Tuesday, July 27, 2004

ISSUE DRIVEN: Limiting the traffic flow around the new Cottonwood Christian Center motivated Catherine Driscoll. EUGENE GARCIA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER MORE PHOTOS

By PATRICK VUONG
The Orange County Register

LOS ALAMITOS – Catherine Driscoll believes in "eating the big frog first."

In this young working mother's world, she tackles the most important project first, because all other duties will seem easy by comparison.

In her Los Alamitos neighborhood, eating the big frog first meant rallying hundreds of neighbors in March to a cause she never thought she'd champion.

She read a news report that Cypress had approved the 28-acre Cottonwood Christian Center project, including putting a traffic signal on busy Katella Avenue at Enterprise Drive, which is two streets from Driscoll's home.

Ignited by a fear that traffic would overflow into her neighborhood, Driscoll, 34, went knocking on doors in her neighborhood, urging residents to go to a Los Alamitos City Council meeting. Driscoll knew the only way Los Alamitos could get changes in the church traffic plans would be to sue Cypress.

Her grassroots effort worked.

Leaders from both cities in recent weeks approved a settlement, meeting most of the residents' demands, including prohibiting church traffic into their area.

And recently, Driscoll announced she's adding another big frog to her plate: running for City Council.

"Because I have such a love for the city, I want to preserve the quality of life," she said. "And the best way to do that is to have a vote. I can be on the other side (of the dais)."

Though a registered voter since she was 18, Driscoll never thought of becoming a political activist. She never ran for her high school student government, didn't try out for the softball team. She just didn't have the time.

Growing up in Downey, she was too busy helping her mom pay the bills - sometimes working two jobs at a time - after her stepfather died when Driscoll was 9.

"It made me appreciate every little thing I ever had," she said. "I'm so used to not having things handed to me. I take pride in what I work for."

Her daily routine often starts at 6 a.m., when she'll rise before her two children to clean the house. After breakfast with the kids, she'll play games with them or take them to the library or aquarium. And when they're napping midday, Driscoll will plunge into whatever chores she can get to, like gardening.

By late afternoon, when her husband, Loren, comes home from his teaching job, she's got dinner prepared. And Driscoll works part-time as a legal secretary.

"Some days, if you get a shower and finish a load of laundry, you have accomplished so much," she said.

By 8 p.m., she puts the kids to bed and focuses on paying the bills, which are tucked into neatly labeled file folders, or researches city issues. For the Cottonwood issue, she pored through 700 pages of city documents, which she organized into three-ring binders.

She helped create the Neighborhood Action Committee Los Alamitos during the Cottonwood fight. In just three months, the group's Web site has collected 100,000 hits. So she and J.M. Ivler, a neighbor and fellow community activist, regularly update the site, using information from neighborhood fliers and the city's recreation guide.

Driscoll typically gets six hours of sleep at night – but not always uninterrupted. Getting up to respond to a child's cries or simply to check on her kids isn't unusual.

She never planned to run for City Council, but her neighbors suggested she would be a great leader.

"She goes out and does things with the intent of helping the many – at the expense of herself," said Ivler, noting how Driscoll's days are devoted to her family and how she spearheaded the fight against the Enterprise traffic light even though she doesn't live on that street.

When updating items on the committee's Web site calendar, Driscoll always asks Ivler, "How does this affect the most people in the most positive way?"

For Driscoll, all the work and activism is worth it if it means preserving a lifestyle she's fought hard for. She writes "Be grateful" notes and places them on her phone and checkbook as a reminder of how far she's come from her teen years of working two jobs just to make ends meet.

"I try to put myself in that place again and say, 'Be thankful and don't lose focus in life.' "