In baseball, it's called a full count. In Costa Mesa, it's the presumed 3-2 City Council split after Tuesday's election — although we're not sure whether we'll have a new majority, or whether the current one will barely maintain its hold. As of Saturday, only 190 votes separated incumbent Gary Monahan and attorney John Stephens (disclosure: he's friend of mine) for the third seat.
It's also the proportion of Costa Mesa voters who cast their ballots against the city charter proposal. Measure V was soundly defeated, 17,771 to 12,062, as of Saturday.
In many ways, a 3-2 voting bloc captures the tension inherent in Costa Mesa. We may be divided on some issues, but we're not a divisive community. We can reasonably determine what's best for the community as a whole — decisively rejecting Measure V is evidence of that — but still express our individual and personal preferences, as reflected in the mixed vote for council.