This is the 100th post of the Goat Hill Rodeo, and I had every expectation of celebrating that with a little essay praising the swan songs of outgoing Mayor Pro Tem Jeffrey Harlan and Council Member Don Harper, as well as painting a hopeful picture for our new Council Members, Mike Buley and Jeff Pettis. I also was looking forward to reflecting on the tenure of Council Member Manuel Chavez, who was elevated to Mayor Pro Tem at the conclusion of the meeting, and guessing at how he would handle his new role.

And that yet may occur, because none of the dignitaries disappointed (except maybe Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley and California Assembly Member Cottie Petrie-Norris, both of which were on hand for the ceremonies and turned in perfunctory, clunky speeches). But it won’t be in this post.

The proceedings were overshadowed by something new — at least, new to me — in the City Council chambers: several public commenters invoking a new world order under President-Elect Donald Trump, and issuing direct threats of federal prosecutions, or worse, of anyone who stood in his way.

The catalyst for these shocking comments were alleged election irregularities by the Orange County Registrar of Voters, which somehow the city should remedy by refusing to certify the election results. The first of these were by none other than former mayoral candidate James Peters, who, in a frankly disqualifying speech, not only alleged vote improprieties but also darkly alluded to potential prosecution if the City Council certified the results. “I kindly ask that you do not certify, this election was a total fraud, and is violating all of our state laws and federal laws. And do keep in mind as well: to certify a false election is a federal crime. And you know that Trump has come into office, and you don’t want to be in his path.“

That doesn’t sound so “kind.”

As it happens, certifying a “false” election (whatever that means) is not a Federal crime, at least not at the municipal level. Federal voting laws look at the manner of the vote itself as well as the processing of ballots by the election authorities, which in this case would be the Orange County Registrar, not the City of Costa Mesa. The certification process at the municipal level, which is what the City Council was there last night to do, is a creature of California state law and entirely non-discretionary. That’s lawyer-speak for “they have no choice.” Therefore, if those who have questions about how the election was conducted want to have actual substantive impact, they should take their protest to the Orange County Board of Supervisors, who controls the Registrar. Bullying the City Council into a Hail Mary for their cause will do nothing.*

In fact, it would be worse than nothing, because deliberately refusing to certify election results that have already been certified by the local registrar may itself be an actual crime! This scenario was tested under New Mexico law when Otero County commissioners refused to certify votes for the 2022 election, and it elicited (1) a court order directly from the New Mexico Supreme Court to certify the vote post-haste and (2) criminal referrals to the New Mexico attorney general. I have little doubt the California Supreme Court would come to the same conclusion under California law as well. And as the linked piece notes, refusal to certify the vote without compelling evidence of fraud may also be a violation of the Voting Rights Act, as willful failure to report the vote disenfranchises votes that have been otherwise lawfully counted. In other words, failure to certify could be an actual Federal crime.

Someone who advocates, through ignorance of the law or otherwise, that the City Council engage in an act that itself is a Federal or State crime, and does so using veiled threats of political retaliation from the President of the United States (!) should not hold any office, let alone the Mayor’s seat. Criticizing the election process is fine. I’ve done it myself: California’s election process is pretty terrible. But Peters’s statement goes well beyond that, and that’s disqualifying.

Thankfully the voters of Costa Mesa agreed.

But we weren’t done yet — comments somehow got spicier from there. The most outrageous was called-in by someone identified as “Joe Acosta” by the city clerk, who I will quote at length for the record:

Mayor Stephens: I want to say that you are a puppet, you’re installed. James Peters should actually be the Mayor of Costa Mesa. We know that this election was a fraud […]

So we know that Kash Patel is coming in as FBI Director, and you’re going to be prosecuted. Just know that everybody that got installed you’re going to be prosecuted. Just know that. This is the Trump golden age. We’re here, and we’re going to get these government gatchers [sic] out of here. You know what happens when you do treason? You get hanged. So just be aware: what’s coming you can’t stop. Just know that. Justice is coming. It’s not redemption. It’s justice. Just wait for justice. It’s coming. And you can’t stop it, Stephens.

Questioning the election process, or stating your belief that a candidate or ballot measure actually rightfully won or lost is not a new phenomenon inside City Hall, nor is heated, even borderline violent, rhetoric. What is new, and what frankly disturbs me, is the invocation of Trump’s election to threaten elected officials all the way down at the municipal level. Abuse of the Federal police power is what Trump purportedly ran against. Yet here, we have at least one resident expecting investigations — strike that, prosecutions and hangings — of local elected officials by the FBI for doing what State law requires them to do.

That would be a dark path for “Trump’s golden age”. So I wonder: will this zeal extend to normal city business, or was it an emotional reaction to one of the most dramatic elections in U.S. history? At the moment it seems confined to only a handful of people. Commenters who spoke after Mr. Acosta generally sought to distance themselves from his words, even as some of them echoed his concerns about election integrity. So perhaps it was a flash in the pan. I hope so. But I think it is something to keep an eye on as we enter the second “age of Trump”.

***

After all that drama, the meeting ended on a hopeful note.

I was extremely encouraged by how the city council members themselves handled the situation. Not only did the prior city council unhesitatingly and unanimously certify the vote — including Harper, who, though expressing openness to critiques of the election process, correctly distinguished those valid comments from outright obstruction — the new members of the City Council resisted any temptation they may have had to invoke Trump or the broader election context. Both Buley and Pettis turned in classy, politics-free speeches that emphasized thanking their families, their supporters, and, most notably, their opponents.** Stephens and Gameros also gave positive, encouraging speeches expressing gratitude for being given a chance to serve additional terms, and Chavez made some lovely remarks on the occasion of being elevated to Mayor Pro Tem.

And, truly, I think there are some really intriguing opportunities for bipartisanship coming up. Park projects and policy, Fairview Development Center, the budget and — yes — housing policy, to name a few, will all be featured next year, and there isn’t a clear “Democratic” or “Republican” consensus about any of them. It is a new era in Costa Mesa. Tune out the noise, and I think it will be a good one.

* Note: Could I *imagine* a scenario where Federal election laws were violated by a city council certifying a vote? Sure. I went to law school and hypotheticals are always fun. But realistically speaking, the city-level certification process would need an extraordinary set of facts for the FBI to be (legitimately) involved.

** Compare the tone of their speeches to the triumphalism on display in Republican-dominated Huntington Beach, where outgoing Democratic city council members were given framed “Trump won” photo montages of the new City Council majority. Yeeesh.