Sometimes, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. A couple of days ago, I opened up OC Metro to discover a feature article about all the major coastal resorts banding together to “brand the waterfront” as the ultimate luxury destination. And of course while looking for the article, I had to see a full-page ad urging me to “wake up to the waves” and “rest to the setting of the sun” at “Brightwater in Huntington Beach“, the new luxury housing development that sits just west of the other luxury housing development that sits atop what’s supposed to be protected wetlands. But of course, all this OC coastal luxuriousness mustn’t end there. I soon find a big ad telling me of all the decadently luxurious scenery awaiting me at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach. No matter where I turn the page in OC Metro, I find all this fabulous luxury. Who would have known that I was living in the lap of luxury here in oh-so-fabulous Orange County?

But wait, does everyone really enjoy the “luxurious lifestyle” in The Land of the OC? Can we afford those new houses sitting dangerously close to protected wetlands? Can we even reach the beach amidst all this development? Can we afford to continue ignoring the dire need for affordable housing in the region? Oh yes, and what about the poor kids who want to go to the beach, but can’t thanks to OCTA’s refusal to meet the demands of bus drivers who themselves can hardly afford the high cost of living in Orange County?

Follow me after the flip to explore just how luxurious (or not) life really is…

So how good do we have it here? Well, it depends how much of this “good life” one can afford.

Yesterday, the Coastal Commission decided to not decide yet on the proposed Parkside development. Now Shea Homes has been illegally filling in wetlands in order to plop a bunch of multimillion dollar McMansions there. They claim that they need to build these McMansions in order to alleviate the dire need for housing in Orange County. But is this the type of housing that we really need?

Why must all the new housing be these super expensive developments that encroach upon our open space? Why not work on housing near the areas where we all work? Oh yes, and why not work on housing that most of us can actually afford? People aren’t really clamoring any more for McMansions that they can’t afford. They need something that they CAN afford. Even the Orange County Business Council realizes that if they want to attract new skilled workers to OC, they’ll need to show these workers where they can find a house within their budget. We may very well risk a terrible “brain drain” if we don’t do something to ensure that our workforce can actually afford to live here.

Disney doesn’t want any affordable housing encroaching upon its resort district in Anaheim. They’ll do anything, even throw an initiative to “save the resort district” on the ballot, in order to save their plans for some lovely new luxurious timeshare units. But wait, aren’t there already plans for future hotels in the area? And don’t all these people who work so hard to keep the magic going at Disneyland deserve a decent place to live that isn’t so far away from where they work? Must a place for these workers to call home be an unattainable luxury that’s always out of reach?

Oh yes, and speaking of out of reach… Why is it allowable that in addition to affordable housing must always be out of reach to us working people, we must also be unable to reach what’s supposed to be our open spaces? Just think about all the recent developments that have eaten up our beaches, our hills, and our wetlands. Much of the Dana Point Headlands will soon be filled with overpriced McMansions. Just across the street from Crystal Cove, the old backcountry is now filled with overpriced McMansions. And of course, the Bolsa Chica Wetlands may have some unwanted new neighbors getting a little too close to the wildlife.

But really, why must we be robbed of our housing and our open space? Why must all the housing be built on our open space, and why can’t we be able to live within our means? While there will always be mid-level managers who may have received enough of a salary increase to buy one of these McMansions along the coast, nothing’s being done to ensure that all the folks who will be policing the new McMansion neighborhoods and providing fire protection for these McMansions and educating the children residing in the McMansions and caring for the seniors residing in the McMansions will have a place to live. Oh yes, and have we even talked about the poor folks who will have to clean the McMansions and the people cooking for the people living in the McMansions? Where the heck do they go?

And what incentive do all these regular folks serving the needs of the people living in the big McMansions to live in such expensive places like Orange County? Why can’t we get to the beach? Oh yes, all the McMansions are getting in the way. Oh, and the people living in the McMansions would rather not see bus service in the area.

So is this all just a luxury that we really can’t afford? And is the luxurious lifestyle of a few shutting out the desires and necessities of the many residing here? I wonder sometimes.

(OK, done! And if you have something to say about this Dana Point ordinance, then go ahead and go to the city council meeting tonight at 5:00 PM! – promoted by atdleft)

“We are trying to … keep our population comfortable and safe,” she said. “Enforcing immigration law is not a city job.”

That’s what Dana Point Mayor (AND Candidate for AD 73 in 2008) Diane Harkey has to say to The OC Register about a “No-Trespassing Ordinance” that may very well become law tonight in Dana Point. And if Dana Point does pass this ordinance, it will be the third South Orange County city to do so…

But what does this mean? The new law will prohibit day laborers from congregating on private property… But will it really kick all the “illegals” out of Dana Point? Will it solve the problem of all the “illegal aliens” loitering in front of city businesses?

First, it was the Costa Mesa City Council taking federal law into their own hands by voting to deputize police officers as immigration agents…
And now, much of the nation is following. First it was just the Minuteman Project, but now it has become a giant monster.

So what is it about these anti-immigration measures taking off in Orange County, and spreading throughout the rest of California, and being copied elsewhere in the nation? As a native Orange County resident, I live in the middle of all of this…
And I want to examine the issues surrounding local governments enforcing immigration law. Today, we go to Dana Point to figure out whether this “No-Trespassing Ordinance” will really work. Follow me after the flip for more on this latest attempt in Orange County to weed out the undocumented…

So why does Dana Point want to jump on the “NO TRESPASSING!!” Bandwagon? Well, city officials are complaining that local businesses are hurting because of all those “illegals” lingering on their property.

City officials said local businesses have suffered from the presence of loiterers on their property.

“They are getting impacted,” Dana Point Police Chief Mark Levy said.

Day laborers congregate on Doheny Park Road in Capistrano Beach. Levy drove through the area at around 10 a.m. Monday.

“We have a large group of people who are just standing there, just hanging out,” he said. “They didn’t look like they were ready to go to work at all.”

So perhaps Dana Point will enjoy the same success that Lake Forest has had since that city enacted its own “No-Trespassing Ordinance”. Also from OC Register:

For about 15 years, the day laborers in Lake Forest have sparked debate. Critics say they urinate in public, litter, drink in public and harass passers-by.

The Lake Forest City Council in October passed a citywide no-trespassing law stating that a property owner or someone designated by the owner can file a complaint with the Sheriff’s Department if a trespasser refuses to leave the property. No-trespassing signs must be posted throughout the property. Violators can be cited or arrested.

Some property owners around the unofficial day laborer site, on Jeronimo Road, Orange and Cherry Avenues, hired private security to enforce the no-trespassing law.

And the no-trespassing law seems to be working.

Two men were arrested last Saturday during a protest for the right to solicit work on the sidewalk. The security guard warned them to leave the private property, Lt. Jay LeFlore, Lake Forest chief of police services, said. After booking and an immigration check, the protesters were cited and released.

Oh wait! But just HOW SUCCESSFUL has Lake Forest’s ordinance been? So successful that the day laborers moved a few hundred feet and across the city line to Mission Viejo?

Lake Forest property owners and city officials are thrilled that a new ordinance and security guard have greatly reduced the number of day laborers gathering to seek work in their city.

But the workers haven’t disappeared. They’ve gone next door to Mission Viejo.

Day laborers, as a result of Lake Forest’s recent measures, are moving from Jeronimo Road and Orange Avenue in Lake Forest to Jeronimo and Los Alisos Boulevard in Mission Viejo.

So what did Mission Viejo do? They followed through with their own ordinance…
And went a step further. But anyways, can this “Beggar Thy Neighbor” approach to kicking day laborers out of one’s own town (only to dump them on another town) really work?

After all, can Dana Point, Mission Viejo, and Lake Forest really evade the law of supply and demand? If people continue to demand cheap labor to tend to their tropical gardens and clean their olympic-sized pools and remodel their designer kitchens and paint the new master bedroom, then the supply of day laborers will remain. So can the UCI anthropology professor and the Orange City mayor offer valuable words of wisdom?

“The ordinances are just shifting the problem around,” said Leo Chavez, professor of anthropology at UC Irvine. “They are moving from one corner to that corner. In reality, it becomes a floating labor supply.”

In the city of Orange, which has seen its share of debates over day laborers, Mayor Carolyn Cavecche said it’s “like squishing Jell-O. You crack down on one area and they move to another.”

And is that UCI Chicano Studies professor onto something as well?

Associate Professor of Political Science and Chicano/Latino Studies at UC Irvine Louis DeSipio said the ordinance would not change the demand for day workers.

“These day laborers are there because people in the community are hiring them,” he said.

Why doesn’t the Republican Party like its own voters? Why won’t the GOP candidates talk to the people who will be making a huge decision next February? Why do the candidates only come to Orange County for the big money, and avoid everyone who could not possibly afford to join the big money at these extravagant fundraisers?

Yesterday, something nasty arrived in lovely Dana Point. OK, something BESIDES the fog and the cold. No, Mitt Romney came to town for another big money fundraiser.

(More after the flip…)

Yesterday, Romney hobnobbed with some of Orange County’s most powerful people. Perhaps he raised as much money this time as he did last time…

But what about all those Republicans who can’t afford these ultra-expensive fundraisers? (And no, not ALL Republicans in Orange County are ultra-rich.) What about the average voters who just want to ask Romney about his position on the Iraq War, or his tax policy, or what he thinks about immigration? Do they have to pay $2,300 just to ask Mitt that question?

When I arrived at the St. Regis yesterday afternoon, I was alone and afraid. I felt like a stranger in a strange land, as I was looking the other side of the driveway at all these glamorously rich people being escorted out of their Rolls Royces and Bentleys and Mercedes. I could not even approach the front entrance to the hotel lobby, as I was afraid that security would toss me out of there, and throw me so far that I’d land right in the middle of all the snarling traffic on PCH. I was out of my place, and I could see it and feel it all around me.

Yes, I know that I probably SHOULD HAVE FELT OUT OF PLACE at the St. Regis last night. I was one of those “commie-loving pinko Demonrats” who was hoping to ask Romney about his “kaleidoscopic view” of the war, as well as his flip-flops on such issues as choice, LGBT rights, and supporting “Demonrats”. OK, so I was hoping to stir up a little trouble over there last night…

But what about about all the middle-class Republican voters who might have the same questions that I do? Are they not allowed to question their own leaders? This problem is not just with Romney, but with the entire slew of Republicans who come here for money, but never stay to talk to real people about real issues. On the GOP side, it seems like this race has become a type of “aristocratic primary” where only the rich and well-connected can participate, while everyone else is stuck out in the cold, alone and afraid, trying to look in.

I guess it’s somewhat like the way the GOP has governed this nation for the last six years. But will anyone be able to crash these gates and let the common folks into the GOP primary process?