Costa Mesans Stage Heartfelt Protest Against Eradication of Affordable Housing

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Well, this was on Facebook, and I expect that Geoff West of A Bubbling Cauldron is going to cover it, having already touched on the controversy in the first story at this link.  Still — the more coverage the better.  Permission to use this and other photos has been granted indiscriminately by Billy Folsom, who also produced a video of the event showing the size of the crowd.  (If you count only the people clearly displaying signs over Harbor Blvd., it’s over 50, and lots of other people behind them seem to be part of the rally as well.

You can see some of the themes of the day on the signs.  The Costa Mesa City Council wants to get rid of affordable housing in motels, arguing that it serves an undesirable element in the city.  “Undesired” (at least by developers) they may be, but a bunch of affordable housing residents, backed up by a bunch of their friends, showed up Tuesday evening to say that they were not “undesirable” at all.  They were just Costa Mesans.

The video is not embedding, but the URL should be available to you.

https://www.facebook.com/billy.folsom.7/videos/10207795463954383/

And now let us look at some of his photos!

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The focus of the protest was a City Council decision that would force residents out of the Costa Mesa Motor Inn.

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Rotate your head approximately 105 degrees to the right and get very close to the screen to read the official notice. Or don’t.

City authorities did not appreciate the gesture.  Nor did the protesters appreciate the suppression.

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A couple of the “motel refugees.”

 

Early on, one protester’s optimistic sign read: “City Council should care about the poor.”

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Protesters targeted oncoming cars to raise awareness of what was going on in their city.

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Several residents, presumably those being evicted, carried signs proclaiming “I am not a pimp or a prostitute” — the removal of whom was one stated goal of the City Council’s action.  Technically, it shouldn’t matter if they are, when it comes to the presence or absence of affordable housing, so long as they are not practicing such activities in or near the motel.  But “I am not pimping or prostituting near my residence” would admittedly be a less effective sign.  (More attention-getting, though!)

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“Our homeless matter.”  They should!  Do they?  To some, yes.  To others, no.  (The partially obstructed word in the black sign, by the way, is “Vagrant.”)

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Putting it succinctly — with a nicely drawn sign.

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Former Councilwoman Wendy Leece accepts a request for an interview.

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Last year’s City Council candidate Jay Humphrey and many others have good reason to wonder how different things might be right now had a few dozen votes gone the other way last year.

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As shadows lengthened on “Friend of OJB” Greg Ridge (lower left) and other activists, more people got off work and the protest grew.

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The Orange Juice Blog Editorial Board wants to proclaim that, based on a pretty convincing majority vote, our official policy is that we believe him!

Good job, Costa Mesans!  (Bad job, Costa Mesa.  Act like you care, Council majority!)


About Greg Diamond

Somewhat verbose attorney, semi-disabled and semi-retired, residing in northwest Brea. Occasionally ran for office against jerks who otherwise would have gonr unopposed. Got 45% of the vote against Bob Huff for State Senate in 2012; Josh Newman then won the seat in 2016. In 2014 became the first attorney to challenge OCDA Tony Rackauckas since 2002; Todd Spitzer then won that seat in 2018. Every time he's run against some rotten incumbent, the *next* person to challenge them wins! He's OK with that. Corrupt party hacks hate him. He's OK with that too. He does advise some local campaigns informally and (so far) without compensation. (If that last bit changes, he will declare the interest.) His daughter is a professional campaign treasurer. He doesn't usually know whom she and her firm represent. Whether they do so never influences his endorsements or coverage. (He does have his own strong opinions.) But when he does check campaign finance forms, he is often happily surprised to learn that good candidates he respects often DO hire her firm. (Maybe bad ones are scared off by his relationship with her, but they needn't be.)