Parks & Rec. Leadership, Fair Board Lack Thereof & Journalism

BRUMBAUGH, SHAW LEAD PARKS & REC. COMMISSION
Last night the Costa Mesa Parks and Recreation Commission elected new leaders. Vice Chair Mike Brumbaugh was elected Chairman and long time resident and activist, Terry Shaw, was elected Vice Chairman. Commissioner Jeff Mathews was nominated for Vice Chairman by Kurt Galitski but no second was put forth. It will be very interesting to see what impact this new leadership has on the activities of the commission, which meets only every other month now.

FAIR BOARD OK's BEAZLEY SECURITY SYSTEM
At it's meeting today the 32 Agriculture District Board (Fair Board) the five members in attendance voted unanimously to spend $3,000 for a security system at CEO Steve Beazley's Costa Mesa residence. According to Mona Shadia's Daily Pilot report on the meeting, HERE, the expenditure was authorized even though no testimony either in the staff report or otherwise, made a link to the vandalism and harassment experienced by Beazley and his family to his position at the Fairgrounds.

DODGE AND ELLIS ABSENT
An interesting sidebar to this story - neither Board Chairwoman Kristina Dodge nor the Vice Chair, Dave Ellis, attended the meeting today. That's more than a little curious, since Dodge was scheduled to pitch the need for Beazley's security to the Board. I guess they didn't want to be personally associated with this controversial subject. That's "leadership" for you.

OPEN MEETING RULES WILL NOW APPLY
According to Shadia's article, some good news finally came out of a Fair Board meeting. Today, on a vote of 4-1, the board agreed that sub-committees should be at least three members, which requires them to be subject to open meeting laws. Previously only two members were required in sub-committees. Hopefully, this will lead to more open discussion of important issues before the Fair Board.

ANOTHER JAW-DROPPING ADMISSION! (10:20 p.m.)
Well, now, this issue got much more interesting with the publication of Tom Johnson's column in the Daily Voice, HERE. Seems that, during the meeting at which the Fair Board agreed to follow the open meeting laws, several of them admitted to a major violation in the case of the Beazley Security System issue! According to Johnson, one Board member, Gary Hayakawa, sent an email to ALL the other Board members about this subject - a clear violation of the Bagley-Keene act. Even more astounding is the quotation by Johnson of a comment attributed to Dale Dykema, who acted as moderator of the meeting due to the absence of the Chair and Vice Chair. Once he finally admitted it was a violation of the "Brown Act" (it's really the Bagley-Keene Act), Dykema said, "but, in this case, this is different - this is a human thing." Good grief! These people really are clueless! I sure did get it right with the title of this post! Just put that on the list with all the other reasons this Fair Board should go - regardless what happens to the Fairgrounds!

CORONA DEL MAR TODAY ON THE JOB
An observation: It's hard to understand how some local stories simply don't seem to reach publication by the "real" media until well after the date of occurrence - if ever. For example, Amy Senk over at the Corona del Mar Today blog reported the failure of a structural beam above the council chambers at Newport Beach City Hall, including photos of the failure that will deem the chambers unusable for some time while it is repaired. You can read Amy's report HERE. I have yet to see any mention of this situation mentioned by the Daily Pilot nor the Orange County Register.

THE CAULDRON WILL BE ON SIMMER
I'm turning the old cauldron down to simmer for a few days while I take a little breather. Comments might be delayed as I try to find my way to a computer to approve them, but they will eventually be posted. We'll be back at full steam before the next council meeting, returning with our heads full of March Madness. In the meantime, you might wish to re-visit a little piece I wrote on March 22, 2006 to keep your juices flowing. Just click HERE and fasten your seat belt.

Is Irvine Clearing The Way For The Fair?

OCLNN ARTICLE ON GREAT PARK ZONING CHANGE
Erik Holmes, in the fledgling Orange County Local News Network (OCLNN), today published an article entitled, "Irvine council considers changes to Great Park development process". You can read that article HERE. According to Holmes, the Irvine City Council is considering taking over the Orange County Great Park design review process and cut out the Community Services Commission as they do so. They are also considering a new zoning classification specific to the Great Park.

PLAN TO BROADEN THE ZONING
Holmes tells us that the current zoning is either recreation or preservation, but the plan is to broaden the zoning to allow for "government facilities, greenhouses, maintenance facilities, theaters, child care centers and restaurants in addition to the usual recreation uses of picnicking and fishing areas, nature centers, stables, golf courses, parks, swimming pools, botanical gardens, nurseries and open space." He goes on to say that sections currently zoned for preservation will remain untouched and "will include hiking, biking, horseback riding, botanical gardens and other low-impact uses."

KINDA LOOKS LIKE THE FAIRGROUNDS
I mention this tonight because it strikes me as a curious bit of coincidental timing when you consider that the future of the Orange County Fair and Events Center continues to swirl as though in a hurricane. If you look at those uses planned for this new zoning you'll find yourself thinking, "Hmmm, this looks familiar!" A suspicious guy might begin to wonder whether this proposed zoning change might make it just a teeny bit easier for the Great Park to swallow up the Orange County Fair should a new buyer with more grandiose plans for the 150 acres in Costa Mesa surface with a pile of cash in his hands.

COSTA MESA LOCKING DOWN THE FAIRGROUNDS USES
I'm even more nervous because the Costa Mesa City Council, in an attempt to get out ahead of this process, is placing on the June, 2010 ballot a measure that would lock the current zoning for the Fairgrounds for uses that are, well, a Fairgrounds! If the people of Costa Mesa vote to lock down that zoning it will take another vote of the people to unlock it in the future, thus making the timetable for any other kind of development a slow and expensive process.

NEW OWNERSHIP WILL WORRY ABOUT ROI
I worry about this because it is still unclear what happens once the Fairgrounds is sold and the state no longer has a vested interest in it. It's unclear what happens if the Fair Board is unable to negotiate a satisfactory lease agreement for their current space from the new owner. Anyone who pays $100 million - a number that has been bandied about - for that property is going to expect a good return on that investment. Since the Fair has made a small profit each year without having to lease the land, I wonder if the new owner might decide that a Fair isn't going to pay off for them. Similar questions may exist for the Orange County Marketplace, Equestrian Center, Amphitheater, etc.

IRVINE MIGHT MAKE AN OFFER THEY CAN'T REFUSE*(See below)
If our "friends" over in Irvine - The Emperor Agran and his merry minions - decide that what they need to get their Great Park finally off and running is the Orange County Fair and all, or most, of it's current amenities - Equestrian Center, Amphitheater, etc. - they might consider making the Fair Board an offer they can't refuse... like rent for a buck a year for the first 10 years, for example.

TELLER AND THE EMPEROR LUNCHING
*UPDATE (3/24/10 @ NOON): Since I posted this yesterday afternoon a friend forwarded me an article from the Orange County Business Journal by Rick Reiff in which Reiff observes that Jeff Teller, head honcho at the Orange County MarketPlace, was seen having a nice, chatty lunch with Larry Agran at Bistango in Irvine. Remember that suspicious guy a few paragraphs above? Well, he's wondering about the coincidental timing of this lunch. Teller is one smart businessman, so it wouldn't surprise me at all that he is seen schmoozing with The Emperor Agran.

TENTS OR THE OLD BUILDINGS COULD WORK
"Hey", you say, "what about the buildings they would leave behind? What about all that infrastructure? What about the historical buildings?" Well, big tents could be erected to house the exhibits as a temporary measure. Heck, the new owner of the Fairgrounds might sell all the buildings just to get them moved. The Great Park snatched Cirque du Soliel from Costa Mesa this year with absolutely no trouble at all.

FAIR SET FOR NEXT YEAR, BUT...
Look, we know we will have a 2010 Fair at the Fairgrounds this year, but all the contracts for ongoing events were supposed to have been negotiated with termination dates for next fall, coincident with the date the new buyer takes possession. The last date I heard was November 1, 2010. After that date the world is just full of question marks...

QUICK START UP AT GREAT PARK
With most of a year to plan it, the Great Park could easily begin hosting the Orange County Fair next summer. They could carve out a couple hundred acres over there and get the water, sewer and power in place in a matter of months. Heck, they could use the old runways, for goodness sake.

OOPS!
I'm concerned that we might be shooting ourselves in the foot by locking up the zoning of the Fairgrounds via a ballot measure. The way it stands right now it would take a vote of the City Council to change it. If we tie it to a vote of the people we might hamstring any good, reasonable development from happening because of the uncertainty and time delays. Some will say, "Great! That's exactly what we want!" OK, but what happens if the Fair moves south? We'll be standing there on the steps of City Hall looking across the street at 150 empty acres saying, "Uh-Oh".

ASK THE FAIR BOARD ABOUT THE GREAT PARK...
Perhaps someone should ask the Fair Board at their meeting on Thursday just what their position is on moving the Fair. Can't hurt to ask, can it?

Law Enforcement Helicopters Under Fire?

REGISTER ARTICLE ADDRESSES CHOPPER PATROLS
The Orange County Register ran an interesting article today entitled, "Police helicopter programs get trimmed" by reporter Annie Burris, in which the impact of tightened budgets on airborne law enforcement operations in Orange County is discussed. You can read the entire article HERE. Be sure to examine the photo array that is also linked to that article for some terrific shots that demonstrate the value of helicopter patrols.

A.B.L.E. AND OTHERS
The article comments on the A.B.L.E. program, which is run as a joint venture by the Costa Mesa Police Department and the Newport Beach Police Department, with Santa Ana also participating as a contracting agency. It also mentions the airborne units operated by Huntington Beach, Anaheim, the Orange County Sheriff's Department and the California Highway Patrol.

AIRBORNE BUDGETS DISCUSSED
The A.B.L.E. program, which operates a fleet of three Eurocopters, has been part of extensive discussions recently as both Costa Mesa and Newport Beach wrestle with diminishing revenues.


SEEKING OUT THE BERRYS?
The article presents many pro-helicopter viewpoints from members of law enforcement so, during her investigation of this subject the reporter wanted to get comments from residents who might have a less-than-positive viewpoint of airborne policing. At the suggestion of another Register staffer the author tried to contact the perky Judi Berry - she who fancies herself the municipal fiscal watchdog - for comment. Unfortunately, she was apparently not available, so Burris interviewed that paragon of pomposity, her husband, Mike Berry.

MIKE INSERTS BOTH FEET
According to Burris, old Mike, while acknowledging that helicopters are useful, "wonders if the agencies are getting the best bang for their buck." She goes on to quote Mike as saying, "Once you satisfy the need of people on the ground, then spend the leftover money on a helicopter. The county has more realistic need for one but when it comes to a five (miles) by five (miles) city (of Costa Mesa) you could cover it with a Moped."

ENDEARING HIMSELF TO THE CMPD
I'm sure the men and women of the Costa Mesa Police Department will be quite pleased to learn that old Mike thinks our city could receive effective law enforcement coverage if the staff used Mopeds. I suggest we use their Westside neighborhood as a test site. How about, for the remainder of the year, any calls for service received for addresses within a half mile of the Berry's residence be responded to by an officer on a Moped?

PUNCH, ER, MIKE AND JUDI
Those of us who have been observers of city politics are familiar with the Judi and Mike tag team. They frequently appear as a "doubles team", each stepping up to the podium to present their wisdom for the City Council to hear. Actually, it's usually Judi who presents the more cogent views, while Mike just prattles on, demonstrating his lack of understanding of the issues, but doing it with bravado, bluster and flare.

SOURCE OF COMMUNITY INPUT?! YIKES!
The fact that old Mike continues to willingly display his ignorance for all to see is scary enough. Of greater concern is the fact that someone at the Orange County Register thought that he was a good source for community input! Geez! That's like asking our old pal, The Mouth From Mesa North, about the positive influence of Latino culture on our society, for goodness sake!

Weekend Potpourri

EASIER THAN HERDING CATS...
While driving up to a luncheon with high school classmates on Saturday, I noticed a CHP cruiser driving very slowly along the shoulder of the Glendale Freeway, with his two left wheels in the right traffic lane. As I approached the CHP cruiser from the rear I noticed, off to it's right, a scruffy coyote walking erratically parallel with the cruiser. It seems the CHP officer driving the cruiser was herding the coyote, trying to keep it off the freeway traffic lanes just as a cowpoke might use a quarter horse to herd a heifer. My off ramp was just beyond the cruiser, so I didn't see if this operation was a success. Hopefully, for the coyote's sake, he was able to direct it down the offramp and away from the freeway traffic. After driving the California freeways for more than a half century, this one takes the cake!

CITY HALL DEMONSTRATION GARDENS
Sunday my wife and I took advantage of perfect weather and went to Costa Mesa City Hall to view the recently-completed drought-tolerant demonstration gardens that surround the building. The eight separate areas were designed by a cadre of local landscape architects and the plants were donated and installed by Village Nurseries. We both were impressed by the new plantings, which should really be beautiful in a few months, once they've had a chance to adapt to the new locations and grow a little bit. If you are considering using drought-tolerant plants in your gardens a trip to City Hall for a peek at these new gardens will certainly be helpful. The complete plant list for each is available online at the city web site.


NO COUNCIL MEETING UNTIL APRIL 6TH, BUT...
We don't have a regularly-scheduled City Council meeting again until April 6th, but that doesn't mean the wheels stop turning by any means. The staff has begun preparation of the 2010/2011 budget even as they continue to refine methodologies to balance the current budget.

WAITING FOR THE DGS TO DROP ANOTHER SHOE...
And, the seemingly never-ending drama of the Orange County Fair and Events Center continues to percolate. The State Department of General Services has promised Governor Schwarzenegger that they will move "promptly" to get the Fairgrounds sold, so I wouldn't be surprised at all to find a special council meeting being called before the next regular one.

VISIT "CHUCKMEISTER UNLEASHED" OFTEN
A reminder that my pal, Chuck Cassity, is producing some very interesting stuff over on his "Chuckmeister Unleashed" blog. You can find the link to it on the right side of this page. Whether you enjoy Chuck's ideas or not, he will certainly provoke you to think a little.

Fairgrounds Battle Is Not Over Yet!

THE BEAT GOES ON...
The day following the announcement by the Acting Director of the State Department of General Services to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger that all bids for the Orange County Fair and Events Center had been rejected, the beat goes on.


GENIS' NEWS CONFERENCE THIS MORNINGThis morning former Costa Mesa Mayor and professional land planner Sandra Genis, president of the Orange County Fairgrounds Preservation Society, held a news conference at the Fairgrounds to announce that, although this battle has been won, the war is far from over. Those who fought the good fight over the past nine months to keep the sale from happening cannot let down their guard now. The DGS has promised Governor Schwarzenegger that they will be moving "promptly" to find a better deal for the Fairgrounds.

DGS STILL ON A MISSION TO SELL THE FAIRGROUNDS
Currently unemployed Mayor Allan Mansoor is quoted today in an article in the Orange County Register that "it's not over." He's right. Nobody really knows quite what to expect now. The DGS is chartered by the governor to get the Fairgrounds sold. Their auction didn't work, so who knows what kind of a scheme they may try next?


NO TIME TO LET UP!
In the meantime, all those interesting diverse constituencies that banded together to fight the sale must remain vigilant. No celebrating yet - the game is still on.

FAIR BOARD TO CONSIDER SECURITY SYSTEM FOR BEAZLEY
The Fair Board will hold a meeting on Thursday, the 25th in which they will address the sale of the Fairgrounds. Of greater interest is the item listed below:

8. GOVERNANCE PROCESS
A. Installation and monthly service for security system at CEO’s home

BEAZLEY WORRIED ABOUT FAMILY'S SAFETY?
Yep, apparently Fair CEO Steve Beazley and his family have been harassed to the point where he's concerned about their safety so he's asking for the Fair Board to pay for a security service for his personal residence. Reports of really nasty posters appearing in his neighborhood have circulated for several months. I understand that there are a few people around town who are unhappy with the way Beazley does his job, but for that anger to manifest itself in threats to him and his family is absolutely unacceptable. This whole "Fairgrounds" issue has created some very strange circumstances...

"THE MOUTH" SLAMS MCEVOY
And, before I close tonight, I want to observe the knee-jerk reaction by The Mouth From Mesa North against former council candidate Chris McEvoy. McEvoy stood before the council last Tuesday and criticized The Mouth for his boorish behavior at the speaker's podium a few minutes earlier. He was critical of the name-calling The Mouth engaged in when he referred to Councilwoman Katrina Foley as a "grinning idiot". McEvoy was correct in his comments, but it brought down the wrath of The Mouth in his pathetic blog today. He's such a sad, unhappy man and a huge waste of an intellect. I'm still willing to pay for his bus ticket to Idaho...

Council Meeting Report From The Cheap Seats

FOLEY VS. THE MOUTH - AGAIN
As anticipated, the Costa Mesa City Council meeting last night did provide some fireworks between Councilwoman Katrina Foley and the racist buffoon, The Mouth From Mesa North. You can watch the entire meeting HERE.

"GRINNING IDIOT"
The Mouth, still fuming from Foley's rebuff two weeks ago, ended his first rant of the evening by turning to leave the speaker's podium and tossing back over his shoulder the phrase "grinning idiot" directly at Foley. If you really want to, you can scroll to 24:00 on the timer for the meeting to see that rant.

MANSOOR SHOULD HAVE SPOKEN UP
In my view, and others as well, this stepped well past the level of decorum normally expected by participants in the process. At that point Mayor Mansoor should have address that issue with The Mouth - it was an unacceptable breach of proper etiquette and should not be tolerated.

AVOIDING THE STENCH
Later, as The Mouth jumped up to the podium to address the SR-55 Access issue, Foley left the dais for the duration of his rant. I sure don't blame her - the stench of his racism is palpable!


A CLIP WORTH WATCHING
Speaking of the SR-55 issue, Eric Bever requested the city staff show the video clip they prepared for presentation to the Orange County Transportation Authority. It's an excellent production and can be viewed on the streaming video clip at 51:20 on the timer.

DOPERS ON PARADE - AGAIN
Another covey of medical marijuana advocates spoke at the meeting again last night. Even more interesting was the fact, as relayed by some of the speakers, that Mayor Mansoor had taken the time to speak with several of them during the hours before the council meeting at exactly the same time the Costa Mesa Police Department was raiding yet another of the illegal dispensaries in our city. As you might imagine, the dope advocates were flummoxed by the raid.

GRAFFITI ORDINANCE
One of the big items on the agenda was a lengthy discussion of graffiti in our community. Possible amendments to the municipal code were discussed, including tightening up the definitions of graffiti and the penalties involved. One thing that caught my attention was the recommendation by the staff of a penalty to be imposed on property owners who suffer graffiti application on their site. As I understood the discussion, it is the intent to penalize a property owner who experiences frequent graffiti vandalism in the form of fines and, possibly, liens being placed on the property. Further discussion with some involved informs me that this would be directed primarily at absentee property owners who either fail to remove graffiti or do not do so in a timely manner - that it is not anticipated it would be applied to single family residential properties, but it was not specifically excluded. This needs more study.

LET THE COUNCIL KNOW HOW YOU FEEL
The council voted to "continue" this issue to their meeting on April 20th. They and staff are looking for input from the public on this subject. I suggest you review the tape and staff report, then communicate with your leaders to let them know how you feel.


A "MEA CULPA" FOR MONAHAN
Finally, it seems appropriate on this day, St. Patrick's Day, that I again address the sign plastered all over Skosh Monahan's pub. It seems that our Code Enforcement folks have determined that, since it is a "political sign", it may remain in place. Unclear is just how long it may remain. Part of the Municipal Code requires it be removed "10 days from the date of the election to which it pertains"... well, I'm not sure that sign pertains to any election. Anyhow, I guess Monahan is not in violation of the sign ordinance - this time. Enjoy your St. Patrick's Day - drive safely.

STATE REJECTS ALL FAIRGROUNDS BIDS!

FAIRGROUNDS SALE BIDS REJECTED
The Daily Pilot reports, HERE, that the state Department of General Services has rejected ALL seven bids for the sale of the Orange County Fair and Events Center!

"NOT IN BEST INTERESTS..."
According to Mona Shadia's article, the letter to the governor indicated that the offers, "are not in the best interest of the citizens of California because they do not obtain the highest and most certain return for the state."

LEASE/PURCHASE NOW AN OPTION?
This may mean that the rumored lease purchase agreement being knocked around by Costa Mesa city officials might actually have a chance of succeeding.

Calls to the City Manager for comment went unanswered. * I did hear from Allan Roeder this evening. My comment above was misleading... when I called his office around 3:15 this afternoon he was juggling other calls like the proverbial one-armed paper hanger. Because I hoped to get this entry published quickly, and because of him being deluged with other calls, I didn't really expect to hear from him before I pushed the "Publish" button. I didn't leave word for him to call me. If I had, I know he would have done so promptly. I didn't view my call as a priority for him.


FOLEY "ECSTATIC"
I did speak with Councilwoman Katrina Foley, who was ecstatic, in her words. She said this just shows what can happen when "the people" band together and make their views known - the politicians listen. She expressed gratitude to all those diverse constituencies who banded together to fight this effort to sell the Fairgrounds. She was especially effusive about the efforts by Assemblyman Jose Solorio and his staff.

WAY TO GO!
Congratulations to all those hard-working folks who marched, gathered signatures, created web sites and provided leadership to fight the sale - even Jim Righeimer!

*(UPDATE) DGS WILL CONTINUE TO WORK ON SALE
It's clear from the letter from the DGS to Schwarzenegger that they plan to move briskly to find a way to sell the Fairgrounds. With that in mind, (and with the words of Mayor Mansoor today in which he reminded us that this is not over ringing in our ears) the celebratory press conference called by Sandra Genis' Orange County Fairgrounds Preservation Society scheduled at The Fairgrounds Centennial Farms location at 10:00 a.m. Thursday, March 18th (tomorrow) may be a muted affair.

A "Mouth-A-Rama" Tonight?

PUTTING ON THE GLOVES?
Tonight's Costa Mesa City Council meeting could be interesting, if only for the possible tension between Councilwoman Katrina Foley and our municipal racist laureate, the guy I refer to as The Mouth From Mesa North. You may recall that Foley refused to take anymore of his crap without comment at the last council meeting.

ONLY HIS VIEW COUNTS
The Mouth has already laid the groundwork for confrontation with his pathetic blog entries over the past couple days. He continues to rant about the A.B.L.E helicopter - a sophisticated Eurocopter - versus an American made Robinson machine. In the recent past Chief Chris Shawkey has, with more patience than The Mouth deserved, explained precisely why the Eurocopter is the appropriate machine. Still, The Mouth barfs out his venom on the subject. As it the case on every subject he addresses, he figures since he's obviously the smartest guy in the room, the REAL decision-makers must be deaf or stupid to ignore his views.

LOOKING FOR THE SPOTLIGHT
In fact, I wouldn't at all be surprised to see him yank a couple items from the Consent Calendar, just to prolong the proceedings and to give himself a couple more chances to spout off in the spotlight. I suspect he'll pull items 5 (the MOU on the next phase of the SR-55 Access Study), item 8 (the gift of $182,000 from AYSO Region 120 for lights on the Farm fields 5 & 6), and Item 9 (the 2009 Annual review of the 2000 General Plan). He will do this to feel important since he doesn't get much play on his blog these days. Seems like he's begging for comments several times a week. He was probably better off in his own little fantasy world before he permitted comments, when he could dream that he had hundreds of sycophants out there, sopping up his racist drivel. Guess again, you yapping hyena!

CLOSED SESSION LEADS THE WAY TONIGHT
Back to the important work of the City Council. Tonight, in a closed session preceding the regular meeting, they will again hear a discussion on the Fairgrounds Purchase and on the potential litigation filed by Asociacion De Jornaleros De Costa Mesa and the Colectivo Tonantzin. We're assuming the Fairgrounds issue involves the potential lease/purchase agreement that Gary Monahan spoke of on the radio earlier this year.

WILL MONAHAN SHOW UP TONIGHT FOR A CHANGE?
Speaking of which, I wonder if Monahan will show up tonight. You may recall that he bailed out last year because the meeting was on St. Patrick's Day and he was going to be busy pulling taps of green beer at his pub. I wouldn't be surprise if he misses tonight, too - it would be his second consecutive missed meeting if he does - so he can rest up for tomorrow's festivities. Or, maybe he has to change the light bulbs on his current illegal banner.. One never knows with him, since he continues to show us exactly how he feels about the rules.

WENDY AND THE GOP CENTRAL COMMITTEE
In my previous post I introduced you to Wendy Leece's most recent blog, OC Public Square, in which she provides links but almost no original thought, to provide readers with an insight into her conservative self. In case you were wondering, she has thrown her hat into the ring for a seat at the table of the GOP Central Committee and will apparently appear in that race on the June ballot. We still don't know if she's going to run for re-election to the Costa Mesa City Council in November, but we assume she will.

A NASTY HAIRBALL POOL
So, tonight should be interesting, again. Let's all watch to see how long it takes The Mouth to deride one or all of the council members. I'm betting that he will cough up a hairball of nastiness within the first 30 seconds of his first trip to the speaker's podium. Any takers?