Howdy!

Welcome to Goat Hill Rodeo! Your spot for all things Costa Mesa politics, policy and public interest commentary. Now that you’re here you are probably wondering, what’s with the weird name? Well, it wasn’t just to avoid random numbers being added to the WordPress URL; it’s a mashup of two of my favorite slang terms:

Goat Hill. Proper noun; slang. A formerly derogatory, and now endearing, sobriquet for Costa Mesa, CA, referencing Costa Mesa’s elevated topography and the many goats that used to wander through its rural homesteads.

Goat Rodeo. Proper noun; slang. A chaotic and potentially disastrous situation that can only go right if many unlikely events occur.

So to me, “Goat Hill Rodeo” perfectly describes this city in any particular area: messy, full of fiercely independent (and occasionally destructive) participants that also can be kind of endearing, all trying to do something that is very unlikely to succeed yet somehow, in the end, works out; either as a complete success or a complete farce. And yes: we may all end up exhausted, covered in mud, and laughing at ourselves.

Come join the fun!