Hopefuls talk taxes

Although the small crowd that showed up to watch Wednesday night’s Costa Mesa City Council candidates’ forum missed a good portion of the Dodgers’ game, they may have got some satisfaction for their baseball cravings.

Watching the last segment of the debate was a lot like watching a major league pitcher deliver a diverse arsenal of pitches.

Each candidate was given the opportunity to ask another candidate a question and have it answered. There were some hard balls, some soft balls, some curve balls — every competitor seemed to have a different strategy.

One of the most pointed questions came right off the bat from Chris McEvoy, who expressed concerns that Jim Righeimer is a developer by trade and that most of his financial contributions came from outside of the city.

“How are we to trust that outside interests won’t take precedence over the residents of this city?” McEvoy asked.

One of McEvoy’s strongest platforms so far is that he thinks the city already has a large population, and increasing development would not only detract from residents’ quality of life, but also take away the culture that the city has built over the years.

Bill Sneen also took issue with Righeimer’s commercial real estate involvement and his two-year tenure living in Costa Mesa.

He fired a bullet at Righeimer right out of the gate, using the 30 seconds allotted for his opening remarks to accuse Righeimer of having “hidden agendas.”

“I’ve lived here in Costa Mesa 20 years longer than Jim Righeimer, and I’m not a politician like Jim,” Sneen said.

Righeimer responded that his experience allows him to understand the building industry from the inside. This understanding would help him make sure developers paid their fair share to the city, Righeimer said.

Another hotly debated subject was the hotel occupancy tax in the city, which is the lowest in the county and has not been raised for many years. City staff said increasing the tax would eventually be necessary if the city were going to keep funding projects that the City Council wanted done, but a majority of the council was against the raise saying that it would drive business away from the city.

Lisa Reedy used her question to ask Mayor Eric Bever why he opposed a ballot initiative that would have put the tax increase on the November ballot, adding that he didn’t present any other proposals for increasing city revenue.

“You rejected letting the public make a decision on raising [the hotel occupancy tax],” Reedy said.

Bever said taxing hotel guests more would steer travelers away from the city. He accused Katrina Foley of supporting the tax when it came up, which she did in principal, but she ended up voting against it.

“I have a history of opposing tax increases supported by Katrina Foley and Linda Dixon,” Bever said.

Foley was quick to rebut. When the issue came to the City Council a few months ago to put a possible increase of the hotel tax on the ballot in November, Linda Dixon was the only council member who voted for it.

“I have never voted for a tax increase as a Costa Mesa City Council member, so don’t be misled by the rhetoric,” Foley said.

Most agreed that building a bridge connecting 19th Street with West Coast Highway would be a bad idea. But Bever said it would bring thousands of extra people into the city from Huntington Beach, which would boost business.

“I’ve been against it every step of the way,” said Gary Monahan.

The 55 Freeway again made its way into the questions, but this time the candidates were asked to focus on business impacts of any major construction projects on the companies adjacent to the freeway.

Chris Bunyan expressed concern that tunneling under Newport Boulevard and directing traffic straight into Newport Beach would divert business from Costa Mesa’s downtown.

“How are the businesses along Newport Boulevard going to survive?” Bunyan said.

Nick Moss echoed this concern, saying that he thought many of the shops on the stretch of street would go out of business during the long construction period.

VOICES

“I’m hoping that through the next study the OCTA realizes that the boring approach would be a better approach [for extending the 55 Freeway].”

Eric Bever

“Don’t look at [my age] as a disadvantage. It’s an advantage. This city is going to be my city longer than it’s going to be [the other candidates’].”

Chris McEvoy

“I think we need strong leadership. I have a strong business mind and a successful family-run business here in Costa Mesa.”

Lisa Reedy

“A lot of my friends are buying mixed-use (live/work) properties. What’s cool about mixed-use properties is they retain traffic in the immediate area.”

Chris Bunyan

“We do have a low business fee. Some people want to raise it. Before you raise it go to South Coast Plaza, go to the chamber, and go to the people.”

Gary Monahan

“The city does not have an income problem; it has a spending problem.”

Jim Righeimer

“A 19th Street bridge would turn 19th street into something like Adams Avenue and I don’t think any of the businesses there would like that.”

Katrina Foley

“I think there are a lot of businesses lining Newport Boulevard that wouldn’t make it through the construction [of an underground extension of the 55 Freeway].”

Nick Moss

“To get involved in the city, you really need to listen to the business owners.”

Bill Sneen

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].