Deirdre Newman
A former mayor has joined the short list of candidates who have filed
their petitions to run for the Costa Mesa City Council.
Linda Dixon, who lost her re-election bid in 2002 in an upset to
political neophyte Allan Mansoor, is a contender again, citing pleas
from random strangers as inspiration to run.
"The fact that so many people in the community -- people that I
don't know -- would come up to me at the grocery store, when I'm
walking my dog, at restaurants, at fast food places, at events I'd
attend, and say, 'Are you gonna run? Are you gonna run? We need
someone like you,'" Dixon said.
Dixon joins Planning Commission Chair Bruce Garlich as the only
candidates who have gotten their petitions in and qualified to run
for the three open Costa Mesa seats in November. The seats up for
grabs belong to incumbents Libby Cowan, who has decided not to run
for re-election, Chris Steel and Mike Scheafer.
In Newport Beach, no one new has qualified since incumbents Steve
Rosansky and Steve Bromberg did so for their districts in late July.
But Rosansky could have some competition as two more potential
candidates are considering running in his district, which encompasses
West Newport: Catherine Emmons and John Buttolph.
Emmons, who owns Hang, Crate and Connect, a business that helps
with moving, said after living in Newport Beach for more than 14
years, she is thinking about running because she wants to repay her
community.
"I want to be of service and give back to the community what's
been given to me," Emmons said. "I also feel somewhat of the platform
of less government infringing on the individual's rights and
freedoms."
Buttolph, who lives in Newport Heights, said he is thinking about
running to help mediate difficult topics, a skill he says he has
honed as a small business lawyer.
"I think I can be an effective bridge between parties on different
sides of issues," Buttolph said. "I don't have an ax to grind
anywhere. I'm not a candidate of one particular group or another
one."
Buttolph volunteered to help the city implement the Greenlight,
slow-growth guidelines as they related to hotels, he said. He had
taken issue with the city's exemption of hotel projects from the
purview of those guidelines and worked with City Atty. Bob Burnham on
crafting a compromise, Buttolph added.
In Costa Mesa, no one has pulled papers since last week, keeping
the total of those who took out petitions at 12. In Newport Beach,
only half that many have pulled papers, a discrepancy that could be
