Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight!

courtesy of David Simms via CBS

ABOUT THOSE FIREFIGHTERS PENSIONS...
So, shall we all complain at once about the "outrageous" pensions we provide to our firefighters? No? I didn't think so. Two firefighters lost in the Station fire - so far...


LOCAL TELEVISION FAILS WITH COVERAGE
What a weekend! The only thing that might have made it more harrowing would have been some actual television coverage of the fires that are burning around southern California. All our local stations chose to provide us with sports and infomercials instead of giving us coverage of those fast-growing fires that have threatened thousands of homes in Los Angeles County. KCAL Channel 9 is doing a good job providing coverage Sunday night, but dropped the ball along with all it's peers earlier in the weekend. Every one of those stations should have their licenses reviewed!

JPL courtesy of Erik Brandon via CBS

FRIENDS IN JEOPARDY
I know the area of The Station fire very well - it's my old stomping grounds when I was a kid - a long, long time ago. In fact, my best friend - about whom I've written frequently - lived in the Briggs Terrace section of La Crescenta that was threatened over the weekend.

Phoscheck Bomber courtesy Keith Bohanan via CBS

MT. WILSON THREATENED
As I type this Sunday night the communications towers and observatory on Mt. Wilson are threatened - one briefer said it's possible we will lose them tonight because that peak is being approached by fire on two sides! If that happens not only will most local television networks go dark, but many police and fire communication networks will be severely hampered. Monday could be very interesting.

FREEDOM COMMUNICATIONS TO FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY?
The Wall Street Journal is reporting today, Sunday, that Freedom Communications, the parent of our very own Orange County Register, will file for bankruptcy later this week. That really doesn't come as much of a surprise - they have been in free-fall for more than a year. If they do, in fact, file for bankruptcy they will join our other print news source, the Tribune Company, in that condition. The Tribune Company is the parent of the Los Angeles Times and Times Community Newspapers (The Daily Pilot).

DAILY VOICE TO SHIFT PLATFORMS
Speaking of local news, our friends over at The Newport-Mesa Daily Voice announced over the weekend that they are shifting platforms for their fledgling online publication. In fact, they will be using the same platform that is utilized by the Daily Pilot. It will be interesting to see how that move goes.

HOW TO REPLACE FISLER?
This week brings us another Costa Mesa City Council meeting on Tuesday. Although the meeting may turn out to be brief, among the things to be discussed will be how to replace Planning Commission Vice Chairman Jim Fisler, who resigned last week when he was appointed to the Mesa Consolidated Water District Board of Directors.

Ellie Greenwich, Rest In Peace

NO HOMEWORK FOR YOU THIS WEEKEND
Instead of provoking you to try to figure out why Marc Puckett is no longer the Finance Director in Costa Mesa, or who the City Council might appoint to replace Jim Fisler on the Planning Commission, I'm letting you off the hook this weekend.

THE PASSING OF ELLIE GREENWICH
Instead, I want to give you a couple nibbles of some of the music I grew up with, written by Ellie Greenwich, who passed away at age 68 last Wednesday. Ellie was a remarkable talent who joined with her then-husband, Jeff Barry, to compose some of the most memorable music of the 50s and 60s. In later years she also produced albums and songs for some terrific musicians, and is credited with discovering Neil Diamond. For a list of her accomplishments visit her web site HERE.

Take your time and enjoy some of the music of my youth.

Da Do Ron Ron - The Crystals



Chapel of Love - The Dixie Cups




River Deep, Mountain High - Tina Turner




Leader of the Pack - The Shangri Las




Be My Baby - The Ronettes

Marc Puckett Is Gone - Why?

MARC PUCKETT ON LEAVE
It was with great pain that I read in the Daily Pilot online edition, HERE, today that City of Costa Mesa Finance Director and City Treasurer, Marc Puckett, is on leave from the city for, as the Pilot article says, "an undisclosed reason."

NO FINANCIAL MALFEASANCE INVOLVED
The article by Alan Blank goes on to quote City Manager Allan Roeder indicating that Puckett's absence has "nothing to do with financial malfeasance." I know Mr. Roeder to be a man of integrity and honor, so I take him at his word.

HELD IN HIGH REGARD FOR A DECADE
Puckett has been with the city ten years, coming to Costa Mesa from Flint, Michigan, where he was Director of Finance. He has been held in high regard not only by members of our city and staff, but by the wider financial community, too. In the wake of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy he formed the Lehman Brothers Working Group, which now includes 1500 agencies from 21 states.

HE RESIGNED FROM CMTA THIS MONTH
Because city officials are playing this subject very, very close to their vests, we have no idea why he left, how long Puckett will be absent, nor if he will return to his job at all. I do know that he wrote a letter on August 18, 2009 to the President of the California Municipal Treasurers Association - a group in which he was a member of the Executive Board and the President-Elect - resigning his position on that board. That act alone would lead one to believe that Puckett may never return to his job in Costa Mesa.

PUCKETT ALWAYS A PRO
Over the past few years I've had frequent contacts with Marc Puckett, usually during the budget planning process. I always found him to be a very responsive and intelligent public servant. He clearly knew municipal finance inside and out and was eager to impart knowledge to those who asked.

THE QUESTION IS - WHY?
Because this is a "personnel matter" the city is apparently obligated to keep the reason for his absence quiet so it leaves us all to engage in what I refer to as "speculosis" - the affliction of speculating on the reasons for an event or situation. I sincerely hope that Puckett's absence will not adversely affect the city's ability to go forward with the very difficult budget planning issues that are ahead.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL, INCLUDING PUCKETT
In the meantime, I wish the city finance staff and the senior management well as they try to sort out whatever the issues are. And, I wish Marc Puckett well, too. Until we know more, he deserves that...

More Daily Pilot Changes

ANOTHER PILOTEER DEPARTS
Well, another young reporter on our newspaper of record, the Daily Pilot, has decided to depart for greener pastures.

ALAN BLANK HEADS EAST
Alan Blank, who has been the Daily Pilot Costa Mesa reporter for the past couple years, is throwing all his earthly possessions into his car and heading east. His last day at the Pilot will be Friday, August 28th. A week from Monday he will become the Press Officer for engineering and physical sciences at the University of Rochester, a small, but renowned university in Rochester, New York.

THE RIGHT SKILL SET
Blank, a local Costa Mesa product, graduated from UC Santa Cruz two years ago with a degree in physics. His education acquired as a Banana Slug (yes, that's the UC Santa Cruz mascot) and the skills he's developed as a reporter on the Daily Pilot seem to dovetail perfectly for this new assignment.

HE WILL BE MISSED
The son of local lawyer and community activist Chris Blank, he has become a good reporter, covering all the Costa Mesa bases at a time when resources at the Daily Pilot and most other newspapers have been diminishing. His amiable, easy-going style will certainly be missed.

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'
So, when you read the upstate New York weather reports this winter, think of Alan Blank, with his thin California blood, shivering with teeth chattering as he tries to explain to his cohorts that he'd be out surfing in January if he was home in California. We wish Alan all the best in this next big step in a very promising career.


*****

DAILY PILOT TO BE "DAILY" ONCE AGAIN
Daily Pilot Editor Brady Rhoades let the cat out of the bag on his blog the other day when he referred to his goal of having a columnist reporting on Latino issues "on Monday, A1". When I wrote to remind him that they don't publish on Mondays he acknowledged that he probably should have mentioned that he hopes to get the Daily Pilot back publishing daily again in the very near future. He subsequently posted a follow-up entry confirming that the Daily Pilot will be providing us with important local news seven days a week within a few weeks. That's good news for all of us.

Changes at Mesa Consolidated Water District

SCHOENBERGER AND FISLER APPOINTED
At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Mesa Consolidated Water District last night former board member Paul Schoenberger was appointed to the position of General Manager and Costa Mesa Planning Commission Vice Chairman Jim Fisler was appointed to the Mesa Consolidated board.

SCHOENBERGER'S CONTINGENT ON HEALTH
According to sources within Mesa Consolidated, Schoenberger's appointment is contingent upon some technicalities - like passing a physical exam, for example.

MESA'S SPENDING PLAN
Mesa Consolidated Water District Director approved a budget earlier this year with a spending plan of nearly $28.5 million and has been a strong advocate of water conservation.

FISLER RESIGNED THIS MORNING
Fisler's appointment is contingent upon him resigning from the Costa Mesa Planning Commission - which he apparently did in an email (Oops. Fisler advises he resigned by letter to the city clerk. My error, based on faulty original information.) this morning. He was apparently among twenty applicants for the position. He will join current board members Shawn Dewane, Fred Bockmiller, Jim Atkinson and Trudy Ohlig-Hall.

COUNCIL WILL CONSIDER THE OPENING ON TUESDAY
This now creates an opening on the Costa Mesa Planning Commission. My understanding is that the City Council will most likely have this an agenda item at their meeting on Tuesday, September 1st.

HOW TO FILL FISLER'S SLOT?
When inquiring of city officials to determine the options open to the City Council I was told that the council could open up this opportunity to the public and solicit inquiries from interested parties or they could simply just appoint someone to fill Fisler's remaining term - through 2010.

BIGGER JOB, MORE BUCKS
Congrats to Mr. Schoenberger and to my old buddy, Jim Fisler. I'm sure Mesa Consolidated Water District will benefit from Fisler's work ethic and tenacity on issues. And, Fisler will also benefit, since the members of the board receive a stipend of $200 per meeting to a maximum of 10 meetings per month. As a member of the Planning Commission he's been receiving $400 per month, regardless the number of meetings attended.

Mansoor Withdraws MOU Review Request

Breaking News!!

NO REVIEW OF FIREFIGHTER MOU
Mayor Allan Mansoor today withdrew his request to re-hear the decision made by the Costa Mesa City Council on the Memorandum of Understanding between the city and the firefighters union.

REVIEW WOULD CREATE CHAOS
Mansoor and Eric Bever voted against the MOU and Mansoor subsequently requested a re-hearing. I posted a blog entry on it, HERE, expressing concern that this would create chaos in the system, since both parties to the agreement had signed it and were well on their individual ways to making it work.

MANSOOR ACTED ON ADVICE THAT CHANGED
According to City Manager Allan Roeder, Mansoor was advised originally by city staff that it was appropriate to request a re-hearing. Upon further legal review, however, it was determined that the city might not be on solid ground and they advised Mansoor today. He then withdrew his request. Much as I would love to gloat about Mansoor messing this up, he didn't. He followed the procedures, received advice, acted on it but the advice changed upon further review.

TIME TO MAKE THE PLAN WORK
Now both the city staffers and the members of the firefighters union can move forward with the plans they had made as a result of the signed MOU and try to make this element of the 10-point plan to balance the budget work.

OTHER EMPLOYEES GRUMBLING
In the meantime, there are still the not-to-subtle grumblings from other city employees and their representatives about the deals they made with the city. As I've said before, if they are unhappy with the negotiations conducted by their representatives they should take it up with them and perhaps consider changing their representation in the future.

Mensa Metamorphosis?

"YOUR NEIGHBOR" REDUX
You all know the high regard I have for our old buddy, "Your Neighbor" (The Mouth From Mesa North), or as he has referred to himself in the past, "Mr. U. Know-Who". I've written many, many times about him and his insidious influence on our city and his warped "if-it-ain't-white-it-ain't-right" philosophy.

THE BRAIN WHO ATE COSTA MESA
I've written that I thought he has a prodigious intellect, but that it's been wasted on his attempts to sway public opinion against those who are not white. I've acknowledged that he's one smart fella, ( He purports to be a member of Mensa, among other things) but that his views are twisted by his obvious racial bias. He and I seldom agree on much. In fact, back when our local newspaper of record, The Daily Pilot, was publishing his submissions they would occasionally publish our separate views juxtaposed on the same page. That was fun.

SPEWING VENOM
Our old pal continues to stand before our city council and other public bodies and spew his venom about whatever his cause du jour happens to be. And, it appears, he does continue to influence a few folks around town, including some elected and appointed officials. It's sad..

METAMORPHOSIS
Lately our pal seems to be undergoing a metamorphosis. You know that word, right? One definition of that word is, "A change in an animal as it grows, particularly a radical change, such as the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly." In my view, though, this metamorphosis is more likely to result in a cockroach than a butterfly.

SHIFTING GEARS
Our old buddy seems to be shifting gears these days. His pathetic blog, the CM Press, has become a kind of Drudge Report wannabe - an aggregator of "news". Except our buddy has chosen to insert radical racial articles that support his warped view of the world into his aggregations. Rather than focus on local news he's taken to trying to solve the world's problems as a blog poster.

"OUR WAY FOR OURSELVES ALONE"
Even more interesting is a site I discovered that he's been authoring for many months. Here's a link to it. Before you go visit this site, understand that it appears to be a "work in progress" - well over 40,000 words so far, and counting! I visit it every now and then and it seems to be in a constant state of flux. My take on this lengthy bit of propaganda is that our pal has finally gone off the deep end and now actually believes he's a deity! Yep, God, himself!

NOT THE "GOD" YOU HOPED FOR
Of course, that explains a lot of what he writes and says. Except, he's not the benevolent "God" one hopes for - he's an impatient deity, who suffers no fools. That must make it tough for him, because he apparently views every other human being to be inferior to him. As he stands before the city council, for example, he will frequently refer to them using such terms as "stupid", and other terms of endearment.

WHY WRITE ABOUT HIM?
So why, Potstirrer, do you write about this guy? Glad you asked. Under most circumstances I would simply ignore his perverted pontifications. I wouldn't give a hoot that David Duke, former head of the KKK, thinks he's a great writer - which he does, according to his web site. I wouldn't care about the hundreds of essays he's had published online on sites like the New Nation News web site, HERE, and many others over the past decade. I wouldn't give a second thought to the fact that the Southern Poverty Law Center considers him a dangerous fellow and has developed a sizable file on him and his writings. After all, he's just one pathetic, misguided guy, wasting his prodigious intellect trying to spread hate in the world.

HIS INTIMIDATING INFLUENCE IS SIGNIFICANT
Except - and that's a BIG EXCEPT - his vile pronunciations contaminates my city. When he growls like an angry gorilla before our city council about issues using all his skills developed as an actor - which are not much, believe me - he does influence decisions made by our leaders. When he was appointed by his sycophants on the council to the powerful 3R Committee he was able to manipulate the process used to distribute government funds to charities in our city to the detriment of those that serve our large Latino population.

PAULARINO PARK
When he decided that he didn't want hard-working Latino men kicking a soccer ball around a neighborhood park near his home he raised the specter of children being injured by errant balls, adult men defecating in the bushes, etc. Sure enough, even there was no evidence that this was happening, he frightened enough people that he successfully had the park turned into a passive park - where no one can actually go to engage in active recreation. If you want to go sit and watch grass grow, Paularino Park is the place for you.

ORANGE COAST COLLEGE SWAP MEET
Several years ago he was almost successful in his move to abolish the Orange Coast College Swap Meet - a weekend venue of low-end commerce frequented by many of our Latino neighbors. He painted a picture of invading hoards of terrible Santa Ana residents, driving on our streets and wearing them out. It almost worked until wiser minds prevailed and his move, championed on the city council by then-rookie councilman Allan Mansoor, went down in flames.

AZTEC BASKETBALL LEAGUE
More recently his bleating before the Parks and Recreation Commission about a contract with the Santa Ana-based Aztec Basketball League in which he painted a similar picture for them of gang-bangers and ex-cons invading our Downtown area every Sunday, terrorizing our women and children caused the commission to turn to stone when it came time to vote on the contract. Only after much community outcry did the commission re-hear the issue and the contract was approved. That only happened after the issue was passed upstream to the City Council and Mansoor required the owner of the league to change the name of his business to eliminate the offensive "Aztec" reference. Such is his influence over some of our weak-minded leaders.

THE REASONS FOR HIS HATE?
Those are just a few of the reasons I've written this little essay. I could write about many, many more - and may do so one day. I don't know why "Your Neighbor" has such a strong, deeply-rooted hatred for people of color, but his actions clearly tell us he does. Perhaps he or a member of his family has had a bad experience with a member of a minority group and that has caused him to spew his hatred for so many years. Perhaps he views Costa Mesa as a place where insufficient intellectual horsepower is found in our elected leaders, which makes it easy for him to sew his seeds of intolerance. Maybe it's all of the above and more.

STAND UP TO HIM!
Whatever the reasons for his actions, it is my opinion that his ongoing presence in municipal matters is an insidious influence on our city. It does not serve the residents of our city well. I can only hope that the current council - at least a majority on the council - will finally have the intestinal fortitude to stand up to this bully, and that future elected leaders will do the same.

What's Mansoor Up To Now?

WHAT THE HECK?!
OK, can someone please explain this latest move by our young jailer/mayor? The other day the Daily Pilot announced, HERE, that Allan Mansoor - candidate for the 68th Assembly seat currently held by Van Tran - will bring the recently-approved agreement between the city and the firefighters union back to the council for re-consideration. Mansoor apparently appealed the decision from the earlier special council meeting just before the council meeting Tuesday. According to city officials, this appeal will now be held at the council meeting on September 1st.

WHO WILL SWITCH?
Mansoor and his "pal", Eric Bever, voted against approval at the earlier meeting. One can only assume that Mansoor thinks he's managed to sway one of the other council members - most likely Wendy Leece or Gary Monahan - to change their position.

ALL ACTION FROZEN
This move by Mansoor essentially freezes any action on that segment of the budget until the appeal is heard and voted on. If, perchance, he is successful in convincing one of his peers to change a vote, that really snarls up the budget process.

INSUFFICIENT NOTICE?
Mansoor, based on reports, thinks the voting public didn't receive sufficient notice before the new contract was approved. He thinks there's not enough payoff for the city - he termed it, "only short-term savings". It's an interesting statement, since the public has not been privy to the agreements in the past. He's just posturing for potential donors to his campaign.

"NEGOTIATED"
The firefighters negotiated - key word there - the change to their Memorandum of Understanding and actually provided the city with much more savings than it had requested. According to one of their representatives, Fire Captain Jeff Janzen, HERE, the increased retirement incentive that seems to be part of Mansoor's complaint was not something the firefighters requested - the city needed it to attain the staff reductions as part of the 10-point plan to balance the budget.

INEXPLICABLE STUBBORNNESS
Throughout the public elements of the labor negotiations both Mansoor and Bever have shown an inexplicable stubbornness. In Bever's case it might be explained away because he failed to show up an most of the essential meetings during this process so didn't have a clue. It would appear that Mansoor is doing this for pure political posturing purposes. He markets himself as being a hard-liner on taxes, so I guess he thinks putting the city in a headlock at one of it's most critical times in history is a way to demonstrate that "characteristic".

MANSOOR IS BEING STUPID AND CHILDISH
I just think he's being childish and stupid. I think he simply does not grasp the numbers, so feels obligated to say NO!

INTERESTING SIDEBAR
An interesting sidebar to this particular scenario is that Costa Mesa is one of the very few cities whose rules allow the loser on a vote to call it up for appeal. In most other cities only a council member on the winning side of a vote can call it back for re-consideration. Perhaps we should revisit that issue in the near future.

MARKING TIME
So, as the city staff hums the Jeopardy! theme we mark time, waiting until September 1st to see what, if anything changes.

OTHER EMPLOYEES FEEL MISTREATED NOW
Meanwhile, some other city employees feel they were not treated fairly when they negotiated their concessions. Their union representative spoke before the city council last Tuesday, whining about the poor treatment they received. Now, that seems very strange to me. They negotiated - there's that word again - the changes that were approved. Perhaps the employees should be complaining to their paid union representatives. If any of the council members decide to revisit that issue, too, it will create chaos.

SMALL PEOPLE IN BIG JOBS
This is what happens when you elect small people to big jobs... I warned you..

Dave Kiff Named Newport Beach City Manager

DAVE KIFF WINS THE COMPETITION
Congratulations to Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff for being named to replace his boss, Homer Bludau, as the new City Manager in Newport Beach. Kiff was among many candidates from all across the country considered. His appointment as announced today by Mayor Ed Selich in a special City Council meeting at 3:43 p.m., following the closed session in which the council discussed the appointment and his contract.

IRONMAN KIFF
Why, you ask, did I use a half-naked photo of Kiff on this piece? Well, it seems Kiff is a serious athlete - a 4-time Ironman participant who, according to some reports, rides his bicycle to work from his home in Laguna Beach. As councilwoman Nancy Gardner put it, "We have the most fit City Manager anywhere!"

A GOOD CHOICE
From all reports, the appointment of Kiff as City Manager not only insures continuity on some very large, very special project - like the new City Hall, for example - but fills that position with a man held in high regard throughout the community.

CONGRATULATIONS TO DAVE KIFF
Again, Congratulations to Kiff and to the City of Newport Beach for this choice.

RACE FOR THE SCOOP
An interesting sidebar in this little drama was how quickly the news was presented to the public. The fledgling Newport Mesa Daily Voice, published by former Daily Piloteers Tom Johnson and Bill Lobdell, hooted early in the day that they would be first with the news of the appointment of the new City Manager.

THE PILOT WAS ALSO READY
The Daily Pilot was also poised to break this news promptly. So, here I sat with two browsers open and the streaming video of the council meeting playing, waiting to see which outlet would break the tape first.

THE WINNER IS... THE DAILY VOICE
As Ed Selich said the words at 3:43 p.m. the Daily Voice posted their announcement, HERE, with a nice bio on Kiff. The Daily Pilot posted their story about 10 minutes later, HERE.

LOBDELL HAD THE INSIDE TRACK
I suspect that, because Lobdell is also an Ironman competitor, he might have had the inside track on this story - it certainly looks like it.

COMPETITION IS GOOD FOR US ALL
Regardless, our communities are well-served by two organizations working hard to present the important news of the day to their readers. Competition is good for that business. Thanks to both for their attentiveness. The Orange County Register finished with the bronze medal in this race.

What's Coming Up This Week?

COSTA MESA LIBRARY FOUNDATION FUNDRAISER AT MIMI'S MONDAY!
Well, first thing off the bat, the Costa Mesa Library Foundation is having a fund raising dinner opportunity for you Monday, August 17th (tonight, for most of you reading this early Monday morning).

Yep, this is another chance for you to grab some great grub and participate in a contribution to the foundation. This one is at Mimi's Restaurant, 1835 Harbor Blvd., in the Courtyards Center. The event is scheduled from 4 p.m. - 8 p.m. and you MUST bring a flier to Mimi's and present it with your check to be sure the money is properly earmarked for the foundation. You can visit the Costa Mesa Library Foundation web site HERE for more information about the event. There's a link to a PDF file for the flier... just print it out and take it with you. See you there..

MASSAGE LICENSE MORATORIUM
The Costa Mesa City Council will hold another meeting Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall. Among the items on the agenda is yet another public hearing on the current moratorium on massage licenses and permits. The staff is recommending an extension of this moratorium for another 10 month and 15 days.

RETIREMENT ENHANCEMENT ORDINANCE
They will also give a second reading to the ordinance amending the city's agreement with CalPERS to provide for an additional 2 years of service. The approval of this item will facilitate the early retirement of several dozen city employees as part of the "10-point plan" to balance the city budget for this fiscal year.

PUBLIC SERVICE MEMORIAL
And, the council will hear the proposal by the Parks and Recreation Commission to create a "City of Costa Mesa Public Service Memorial." While this seems like an idea worth discussing, the timing seems off considering the precarious condition of the city's finances right now.

My Bad, My Apology, My Birthday and Wild Surf

Photo courtesy of Surfline.com and Photographer Tom Cozad and Pilot Howard Hamlin

MY RECENT COMMENTARY
Recently the Daily Pilot published a letter of mine in their "Sounding Off" section in which I addressed another writer's consternation with the traffic that infested the Balboa Peninsula during the huge surf a couple weeks ago. His premise was that the city should have done something about it.

DESCRIPTION TOO BROAD
In my letter I said, in part, "The issue was exacerbated weeks ago when the huge waves at the Wedge drew thousands of gawkers, apparently intent on seeing another person get pounded to death on the rocks, as happened early in the “Weekend of Waves.”, and went on to discuss the problem of managing traffic in the event of a big tragedy - an earthquake or tsunami. You can read the entire commentary HERE.

TAKEN TO TASK
Today the Daily Pilot carries a letter from a person named Jonathan Hebbard, a Costa Mesa resident, who took me apart for my suggestion that EVERY person on the peninsula to watch the waves was there to see another person killed. You can read his letter HERE. Mr. Hebbard is correct. I was wrong to make the statement as broad as I did and for that I apologize. Certainly, not all the people that jammed the peninsula those few days were there to see a person killed. Most, I'm sure, were there to see the battle between the surfers and those monster waves.

SOME WERE "LOOKING FOR BLOOD"
However, I was on the beach at The Wedge on the Thursday of that week, just as the waves were beginning to build, along with a couple hundred observers. While there I saw many viewers cheer, whoop and holler each time a surfer - attempting to ride one of the big waves - was pounded into the sand. Do I think they wanted someone killed? Of course not! Do I think they got a thrill when a surfer was crunched? Yes, I do. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is in our society. It's the same reason people go to bull fights. I suspect most observers over that weekend were there to see the huge waves and to admire the skill and bravery of those choosing to attempt to ride them. I do think some of the observers - many of whom created the gridlock on the peninsula that caused so many problems - were there because of the media coverage of the tragic death of the surfer a day earlier... they wanted to see the "killer waves".

I APOLOGIZE...
Once again, I apologize to Mr. Hebbard for my insensitivity. I should have chosen my words more carefully and will try to do a better job of that in the future.

MY BIRTHDAY PRESENT TO YOU
So, I leave you for this weekend with a couple links that will amaze you. The first is courtesy of Daily Pilot crime reporter, Joe Serna, who has this link on his blog. Click HERE for an unbelievable series of photos taken from the air by photographer Tom Cozad and Pilot Howard Hamlin in a series of shots of our recent huge surf entitled "Surf From Above" on Surfline.com. The above photo was clipped from that series.

MORE, MORE, MORE...
The second, a series of photos and video clips of the recent surf here in Southern California entitled Full Story:Summer Megaswell Hits West Coast", is also from Surfline.com and can be viewed HERE. You will see some amazing photos of The Wedge, among others. Other fascinating surfing links are also available for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoy...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Finally, A Budget Framework...

OVERPAID PLANNING COMMISSIONERS PROVE MY POINT
Before I forget.... the Costa Mesa Planning Commission, at their meeting Monday night, exceeded my expectations - kinda. As I earlier predicted, their one-item meeting was going to be a quickie - I speculated that it would be finished in a half-hour. Well, I was wrong, but not by much. The meeting began promptly at 6 p.m. and concluded at 6:27, so the boys did themselves proud. And, since they will only be meeting once a month through November, that means the good taxpayers of Costa Mesa paid them what amounted to more than $800.00 per hour for all their "hard work" on Monday. Don't you feel good about that?

*****

FULL STUDY SESSION AGENDA
Today was a busy one for our City Council. As mentioned yesterday, they had a full agenda, with a Study Session packed with interesting items - including Wendy Leece's proposal to sanctify the City Council chambers with a plaque carrying the motto, "In God We Trust". Since the session was not televised live I have no idea how that played with the remainder of the council members.

PAINFUL REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY REALITY
Then they adjourned to the council chambers for a meeting of the Redevelopment Agency - the council in a different dress. That was a quickie, during which they made decisions protecting the city in the event the state successfully snatches redevelopment dollars from us.

MUSICAL CHAIRS
Then the lights were dimmed and the council played musical chairs and swapped name tags and re-convened as the city council to consider one item - the proposed Memorandum of Understanding between the Costa Mesa Firefighters and the city.

FIREFIGHTERS OFFERED MORE THAN WAS ASKED...
To summarize, the questionable areas that existed a week ago have been hashed out by the negotiators on both sides and an acceptable proposal was presented for the council to consider. Presentations by senior city staff with, added input by the leaders of the firefighters association, made clear that this was an acceptable proposal. In fact, the firefighters actually presented more savings than the city originally requested.

STUBBORN OR STUPID?
It was very frustrating, but not unexpected, that Mayor Mansoor just couldn't grasp the numbers no matter how many times it was explained to him. Of course, this is who he is - a man with very limited intellectual resources being asked to comprehend what began as some complicated issues. In the end, though, I think it was just stubbornness on his part. Led by the solid discussions by Katrina Foley, Wendy Leece and Gary Monahan, the proposal as presented was passed on a 3-2 vote, with Mansoor and Bever voting No.

BEVER'S CONTRIBUTION? ONE WORD...
It was interesting to note that, despite all his bluster on the Daily Pilot blog over the past few days, Bever said only one audible word all night. That was when he said "second" to Mansoor's substitute motion to delay voting on this issue until the next council meeting on the 18th. That motion failed. Bever offered not a single word - not even any of his occasional grunts - during the discussion. He asked no questions, posed no alternatives - it was as though he was asleep. In fact, he may have been for all we could tell. One might have thought someone had cut out his tongue, for goodness sake.

THE BERRYS BLUSTER
Maybe Bever felt the tag-team of his neighbors, Mike and Judi Berry, said enough so he didn't have to. Believe me, I thought they said more than enough, but at least Judi didn't whine about cutting the Mutt Mittens from the budget this time around. And who knows what Mike said?! Sometimes it seems as though even he doesn't know what he's saying.

PETTINESS ON DISPLAY
When the final vote was taken Mansoor, clearly peeved, abruptly said, "That's it. We're adjourned."

NOW LET'S MOVE FORWARD
This budget process has been taxing for all concerned. City Manager Allan Roeder, Steve Mandoki, Marc Puckett, Bobby Young and the rest of the senior staff did a masterful job of presenting the council with workable solutions. Some of those are still dependent on a certain level of sales and property tax dollars. However, with the passage of the issue tonight, they now have a skeleton on which to begin adding muscle and bone. So now the city staff can move forward unless other curves are thrown our way. They can begin to plan for the potential early retirements they anticipate this fall and they can begin to manage the 104 unpaid furlough hours each employee - except the firefighters - will be expected to take between now and the end of August next year.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL FOR A JOB WELL-DONE
Congratulations to all involved for a job well-done. To the employees of our city, thank you all for understanding the extent of the problem and for your dedication in working together with the senior staff to resolve the problems. The firefighters, in particular, are to be commended for presenting a workable solution with some very sticky service issues that had to be addressed.

MANSOOR AND BEVER UNWORTHY OF OFFICE
I cannot close this post without observing, one more time, just how ineffective Mansoor and Bever have been in this process. It seems as though everything is black or white to them. Their inability to grasp - either through stubbornness or denseness, or both - the intricacies of this process demonstrates just what happens when the electorate is wooed by a one-note samba during a campaign. Mansoor and Bever used the fear of your dark-skinned neighbors to win their seats, which concealed the fact that neither man has the grey matter necessary to do their jobs. That is certainly something to keep in mind in the future as one or both may seek another elected office.