Mansoor Press Conference Video Now Available

CITY FEED NOW AVAILABLE - HALF OF IT***
As mentioned in my earlier post, the streaming video of Allan Mansoor's press conference yesterday is now up and available for viewing on the city site. You can see it HERE. Unfortunately, only half the event is available - the first portion where the mayor read his prepared speech - so you'll get to see a lot of the top of his head. According to Dane Bora at the City, he's working right now trying to clean up the audio feed on the second portion of the press conference - the Question and Answer section. If he can clean it up sufficiently so at least some of the questions can be heard and understood he will re-post the entire conference. If and when that happens I'll change my link to the new one.
*** The "long version" of the city link is now available... I've changed my link so you can now see the entire 42 minutes.

FULL VIDEO AVAILABLE AT OC VOICE
In the meantime, there is an alternative. Our friend, John Earl over at the OC Voice blog was there, sitting in the front row with his camera and has posted his unedited clip of the press conference. The quality isn't as good as the city feed, naturally, but he does have the entire press conference posted for your viewing. You can see it HERE.

AGAIN, THE "ANOINTED ONE"
And, as you all probably know by now, Mansoor is, once again, being re-anointed as an immigration rock star - his smiling face was all over the news last night again. This is, in the word of Yogi Berra, "deja vu all over again". This is exactly what happened five years ago when Mansoor launched his ICE proposal and ended up on national television as the poster boy for intolerance as he attempted to create his own immigration policy.

GET USED TO IT
So, dear readers, this is what you're going to see until November. Mansoor will jump up in front of any camera available and bemoan our immigration situation. Makes me want to puke!

Mayor Mansoor's Immigration Press Conference

THE MAYOR WAS LATE
As promised, I did attend Mayor Allan Mansoor's campaign event, er, press conference at City Hall this morning. It's taken me a little while to post this because I actually stayed for the entire event, including the one-on-one question and answer period with the press that followed his formal presentation. One wag in town, a guy who fancies himself a journalist, arrived late, stayed for about 10 minutes and then left early - burning rubber out of the parking lot so he could rush home and post a blog entry that said nothing. He apparently didn't want to be noticed because he came in disguise, not wearing his trademark black shirt for a change - maybe it was in the wash. But, he was seen in "his" seat - in the far, right, back corner of the auditorium.

SMALL TURNOUT
The meeting was sparsely attended. The working press outnumbered residents and other visitors about 2-1. Although I sat near the front so couldn't keep close track of the comings and goings, my occasional peeks over my shoulder revealed that, in addition to the brief stay by the guy normally in black, among those in the small audience were Councilwoman Katrina Foley, Planning Commissioner Steve Mensinger - both made brief appearances - and Benito Acosta, he of recent lawsuit fame. There were around 10 members of the working press - print, radio and television - and a couple of us bloggers, too. I think there might have been 25 people in the auditorium at the peak of attendance. It was a pretty skimpy turnout for an issue with, as we've seen in years past, the potential to generate heated passions.

LASTED ABOUT 45 MINUTES - WILL BE AVAILABLE ON VIDEO
Mansoor arrived late to the press conference, which was promised to begin "promptly" at 10:00. It did get started at around 10:15 and lasted about 45 minutes. CMTV taped the proceedings and I've been told that it will be available for viewing via streaming video at the city web site tomorrow morning. You can click on the "archived video" link on the city home page to locate it after 8:00 a.m.

WHY THE PRESS CONFERENCE?
So, what was this all about? I'll try to boil it down as much as possible. The mayor is concerned about illegal alien criminals in our city and wants to discuss new programs to address them.

FOUR ITEMS TO DISCUSS IN STUDY SESSION
Mansoor outlined four items he wants to pursue with the city staff and his peers on the council.

1- Requiring the use of E-Verify for all city contractors and the people they employ.

2 - Requiring the use of E-Verify for all businesses applying for a business license in our city to be sure that all businesses and their employees are legally able to work in our country.

3 - He "wants to have policy discussions regarding asking all who are taken into custody by the police during the normal course of their duties ask them not only their nation of origin but if they are here illegally as we have a legal right to ask that question and to notify ICE and document that this is followed up so that if they are released and commit another crime the city has at least done it's part to notify ICE." Did you follow that one? It was a direct quotation...

4 - "Have discussions toward a more clear policy on how we handle foreign nationals with a strong emphasis on proper pro-active training".

COSTA MESA NOT A "SANCTUARY CITY"
He went on to state that, "Costa Mesa is not a sanctuary and is, in fact, a "rule of law" city when it comes to upholding our immigration laws and I will ask the council to commit to make it official."

WHY NOW, MR. MAYOR?It seems our former deputy sheriff/mayor has conveniently chosen this time - a few weeks before the primary election in June - because "it's been on my mind a long time and it needs to be addressed". When the press pushed him about the timing he denied that the election had anything to do with it. When pushed further he admitted that all the turmoil in the city recently - the budget, fairgrounds purchase, ACLU lawsuit for day laborers, etc., caused him to delay presenting these issues for discussion.

I DON'T BELIEVE HIM
From my standpoint, I don't believe that for a minute. I think he is running for Assembly and is facing a strong opponent from the Vietnamese community in the primary early in June and possibly again in November so he needs an issue to hang his campaign on. As has been the case in the past, that issue is immigration, even though the resolution of immigration problems are the purview of the Federal Government, not cities. This is precisely what he did four years ago when he and Wendy Leece rode to victory on the backs of the Latino population of Costa Mesa.

MATRICULA CONSULAR AS VALID ID?
In response to a question from the media he brought up the issue of the validity of the Matricula Consular - the identification cards provided by foreign consulates to citizens of their countries. Here we're talking about Mexican citizens. This form of identification is controversial and Mansoor wants to have the city take a position on the validity or lack thereof of those instruments when "criminals" are stopped for traffic infractions and the like. He feels that anyone here legally should have a valid driver's license or passport or visa. He stated that anyone holding a Matricula Consular is probably here illegally and should be deported.

TOSSING STATISTICS LIKE POPCORN
Mansoor threw around statistics about the criminals deported by ICE in 2009 but he didn't provide anything to compare them to - if ICE had not been in the jail in Costa Mesa, for example. When the press challenged him on the issue of his promise that his ICE plan would be directed at "dangerous felons", when more than half those he's taking credit for were for lesser crimes, he dodged the issue.

MY QUESTION TO THE MAYORI did have a chance to ask Mansoor a question - the final one during the formal part of the program. I asked him, "Mr. Mayor, when you first proposed your ICE plan that issue polarized our community. This council chamber was packed meeting after meeting there were people from both sides of the issue yelling back and forth at each other. The arrest of Benito Acosta was probably the most incendiary moment. By bringing this up now are you anticipating similar kind of response from the community? Do you expect, when this is brought forward to the council for discussion in front of the public are you expecting a similar kind of reaction from the community and, if so, how do you plan to handle it?" His response was weak. He said, "I think it was unfortunate that people came to disrupt our council meeting. I want put forward calm dialogues, Mr. West, that's my goal. I think we should be responsible. I don't think we should shy away from these issues. So, it's my goal to have calm discussions on these issues. I think that's the responsible, appropriate way to handle that. I think it's wrong and irresponsible to not address these issues as well. We all know these are important concerns and, as elected officials, I think we need to address them." I thought it was nice that he addressed me by name - the only time he did all morning. :-)

HERE WE GO AGAIN!
Mayor Mansoor has ripped the scab off an issue that has festered in our city for five years. By bringing it up now he guarantees himself another term in the spotlight of national television as he makes a bid for Van Tran's 68th Assembly seat. He couldn't buy this kind of media coverage! As he spoke and answered questions I found myself thinking that this has a very familiar ring to it. If this process goes as it appears he wants it to - a request to place the issues on a study session agenda, then later to be considered by the council in open session - I can foresee more packed meetings with vocal proponents and opponents batting the issues back and forth in the same kind of atmosphere we saw in the past. Heck, we've already had Minuteman Jim Gilchrist post a comment on this site today and the ball is barely rolling! I fully expect to see Barbara Coe stumble into our council meeting in the near future.

CUDDLING UP TO THE CCIR TONIGHT
Speaking of which, tonight Mansoor will toddle off to a fund raiser hosted by that self-same Barbara Coe and her minions at the California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR) meeting at which his praises as the "savior of California" will almost certainly be sung. What's that old phrase, "You are known by the company you keep?" Well, somebody should have reminded Mansoor of that fact.

A LONG, HOT SUMMER AHEAD
I've got a feeling that it's going to be a long, long summer and that Mansoor's campaign is going to be something very interesting to watch. By proposing policies that will bring down the hammer on Costa Mesa Latinos he guarantees a busy time for the Costa Mesa Police Department until November.

Mansoor Calls Press Conference On Immigration Tomorrow

HE'S GOING TO DISCUSS IMMIGRATION
Well, how's that for a bit of fortuitous timing? One minute past the close of business today, at 5:01 p.m., and not too long after I posted my last entry, I received a press release from the City of Costa Mesa announcing that Mayor Allan Mansoor has called a press conference at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, April 28th in the City Council Chambers to discuss immigration.

ARIZONA LAW A CAMPAIGN BOOST
In a campaign year when he's trying to take the big step to Sacramento, I guess the recent new law in Arizona has given him just the boost he needed to dredge up his favorite subject.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
According to the press release, Mansoor will provide an "overview the success of the City’s ICE program and outline additional proposals he will be bringing before the City Council for discussion and consideration." The press conference will be open to the public.

"ICE" SUCCESS AND NEW "OPPORTUNITIES"
Mansoor is quoted as saying, "I believe our City has set the example for communities nation-wide in terms of our commitment to support the upholding of immigration laws at the local level. The results of our efforts speak for themselves although there is much more that can and should be done. The purpose of this Press Conference is to highlight the successes, identify opportunities for more effective enforcement, and to highlight additional measures that I will be proposing to my fellow City Council members for further review and discussion."

BAD NEWS FOR LATINOS IN COSTA MESA
I expect there may be a packed house tomorrow because it seems he's going to thump himself on the chest about his "great accomplishments" with "his" ICE program. Of course, it really isn't the program he wanted - it's one he had to settle for. One never knows what he has up his sleeve, but when he tells us he's going to "identify opportunities for more effective enforcement" and that he will "highlight additional measures", you know this isn't going to be good news for the Latinos in our community.

A NEW COSTA MESA IMMIGRATION LAW?
I wouldn't be surprised if he will attempt to propose a new municipal ordinance along the lines of Arizona's state law that will permit Costa Mesa cops to stop anyone they choose to ask about their status in this country. Suffice it to say that we will make every attempt to attend this press conference to hear exactly what Mayor Mansoor has on his mind.

DOVETAILS NICELY WITH CCIR MEETING
And, of course, this dovetails nicely into his fund raiser at the California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR) meeting tomorrow night. Nobody ever said he wasn't an opportunist!

Mansoor Embraces Extremists

MANSOOR ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL
While turmoil continues to swirl around Costa Mesa Councilman Eric Bever for his capricious decision to withdraw his support for the City's bid for the Orange County Fair and Events Center his (former?) pal and former Orange County Deputy Sheriff, Allan Mansoor, is on the campaign trail.


AN INTERESTING EVENT TOMORROW
My Google Alert system barfed up a little notification this morning that I thought I'd share with you. Seems Mayor Mansoor is guest of honor at a meeting of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR) tomorrow evening, Wednesday, April 28th. You can read the announcement in full HERE.

BARBARA COE AND THE CCIR
In case you don't know about the CCIR, it was founded by racist Barbara Coe more than 15 years ago. Coe, among other things, was an officer in Jim Gilchrist's Minuteman Project until they had a spat over who was running the show. You can read more about the CCIR HERE.

"MINUTEMAN MAYOR"
A few years ago, when Mansoor was being honored at another CCIR event, he was named an honorary member of the Minuteman Project. Since that time opponents of his plan to designate every single Costa Mesa police officer as an immigration screener began referring to him as "Minuteman Mayor" or "Minuteman Mansoor".

PANDERING TO EXTREMISTS
I point out Mansoor's participation at this meeting because I've recently heard some observers speculate that he might steer clear of the extremists who support him to broaden his appeal for his run for Van Tran's 68th Assembly seat this year. Obviously, that is not the case. Nope, he will continue to embrace those folks and, apparently, vice versa. He will continue to pander to the extremists among us to garner votes, just as he did when he rode the backs of Costa Mesa's immigrants to victory in his Costa Mesa council campaigns.

MANSOOR CAMPAIGN FINANCES SOON
As the campaign season moves forward we'll be addressing Mansoor in depth, including an assessment of his campaign contributors. We'll keep that for a future entry, but some of the numbers are very interesting and illuminating.

Eric Bever Is An Incompetent Buffoon

BEVER WHAT?
Late this Friday afternoon Mona Shadia wrote an article in the Daily Pilot entitled, "Costa Mesa Councilman Withdraws Support For City Proposal to Purchase OC Fairgrounds". You can read the entire text HERE. She followed it up with another article later this evening, "Bever out of Fair Pursuit", HERE, which includes the complete text of Bever's letter.

HE CHANGED HIS MIND?
In a nutshell, Councilman Eric Bever has apparently had second thoughts about supporting the City's proposal as presented to representatives of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday by City Manager Allan Roeder, Councilwoman Katrina Foley and Councilman Gary Monahan despite the fact that the document carried his signature along with those of all other members of the city council.

HIS LOW WATER MARK
Of all the stupid, boneheaded things Bever has done since he was elected to the city council, this one is his low water mark. His explanations as provided in the article in the Daily Pilot are lame and completely insufficient for such an action.

ABSENCE, DISTRACTION, BOREDOM
In recent months Bever has been absent from the council meetings frequently and when he's been in attendance seemed distracted and bored - his participation has been lackluster, to be generous. More often than not his "contribution" to the debate of issues was prefaced by one of his many, many lame attempts at humor. Seldom did he contribute anything of substance to the discussions and frequently went into a pouty funk when his ideas were rejected.

BEVER'S CONTRIBUTIONS ALMOST NON-EXISTENT
On the subject of the purchase of the Fairgrounds, Bever's public pronouncements in open session were almost non-existent. For him to now withdraw his support for the proposal by the City to purchase the Fairgrounds after having been a signatory to the agreement this week clearly demonstrates that he is an incompetent, irresponsible, obtuse knucklehead and completely unworthy of the office he holds.

WHAT CAUSED HIM TO CHANGE HIS MIND?
The question of the day is, what caused Eric Bever to change his mind? What new information has come to light that made him take such an overt, peculiar step? Is it possible that someone with a political objective has swayed him? Might that person be one who feels slighted in the "process" and is trying to do his best to "blow up" the deal? These are questions worth asking, in my opinion.

IT'S TIME TO RECALL BEVER
It makes me cringe when I think of him on the city council for another two and a half years, running roughshod with the Brown Act and providing capricious, immature leadership to our city. It may be time to mount a recall effort and get Bever off the dais before he does even more serious damage to our city.

Fairgrounds Drama Continues

MEDIA ABUZZ
The local news media is all abuzz today with quotes from local stakeholders expressing apprehension and uncertainty as we all wait for the State to make up it's mind on the City's proposal. Fairgrounds employee groups express concern for their jobs if the deal goes through. Vendors express concern about long-term arrangements and about the possibility of having to relocate their operations to another venue. And, of course, the Emperor Larry Agran rejects any speculation that he might "cherry-pick" certain operations for his struggling Great Park. Yeah, right, Larry... we believe you - NOT!

LOCAL COVERAGE
You can read Mona Shadia's Daily Pilot coverage HERE, and Ellyn Pak's coverage in the Orange County Register HERE.

VOICE OF OC - "BOARDS DAYS ARE NUMBERED"
Perhaps the most interesting coverage was the Voice of OC article by Norberto Santana, Jr. this morning, HERE, in which he speculates in print what many of us have been privately, and not so privately, been saying - that the days of the current Fair Board may be numbered. He, and others, have observed that the instructions from the governor's office to Board President Kristina Dodge to pull the items dealing with salvaging the Fairgrounds for the state from Thursday's agenda was a clear vote of no confidence in the Board. Member David Padilla agreed with that observation.

SPECULATION RUNS RAMPANT
So, while we all hum the Jeopardy! theme waiting for the governor to make up his mind on Costa Mesa's offer, the speculation about the future of the Fair Board, regardless how the decision goes, and whether Agran and his Great Park mob will try to yank prime pieces of the Fairgrounds pie down to his venue runs rampant.

Profit Sharing Scheme Pulled From Fair Board Agenda!

FAIR BOARD SCHEME FOR PROFIT SHARING PULLED
Just heard from a source at the Fair Board meeting this morning that item 8A on their agenda, has been pulled by CEO Steve Beazley. This is great news because it seems that somewhere - perhaps 500 miles north - wiser heads may actually prevail on this issue.

NO WORD ON CLOSED SESSION ITEM FOR PURCHASE
No word on whether item 9A, the closed session item involving consideration of purchasing the Fairgrounds, was pulled as well.

According to my source, the meeting room was standing room only - packed with Fair employees and media.
I'll report more when I know more.

Keep the faith that the Fair Board won't further muddy the waters for the City's proposal presented yesterday.

Costa Mesa's Fairgrounds Offer Revealed

WHAT PRICE THE FAIRGROUNDS?
How much is the Orange County Fair and Events Center worth? Well, we know the State thinks it's worth more than the $56.5 million offered by Steve Craig and Dwight Manley. Soon we will find out if they think it's worth $96 million, because that's what the City of Costa Mesa offered for the property today.


SACRAMENTO MEETING WAS "VERY POSITIVE"
According to the press release distributed this afternoon, the team of City Manager Allan Roeder, Councilwoman Katrina Foley and Councilman Gary Monahan hand-delivered a proposal to Sacramento today that offered to pay precisely that amount for the land and "personal property" at the site. Foley is quoted as saying "We had a very positive meeting. We gave the Governor's representatives our word that the City of Costa Mesa is committed to buying the OC Fairgrounds." Monahan said, "The meeting went very well. We are moving forward to formalize the sale of the fairgrounds to the City of Costa Mesa." Roeder, the chief negotiator for the City, added, "We've worked very hard to get to this point and we will finish what we started."

SUMMARY OF THE OFFER
Attached to the press release was a letter to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger dated today which outlined the City's proposal. Terms included:

*An offer to purchase the site for $96 million;

*A commitment by the City to close the purchase no later than October 31, 2010;

*A draft Purchase and Sale Agreement outlining the terms and conditions of the transaction;

*Information on public and private sector entities interested in participating with the City in completing this transaction;

*The City's original Letter of Intent to purchase the OC Fair & Event Center; and

*The City Attorney opinion regarding the constitutional obstacles that must be resolved to execute a promissory note.

Further, the proposal outlined actions they felt both the City and the State must undertake in order to execute the Purchase and Sale agreement. Those are:

State Actions
1. Identification of Personal Property included in the sale as included in the Purchase and Sale Agreement as Exhibit B;

2. Approval by the 32nd District Agricultural Association Board of Directors of the sale of the personal property;

3. Vetting of the Purchase and Sale Agreement by the appropriate State authorities:

4. Legislation enacted to authorize sale of the site and designation to the City of Costa Mesa as the 32nd District Agricultural Association; and

5. Lifting of current operation limitations currently imposed on the OC Fair & Event Center, specifically booking and contracting for events past October 2010, subject to City Council approval, so that the upcoming OC Fair and the events program may perform at 100% capacity.

City of Costa Mesa Actions
1. Complete inspections, investigations, and audits as outlined in the Purchase and Sale Agreement;

2. Finalize the financing mechanism required by constitutional law and the operating entity for the business;

3. create the legal entity that will hold title to the property; and

4. Approval by the City Council through legally required public process of all agreements related to and necessary for the execution of the transaction.

The letter went on to say that the City is agreeing to buy the property as is, with the understanding the City will conduct inspections and evaluations of the real property and the personal property being purchased and guarantees that it will accept the property so long as there is no event or condition which would cost the City more than $4.8 million to correct within a year after purchase. As an alternative to this provision, the State could promise that there is no condition affecting the property being purchased that would cost the City more than $4.8 million to correct in that period of time, with a remedy for any violation of that promise.

Whew! I highlighted some points I found particularly interesting, especially that one in number 3 above.

TIME TO REST!
OK... long-winded, for sure, but the package has been delivered and our team may now take a deep breath and, hopefully, get some rest. No timetable for a reply to this proposal was indicated, however, time certainly is of the essence.



THE MONKEY WRENCH IN THE WORKS
And, there is always the other shoe waiting to drop - the meeting tomorrow by the Fair Board in which it will consider two separate items on it's agenda designed to head off any sale of the Fairgrounds. Since we've been told that the State knows they are considering such an action, it seems very unlikely that any decision will be made until and unless the Fair Board makes it's own pitch. That's a shame. I still think the Fair Board's action tomorrow is simply a last-minute attempt to retain their jobs and influence. We'll see.

THANK YOU, AGAIN
One more time, thank you from all of us out here to all those members of the city staff, consultants and our elected officials who worked so diligently to arrive at this moment. We know you gave it your very best and, at least from this tax payer, your efforts are much appreciated.

The Demise Of The Newport-Mesa Daily Voice

R.I.P.

MORE NEWS FROM TOM JOHNSON
My friend, Tom Johnson, gave me a call today to provide me with a little more information about the pending demise of the Newport-Mesa Daily Voice after ten months of operation and the launch of the brand new Newport Independent.


PUBLISHER OF TWO NEW ENTITIES
Tom has joined Firebrand Media in Laguna Beach and will be the publisher of the Laguna Beach Independent and the soon-to-be-launched Newport Beach Independent. The Newport-Mesa Daily Voice will be acquired by Firebrand in this process and will be folded up although many of the features of the Daily Voice will be perpetuated in the Newport Independent.

NO COSTA MESA COVERAGE PLANNED NOW
According to Tom, there are no plans for Costa Mesa coverage by the Newport Beach Independent, which will be a one-day-a-week print publication (Fridays) and 24/7/365 online entity. The Independent will be available at news racks around Newport Beach - it's a freebie - and may be available via subscription for home delivery, too. That model would charge enough for the subscription to cover delivery costs and a slight amount more, which would be distributed to a few select non-profit organizations.

ROGER BLOOM AS EDITOR
Tom is currently building a staff. He just hired Roger Bloom as Editor. Bloom has the chops for this gig - he worked at the Daily Pilot and the Register in years past and more recently was the Managing Editor of the Orange County Business Journal. Tom is excited to have a man of Bloom's experience on his team to help him get this new publication off and running. They are in the process of adding a reporting staff.

LOBDELL NOT A PART OF THIS ENDEAVOR
William Lobdell, former Daily Pilot editor, Los Angeles Times reporter, award-winning author and Tom's partner in the Daily Voice, will not be part of this new endeavor. As reported here earlier, HERE, he's gone a different direction, teaming up with convicted, and apparently repentant, swindler Barry Minkow to report on malfeasance in business. Johnson and Lobdell remain close friends.

LAUNCH AFTER MEMORIAL DAY
Tom tells me that he's looking for a launch of the Newport Independent shortly after Memorial Day this year. The Newport-Mesa Daily Voice will cease operations around that time. I wish him all the best.

Fairgrounds Purchase a Go, Peekaboo Mansoor, Fireworks and Daily Voice RIP

FAIR PURCHASE AGREEMENT APPROVED
OK, here we go! With their reported unanimous vote in closed session tonight the Costa Mesa City Council authorized the purchase of the Orange County Fair and Events Center. Whew!




TRIO TO HAND-DELIVER IT TO SACRAMENTO
Wednesday City Manager Allan Roeder will accompany council members Katrina Foley and Gary Monahan to Sacramento to personally deliver the proposal to the office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, meeting the deadline imposed upon the city during their "exclusive" negotiations.

HOLDING OUR BREATH
No one I've spoken with has a clue whether the State will find the proposal acceptable or not, so there will be lots of crossed fingers around these parts until word is received from the Governor's office.


THANKS TO ALL INVOLVED
Thanks to Roeder, Becky Bailey-Findley and the entire team who has been burning the midnight oil to put this offer together. Somehow, "thanks" seems hardly adequate.

MANSOOR PLAYS PEEKABOO
Tonight's meeting was another strange one. When the council came out of closed session - only about 15 minutes late - Mayor Allan Mansoor was nowhere to be found so Mayor Pro Tem Wendy Leece took over and began the meeting. Then, during Council Member comments he mysteriously re-appeared and took over.

QUICK PITCH WITH THE AGENDA
The very first thing he did was to suggest moving the Fireworks issue forward - it was the last item on the agenda - to be heard immediately even before the Consent Calendar. He met with opposition by Leece and Foley, who indicated that many people who planned to speak didn't anticipate the issue being heard at the beginning of the meeting and might not be in the auditorium to speak. Those logical complaints fell on deaf ears and the three guys voted to hear it next.

GARY GOT HIS WAY
After much discussion and public input the council voted 4-1 to add another fireworks sales hour on July 4th (Leece voted no) and then voted unanimously to return "hand-held devices" into the inventory of approved fireworks. Man, I hope they don't regret that move.


MANSOOR AND MONAHAN - "WE'RE OUTTA HERE!"
The reason for moving the issue forward became crystal clear when Mansoor called for a "brief 5-minute break". When it was over both he and Monahan had left the building and were not seen nor heard again for the rest of the meeting! Monahan got his issue addressed early so he could go pull beer pumps and I wonder if Mansoor had a fund raising event scheduled for this evening? Regardless, he didn't earn his pay tonight, for sure.

DAILY VOICE TO FOLD
On another interesting note, Sunday Rick Reiff at the Orange County Business Journal reported that former Daily Pilot publisher Tom Johnson and his partner, William Lobdell will abandon their fledgling news outlet, The Newport-Mesa Daily Voice, after less than a year in operation. According to Reiff's report, Johnson will join Laguna Beach-based Firebrand Media as publisher of two weekly free newspapers - the Laguna Beach Independent and the soon-to-be-launched Newport Beach Independent. No mention was made about a "Costa Mesa" version.

MORE INFO PENDING
I knew this was coming but couldn't talk about it until "official" notification. I guess Reiff's article constitutes that notification. I've tried to contact Tom Johnson for more information but have received no reply yet. We don't know for sure, but assume, that these new efforts will have an online presence, too. No word whether Bill Lobdell will be joining this new adventure. I'll report back when I get more information. In the meantime, I wish Tom well with this new gig.