Community Commentary -- Tom Egan

Was the money wasted on the specific plan for Westside Costa Mesa?

Some have been asking this.

Since a non-negligible amount of city revenue has been spent on the

plan, I believe the money and time were well spent even though the

original goal was not achieved. Rather, a better goal has been achieved.

Granted, if government is viewed as a gumball machine, then the draft

plan was a bust. The only product to fall into the tray was a 127-page

document that will not become part of the city’s general plan, and will

only be used as a resource for planning.

But there’s another way to look at what has gone on. If we take a

community-building point of view, we need only ask, if the community

better off now than it was before the plan was started.

The answer is a resounding, yes!

Some evidence:

Before the planning effort, Westside Costa Mesa was “the other side of

the tracks.”

Citizens were dispirited, if not depressed, about their chances of

ever having a nice neighborhood. Then the City Council stepped in and

hired a consultant -- much as corporations do when they face intractable

problems -- to develop a turnaround plan. This sparked a lot of interest

by all the stakeholders -- businesses, landlords, tenants, homeowners,

social services, etc. -- and many participated in workshops.

However, the initial result earned only mixed reviews. Those who

didn’t like it began to grumble and form grass-roots organizations to try

to reorient the consultant’s direction.

Now there are several groups of involved stakeholders, and they are on

all sides of the issues. In a word, the Westside is now energized.

Additionally, the council has decided to halt the specific plan process.

This gives the stakeholders some space to work together to take charge of

their own community.

Imagine that! People coming together to work out their own community

problems. This is the kind of participatory democracy that is at the root

of the great American experiment begun by the colonists in the 1700s. And

this is why I am excited about the next stage of Westside revitalization;

it’s not often one gets to participate in this kind of effort.

It’s too soon to tell if all the stakeholders can get together and

hammer out a new Westside.

Indeed, if everyone’s stated positions are frozen, then the odds are

against it. But who knows what will happen when people sit down and talk

directly with each other instead of indirectly through consultants and

city officials?

The colonists had long odds, too.

* TOM EGAN is a resident of Costa Mesa.