ON THE TOWN:Reward good behavior, even from the baddest

Last year, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher led the charge in the House of Representatives against renewing the Patriot Act, which he claimed was too intrusive.

Challenging one’s own party and the White House is not generally considered to be a smart career move, yet Rohrabacher did anyway. Why? Because he believed it was the right thing to do.

But wait, there’s more. Rohrabacher was recently interviewed by the Daily Pilot. The interview in Saturday’s paper contained quotes that could have come out of the mouth of the most liberal Democrat. On the subject of the fired U.S. attorneys, Rohrabacher said, “The heavy-handed approach that the president used toward these U.S. attorneys reflects a pattern of arrogance in this administration, and those of us even in the Republican congress recognized a contempt of congressional oversight by this administration as compared to other administrations.”

And when finishing up his comments on the case of two convicted Border Patrol agents, Rohrabacher said, “For four years, I’ve been the point man in defending the administration’s position in Iraq … and here I am, at loggerheads with the president, and that just shows how inept he is at dealing with people like me.”

Rohrabacher’s comments ought to draw kudos from his local critics. So we’re waiting. Feel free any time you can, Rohrabacher critics, to write this paper or add comments on the Pilot website praising the congressman.

You see, this works both ways.

When the school board does something different in order to achieve a different result, they should be applauded.

When Costa Mesa City Councilman Eric Bever starts to take a greener position with respect to city development, that is a good thing that should be noted.

When Newport Beach City Council members decide to take a second look at a bad decision on the location of their new city hall, as they just did, some will see weakness where others see strength in an ability to reconsider.

And when Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor becomes vocal about spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a worthless bridge over Placentia Avenue, he deserves credit.

Actually, Mansoor deserves credit for making me laugh recently. About his forcing a change in the seating arrangement on the City Council dais, Mansoor said, “There’s a good reason for the change, but the only reason that has been given to not move is ‘I don’t want to sit there,’ and that to me is childish.”

I laughed so hard and so quickly, I almost blasted coffee out my nose.

What a hoot. Here we have the guy who threw a tantrum for all to see when he could not get his way calling a colleague childish for not wanting to play.

This is like having Dan Quayle back in office.

But, seriously, the concept is rewarding good behavior. When you catch someone doing the right thing, you acknowledge it and reward it.

So now, I will just wait for the Rohrabacher kudos to roll in.

In a recent column requesting coaches to go easy on kids, I neglected to include parents.

In all of my years of coaching, I have been fortunate to have encountered only two overzealous parents — both were fathers.

The fact is that when it comes to burning out or turning off kids from sports, parents can be just as bad or worse than coaches.