• The interviews were conducted between September 10th and September 18th, 2026.
• The interviews were in-person and one-on-one, with me, Jenn Tanaka (AKA, the Goat Wrangler).
• Each candidate was given the topics of the questions 48 hours in advance of his or her scheduled interview time. Candidates vying for the same seat were asked same questions in the same order.
• Candidates were not permitted to bring prepared answers.
• No candidate was permitted to propose, reject, edit or modify any question.
• The transcripts are close to verbatim, with edits made only for clarity, to remove cross-talk or extraneous noise, or to address interruptions to the conversation.
• Each candidate was given an opportunity to review the transcript for accuracy only prior to publication.
• All candidates were asked about a University of California at Irvine poll in one of the questions. That poll can be accessed here if you are curious.

Listen to the interview: Mike Buley (Candidate, Mayor), September 17, 2026

Read the interview transcript: Mike Buley (Candidate, Mayor), September 17, 2026

Campaign Bio: Mike Buley is a sitting City Council member that has represented District 1 since 2022. He is a husband and father of three children, and he just shipped his youngest off to college. Has lived in Costa Mesa for over 24 years. He has been a member of St John The Baptist Parish since moving to Costa Mesa, where his children attended school, he coached basketball, and he served on finance council. He has owned his own law firm for over 30 years where he has practiced as a civil litigation trial attorney. His parents, brothers and sisters live in the surrounding communities of Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley.

What you should know before diving in: Mr. Buley’s interview took place on September 17, 2026. This means it took place after the City Council’s somewhat consequential meeting regarding the draft Fairview Developmental Center Specific Plan.

Here are some acronyms/places/institutions that get referenced in Mr. Buley’s interview, for context:

• “St. John the Baptist” refers to St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, located on Baker Street in Costa Mesa.
• “FiPAC” refers to the Finance and Pension Advisory Committee, a committee of the City Council focused on budget and pension issues.
• “Measure C” is a 2026 city-sponsored ballot initiative to raise certain business license fees.
• The requirement that “grocery stores of a certain size to man or staff […] automated checkout counters” refers to an ordinance passed by the City Council earlier this year to regulate self-checkout lane staffing at certain grocery and drug stores.
• The discussion of a “rental registry” refers to a failed ordinance to require landlords in Costa Mesa to register their rentals with the city.
• The “Laguna pilot program” refers to an effort by the City of Laguna Beach to integrate artificial intelligence into its developmental services department.
• “SCAG” refers to the Southern California Association of Governments.
• “Yubuya” refers to a Korean sushi restaurant located on Adams Avenue in Costa Mesa.

Listen to the interview: Loren Gameros (Candidate, Mayor), September 14, 2026

Read the interview transcript: Loren Gameros (Candidate, Mayor), September 14, 2026

Campaign Bio: Mr. Gameros has been a City Council member since 2020. He has lived in Costa Mesa for more than 40 years and attended Bear Street Elementary and TeWinkle Middle School. He and his wife have two children that they have raised in Costa Mesa. For more than 20 years Loren has worked with the Operating Engineers Training Trust Local 12, a nonprofit labor organization. There he oversees the Building Inspection program for Southern California and is a Coordinator for its apprenticeship program. He has also taught for 16 years as an accredited instructor through Rio Hondo College and Santiago Canyon College.

What you should know before diving in: Mr. Gameros’s interview took place on September 14, 2026, one day before the City Council’s somewhat consequential meeting regarding the draft Fairview Developmental Center Specific Plan.

Here are some acronyms/places/institutions that get referenced in Mr. Gameros’s interview, for context:

• The discussion of regulating the number of “automated lanes per employee” refers to an ordinance passed by the City Council earlier this year to regulate self-checkout lane staffing at certain grocery and drug stores.
• “OSHA” refers to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
• “Flock” refers to Flock Safety, a company who provides automated license plate readers to cities such as Costa Mesa. Costa Mesa’s use of Flock cameras has been the subject of many public comments this year.
• “ARTVenture” refers to a yearly art exhibition hosted by the City of Costa Mesa.
• “2145 Eats” (also incorrectly called “2148 Pizza” in the interview) refers to a pizza and new American restaurant on Victoria Street in Costa Mesa.
• “Trenta” refers to Trenta Pizza & Cucina, an Italian restaurant on Superior Avenue in Costa Mesa.

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