COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:Put our city back on track

At the candidates forum on Aug. 30, and in press reports and letters to the editor, Return to Reason has been praised and denounced by defenders and detractors but not well explained by people like me, who’ve joined the group for many reasons.

I want the public to know who we are and what we stand for.

We are folks whose roots and whose hearts are in Costa Mesa. We are people like myself and former Costa Mesa mayors Joe Erickson, Mary Hornbuckle and Arlene Schafer. We are Republicans and Democrats, local business owners, senior-citizen and youth-sports advocates. We are leadership from local churches, schools and PTAs.

Many of us who’ve joined Return to Reason have never worked together before in any political campaign and have little in common except our love for and devotion to Costa Mesa. As for me, I’ve never before lent my name to a political group in this fashion. I’m doing so now because I think this election is that important in terms of the tone of our politics and the life of our community during the next four years.

You can find a long list of our supporters on our website, www.return2reason.org.

Those of us who are part of Return to Reason don’t have all the answers to the challenges in our community. Many of us disagree among ourselves on many of the issues that confront us. So we can hardly expect our elected officials to have all the answers, or answers on any one issue that satisfy all of us.

What we do want and what we believe the public deserves is a City Council that works well together and with the community in an open-minded, civil and collaborative effort to find practical and effective solutions to problems that local government can address. That’s why we’re endorsing Bruce Garlich and Mike Scheafer.

Return to Reason endorses Scheafer and Garlich because we think they will bring the right spirit to the job. We think they will focus on results and be less interested in the politics of gesture. We are confident they will work closely and effectively with our police, for example, to get to the roots of and end the gang violence that has recently and tragically plagued our city.

Return to Reason supports Garlich and Scheafer because we’re convinced they will pay attention to not only sensational issues, but also to those issues — while they tend to get short shrift — that people care the most about. Things such as fixing the potholes and solving local traffic problems, especially drivers speeding through our neighborhoods.

Return to Reason trusts Scheafer and Garlich to ensure that our children have plenty of safe places to play and that we’re doing all we can in every realm to protect and enhance our quality of life.

We trust them because we’ve seen that they’ve consistently demonstrated their personal values in practice and in a way that testifies to their faith in the goodness and future of our community.

They both have a long history of volunteer service to our community in working with institutions and organizations that benefit all of us, such as the school district, the senior center, the Boys & Girls Club, youth sports organizations and the Lions Club.

Return to Reason wants Costa Mesa to return to its core values of community cooperation and neighborhood pride.

That means we need leaders who know how to consult with the community on matters of great importance, forge relationships among council members and build consensus among diverse elements of our city.

We see in Garlich and Scheafer individuals who know what this means and how important it is, and who have the motivation and capability to deliver.

Help us get back on track.

Help us return to reason by voting for Bruce Garlich and Mike Scheafer for Costa Mesa City Council on November 7.