Sounding Off:

Well, we’re off and running. The first candidate forum for Costa Mesa City Council hopefuls is now history and we’ve had our first look at the nine people who will vie for the three seats available in November.

Thanks to our good neighbors in Mesa Verde, the forum conducted Aug. 21 — sponsored by their homeowners association, Mesa Verde Community Inc. — presented the nearly 200 audience members with a much-too-brief glimpse of the candidates and to hear their views on only a few of the important issues facing our city.

Rookie moderator and former Councilman Jay Humphrey did a good job mixing up the questions and trying to provide a balanced opportunity for the candidates to make their views known. Only a couple questions asked were answered by all the candidates — how they felt about a potential bridge over the Santa Ana River at 19th Street, for example. They were unanimous rejecting that idea.

Steve Smith, in his column Tuesday, said the forum was boring. I disagree. It may have been boring to folks whose pet issue was not addressed, but I thought it was a good start.

We learned, for example, that the heavy-hitters — Katrina Foley, Gary Monahan, Eric Bever and Jim Righeimer — were the most prepared for the questions chucked at them, as well they should be. These are the folks who will likely spend the most money, have the strongest backing by national political parties and are the most likely to successfully compete for a seat when the music stops Nov. 4.

The five remaining candidates — Lisa Reedy, Bill Sneen, Chris McEvoy, Nick Moss and Chris Bunyan — have a long way to go to compete with the other four.

Bunyan, for example, seems willing to ride his position on Banning Ranch throughout the campaign. He’s been very active in the community since his last place finish in 2006, but I don’t think the voters will provide him with much support if he doesn’t broaden his platform to include other important issues.

McEvoy and Moss are bright young men with no political experience behind them and who apparently intend to run bare-bones campaigns. As refreshing as it is to see new faces, and as passionate as they might be, it’s hard to see how they will be able to reach enough people, particularly since they, along with Bunyan, didn’t submit a ballot statement, the only document every voter will receive.