Westside

Kathleen Eric Re: Geoff West's Oct. 11 commentary, "Focus on the Westside must be for all who live there." In West's commentary on the Westside he notes that all one hears these days is "Westside, Westside, Westside. Until recently that was just so much ambient noise to me." I'm pleased that West has decided to take note of the ambient noise of the Westside. Perhaps he is hearing more of a "Westside, Westside, Westside" buzz these days because the decibel level is rising.

Jennifer Kho WESTSIDE -- A Latino Community Network meeting last week about family issues quickly evolved into a discussion about the city's Westside. "The city spends more money on other parts of the city because those parts are more adamant," said Phil Morello, a Westside resident. "People with a lot of money -- the Segerstrom family, Mesa Verde and the Eastside -- are influencing the Westside. They don't want things to happen here that have happened in other parts of the city.

It is difficult to imagine how anyone could oppose a plan to get doctors, nurses and basic healthcare where they are needed. But that is just what is happening on the Westside of Costa Mesa. A plan is in the works that calls for a 4,800-square-foot health center at Rea Elementary. By its third year, the center -- a joint venture by the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and the Children's Hospital of Orange County -- is expected to handle 9,000 doctor's visits annually, and CHOC would lease the building from the district for $12 a year.

Alicia Robinson Even though the City Council has approved a conceptual plan for the future of the Westside, that plan hasn't quelled debate about how quickly the changes should be wrought. Tuesday, the council overturned a planning commission decision that would have allowed a construction-contracting business to move into a property that's been home to Faulkner's Mower Shop for 25 years. Property owner Michael Faulkner wants to sell the parcel, and the prospective buyer, Norman Dias, needed a permit to put a small, construction-contracting business on the site.

COSTA MESA ? The City Council on Tuesday approved three plans that could transform the city's Westside from an industrial area to a metropolitan hub of shops, restaurants and homes. The plans will allow new commercial and residential zoning on 618 acres of a 1,788-acre area. The council unanimously approved the plans. "All I would ask is that people give it a chance ? keep bringing your opinions forward [about] how we can improve it," Councilman Gary Monahan said. "We asked for innovation.

While we applaud the Costa Mesa City Council's efforts last week to narrow the focus of the Community Redevelopment Action Committee, more must be done to ensure the group's efficiency and effectiveness. We suggested, in an August editorial, that the 80-member committee appears much too large to accomplish its goals in 18 months, as is intended. While we would never want to limit anyone's voice or opinion, a paring down of the group must occur. People will still be more than welcome to share their thoughts, concerns, etc., but the advisory group's final decision -- or suggestion to the City Council -- should come from a much smaller group.

It was with great interest that I read the letters in the Daily Pilot responding to my commentary on the Westside ("Focus on Westside must be for all who live there," Oct. 11). Michael W. Berry, Judith M. Berry and Robert M. Beard had interesting views on the issue. I also enjoyed Maj-Gun Mansoor's letter very much. One cannot disagree with Beard's contention that otherwise undocumented individuals might find a greater sense of community if allowed to utilize the Mexican Identification Card to open bank accounts and conduct business with those banks.

Allan Mansoor A flier was recently distributed on the Westside of the city which stated that a small but vocal group of people wanted to bulldoze buildings and residences through the use of eminent domain. Since I live on the Westside of the city, I was naturally concerned with the accuracy of the statements and who is advocating the bulldozing and eminent domain. Perhaps what they were referring to was the consideration of the Redevelopment Agency, which is the City Council acting in a distinct official capacity, to expand the redevelopment area.

COSTA MESA ? The planning commission unanimously gave the go-ahead Monday to three urban plans designed to revitalize the city's Westside. Next stop for the proposals: City Council. The plans would create new zoning for residential and mixed-use developments in what has largely been an industrial area. City officials estimate as many as 3,771 new residential units could be added and up to 1.4 million square feet of industrial space lost in the next 20 years if half of the 618-acre area is redeveloped.

Deirdre Newman "Where's the blight?" This question was asked repeatedly Monday night by Westside industrial property owners and by Redevelopment Agency members during a heated discussion of whether 434 acres should be added to the city's downtown redevelopment zone. For the property owners, it was a question about physical disrepair; for the agency, whether the economy on the Westside is stagnant. Because it is unclear whether the area's economy is lagging, the agency voted 4 to 0 to postpone a decision for six months.

COSTA MESA — With baked snacks, soda to spare and lots of fold-out chairs, more than 60 Costa Mesa residents huddled in Michelle Simpson's Westside backyard Tuesday night to figure out how to stop the area's proposed developments. "It's going to be a long slog, so prepare yourselves," said Bonnie Copeland, the unofficial leader of Tuesday's meeting. "The more people we can get to meetings, the better we are. " Their grassroots fight: protesting the proposed 19th Street Bridge that would link Costa Mesa to Huntington Beach and the development of Banning Ranch.

If I write a column that mentions Costa Mesa's City Council or the local employee union, I'm guaranteed an online response of at least eight fired-up readers. Most of the comments are emotional — and less than factual — but that is expected when both sides recycle old data. But if I write about a local subject that may be even more important than the battle at City Hall, I get one, perhaps two, responses, and not just this time, but every time ( "City Life: School district needs leadership, accountability," Oct. 19)

COSTA MESA — The Costa Mesa Police Department is set to reopen a police substation on the city's Westside in about a month, according to authorities. The substation is near Lions Park at 567 W. 18th St. and is part of a joint effort between the City Council and Police Department to reach out to the community and have a greater presence on the Westside, according to Lt. Bryan Glass. The location will not be open to the public and will largely serve as an office for the two new park rangers who are expected to work in Lions Park, Capt.

First of three parts. COSTA MESA - As he tours Mesa Verde with prospective home buyers, Realtor Larry Weichman boasts of the neighborhood country club's heated swimming pool and acclaimed golf pro. But when clients ask about the public schools, Weichman becomes more circumspect. The chairman of the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce pulled his son out of the neighborhood elementary school and sent him instead to the nearby Huntington Beach City School District. "It's sad," said Weichman, who lives two doors from Adams Elementary School.

COSTA MESA — An assisted living and mixed-use development will be the first project to move forward that was proposed in the five-year-old Westside Urban Plans, a city administrator announced during this week's Planning Commission meeting. Nexus Development, developer of a planned 85-unit assisted living development at 1640 Monrovia Ave., will break ground in July or August, said City Planning Administrator Claire Flynn The Westside Urban Plans, which the City Council approved in April 2006, were discussed during a Planning Commission study session Monday night to update city staff and the public on their status.

M.H. Millard, in his May 12 commentary ("Unions, city must find a responsible balance") begins with a head fake espousing labor harmony to get your heads nodding in agreement, then does a nifty behind-the-back crossover dribble and starts to blame the "greedy" employees for all the problems he perceives in our city. After that bit of ball-handling, when he's got you singing anti-union hosannas, he turns and drives right to the basket, telling us that our Westside is basically a crumbling morass of putrefaction and decay and Costa Mesa will never reach its potential until that problem is "fixed.

COSTA MESA — Planning Commissioners Steve Mensinger and Sam Clark have applied for outgoing Councilwoman Katrina Foley's seat. Mensinger, 48, said he is interested in getting the job done, rather than talking about goals. "Most politicians like to talk about what they want to do, and it gives cover to their lack of action," he said. "If, in fact, we need more sports fields, what do we need to make that happen? If we believe that academics are important to the community, what do we need to do to accomplish that?

Sometimes it only takes a soccer ball to change a self-deluded kid into a dynamic and engaging person. A soccer game brings out that little light that is deeply embedded inside his or her heart. For many years, a soccer ball has not been running freely in some areas of Costa Mesa. As odd as it sounds, it isn't allow to be kicked around in a nearby park in this city. Sometimes grown-ups don't understand the beauty surrounding a soccer game, unless of course, these people live in Europe, Asia, Latin America, or why not, in the Westside of Costa Mesa, where soccer is king and any soccer tournament is a crowning event.

COSTA MESA — Mayor Allan Mansoor last week refused to participate in a vote to waive fees for a program that allows children to play soccer on the city's Westside. His abstention from voting perplexed Councilwoman Katrina Foley and led to an argument that continued into a closed session in the middle of Aug. 17 City Council meeting. That night, Mansoor said he had unanswered questions about the city's overall policy for the groups. He inquired about why the requested fields — those at Wilson Elementary and Rea Elementary schools — were not used by other nonprofit groups.

In the last 15 minutes of Tuesday night's City Council meeting, Mayor Allan Mansoor had to vote on waiving a fee for a new youth soccer league, a Latino origination based in Santa Ana. They were requesting use of three fields not being used by AYSO and located on the Westside. Here's the rub. If he votes "yes," he doesn't look like a fiscal conservative but he gives the impression he wants to help the kids of the Westside, who mostly are Latino; doing this could give him a much-needed "kudos" from angry Latinos.