One of the biggest fears a journalist has is to wake up one
morning and find the story he or she just wrote is all wrong.
As a reporter, I regularly went through fits of paranoia worrying
about that. That's why I'd often call sources late into the evening,
just to triple or quadruple check my facts, or my alleged facts.
Still, I'd shudder the first time the phone rang after a big
story, worried that the voice would say: "Nah, nah, nah, nah, you got
it wrong."
Which brings me to Gary Monahan.
Many of you no doubt read a front page story in the Daily Pilot on
Nov. 30 "Monahan appears mayoral," that all but crowned the longtime
councilman and local pub owner as the new mayor of Costa Mesa, an
appointment that in fact must come from his fellow council
colleagues.
The mayor post is largely ceremonial, as we all know. It doesn't
offer up any extra perks, and it actually means having to be at lots
of ribbon cuttings and being quoted and kissing babies and all sorts
of schmoozy stuff.
As corny as that sounds some times, you have to admit it must be
pretty cool to walk around town and say, "Hi, I'm the mayor."
So it was hardly breaking news when we reported what Monahan had
been saying openly to us and others about wanting the mayor's job, a
gig he held for two consecutive years in 1998 and 1999.
And it seemed very plausible, seeing as how he swamped the
competition in the latest election by a good 3,000 votes, and was
holding the title of mayor pro tem -- a title that probably should be
called vice mayor or mayor in waiting.
We were so sure that Monahan was a shoo-in, that we sent our
reporter to the meeting but didn't even plan a story for the next
day's paper.
Also, the other choices didn't seem to make sense.
Newcomer Allan Mansoor probably hasn't even read a staff report
yet.
Libby Cowan had just done the mayor rotation prior to Linda Dixon
and didn't really seem to enjoy herself.
Chris Steel, well, let's just say naming him mayor would be an
interesting adventure.
Then there's Karen Robinson, a woman who has already made her
intention of becoming a judge very well known and is so busy with her
day job that even getting her for an interview on the phone is a
challenge.
For example, she blocks out one hour a day from noon to 1 p.m. for
reporter calls.
Which means if a story breaks at 3 p.m., we are out of luck
getting her to respond. Not exactly mayor material, right?
Wrong.
Imagine the egg on our face Tuesday morning when we discovered
