Costa Mesa City Council candidates research reasons for increase in thefts and burglaries

COSTA MESA, Calif. - Oct. 30, 2014 - PRLog -- Costa Mesa is a coastal community in Orange County, California, and a tourist destination for art lovers and shoppers. (South Coast Plaza is a shopping mecca.)  Costa Mesa also has a lot to offer families, especially their kids. Costa Mesa is home to the Volcom Skate Park, Teawinkle Park, the Orange County Fairgrounds and Orange Coast College.  At one time, the city had one of the best Police Departments in Southern California -- a fact that brought many new families to settle within the city limits.

Things have changed over the last few years.  Foley and Humphrey wanted to know why.  Both had their suspicions, and after spending many hours researching and probing public records, they discovered that under the leadership of Mayor Jim Righeimer, the Costa Mesa Police Department had been gutted and dismantled.

According to Foley, “In just four years, the department's complement of sworn officers has dwindled by nearly a third, from 147 in 2010 to less than 98 currently available for duty.”

Foley has personal experience with the increase in crime. Her home has been burgularized twice and each of her two neighbors have had their homes broken into.

“Hundreds of Costa Mesans can tell similar stories. In 2012, 668 Costa Mesa homes were burgled, compared with 458 burglaries citywide in 2010. In the same two years, thefts rose from 2,454 to 3,050 in Costa Mesa, and auto thefts went from 282 to 361,” said Foley in a recent commentary titled Righeimer, council let city down on public safety.

In the first paragraph of Jay Humphrey’s website he proclaims, “Over the last three years, I have watched with dismay as the council majority in Costa Mesa has taken us in a direction detrimental to the future of our city.  They are promoting divisiveness and acrimony.  Their actions are stripping the city of talented and dedicated employees, reducing the services our city can provide, and compromising the public safety we have long enjoyed. “  Humphrey, like Foley, is angry that the residents of Costa Mesa can no longer feel safe in their homes.

Foley and Humphrey have been working as a team over the past few months.  Every week-end they have organized volunteer teams to walk and talk with residents.  Humphrey has made talking with residents his daily priority for well over a year.  He is a retired pharmaceutical professional with the time to focus his devotion to the betterment of the community where he has raised, with his wife Sally, two children who are now raising their three grandsons.  This community warrior has good reasons to want his neighbors and family to feel safe in their homes.

Foley, a local attorney and trustee with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, enjoyed working with Humphrey talking with residents across the entire city as both candidates are committed to bringing back an effective city government that will once again make public safety their number one priority.

Both Humphrey and Foley are former Costa Mesa City Council members.  Both have served as leaders of numerous local service organizations, including the Costa Mesa Planning Commission.  Both want to work toward making the local police force as strong, if not stronger, than it was in the past.  Both believe the only way to go in this direction is to vote out the mayor and council majority. Both know now that they have caused the damage and dismantled a once outstanding city police force.

Humphrey and Foley urge Costa Mesa residents to go to the polls on November 4th and vote out Jim Righeimer -- begin the long process of restoring the strength of the Costa Mesa Police Department.

To learn more facts about the campaign and the road to healing, visit www.katrinafoley.com.