Two Council Winners Seek Broader Base for Business

The two winners of the City Council elections, the manager of a popular bar and a two-term incumbent, said they will try to improve the city by building a bigger business base and steering away from trivial matters that get in the way of progressive leadership.

Gary Monahan, 35, who manages Henry’s and Harry’s Goat Hill Tavern in Costa Mesa, and incumbent Peter Buffa, 46, a television producer, won the two open seats on the council on Tuesday, garnering about 7,500 votes apiece in a field of 11 candidates.

Both will be sworn into office in the first week of December.

“I try to run a professional bar, so I’ll try to run a professional city,” an elated Monahan said on election night.

As a new member of the five-member council, Monahan said he would try to focus on the bigger issues affecting the city.

“We have to worry about getting more cops on the streets and improving our parks and stop worrying about who’s putting up Christmas banners in Triangle Square,” he said, referring to an incident that became an issue last holiday season.

Buffa said he would try to build a bigger business base by creating more tax incentives. He said he would also do his best to maintain the city’s police and fire protection, which has been a priority.

“We also have to continue wrestling with the city’s illegal immigration problem,” he said.

Buffa was the top vote-getter, getting 19.1%, or 7,575 of the votes.

Monahan received 18.9%, or 7,501 votes.

Libby Cowan, a Costa Mesa planning commissioner, came in third, receiving 5,441 votes, or 13.7%.

And Chris Steel, a self-employed investor, earned 5,201 votes, or 13.1%.

Mark Korando, a planning commissioner, was fifth, receiving 3,492, or 8.8% of the vote.