COSTA MESA : City Looking at Plan for Call-In TV Show

The city’s Human Relations Committee decided last week to try to create a call-in cable television show on which residents may ask questions of public officials and others in the city.

Tentatively called “Open Line Costa Mesa,” the show would let people talk anonymously about their concerns, said committee chairwoman Karen McGlen, who is also the director of Share Our Selves, the county’s largest direct aid charity.

The City Council will have to approve of the call-in show before it can happen, but it already has the approval of Mayor Sandra L. Genis, who serves on the Human Relations Committee.

McGlen said callers might be able to ask the police chief about patrol issues, or owners of ethnic restaurants could appear on the show to answer questions about their food and culture.

“People seem to have comfort in the anonymity of the telephone,” McGlen said. “We hope it will be an opportunity for people to learn about their community.”

Other committee members suggested the show could also be used to talk about illegal immigrant laborers, gangs, sexual harassment, education and senior citizens.

Members of the committee, which makes recommendations to the council, said they will travel to Burbank to watch the taping of a similar show that city produces.

Genis said the Burbank show started as a call-in show to the mayor, and then spread to include other city officials.

The committee voted to ask the council for $2,600 to spend on the development of the program.

Committee members also voted to ask for $250 to continue their work on a city quilt. One panel of the quilt is framed on the fifth floor of City Hall, and enough pieces have been made by residents and local organizations to sew together a second panel, committee members said.