Costa Mesa Councilman Steve Mensinger

Dear friends;

When I was appointed to serve on the City Council last year, I took the responsibility as an opportunity to continue what I’ve already been doing for years: helping to improve Costa Mesa.  As most of you know, for years as the father of two boys’ I’ve been helping to fix and improve our City’s youth sports programs. Raising funds and reinvigorating. Spending my Saturday’s with a paintbrush or a hammer. To make sure all of our kids have a great venues and superb locations to play. I have a great passion for all things Costa Mesa. But with the chance to get to work with the City Council, the opportunity to accomplish even more was one I couldn’t pass up.

Since then,   

1)    We’ve made, and continue to make, significant progress fixing the City’s Budget. And we’ve taken it from a deficit to surplus – without raising taxes.

2)    We’ve been busy at work fixing the City’s roads and aging Infrastructure – and, in fact now require that 5% of the City’s Budget be spent on Infrastructure.

3)    We’ve started to fix the City’s Pension and Contribution systems. Unsustainable contracts and outrageous salaries were bankrupting the City. We’ve taken broad steps to put the system back in order. 

4)    We have emphasized our commitment to families and youth activities. We will partner with the School district to make our Schools more attractive to our residents and the new families we are trying to attract.

5)    I have introduced the one of the most transparent tools ever in labor negotiations. COIN (Civic Openness in Negotiations) is the first ordinance in the state that will bring transparency to labor agreements. These agreements are at the root of California's Fiscal problems. COIN will take negotiations out of the shadows of the back-room and let the taxpayers clearly understand what they are obligated to pay for generations.

6)   I recently introduced (MY CONTRACT WITH COSTA MESA) which clearly illistrates my positions as a candidate and officeholder. My opponents are candidates of the "status quo". Their campaigns rely on hollow arguments, vague positions and empty messages. Our City deserves leaders who are actually engaged in our community, not placeholders for the Unions.


We’ve done a lot in just the past years since I was appointed, but there’s still much more to be done.

Bold reforms are needed to leave the City on steady footing. We’re moving in the right direction, but the next four years will be critical to ensuring our progress isn’t undone in the future And that’s why I’m running for election in November. To make sure I can see through what we’ve only begun to fix. 

After all, that’s what I’ve always tried to do for our town.    

Regards,

 Steve Mensinger