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Matthew J. Cunningham

Ground Zero In Costa Mesa: Who Is Steve Staveley?

The vituperative, arrogant letter of resignation issued by Costa Mesa’s interim police chief, Steve Staveley, has ignited a media storm – which was most likely his intention in releasing the letter.  While the news stories have regurgitated Staveley’s various unsubstantianted allegations — such that Costa Mesa has no fiscal crisis or that the council is “corrupt” and “inept” – what is totally absent is any context as to who Steve Staveley is.

The average reader would assume Staveley is a veteran cop: an apolitical law enforcement professional who just couldn’t stomach the council’s reductions to the police department budget.

The reality is Staveley is anything but apolitical, but is, in fact, a partisan Democrat. Staveley ran for mayor of Anaheim in 2002 as the endorsed candidate of the Orange County Central Labor Council and the Democratic Party of Orange County. He was a senior official in the administration of Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who brought a partisan Democrat M.O to that office. Staveley was elected to four terms on the Magnolia School District Board of Trustees – and while that is a “non-partisan” office, several successful political campaigns makes it clear Staveley isn’t merely an old cop without a political bone in his body who is just ‘calling them he sees them.’

Obviously, there are people who agree with Staveley’s claim the Costa Mesa council majority has “manufactured” the city’s fiscal crisis, and many others who disagree. However, I think it is safe to say that media outlets covering this story ought to provide their readers with a complete portrait of the council’s accuser, so they can make a more informed judgment about his motives and credibility.

Let me put it this way: if this were a case of a police chief, with a partisan Republican past, loudly quitting in protest over a city council’s liberal policies and denouncing the liberal councilmembers as corrupt and unethical – you can bet that political past would feature prominently in the coverage as an implied motive for the accusations.

It would be easier to believe Staveley’s motives were untainted by partisan considerations if it weren’t for the fact that within a day of his much-reported claim that Costa Mesa’s fiscal crisis is an ideologically self-serving fiction, the Orange County Employees Association’s auditor made essentially the same claim. Boy, how about that for timing? What an amazing coincidence!

Back to the media coverage: I am not claiming coverage of the Staveley resignation as evidence of malicious press bias in favor of the union line in Costa Mesa. I do think it is indicative of both a lack of institutional knowledge of recent OC political history, and a failure to conduct some basic research on the background of news subject who had leveled some very serious charges against the Costa Mesa council. Their readers — especially Costa Mesa residents — deserve more.