The candidate says California needs to make home-ownership more attainable, not less. Congressional candidate Scott Baugh has cast a spotlight on the severe housing crisis in California, attributing it to flawed government policies.  “Skyrocketing housing prices in California have hit a crisis point, and it’s clear government policies are to blame,” Baugh asserted, pinpointing excessive regulations, astronomical taxes, and a poor response to inflation as the primary culprits behind this alarming trend. Baugh passionately argues that the crisis is much more than a set of distressing statis ..read more

The Mayor Pro Tem contradicts his own talking point rather quickly. Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Jeffrey Harlan recently referred to the city’s Project Homekey building as “not a homeless shelter,” and then later repeatedly referred to it as a shelter in the same speech from the dias. During a March 7 council meeting, Harlan brought up the issue, where he referenced a Costa Mesa Confidential video discussing millions in taxpayer dollars being spent on the Motel 6-turned-homeless shelter as “misinformation.” “This is not a homeless shelter. I know my colleagues and I have said this repeatedly, but ..read more

A woman from Costa Mesa says the alert pushed her to go to the hospital. A pregnant woman from Costa Mesa, California claimed her Apple Smartwatch saved her life during a medical emergency.   “I literally thought I was going to die,” Jess Kelly said. “There were so many doctors and stuff in there.” Kelly was 37 weeks pregnant when the incident happened.  “I had been laying in bed … not feeling well. I didn’t know if it was my morning sickness coming back my third trimester or if it was because I was getting my son’s stomach flu,” Kelly said. “And so, I wasn’t doing any sort of a ..read more

Chavez is running unopposed for Costa Mesa’s Fourth District. Manuel Chavez is the first Latino to be elected to the Costa Mesa City Council. The Westside native is currently a Constituent Services Manager for Supervisor Katrina Foley. Chavez champions affordable housing for all income brackets in Costa Mesa through a number of housing initiatives. He would like to see rent costs go down and is a strong advocate for building more low cost housing within the city.  The Southern California Association of Governments determined that Costa Mesa’s share of affordable housing for Orange County ..read more

Reynolds was on the Ad Hoc Housing Committee that drafted Measure K, rolling back residents’ right to vote on housing developments. Six years ago, a group of residents of Costa Mesa worked to draft legislation that would compel the city council to seek the vote of Costa Mesa residents for the approval of any major development projects. The legislation went to the ballot as Measure Y and was adopted after a majority vote. New legislation, Measure K, could remove the voter approval aspect for major development projects in the city. Councilmember Arlis Reynolds is part of the push for Measure K’s ..read more

The publication announced their endorsement and selected Moorlach over current city mayor John Stephens.  The Orange County Register is endorsing John Moorlach for Costa Mesa Mayor. The announcement came following interviews with candidates running in the general election. Costa Mesa is a city facing growing financial problems, with underfunded pensions and high pension costs taking the spotlight in the troubled arena. It has the highest unrestricted net deficit per capita of Orange County’s thirty-four cities, in a balance sheet that shows a negative balance for every resident. Financial ..read more

Marr’s support of Measure K as solidified in an OC Register article this week. Ballot Measure K, to be voted on in November, effectively eliminates voter approval for significant development projects. Measure K removes voters input for specific areas of the city’s General Plan and zoning and hands it solely to the city council.  Councilwoman Andrea Marr along with other councilmembers Arils Reynolds and John Stephens, all voted in favor of limiting voter input on community development. Two days ago, Marr detailed in the OC Register why she supports it. “I support Measure K because it allo ..read more

Mayor Stephens has resorted to name-calling in his Labor Day Campaign flyer, to rally support from voters in Costa Mesa. In a flyer featuring fellow candidates Andrea Marr and Arils Reynolds, the appointed Mayor John Stephens chose to call candidates with opposing views “extremists.” Stephens was defeated in his bid for councilman in 2020. He got his position as Mayor of Costa Mesa through an appointment by fellow councilmembers. “Extremist candidates are running to try and turn the clock back”, was the message in his Labor Day campaign flyer. Making it sound like a dire warning, “We need your ..read more

Some voters have called into question how moderate he actually is. Democrat Jay Chen, who is running for the 45th congressional district, has presented himself as a moderate to voters, yet those he calls “mentors” are notable progressive Democrats.  Two notable left-wing members of Congress from California, Rep. Ted Lieu and Rep. Judy Chu are backing Chen, while out of state Representatives like Rep. Grace Meng of New York and Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts have also shown support for Chen.   Chu’s progressive congressional background includes a vote against affirming “In Go ..read more

The action would give the council sole authority over divisive development projects. At a July 19 Costa Mesa city council meeting, city councilmembers appeared to do a “bait and switch” to effectively eliminate the 2016 Measure Y. The measure requires voter approval on large high density projects. The council sought approval of a ballot measure that would increase the council’s authority over the approval of 11,760 high density apartment units in Costa Mesa.   Eliminating the Measure Y would bring in 4,700 low income housing units. However, the actual ballot measure did not have any ..read more