CM PRESS

Friday, August 22, 2008

CM PRESS # 463

LAST UPDATED: Friday, August 22, 2008, 11:15 PM--scroll down

CANDIDATES' FORUM LAST NIGHT---YAWN!

Even for political junkies, such as the CM PRESS, the candidates' forum last night was boring. There just didn't seem to be any passion, and even the five top candidates seemed to lack focus and a deep understanding of our problems and how to fix them.

Here are some of our impressions.

Of the nine candidates running for City Council, only five of them seemed to be prepared for the forum and to have more than a surface knowledge of Costa Mesa and its problems and to be serious candidates for the City Council.
As of today, here's how we rank the candidates chances of winning and who we think will end up with the most or least votes in November. This is based partly on what we saw and heard last night and partly upon extrinsic factors including our own subjective political instincts.

1. Gary Monahan
2. Eric Bever
3. Jim Righeimer
4. Katrina Foley
5. Chris Bunyan

All five of the above gave credible, but passionless, and unfocused performances. Monahan and Bunyan talked the most about crime and gangs and Monahan indicated that these issues will be his top priorities if elected. Monahan was also the only one to mention that we need to solve our illegal alien problem. Bever barely mentioned crime and didn't mention illegal aliens at all. Foley, as usual, just gave very vague answers about wanting quality neighborhoods and safe streets. Righeimer's whole emphasis appeared to be on development. There were no standouts.

IN OUR OPINION,THE FOLLOWING ARE NOT SERIOUS CANDIDATES AND/OR HAVE NO CHANCE OF WINNING

6.William Sneen
7. Lisa Reedy
8. Chris McEvoy
9. Nick Moss
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OTHER VIEWS OF THE CANDIDATES AND THE FORUM

LINK to the almost daily Daily Pilot.

LINK to the OC REGISTER. [Don't be swayed by the poll. It's just friends of the candidates swamping the poll to spin things.]
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Those are our opinions and they're subject to change as the political season unfolds.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

CM PRESS # 462

CANDIDATES' FORUM TONIGHT

Mesa Verde Community, Inc. is presenting a Costa Mesa City Council candidates' forum tonight, Thursday, August 21, 2008 at the Neighborhood Community Center, 1845 Park Ave. Costa Mesa (Airplane Park). The event is open to all citizens of Costa Mesa.

The reception begins at 6:00 PM and the forum itself starts at 7:00 PM.

The moderator will be Jay Humphrey.

The CM PRESS liked what Humphrey told the almost daily Daily Pilot about trying to get specific answers from the candidates. LINK

We'll see if he is able to do that.

A good moderator knows how to quickly ask a question and get out of the way instead of wasting a lot of useless words in grandstanding while asking the question. We'll have to wait to see how Humphrey does in this regard.

OUR SENSITIVE GAG REFLEX

You'll hear the CM PRESS gagging in the rear of the room if even one candidate:

1. Gushes "That's a great question," and then gives some lousy Ms. America answer about seeking world peace instead of being specific.

2. Says "There's no 'I' in team," or uses other hackneyed and canned expressions.

3. Indicates that he or she wants to get along with everyone on the dais and wants to end arguments.

And, we'll also gag if one of the newbie and totally unknown candidates, who has never done anything in the city and who has never even spoken at a City Council meeting, tells the audience that he wants to be elected to (fill in the blank): represent or listen to or speak for the people and offers no ideas about what he specifically wants to do.

If this happens, you may hear the CM PRESS yell: Get off the stage you lousy bum, who the hell needs you, you friggin' pompous nobody! Represent this!

Also eliciting a gag reflex will be any blue haired canine versions of cat ladies who show up and waste too much time with cutesy pie questions about the barking dog ordinance or who refer to their dogs as their "children." It'll be a double gag if they actually bring their dogs with them.

We'll analyze the event and candidates in a new issue of the CM PRESS either later tonight or in the morning. Check back.

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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

CM PRESS # 461

WE GET MAIL ABOUT TRIANGLE SQUARE

Dear CM PRESS:

I've been a commercial real estate broker for many years. My specialty is retail properties (shopping centers).

Over the years, I've watched as a long list of very competent leasing brokers have been hired to revitalize Triangle Square and then I've watched each be replaced after they failed.

They've all come on board with glowing press releases about how they'll do this and that. Then, they've all quietly slipped away in the night after having failed to make the center profitable.

Good intentions and even good ideas that may work elsewhere won't save Triangle Square.

Triangle Square is different than most centers and has different problems. Different solutions are needed.

At last night's City Council meeting (August 19), Councilperson Linda Dixon said she wanted to know what the owners of Triangle Square are doing to attract new retail tenants. Implicit in her question--given her facial expression and tone of voice--is an apparent belief that all that is needed is an aggressive campaign to bring in new retail tenants.

With all due respect to Ms. Dixon, this is what has been tried and this is what has failed and will continue to fail. This is why amateurs (such as the original City Council who approved Triangle Square) should seek expert advice.

Retail real estate is different from other types of real estate. It is highly dependent on a proper tenant mix, demographics, traffic patterns, placement of traffic signals, curb cuts, parking lot design, and much, much more that would take me too long to discuss here.

It is not like residential, office or industrial real estate. Retail real estate involves a complex mix of variables that have to be handled and balanced if a center is to be profitable.

Instead of offering a complete course about retail real estate, let me just cut to the chase. Here's what I'd be considering if I owned Triangle Square or if I were advising the owners.

PLAN A (The best plan but also the most expensive and the one that would take longer to do.)

1. Underground the 55 Freeway to about 15th Street.
2. Then, turn the east side of the center on the surface along Newport Blvd. into a pedestrian friendly shopping area with Triangle Square as the focus.
3. Then, re-tenant the center with the types of tenants that thrive in such an open area.

PLAN B

1. Close off Harbor Blvd. just south of 19th Street and turn the west side of the center into a pedestrian friendly area that would flow into the Court Yard shopping center.
2. Re-tenant.

PLAN C

1. Stop focusing on retail tenants. This is a black hole for such tenants as things now sit.

2. Find tenants whose "customers" have to come to the center and who have to park in the dark caverns down below. This means rent to a college or government agency.

If properly executed, any of the above three plans have a high probability of making the center profitable.

In PLANS A and B, a more modern look that would change the appearance from the present hinted at Spanish Mission look of the center would help.

Name Withheld by CM PRESS

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Thanks for reading the CM PRESS.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

CM PRESS # 460

WE HAVE OUR EYE ON A YACHT FOR THE COSTA MESA MARINA

New readers may not be aware that Costa Mesa was once going to have a marina below the Westside Bluffs that extended all the way up to Victoria Street.

That's why we have the presently land locked Newport Beach neighborhood of Newport Terrace at the end of W. 19th Street, and why we have a neighborhood on the Westside called Marina Highlands.

That's also why we have a large square "pond" in the scrub brush near Victoria Street that is full of water 24 hours a day. That pond was a test ditch to see if we could, in fact, have water that far inland to, ah, float our boats. We could and we do; at least in that pond. Poke a stick in the dry dirt near there and water will spring up.

So, what happened? Where is our marina?

The answer lies with voters of this city not paying attention and voting in the wrong people to the City Council.

Back when the Marina was being planned, all we needed were three votes on the City Council to move forward. Unfortunately, we only had two votes to move forward. The majority at that time was a gang of short sighted liberals who voted the marina down. Yup. We were just ONE LOUSY VOTE short of having a marina in Costa Mesa and being a true (almost) ocean community.

Your vote counts folks, and it especially counts in local elections.

VOTE WISELY
We have five people on our City Council. It only takes three to improve or destroy our city.

It only takes three votes to have a crime infested, illegal alien sanctuary city with failing schools and unsafe streets. Right now, the soft on crime and illegal alien friendly mob only have two seats on the City Council--Flopsy Katrina Foley and Linda Dixon.

Dixon isn't running this year, but Flopsy Foley is, and there are others in her mold who are also running.

And, the almost daily Daily Pilot is now in election mode and is trying to once again elect liberal squishes such as Flopsy Foley and defeat improvement minded citizens.

If you want a good clue about who not to vote for, just see who the almost daily Daily Pilot and its liberal commentators want elected. Which brings us to...

AUNTIE STEVE SMITH
Take a look at what the ADDP's resident scold, and trash can burner, Auntie Steve Smith has to say in his most recent column. LINK

Auntie Smith, in his usual knuckle dragging manner, can't seem to make distinctions between things and apparently thinks that team sports should be played on every tiny piece of land that the city owns which is called a park.

Does Smith's lumping all parks together under one heading make sense?

Here's our headline using that logic: STEVE SMITH OF THE DAILY PILOT SAYS IT'S OKAY FOR KIDS TO PLAY WITH DYNAMITE!

Huh?

Well, doesn't Smith say it's okay for Costa Mesa to have explosives on July 4th? And isn't dynamite an explosive?

But, wait a minute, that's not really what Smith is saying. In this case he has been able to make a distinction. He's saying that it's okay for kids and their parents to have "safe and sane fireworks." Ahhh, Smith may be educable. In this case he was able to make a finer distinction.

So, why can't Smith understand that the word "park" is like the word "explosive"?

There are PARKS in Costa Mesa that have sports fields, and then there are these smaller places, these (lower case) parks, that do not have sports fields and which cannot logically accommodate sports fields or the types of activities found on such sports fields.

From reading Smith's columns, one suspects he might not score very high on a Miller Analogies Test. FYI, here's a very simple test question from the MAT:

WALK : LEGS

A. blink : eyes
B. chew : mouth
C. dress : hem
D. cover : book
E. grind : nose

If Auntie Smith can't figure out the correct answer to the above, he can email us and we'll tell him the right answer and the logic behind it. We'll also explain the following to him:

METAL TRASH CAN : PLASTIC TRASH CAN

A. doesn't burn : does burn
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DYNAMITE : SAFE AND SANE FIREWORKS

A. soccer field : passive park

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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

Monday, August 18, 2008

CM PRESS # 459

Last Updated Monday, August 18, 2008, 6:00 PM--Scroll down to new story about crime

MARK YOUR CALENDARS--CANDIDATES' FORUM THIS THURSDAY

Mesa Verde Community, Inc. is presenting a Costa Mesa City Council candidates' forum this Thursday, August 21, 2008 at the Neighborhood Community Center, 1845 Park Ave. Costa Mesa (Airplane Park).

The reception begins at 6:00 PM and the forum itself starts at 7:00 PM.

Although this is usually just a soft ball love fest, with a format that discourages tough questions and follow-ups, the CM PRESS will be there and, as we have at past forums, we'll try as hard as we can to nail candidates who are full of crap.

The improvement of Costa Mesa is too important to just elect phonies who don't have any good ideas on how to move improvement along.

At one of these forums a couple of years ago, a couple of yuppies sitting in front of the CM PRESS heard Flopsy Katrina Foley--the Council Snow Bunny--answer a few questions, and then they said to each other that she sounded like a good Republican conservative. We kid you not! We then let the yuppie couple know that Foley is actually a radical liberal Democrat who will say anything to get elected.

"Oh, dear, how do you know that, Mr. CM PRESS sitting behind us taking notes?"

"I know that because I pay attention--all the time--to what's going on in Costa Mesa and I don't just wander into one of these beauty contest candidates' forums for a couple of hours every two years to get a free snack and to have my head turned by friggin' liars and phonies. That's how I know, yuppie couple. And, I sure as hell don't suffer fools."

And, speaking of free snacks, this year I won't forget to wear my pants with the rubber pockets so I can stuff them with free food to take home to my single-wide out by the train tracks to feed my hundred or so kids.

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NOT ONLY INVISIBLE CRIMINALS, WE NOW HAVE INVISIBLE LOCATIONS!

Below are just three crime log reports from the OC REGISTER about gang involvement in Costa Mesa. LINK

Notice that the CMPD didn't release the locations of the gang involvement.

We checked all the rest of the gang involvement reports for Costa Mesa in the paper today and they were all the same: "undisclosed location."

Now, why isn't the CMPD releasing the locations of the gang involvement?

Is it to keep citizens from knowing that our gang involvement is mostly coming from just a few slum areas and that if we remove the slums we'll pretty much get rid of the gangs and the gang involvement?

Or is this an election year gambit on the part of one or more Return to Reason cops who know that if they downplay crime and not reveal locations (to keep activists in affected neighborhoods from organizing to vote for tough on crime candidates--meaning improvement minded candidates), their squishy candidates such as Katrina Foley will have a better chance of being elected?

Again, is someone in the CMPD playing politics with crime reports to help elect people like Foley?

First, we get no real descriptions of most violent perps and now we don't even get the locations where there is gang involvement.

The majority on the City Council should ask some questions about this and get straight answers. Pronto.

What: Gang involvement
Where: Undisclosed location Costa Mesa, CA
When: 5:52 p.m. Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Description:

What: Gang involvement
Where: Undisclosed location Costa Mesa, CA
When: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Description:

What: Gang involvement
Where: Undisclosed location Costa Mesa, CA
When: 7:37 p.m. Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Description:

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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

CM PRESS # 458

FOUR INVISIBLE MEN IN BLACK ATTACK AND ROB MAN AT POMONA AND 17th STREET SATURDAY NIGHT. LINK

If you see four invisible men dressed in black, be sure to call the CMPD at (714) 754-5252 with your tip.

When the police ask for a description by race/ethnicity, hair color, etc., just tell them that you're following PC protocol and that you can't release that information lest citizens get the (correct) impression that most of Costa Mesa's violent criminals do not have white faces.

Say, wait a minute. Pomona and 17th Street? Why, that's right near the Shalimar slum where Latino gangs operate and where a 15-year-old girl was allegedly shot by an alleged gang member who is the alleged son of a Latina who ran for City Council twice.

And, hey, there are also a whole bunch of alleged non-profits in that slum where alleged saintly Great White Mothers and Great White Fathers say they're stopping crime and who want you to give them more money to continue their saintly work.

And, be sure to genuflect when these alleged saintly Great White Mothers and Great White Fathers drive out of the slums in their luxury cars when the sun goes down. As you genuflect, the alleged saints may give you a beatific smile and a slight nod.

The fact remains, folks, so long as Costa Mesa keeps the habitats (the slums) for illegal aliens, gangs and assorted violent criminals, we will have a high crime rate.

Remove the slums and the criminals will self-deport.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

CM PRESS # 457

RHODE ISLAND GOVERNOR GETS IT ABOUT ILLEGAL ALIENS

Eight members of Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri's Commission on Hispanic Affairs quit on Thursday in protest of the Governor's crackdown on illegal aliens . They will be sorely missed. LOL! Don't let the puerta hit you in the ass creeps. LINK

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Thanks for reading the CM PRESS.

Friday, August 15, 2008

CM PRESS # 456

RENOVATION OF TRIANGLE SQUARE IN THE WORKS

On Tuesday, August 19, 2008 the Redevelopment Agency will consider a proposal for renovations to Triangle Square. LINK

Our initial reaction to the proposed changes is positive. However, this is based solely on the verbiage in the staff report. We'll try to take a look at the elevations today and update our comments later if the elevations give us a different take on what's being proposed.

We like the fact that the proposed changes will attempt to modernize the center and move it away from some of the dated Spanish Mediterranean architectural features that it now has.

The CM PRESS has always believed that our downtown area should have a more contemporary look. We even tried, unsuccessfully, to get the developer of the 145 unit Condo complex--Pacifica at Newport Plaza--on Bernard Street to go with a more contemporary look instead of trying to tie the project in with existing architecture in the area. LINK

We also like the new color palette for Triangle Square which will have reds, corals, yellows and sandtones.

However, the real problems for Triangle Square are not within the property lines of the center, but are directly related to the fact that beach bound traffic on the 55 Freeway empties out right at the center and creates such a gridlock that many locals try to avoid the area.

If the 55 is ever put underground and if a short stretch of Newport Blvd above the then underground freeway can be reconfigured to be more pedestrian friendly--similar, perhaps, to what is being done in Huntington Beach near Main Street and PCH, then Costa Mesa will have a true downtown that can become a destination location and Triangle Square should prosper.

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Those are our comments. Thanks for reading them.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

CM PRESS # 455

Last Updated: Thursday, August 14, 2008, 4:45 PM

IT STARTS

Nine begin, but only three will win.

Check back later for more info on the nine candidates for Costa Mesa City Council as we begin to look at who they are.

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AIRPORT TO TAKE 600 HOMES

O'Hare Airport in Chicago has to grow, so an area with 600 homes is going to have to go. The homeowners are trying to fight the expansion, but it's a losing battle. LINK

Are you listening, Newport Beach and Costa Mesa?

Do you really think capping flights at John Wayne Airport or having a train carry passengers to an airport in the desert is going to stop the expansion of JWA? Don't be naive.

The only thing that will keep JWA from expanding is to find another location for an international airport.

And, as we've said many times before, the most likely candidate for such an airport is the northern part of Camp Pendleton.

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HERE'S WHAT YOUR CITY COUNCIL BALLOT WILL LOOK LIKE IN NOVEMBER

The Secretary of State today released the results of the alphabet lottery for ballot position. Scroll down for the order of the City Council candidates in November. LINK

If any names below seem to pop out at you (Oh, perhaps, because we put them in boldface and red), you might keep them in mind for your vote in November. Remember, you get to vote for three candidates, and it appears that Righeimer, Monahan and Bever are going to be the best slate candidates for improvement. Vote for one and vote for all.

You might also note that if you decide to vote for these improvement minded candidates: Righeimer, Monahan and Bever, that their names appear in the # 1, # 5, # 8 positions on the ballot, so you'll have to scroll down as you vote.

VOTE 1, skip 3--and VOTE, skip 2--and VOTE. Or, vote for the Rigmonabever.

Say, is there any other way we can help you remember this?

Jim Righeimer

Lisa Reedy

Nick Moss

Chris McEvoy

Gary Monahan

Bill Sneen

Katrina Foley

Eric Bever

Chris Bunyan

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As you may have guessed, as of today, we think Righeimer, Monahan and Bever may be the best choices if you want to lower crime, stop Costa Mesa from being an illegal alien sanctuary city, keep taxes low, and see improvement in Costa Mesa.

But, frankly, we have problems with each of them. Still, elections are about picking the best of the lot.

However, we'll attend all the candidate forums and analyze what each candidate stands for, what they've done in the past, and what they say they'll do in the future. And, if we find any candidates other than these three who seem to be better for improvement, we'll let you know.

As we've said from the very beginning of the Improvement movement in Costa Mesa; we have one simple question we ask of everything: Will this decision or person or proposal be best for the improvement of Costa Mesa or not? That hasn't changed, and we are no respecter of persons or political parties and we have no friends in politics.

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AND IN OTHER POLITICS...

We noted that no-Planning Commissioner Jim Fisler is running for the Costa Mesa Sanitary District. Unfortunately, Jim didn't pay to have a candidate statement in the voter's guide. He might still win on name recognition, but it's a lot tougher to win without that statement.

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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

CM PRESS # 454

LAST UPDATED: Wednesday, August 13, 2008, 5:01 PM --Scroll down--Updated throughout the day as news moves. Latest updates will usually be at the bottom.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION HURTS COSTA MESA'S BUDGET

Here's a good column by Congressman Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) about how illegal immigration is screwing up California's budget. LINK

What is not usually reported, is that illegal immigration is also screwing up Costa Mesa's budget.

The reason it doesn't get reported is because most of the costs of illegal immigration are hidden among regular expenses.

Just a few examples make the point:

In Costa Mesa we have increased police costs--how about an entire, and growing, gang detail that we didn't even have just a few years ago? That's not cheap.

We also have increased school costs. Our schools are full of the children of illegal aliens.

And, we have fluff programs paid for by us that mostly help illegal aliens. One of the most obvious is the after school programs that we pay for on most Costa Mesa school campuses.

Are you aware that the School District has after school programs, but that the City of Costa Mesa also has such programs?

What happens is that the schools essentially hand off to Costa Mesa at a certain time on school campuses each day and Costa Mesa puts in its employees to provide day care for the children of illegal aliens until about 6 PM.

Then, we have all the non-profit programs that use our tax money.

What has happened in Costa Mesa over the past decades is that successive tax and spend City Councils have kept larding on more and more fluff to help illegal aliens, and they've done it a little at a time by saying things such as that we have to keep "kids" out of trouble by having this or that program.

Of course, most of the"kids" are the children of illegal aliens. And, the more programs that are put in place to help illegal aliens, the more illegal aliens come here and then we need more programs or more gang cops or more of this and that.

That's what is busting Costa Mesa's budget.

Those services for illegal aliens are the ones that the lefty creeps are crying about and complaining will have to be cut if we don't raise taxes on the productive citizens of this city.

Those are the services that Flopsy Katrina Foley wants to keep in place and even expand.

Folks, we just can't afford Foley and her lefty pals anymore, and we can't afford illegal aliens.
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Updated: August 13, 2008-8:36 AM

MORE WHINING FROM "REAL" NEWSPAPER PEOPLE AS THEY GET WHOOPED UPSIDE THE HEAD

We continue to hear more whining from "real" newspaper people about the changes that are happening in the biz.

Most of these people seem to think that they are saints whose job is to provide news, opinion columns and community interest items with no thought to making a profit. No wonder so many are losing their jobs.

Here's the truth: A newspaper does not exist to deliver the news or opinion columns or to provide community interest items.

A newspaper is a business. Yes, "real" newspaper people, that's the truth. A newspaper exists to make a profit. The way it makes a profit is by selling advertising.

Newspapers charge for advertising based on the number of people who read the newspaper.

The hook used to get people to read the newspaper--so they'll see the advertising--is to put things in the newspaper that people want to read.

Then, when people read the newspaper they'll be exposed to the real purpose for the newspaper--the advertising which surrounds the news, the opinion columns and the community interest items.

You can't bore people into reading your newspaper. You have to grab and keep their attention, not just once, but all the time.

[And, speaking of advertising; in this internet age, a newspaper might be well advised to charge a premium for ad placement next to high hit features on the web site. Got a heavy-hitter columnist? Charge more for ads near his or her column on the internet. And, this also means more micro-managing the demographic data of readers to put the right ads where the right readers will see them.]

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Updated August 13, 2008, 12:00 PM

FLOPSY FOLEY FINDS ANOTHER WAY TO GET IN THE NEWSPAPER

Flopsy Katrina Foley--the City Council Snow Bunny--apparently wants to be friends with a reporter at the OC Register. LINK

Help Flopsy Foley spend more time on the slopes by not voting for her in November.

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Updated: Wednesday, August 13, 2008, 5:01 PM

LAST CANDIDATE HAS FILED NOMINATION PAPERS

According to the Costa Mesa City Clerk's office, Chris McEvoy filed his nomination papers at the last minute today. If his signatures are verified by the Registrar of Voters, the candidate field for the City Council election will look like this: Eric Bever, Gary Monahan, Jim Righeimer, Katrina Foley, Lisa Reedy, Chris Bunyan, Bill Sneen, Nicholas Moss and Chris McEvoy

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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.