SOUNDING OFF:Mansoor's hold echoes that of a de facto dictator

Throughout the year residents approach representatives of the city staff looking for relief from a traffic problem in their neighborhood — speeding cars is usually the complaint. Typically, the staff responds by assessing the situation and attempting to resolve it. In the past this has meant "reinventing the wheel."

At a recent Costa Mesa City Council meeting Peter Naghavi, the city's transportation services manager, reported on his efforts to come up with criteria and guidelines to more easily facilitate traffic calming throughout our city. He was looking for direction to move forward with his plans for the development of standards to be considered when residents complain about traffic issues in their neighborhoods.

He, and most other observers, were astounded when Mayor Allan Mansoor expressed concern about this project. It was clear from his comments that he was ready to toss it, and all the work accomplished so far, right in the trash can. Only the absence of his pal, Councilman Eric Bever, prohibited him from doing just that. As it stands now, this item will appear again before the council — maybe as early as Tuesday.

In January, at a study session from which Mansoor was absent, this issue was presented to the council for comment and all members present, including Bever and Wendy Leece, seemed enthusiastic about moving forward with it. Leece said she thought the program was a "super idea" and went on to say, "I think it is really important to go where the people are and where the problem is." Bever, who was conducting the study session in Mansoor's absence, said, "It sounds like the staff has put together a pretty comprehensive program for gathering the necessary information and providing plenty of opportunity for community input.

I envision this working something along the lines of our permit parking program in terms of the way the community would eventually instigate change in their neighborhood." One came away from viewing those proceedings with the clear feeling that all the council members present were in support of the program and it was "all systems go" for Naghavi and his team.

Subsequently, Naghavi put together a Town Hall meeting to kick off this effort, presenting to more than 300 residents who attended an excellent overview of historical traffic patterns throughout the city and examples of potential solutions to some of the existing or anticipated problems.