COSTA MESA
At a special meeting last week, the City Council voted 3 to 2 against paying about $3,500 in membership dues to the Orange County Human Relations Commission, and criticized the group for letting down the city and exaggerating the seriousness of a fight at Newport Harbor High School. Mayor Gary Monahan and council members Joe Erickson and Heather K. Somers voted in the majority.
“I’ve . . . served on this council for eight years, and I feel that the Human Relations Commission during my term let down the city on several occasions,” Erickson said. “I don’t think they served in an unbiased manner.”
The commission will continue its programs in Costa Mesa, a representative said, but cities that pay dues get priority over ones that do not.
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