Pettis wants to secure more funding for law enforcement and create neighborhood watch-style programs to reduce rising rates of property crime in the city.
Jeff Pettis is running this November for the District 6 seat on the Costa Mesa City Council. Pettis currently serves as the deputy chief nurse of mental health at the Long Beach VA Medical Center.
In a conversation with Costa Mesa Confidential, Pettis’ priorities include addressing homelessness, promoting fiscal responsibility and transparency in the city’s finances, and public safety.
“My platform is based on what residents are talking about when we walk the neighborhood,” Pettis said.
Pettis wants to secure more funding for law enforcement and create neighborhood watch-style programs to reduce rising rates of property crime in the city, he said. To combat homelessness, Pettis is calling for a holistic, empathetic approach that combines enforcement of camping and vagrancy laws with substance abuse and mental health treatment.
“I’m uniquely qualified through my work to tackle mental health and substance abuse issues,” Pettis said. He added that wants the city to use a case management strategy to address the homelessness crisis to give individuals the support they need to become self-sufficient again.
Pettis also wants to ensure that residential development in the city is adequately managed so that new housing developments – such as the One Metro West project – do not overwhelm existing public resources, like traffic congestion and public safety personnel.
“I’m for smart development. We definitely need more development,” Pettis said. “But there’s a right way to go about this.”
Pettis has been endorsed by several individuals and organizations throughout the region. Individual endorsements include former Costa Mesa Mayor Steve Mensinger, and current Costa Mesa City Council Member Don Harper.
Organizational endorsements include the Orange County Gun Owners, the California Rifle & Pistol Association, and Western Electrical Contractors Association.
Pettis first ran for Costa Mesa’s District 6 City Council seat in 2020. According to his campaign website, Pettis ran because of what he perceived as an attack on medical freedom coming from city hall at the outset of the pandemic.
He finished second in a four-way race that year to Mayor Pro Tem Jeffrey Harlan, who currently occupies the District 6 seat.
Pettis and Harlan are the only candidates running for the District 6 seat in 2024.
“I’m not running for the council because I want to be a county supervisor or a state representative, or any other higher office. I’m doing it because I think it’s the right thing for the city and I was raised by parents who taught me to believe in community service and giving back,” Pettis said.
Costa Mesa’s general municipal election will be held on November 5.
