Costa Mesa.

Has anyone really asked why?

We live in a cause and effect universe. Cancers and inoperable brain tumors are effects. What are the causes? Things don't happen unless something causes them to happen. What caused Anthony's inoperable brain tumor? Did he live downwind of the vast industrial zone on the Westside as do most of us in this city? Is there a connection?

In a day when we're being warned of the dangers of dry cleaning fluid and the second hand smoke from a single cigarette that someone may have smoked in a room sometime before we even entered that room, we should be asking questions and looking for more than the fluff answers we've been given in the past.

When the CM PRESS brought up this issue of possible air pollution from the bluffs a few years ago, the City had the Fire Department (?) (if memory serves) study the matter. "Study" is too strong a term.

When the report was made public (again if memory serves), it started off by saying that the Fire Department had no real expertise in the field of pollution but, because the department had been asked to make a report, it had gathered statistics from various sources.

The report didn't find any problems. Of course not. The Fire Department had no expertise in the field. The department even admitted it. So, why was the Fire Department asked to make such a study in the first place? Good question. There is no good answer.

The Council at that time thanked the Fire Department for its report and filed it away.

Since that time, some people on the Westside have complained of frequent nose bleeds, sudden sensitivity to household soaps, and various other illnesses including Lupus. And, some other kids have died of brain cancers or brain tumors.

Jan Davidson, a long time improvement activist, even collected money for the family of another kid on the Westside who died a couple of years ago from brain cancer. He was about the same age as Anthony when he died.

Meanwhile, yesterday (1/25), the State of California enacted the nation's first statewide ban on perchloroethylene--the most commonly used dry cleaning chemical--because it has been determined that it is a possible carcinogen. And, this chemical is mild compared to many that are used in many industries including some that are on our Westside bluffs between you and your kids and the fan like ocean breezes.

A few years ago I wore an air mask to a City Council meeting to make the point about air pollution from the Westside bluffs. There were the usual chuckles and snickers from some present as though I had been wearing a tutu or a propeller beanie.

Anthony would have been about five years old when I wore that mask. From all reports he was a healthy kid with no cares in the world. It wasn't until October of 2006, that Anthony was diagnosed as having an inoperable brain tumor.

Anthony died Wednesday. He was nine-years-old.

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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 68

THE THIRD WAY TO GET RID OF GANGS AND IMPROVE COSTA MESA

Joseph N. Bell (who lives in Newport Beach but who wants a job center in Costa Mesa, don't you know), tells readers in his column in the Daily Pilot today (1/25) that there is a difference of opinion on the Costa Mesa City Council about how to get rid of gangs in our city.

On one side, according to Bell, are Katrina Foley and Linda Dixon who consider "education and prevention" as the primary means to rid Costa Mesa of gangs.

On the other side, again according to Bell, are Allan Mansoor, Eric Bever and Wendy Leece who consider "tougher law enforcement and prosecution of gang members" as the primary means to stop gang activity.

Bell then suggests that council members should read a report out of Los Angeles that includes the admonition that "The only factor that has ever substantially reduced crimes by gangs is jobs."

Now, several things immediately pop up relative to Bell's column.

First, Costa Mesa isn't Los Angeles and our situation is markedly different. A lack of jobs does not appear to be a major factor here.

Second, Bell doesn't once mention that Costa Mesa's gangs mostly have a nexus with illegal aliens.

Third, Bell doesn't point out that Costa Mesa is a relatively small city geographically and that our gang problems are coming from just a few slum apartment areas in our city that smart City Council members can eliminate if they just take the right steps--as we indicate below (again, for the umpteenth time, geez!).

Fourth, Bell doesn't indicate that unlike Los Angeles, compact Costa Mesa has tony Newport Beach on our south and east, tony South Coast Metro on our north, upscale Huntington Beach on our west. In other words, we have upscale homes and businesses pretty much surrounding us.
So why do we have gangs and gang problems?

The answer is that we, as a city, have failed to do the things over the past few decades to upgrade our city as have our neighboring cities and areas.

Speaking of South Coast Metro which is mostly in Costa Mesa but which is sort of separate since it's north of the 405, while most of Costa Mesa is south of that freeway; and specifically speaking of South Coast Plaza: Have you noticed how its been constantly upgrading over the years while the rest of Costa Mesa dozed?

Long time residents of the area will remember that South Coast Plaza used to have a downscale Woolworth's there. That was phased out in favor of more upscale tenants long ago. The rest of Costa Mesa should have followed suit, but didn't. Thank you old liberal city councils. Newport Beach, by contrast, has been constantly upgrading itself--and it keeps doing so.

So, why do we have downscale problems in some parts of Costa Mesa?

Over on the Westside the answer is that we've allowed a massive industrial zone to remain on the best land in our city--the Westside bluffs. And, to go along with that industrial zone, we've allowed the city to retain barracks style apartment buildings to house workers for that zone--which in this day mostly means illegal aliens. As we've reported many times before, Costa Mesa, has more industrial zoning than any of our surrounding cities except Santa Ana, and Santa Ana is not a city we should emulate. And, much of Costa Mesa's industrial zoning is, as already indicated, on the best land in our city--land that should be leading us upward, not keeping us down.

In Mesa North we have one lousy slum development--the Coolidge-Fillmore slum--which is just a couple of short streets with barracks style apartments that is like a festering boil in the neighborhood. There have been a number of drive-by shootings and at least one recent killing in this slum. But for this slum, Mesa North would evolve to being a great neighborhood.

In Mesa del Mar there's the Mission-Mendoza slum which is a couple of long streets with barracks style apartments lined up along them like you see on old style military bases. It's been the scene of several murders and much gang activity. Without this slum, Mesa del Mar, with its large homes, would be very similar to Mesa Verde in quality of life.

Residents of Mesa del Mar had hoped that upscale homes would have been built a long time ago on the now closed and boarded up shopping center in the neighborhood, but this hasn't happened yet. Our guess, and this is just a guess, is that developers may be hesitating in building such homes because this center is right across the street from the Mission-Mendoza slum, and potential buyers of any homes built there might be scared off.

Here's what the CM PRESS suggests as our Third Way:
(Short version: Drain the swamp and upscale the city) Verbose version follows:

1. On the Westside, reduce the amount of industrial zoning by about half and encourage the development of an artists colony--including outdoor cafes and restaurants--that will be interleaved with some existing industrial uses and which can become a destination location for art seekers and and which will serve as a magnet to pull in new residents who enjoy a slightly bohemian lifestyle..

2. On the Westside, in Mesa North, and in Mesa del Mar have the City of Costa Mesa, as an entity, invest in our neighborhoods by buying up some of the slum buildings as they come on the open market. Then, tear them down and provide much needed sports fields, open space, and mini-parks depending on the size of the land that can be assembled where the slum buildings stood.

3. Increase police enforcement and the turning over of illegal aliens to ICE.

4. Reach out to home developers and invite them to build upscale homes in Costa Mesa and especially on the Westside bluffs where appropriate.

5. Encourage the development of an artists colony that will be interleaved with some existing industrial uses on the Westside and which can become a destination location for art seekers and those who enjoy a slightly bohemian lifestyle.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

Don't forget to pass on our link to improvement minded friends:

http://cmpress.blogspot.com/

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CM PRESS # 67

WELCOME TO MESA DEL MAR (WHERE KATRINA FOLEY LIVES)

(We write the City Council)

1/25/07

Dear City Council:

There's large--appx. 4' tall by 3' wide--gang graffiti on entrance walls to Mesa del Mar this morning. There's also more of it on a building on Baker near Mesa del Mar.

No, we didn't call this in to the graffiti hot line. Graffiti is not the problem. It's just a symptom.

We want as many citizens to see this graffiti as possible before the city tries to hide the fact that we have a serious gang problem that is centered in the Mission-Mendoza slum in Mesa del Mar and also in the Fillmore-Coolidge slum in Mesa North and that the problem will not be abated until the City Council acts to thin out these slums by buying up slum buildings and razing them for much needed park and open space.

How about taking action before all the citizens of Costa Mesa move away to cities that refuse to let their citizens be intimidated by these terrorist gangs that are a direct result of this city being turned into an illegal alien sanctuary?

CM PRESS

cc: Individual Councilmembers

Interested parties

Daily Pilot
--------------------------------

Dear Readers, if you're getting mad about gangs and crime and the other problems we're now facing in our once nice almost coastal city, let the City Council know about it. They work for you and this is your city. Here's their email address:

<CMCouncil@ci.costa-mesa.ca.us>

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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 66

THE GOOD LIFE ON YOUR DOLLAR

Virginia is now considering a law that would prevent state funds from going to charities that provide goods and services to illegal aliens.

In Costa Mesa, some of the charities that serve suspected illegal aliens are able to do that partly because they receive your tax money via HUD Community Development Block Grants (CDBG).

The 3R Committee, which has been established by the City Council and which is under the Council's control, screens requests from the charities for these funds and makes recommendations to the City Council about how much to give to the charities.

There are a couple of problems with this. The 3R Committee is composed of many of the same people who tried to defeat Mayor Mansoor and Ms. Leece in the recent election and some even have close ties to the charities. In addition, the Committee is not very aggressive in trying to make sure your money is spent wisely and in ways that benefit our city.

When the CM PRESS tried to get the 3R Committee and the City Council to stop funding charities that don't look like Costa Mesa, our suggestion fell on deaf ears.

So, we now have charities in the city that are receiving your tax money that are almost 100% Latino. And, this is in a city that is approximately only 30% Latino.

Despite the ethnic imbalance, most citizens probably aren't overly concerned that it is people of one ethnicity who are receiving the Lion's share of the benefits far out of proportion to their numbers.

However, most citizens also know that if the ethnicities were reversed, we'd be hearing a constant howl about racism from the usual libs who would demand that the charities be made to look like Costa Mesa. Funny how the libs are silent about the present upside down stats, isn't it? Ah, the twisted double-standard liberal mind.

Many citizens do seem to be concerned, however, that their tax money may be going to help illegal aliens, who shouldn't even be in this country, be comfortable in Costa Mesa.

For those who are concerned about discrimination, here's a little more information. A few years ago the City Council gave $ 10,000 of your tax money to a charity that refused to let non-Latino whites use its services.

When the Feds learned of this, they cracked down on that charity and forced them to stop discriminating against white people.

So, here we are in 2007 and little has changed except that some charities may be a little more clever in what they're doing than the one that got caught.

Here's how to find clever discrimination. HUD requires that the charities submit statistics about the race/ethnicities of those they serve. These statistics are public records and citizens may see them.

Let's substitute a few terms here for clarity. Suppose Costa Mesa were 70% Latino and 30% white. Do you suppose there would be an outcry if 100% of those receiving charity services were white? You know it.

This year, the charities will again be asking for your tax money. Will the City Council do the right thing and stop what appears to be racial/ethnic discrimination? Will the City Council ask that the charities look like Costa Mesa? Will the City Council stop subsidizing illegal aliens to stay in Costa Mesa?


Stay tuned.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 65

DRAIN THE SWAMP!

Re: "Intervention crucial to interrupt gang recruitment," by Katrina Foley, The Current, 1/19/07

Katrina Foley has an out of touch column in today's The Current in which Foley continues to push her voodoo sociology group hug, spend your money with her liberal pals, approach to eradicating gangs in Costa Mesa.

Foley's column is full of the same vague and unsupported generalities as the original report to the City Council asking for funding for Foley's programs.

For example, in the original report presented to the City Council on January 2, we read:

"There is a substantial body of evidence that suggests that diverting youth from gang involvement after the youth is in a gang is extremely problematic."

There is? Where is that substantial body of evidence? There were no citations, no footnotes, no support for that or other similar assertions in the report. It was just liberal doublespeak. Too conclusionary as they say in law school.

Foley's approach has been tried for at least the last two decades in Costa Mesa, and it has failed miserably. We have more gangs and more gang violence than ever.

Now Foley and her pals are using the results of the failed programs to ask for more tax payer money to fund even more group hug programs that won't work. It also appears that some of the people involved with Foley's plans are the same people who joined with Foley in trying to defeat the mayor in the just past election.

To understand why the group hug approach has failed and why it will continue to fail requires that one understand a little about the specific dynamics of Costa Mesa and it also requires that we speak to the problems very directly and with a minimum of PCitis:

1. Most of the gang members in Costa Mesa have a connection with the city having been turned into an ersatz illegal alien sanctuary. If there were no illegal aliens in the city, there would be very few gang members.

2. Today, most of the gang members live in just a few slums in Costa Mesa: Shalimar; a neighborhood near Wilson and Placentia; a few other areas on the Westside; Fillmore-Coolidge; and Mission-Mendoza.

3. Most of these slum areas are characterized by having long rows of military barracks style tri-plexes and four-plexes that are functionally obsolete.

Even though most upwardly-mobile citizens won't live in these "barracks" that lack modern amenities and design features, and which lack safe surroundings, the landlords can get top rents by letting suspected illegal aliens cram themselves into tiny units and garages.

One illegal alien who murdered an employee of a local daily newspaper was discovered to have been living with twelve other illegal aliens in a one bedroom apartment in one of the aforementioned slums.

With the above in mind, let me ask two questions that, if you think about them, get to the heart of the matter and which suggest a solution to the gang problems in Costa Mesa: Do you see alligators living where there are no swamps? Do you see gang members living in Newport Beach?

Why are those questions relevant? Because all living things gravitate to places--habitats--where they are comfortable.

Alligators need swamps and gang members need slums. Drain the swamps and the alligators will leave. Remove the slums and gang members will leave.

Unlike some older inner cities, Costa Mesa is in a unique position as a coastal city right next to tony Newport Beach. This gives us the ability to improve things.

In fact, Costa Mesa is not yet full of slum habitats, and it doesn't have to have any of them. It has just a few such habitats as indicated in number 2, above. Costa Mesa has failed to update and improve our multi-tenant housing over the past two decades, while Newport Beach did so. This has caused an ever widening divide between these two sister cities. Newporters in one neighborhood in Corona del Mar even went out on the street and applauded as the last old apartment building in that neighborhood was torn down. This was reported in the Daily Pilot a couple of years ago.

What the City of Costa Mesa must do is thin out the slums. Because we only have a few such slum habitats, the City doesn't have to raze hundreds of blocks of slums, as would be the case in some other cities, and Costa Mesa doesn't have to use eminent domain to rid our city of slum habitats.

The City of Costa Mesa can simply buy up slum buildings--one here and one there--as they come up for sale on the open market. Then, the City should tear them down and put in pocket parks where the footprint is small or much needed sports fields and open space if the footprint is large.

Will this drain the swamp approach be fought by a small group of slum profiteers? You bet. As a friend of mine, who made his fortune in slums, once said, "There's money in slums." And, in Costa Mesa, a symbiotic relationship has grown up and become the "establishment" that depends on this symbiotic relationship.

Here, in brief, is how this symbiotic relationship works in Costa Mesa.

Some out of town industrialists who have their factories on 60 acres of the best coastal land in the city--the Westside bluffs--need cheap labor.

Illegal aliens supply that labor. Because the illegal aliens can't make a First World living off the labor that they sell on the cheap, the charities make up the difference and, in effect, offer the benefits packages that the out of town industrialists don't offer.

Thus, if you're an illegal alien in Costa Mesa you get your medical and dental care paid by a local charity. You get free bags of groceries. You get cash to help pay your rent and utility bills. You get free day care for your kids. You get cheap rent by doubling up in the barracks style apartments. And, that's just for starters.

Who benefits and how? The out of town industrialists who have low labor costs. The charity bosses who get to fill their rolls with "needy" people and who can then ask for more tax money. The slumlords who get to charge rents that are about as high as those in Newport Beach by looking the other way and letting people live like sardines in their apartments. The illegal aliens who get to live on the cheap in a coastal city. The liberal establishment types who get to feel fuzzy, compassionate and needed.

Who is hurt by this symbiosis? The good, decent middle class citizens of Costa Mesa who live in fear of crime and whose schools are now on a Third World level and whose quality of life is being driven down.

To repeat. If the City of Costa Mesa is serious about getting rid of gangs, then it needs to drain the swamp. That's the only way to do it. Chicago learned this lesson with Cabrini Green.

Would this draining the swamp create a hardship for illegal aliens? Probably not. Costa Mesa isn't an island. There is an inland city to our north that has cheap rents and which prides itself on being illegal alien friendly. People are free to move there if that works better for their personal circumstances. It's a free country. When possible, people should live where they can afford to live and where they don't have to be subsidized by others. Isn't that a traditional American value?

Note that this is not a call to remove all low income housing, but it is a call to do what is necessary to bring in modern low income housing and to thin out the functionally obsolete breeding grounds for gangs and criminals.

If you're a pre-mugged liberal (and I know a lot of you will read this) and your knee is starting to jerk over what I've written above, then let me tell you that I'd like to live on Balboa Island, but I can't afford it. Should I just move there and then expect people to subsidize me?

If you don't think I should do that, then tell me why we should be subsidizing people to live in Costa Mesa.
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CORRECTION TO ISSUE # 64

The old Planning Commission will be seated at the 1/22/07 Planning Commission meeting, not the new one as reported. The new Planning Commission will take over on 2/12/02.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

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CM PRESS # 64

WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' DRIVER'S LICENSES IN COSTA MESA IF WE HAVE OTHER ID

On Wednesday (1/17) the CMPD planned on holding a driver's license and sobriety checkpoint from noon until 4:00 p.m on Victoria about midblock between Harbor and Placentia.

Unfortunately, it started raining and the checkpoint was called off at 12:30 p.m.

But, in that half hour, the CMPD cited four people for vehicle code violations and three had their cars towed for driving without a driver's license. All in one half hour!

According to the CMPD, the individuals without driver's licenses were not taken to the police station for questioning by the ICE agent, but were let go because they had "other identification."

If these individuals driving on our streets without the required driver's licenses had been taken to the police station and questioned by the ICE agent, would they have been discovered to be dangerous illegal aliens wanted for other crimes? We don't know.

Also, the CMPD has now announced that they'll have another driver's license and sobriety check on March 16 at northbound Newport Blvd. at Flower Street.

Well, okay, but that's a location where they always seem to have these checks. How about more checks on the Westside? How about more checks on Fairview Road?

How about having more such checks in other places to keep our streets safe?

And, how about taking those without driver's licenses to the police station to be interviewed by the ICE agent?
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INDUSTRIAL CONDO CONVERSION ON WESTSIDE

At its 1/22/07 meeting, the no-Planning Commission (with the new Commissioners seated) will consider whether or not to allow the owner of an industrial park with 51 industrial units, located on the South East Corner of 17th and Placentia (755 through 785 West 17th Street and 1690 Placentia), to convert the park to industrial condos.

This industrial park is located in the Urban Plan area of the Westside and has dual zoning. This means that properties in this area can be used for industrial or residential or mixed-use.

The CM PRESS believes that potential buyers of units should be advised of the dual use possibilities and that proper provisions should be made--in advance--so that buyers can convert their industrial units into mixed-use, live/work spaces with a minimum of paperwork.

In other words, if done right, this could be an artist's village in the heart of the Westside that would benefit the Westside, the city as a whole, the present owner of the park, and those who buy units in the park if the condo conversion is approved. Remember, residential property is worth more than industrial property.

This item is Public Hearing Item 9, Parcel Map PM-06-286 on the no-Planning Commission Agenda for 1/22. http://www.ci.costa-mesa.ca.us/council/planning/pa_070122.pdf

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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

CM PRES # 63

DUH! STEVE SMITH AGAIN REVEALS THE LIBERAL MIND (Laugh out loud)

In his goofy and vapid column in today's Daily Pilot (1/17), Steve Smith once again illustrates the pretzel thinking of a liberal as he tells readers that he and his pals were the ones who were right about having an ICE agent checking ID in the Costa Mesa jail, and that those who supported a call to train our cops to do this job were wrong and that they lost the battle because of the ICE agent.

Scratching your head yet?

Here's Smith's convoluted logic. Smith and his pals, according to Smith, always knew that there were illegal aliens in Costa Mesa (Yup, yup, golly gosh shucks, they sure did).

They just didn't want our local cops to arrest illegal aliens and turn them over to ICE (Nope, nope, too divisive, divides the community, divides people, so divisive, divides the city, divides the divide in a divisive way).

Now that the feds are doing their job, says Smith, we won't have "to train Costa Mesa police officers or divide the community."

Yes, Mr. Smith, it's good that ICE is now doing what it's supposed to do. But, the only reason it is doing so is because of the plan to train our cops. That's what prompted ICE to take action. You see, had we not planned to train our cops, there would be no ICE agent in the jail.

The goal of those who want to get dangerous illegal aliens off our streets is to legally get them off our streets. The details of how this is accomplished are irrelevant. If ICE does the job, great. If ICE doesn't do the job, then we would have to do it through our local cops. The important thing is that the job be done. And, it is being done.

Those who want illegal aliens arrested and deported won, Mr. Smith, not you and your pals. Clear thinkers don't get the details mixed up with the goal. There are many ways to skin a cat.

Now fess up, Mr. Smith, isn't it true that you and your pals really don't want illegal aliens arrested and deported? Isn't your constant use of the phrase about not wanting to "divide the community," really just code talk for saying that illegal aliens should not be divided from citizens?

But, maybe we have it wrong. Please feel free to correct us if we're wrong about what you want, Mr. Smith. Let us put it to you directly: Do you, Mr. Smith, believe that illegal aliens should be deported or not? A simple yes or no will suffice. Speak clearly so we can see you.

Oh, and by the way, Mr. Smith, we're still waiting to hear your bright ideas on how to improve our schools. Remember how you wrote that you have such ideas? What are those ideas? Our guess is that you don't have any good ideas and that's why you're silent.
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AVERAGE MEDIAN HOME VALUES FOR THE RING OF CITIES--DECEMBER 2006

Newport Beach.....................................$ 1,337,000
Irvine.....................................................$ 821,468
Costa Mesa............................................$ 811,500
Huntington Beach.................................$ 727,562
Fountain Valley.....................................$ 699,500
Santa Ana...............................................$ 620,250

The lowest priced homes in the ring of cities were found in Santa Ana's 92701 zip code where the median price was $ 342,500. Anyone who wants affordable housing should buy in Santa Ana.
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GRAFFITI IS A SYMPTOM--HELP MUG A LIBERAL

The CM PRESS continues to hear city leaders and others talking about the problem of graffiti. The usual advice is that we should all call in to report it as quickly as possible.

One citizen addressed the City Council last night and told the Council that she keeps reporting graffiti near where she lives but it keeps coming back. Darn graffiti.

Well of course it does. The reason is because graffiti is not the problem. It is a symptom of the problem. Simply covering up the graffiti doesn't solve the problem. It just hides the problem.

Then, we see pollyannaish letters in the Daily Pilot from people who are oblivious to what's going on around them saying that they've never seen any problems in the city.

Many improvers are now refusing to call in graffiti when they see it. They want the out of touch folks to see the graffiti. The old saw that a conservative is a liberal who has just been mugged applies here.
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NEW LINEUPS FOR PLANNING AND PARKS

The City Council voted on members for the Planning Commission and the Parks and Recreation Commission last night.

Here are the new lineups:

PLANNING

Eleanor Egan (Holdover)
Donn Hall (Holdover)
James Fisler (Holdover)
James Righeimer (New)
Sam Clark (New)


PARKS AND RECREATION

Mark Harris (Holdover)
Bob Graham (Holdover)
Mike Brumbaugh (New)
Kurt Galitski (New)
Terry Shaw (New)

Gone from Planning is Bill Perkins who supported Return to Reason candidates in the last election.

Gone from Parks is David Stiller who also supported Return to Reason candidates in the last election and who opposed citizens in Mesa North when they tried to get their small neighborhood park made safe for its intended purposes.

The CM PRESS will be watching the two commissions and you can count on us to let you know if any of the new commissioners start voting against improvement.
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Also, please pass on the CM PRESS to your friends who want a nicer Costa Mesa. We're piercing the liberal curtain in this city. With your help, Costa Mesa will become the Shining City on the Hill (with an opening to the ocean) that it should be.

http://cmpress.blogspot.com/

Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 62

DRAIN THE SWAMP CITY COUNCIL! PUT GANGS ON THE ENDANGERED LIST

Three apartment buildings on Shalimar have just been put up for sale.

The CM PRESS believes that the City of Costa Mesa should buy them, tear them down, and put in more pocket parks, parking or open space.

Remember, a few years ago, the City did buy up one building on Shalimar. The City than razed the building and put in a pocket park where it stood; so there's precedent for the City getting aggressive to improve our city by doing this.

Gangs, no less than snail darters or alligators, need the right habitats in order to thrive. Remove those habitats and they will soon be on the endangered list.
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MORE ON HABITATS FOR GANGS AND CRIMINALS

On page News 14 in today's (1/15) OC REGISTER there's a news item about an elite police force that has started deploying to Rio to combat gangs [Ah, to you know who, that's in Brazil where they grow the nuts]. In time, the force will increase to about 6,000.

Here's the relevant part for Costa Mesa from the report: "Drug gangs control many of Rio's slums and police often enter only in military style invasions."

Connect up the dots. Gangs/slums, gangs/slums, gangs/slums.

If you remove the gangs from the slums (as some libs are suggesting in Costa Mesa), but leave the slums, it would be like removing alligators from a swamp but leaving the swamp.

Soon, the gangs and the alligators will return. Count on it.

Why? Because, dear readers, as we've written before, all living things gravitate to where they are comfortable. Life seeks comfort. Slums are as comfortable for gangs as swamps are comfortable for alligators.

Come on City Council, you have a mandate to improve Costa Mesa. This is no time to sit back and mumble sweet nothings. This is a time for bold leadership. Turn Costa Mesa into the great coastal city that it should be by correcting years of neglect that have led us to our present state.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.
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CM PRESS # 61

TWO ARRESTED AND ARE NOW UNDER IMMIGRATION HOLDS

The Daily Pilot is reporting today (Sunday, 1/14) that Jose Manuel Lopez was arrested Friday after allegedly trying to enter an apartment on Shalimar with two knives on him. He is now in jail with an ICE hold on him.

The Pilot is also reporting that Julio Rozas was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and hit-and-run after Rozas allegedly hit a parked car in the Memphis Bar parking lot on Saturday. There is an ICE hold on Rozas.

No doubt, our fictional group, LOCA (Leave Our Criminals Alone--see # 52), would not like the fact that the cops arrested these two for these two alleged "minor" things.

The usual whine is that arresting people and having ICE check on them scares the community in Costa Mesa.

"Hey, we thought the cops were only going to arrest people and have them checked by ICE for serious crimes. These guys didn't kill 50 or 60 people so they didn't do anything seriously wrong," said a spokesperson for LOCA.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 60

WE GET MAIL ABOUT THE APPARENT LACK OF PLANNING DONE BY SOME PLANNING COMMISSION APPLICANTS (and one Parks and Recreation Commission applicant) IN APPLYING FOR THE COMMISSIONS AFTER THE DEADLINE PASSED

Dear CM PRESS:

It seems to me that if these people who are applying to the two commissions are not even responsible enough to get their applications in by the deadline, in fact well after the deadline, then they would not be responsible enough to serve. The extended deadline also leaves way less time for council members and the public in general to look into the backgrounds of the additional candidates. Not good government!

Name Withheld by CM PRESS

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SANTA ANA PLANS A GROUP HUG

Comes now news that the City of Santa Ana is going to set up a commission to study the social causes of why people join gangs and why Santa Ana has so much crime.

We'll bet you that the commission won't find that illegal immigration has anything to do with gangs or crime.

We'll bet you that the commission will be full of liberals with voodoo sociology firmly planted in their heads who will come up with pleasant sounding but non-working solutions.

We'll bet you that the commission has a big group hug and generates press releases about how they've now found the solution.

We'll bet you that you'll see some names associated with this commission that you'll recognize as having tried to defeat Mansoor/Leece in the election in Costa Mesa.

We'll bet you that the crime will just continue.

The truth is that Santa Ana, as the most illegal alien friendly city in the nation, is now reaping the fruits of its look the other way attitude toward illegal aliens.

Tolerance for a little crime doesn't stop crime, it increases it.

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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.