Race cards and parking lots

STEVE SMITH

Two issues: one in Newport Beach, one in Costa Mesa.

In Costa Mesa, it did not appear as though anything more could be

said about the closure of the Job Center. But unfortunately, those

who want to keep the center open have made the ultimate desperate

move and played the race card.

In doing so, they have played right into the hands of a few people

who were looking for an excuse to keep their names in the newspaper.

So here’s the message to those who think the center was closed

because a few people see it strictly as a race issue: You’ll never

get the center reopened if you continue to fight this battle as a

question of discrimi- nation. There is no evidence of that, and all

you are doing is playing their game and giving them a chance to spout

off at an even higher level.

A hateful website by someone who is not a decision maker is not

proof that race was the reason the center was closed. And if those

who want the center reopened are truly concerned about the closure’s

effects on the Westside (uh, remember, that is the issue here), they

will make the smart move and be quiet for the time being.

Here’s how it works, and it’s very simple: If Mayor Allan Mansoor

and Councilmen Eric Bever and Gary Monahan are right, that the center

is no longer needed, they will have saved the city a little dough.

If, however, they are wrong and the day laborers once again line

Placentia Avenue looking for work, Gary Monahan has assured me -- and

I quoted him here a couple of weeks ago -- that he will admit that he

“screwed up.” At that point he will be expected to vote with

Councilwomen Katrina Foley and Linda Dixon and reverse their earlier

decision. Either way, again, the Westside wins.

But not everyone can keep quiet until the center closes.

Some people just like kicking up dust because they like the

action. Playing it cool and being smart does not provide the juice of

a good fight. So, both sides have to be held accountable for what has

happened since the vote. Both sides have people who need to do less

talking and more listening.

In Newport Beach, another war of words took a good turn last week.

At the meeting of the Newport Harbor High School Student Political

Action Committee, which featured presentations by both sides of the

St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church expansion, I thought I was in a time

machine. I sat in the back and saw a nearly full room of attendees,

most of whom were students.

Two students led the meeting, which was civil and orderly because

the adults present gave these students the respect they deserved for

getting involved.

While other kids were watching TV, talking on the phone or doing

their homework, these kids were throwing themselves in the middle of

a hot topic. When it was over, they went home to do their homework

too.

Maybe I need to get out more, but I haven’t seen that level of

respectable high school activism since we protested the Vietnam War

in the early ‘70s. Some of the kids last week even wore bell-bottoms.

The topic that night was the church’s proposal to redevelop the

high school’s parking lot to the tune of $3.5 million in exchange for

the right to use the lot when school or school events are not in

session.

I’m trying to treat the church’s expansion as though it were a

for-profit business, believing that they would not be spending

millions to expand unless they expected a sufficient return on their

investment.

As I listened, it occurred to me that I had not heard what the

church estimated would be their new parishioner count if their

expansion goes through. In other words, how many new members or

attendees do they need or expect to attract in order to cover the

cost of their new facility?

That is a very important question that gets to the heart of the

impact of the expansion on the neighborhood.

Finding new places to park cars for St. Andrew’s parishioners is

only one of the challenges here. I wonder if that issue were resolved

whether opposition to the expansion would drop. Let’s say, for

example, that not only could the church expand but that both the

current and new parking were limited to just a handful of cars and

that the high school parking upgrade were not needed.

Impossible? Not at all. The answer lies in off-site parking

coupled with an efficient shuttle system. Before you say that people

won’t go for it, remember that there are dozens of examples of

successful operations doing just that, among them are Disneyland, the

Getty Museum, the Rose Bowl and many others.

There are lots up and down 17th Street that may be able to

accommodate the cars.

But again, the parking is not the only issue here.

But who knows, maybe some out-of-work day laborers from Costa Mesa

could work as parking attendants for the church’s shuttle system.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(714) 966-4664 or send story ideas to [email protected].