Bever

Costa Mesa Mayor Eric Bever this week extended his condolences to the family of a 17-year-old boy fatally injured during a fight in the El Metate Market parking lot Saturday night, and he praised police for their swift apprehension of a suspect. Javier Paz was killed during what authorities characterized as a gang-related incident. Scott Santana, 23, was arrested and charged with his murder. “I offer my deepest sympathy to the family in their grief,” Bever said in a news release.

Alicia Robinson Costa Mesa City Councilman Eric Bever says he wants to look into using eminent domain to bring in new ownership for the floundering Triangle Square shopping center, but the plan isn't likely to fly with his colleagues. The beleaguered center has had trouble attracting tenants since opening in 1992, and just this year it shed major retailers Niketown and Virgin Megastore. At the Tuesday City Council meeting, Bever said the council should consider condemning the mall as underperforming, and he ripped the Orange County Register for depicting Triangle Square as "the poster child for failed redevelopment projects."

Reversing his earlier stance, Costa Mesa Councilman Eric Bever is asking the City Council to reconsider last week’s vote to declare the entire city an economic recovery zone. The council’s 5-0 vote Jan. 19 paved the way for the city to receive $6.4 million in federal bond money through the Obama administration’s program to stimulate the national economy. The money would be earmarked for helping struggling local businesses bounce back and finance city road and other infrastructure projects at a low interest rate.

Years ago, while taking a political science class at a local university, a book title got stuck in my head: “Condemned to Repetition,” by Robert A Pastor. In his book, Pastor argues how some political leaders are inclined to make the same mistakes because they aren’t willing to learn from history. Costa Mesa Mayor Eric Bever is about to make the same mistake. Opening a new job center to solve the day-laborer issue is doomed to failure. Bever isn’t the first local politician to try this policy.

When Costa Mesa Mayor Eric Bever publicly offered condolences to the family of a 17-year-old boy killed during a fight last week, it struck us as a decent and classy move. It was especially praiseworthy given that the declaration came across our desks without our prompting. Police say Javier Paz was killed in what they characterized as a gang-related incident. Scott Santana, 23, was arrested and charged with murder. ?I offer my deepest sympathy to the family in their grief,?

Costa Mesa Councilman Eric Bever has backed away from supporting the city’s $96 million proposal to purchase the Orange County Fairgrounds from the state. In an open letter to the City Council dated Friday, Bever said he was pulling out of the proposal – although he had signed off on it along with the four other council members – because of concerns about whether the city could meet a new 30-day deadline from the state to find a buying partner. “I don’t support the process as it currently exits,” Bever said in an interview with the Daily Pilot.

An A1 article in Sunday's edition, "Experts: 'Rule' solves nothing," incorrectly stated that Costa Mesa City Councilman Eric Bever joined Mayor Allan Mansoor in voting in favor of the city's hard line against "immigration." In fact, the article should have stated that Bever and Mansoor oppose "illegal immigration," but support legal immigration when applicants follow the law.

The Newport Coast entrance to the toll road on the 73 Freeway soon could be the most expensive of all the road’s onramps, according to Newport-Mesa city officials who serve on the toll agency’s board of directors. Costa Mesa Mayor Eric Bever and Newport Beach Mayor Pro Tem Leslie Daigle said the agency’s consulting firm, Stantec, has issued a report that proposes raising the toll fee at the Newport Coast Drive ramp by 25 cents every two years while imposing smaller increases on most other entrances.

Costa Mesa Mayor Eric Bever on Tuesday night voted against his own proposal that would have moved the public comments section toward the end of council meetings. The council voted 4 to 0 to keep the time, which is reserved for speaking on issues not on the agenda, near the beginning of the meetings. The move was met with applause from the audience. Councilman Gary Monahan was absent. Bever's proposal was an attempt to curtail what he deemed to be bad behavior from some commenters.

Now that Costa Mesa has finally decided to grant a permit to a basketball league based in Santa Ana, there are a couple of loose ends to tie up, both of which could affect kids in the area. First, it is important to recognize and applaud the higher level of communication by someone we must assume is Costa Mesa City Councilman Eric Bever. At least twice, the person claiming to be Bever has posted comments on dailypilot.com about the permit issue. We have to assume it is Bever because we have no way of identifying him other than to ask him, which I did last week, but my call was not returned.

COSTA MESA - Jackie Hubbard spent last year at Edison High. She didn't play soccer at the school. She never played in high school until this season, when she transferred to Estancia. "It was just way too competitive," Hubbard said of soccer at her former school. "It wasn't really about fun. "It's just like a better experience [at Estancia]. " Coach Jessica Perry has sweetened the deal for players like Hubbard at Estancia. On Valentine's Day, Hubbard and her teammates received candy from Perry.

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings, who won their third straight Olympic gold medal in beach volleyball at last summer's London Games, have been named 2012 Sportswomen of the Year by the Los Angeles Sports Council. The duo, considered the greatest female beach volleyball team of all time, will be honored at the eighth annual LA Sports Awards, to be held March 3 at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. May-Treanor, a former Newport Harbor High standout, and Walsh Jennings capped off their illustrious Olympic careers by defeating fellow Americans April Ross and Jennifer Kessy in the final.

After speaking for a few minutes toward the beginning of Tuesday's City Council session, Mayor Eric Bever left the center seat of the dais. After serving two four-year terms, the Westside resident was termed out. "I want to thank the members of the community who have been strong supporters over the years," he said. "I've had a good time working with great people in every department," he added, "and without their help, we would not have resolved half the things that we managed to fix in these eight years.

Toll lanes and construction are not coming to Costa Mesa. The Orange County Transportation Authority on Monday approved widening the San Diego (405) Freeway by adding one lane in each direction between Fountain Valley and Rossmoor. OCTA's Board of Directors approved Alternative 1 in a 12-4 vote, with directors Larry Crandall, Janet Nguyen, John Moorlach and William Dalton opposing the measure, according to OCTA spokesman Joel Zlotnik. The option would expand the freeway by one general purpose lane between Euclid Street and the San Gabriel River (605)

Costa Mesa Mayor Eric Bever this week clarified earlier comments he made suggesting that two of the Westside's nonprofits close because they attract homeless people. Bever said during Tuesday's council meeting that he only directed city CEO Tom Hatch to investigate, not try to shutter, the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen and Share Our Selves (SOS) for possibly violating municipal ordinances. "That means he goes through a process of steps as outlined by our nuisance-business ordinance," Bever said.

Looking to cut down on homeless services in Costa Mesa, Mayor Eric Bever asked the city CEO to investigate some of the city's most prominent charities. Bever singled out Share Our Selves and Someone Cares Soup Kitchen , two nonprofits that give food and medical care to the poor and homeless. Costa Mesa's homeless population has been a stubborn issue for city officials. Residents consistently complain that individuals overtake public facilities like Lions Park and the Costa Mesa Donald Dungan Library.

GIRLS' TENNIS Corona del Mar 10, Beverly Hills 8 BEVERLY HILLS - Kenzi Purcifull and Riley Gerdau swept in doubles, 6-4, 6-0, 6-1, for the Sea Kings Thursday. Shelby Anderson and Sopia Chen won two out of three in doubles for CdM (2-0). In singles, Olivia Dajee won two out of three, including a clutch 6-4 win over Beverly Hills No. 1 singles player Allison Isaacman to give the Sea Kings their ninth point. CdM plays against Sage Hill Friday at 3 p.m. at The Tennis Club Newport Beach.

Costa Mesa Mayor Eric Bever uttering an expletive that was caught by his open microphone should come as no surprise to anyone who attended last week's council meeting. He also threatened to go home in frustration — another unsurprising comment and an act that would have pleased an increasing number of residents. The real surprise is that it took Bever so long to reach the boiling point. For months, Bever often limits his input and comments to less time than the remarks by some of the city's gadflies.

Frustrated with the audience's behavior at Tuesday's City Council meeting, Costa Mesa Mayor Eric Bever turned to a fellow council member and said, "I'm going to go home. This is bull [expletive]," a recording of the meeting shows. "The crowds' apparent lack of interest in orderly conduct of the meeting caused me some frustration and led to my aside to my peer," Bever wrote in an email Thursday. "I apologize if anyone found my comment offensive. " Bever, who is termed out in November, was reacting to a wave of boos and grumbles from the audience after he cut off a woman who was trying to argue her point to him after her allotted three minutes for public comment was up. "My comment to my peer was in response to the audience's displeasure with my desire to maintain decorum in the meeting," Bever wrote.

CORONA DEL MAR - Corona del Mar High baseball coach John Emme took a bit of a chance saving his ace Andrew McCormack to open the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs. But the choice didn't seem like any sort of risk because of Billy Macdonald. The senior pitcher delivered a complete-game, three-hit shutout to help lead the Sea Kings to a 5-0 win over Beverly Hills (14-11) in a wild-card game Tuesday at CdM. "We rolled the dice and came up aces," Emme said. Macdonald struck out two and walked six. The CdM defense also played well.