Fair Board Trying An End-Run?

UH-OH!
The staff report for the Fair Board meeting Monday, August 2nd is posted and can be read in total HERE. It's clear from reading that report that the Fair Board is trying an end run on the sale of the Fairgrounds.


CHAIR DODGE'S LETTER TO ARNOLD
Once there you will scroll down a few pages through the agenda to a letter dated today from Board Chair Kristina Dodge to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger informing him that in it's meeting on the 2nd the Board will discuss a potential revenue sharing plan between the 32nd DAA and the State of California. Following Dodge's letter you will find a lengthy and thorough staff report outlining the proposal being formulated to present to the State as an alternative to the deal that is pending with Costa Mesa.

THE "TABLED" DEAL FROM APRIL
This is the deal they were told to table last April, apparently because it would interfere with negotiations between the City of Costa Mesa and The State.

THEIR GOALS
As you read down through the report you will find the goals of this plan, which I've reproduced here:

I. Recommended Goals of a Revenue Sharing Model

1) 32nd DAA creates revenue sharing model analogous to a purchase in most of its economic features using the State’s desired purchase price of $96 million dollars.

2) OCFEC is preserved as a fair and event center.

3) Offers reasonable scenario to “pose the best opportunity for the State to achieve the highest and most certain return for the property” as stated by the Department of General Services.

4) No taxpayer dollars assumed in financial analysis. OCFEC has no ability to levy taxes to support its programs or facilities. User fees will fund 100% of the plan.

5) Continuity of fairgrounds operations by an experienced staff.

6) OCFEC moves from being a revenue neutral State Agency to a revenue contributing State Agency.

7) As such, OCFEC is removed from “underutilized” status.

8) As OCFEC profitability increases, so too does the contribution to the State of California.

9) OCFEC employees’ jobs and benefits are kept whole.

10) Property remains in the State’s real estate holdings.

11) Number and size of public-private partnerships is expanded.

12) 32nd DAA enters into discussions with State of California on the appropriate application of the Governor's California Performance Review as it relates to governance restructuring of the DAA to permit the DAA more flexibility in the entrepreneurial aspects of its operations while maintaining appropriate governance procedures such as open meeting, financial disclosure and conflict of interest requirements currently applicable to the DAA.

FINANCIALS
For example, under their Item ll, Price and Terms of Payment Summary, they present a plan that stretches out for 80 years and provide a summary of total payout that exceeds the current City deal. It appears, however, that the State would receive less money up front - the City deal calls for $19.2 million in prepaid interest at the beginning. This deal calls for $5 million up front, then 14% of the gross revenues in years 2-25, with a minimum annual of $2.5 million. They would pay 7.5% of gross revenues in years 26-80 and the State retains title to the property in perpetuity.

READ THE REST YOURSELF
I'm not going to attempt to repeat every element of the staff report here, honest. You can read it for yourselves. The staff report goes on and on, with exhibits, floor plan, financial summaries, etc. I'm not going to attempt to interpret all that for you - it makes my head hurt. Some of you who use that side of your brain more often may enjoy that trip through Numbersland, so I'll leave it up to you.

THE GOAL IS CLEAR
One thing is very clear to me - the Fair Board is pulling out all the stops to quash the sale of the Fairgrounds and are throwing this plan into the mix at what amounts to the last minute to sway the Governor and the folks at the Department of General Services.

WHY NOW?
If accepted by the The State, this would kill the proposed sale. I asked CEO Steve Beazley a few minutes ago why this was being proposed now. He told me that was a question for the Board Chair, Kristina Dodge.

WHAT DO DODGE AND ELLIS KNOW?
Well, one can read much into that - like maybe the well-connected Mrs. Dodge and her Vice Chair, political king maker, Dave Ellis, have heard from their pals in Sacramento that the City deal is dead and they're trying to head-off the placement of the Fairgrounds back on the auction block, which is what the DGS leadership said they would do immediately if our deal falls through.

THIS MAY ALREADY BE A DONE DEAL!
I postulated with Beazley that, at the meeting Monday, the Board would hear this proposal presented and explained, mull it over and perhaps recommend changes, then approve it for presentation to the Governor. Beazley agreed with that scenario, but reminded me that the Governor probably already has this plan in his hands today.

EXPECT A BIG CROWD MONDAY
I imagine Monday's Fair Board meeting will draw a pretty large crowd, including many Fairgrounds employees and vendors of the Marketplace and Fair vendors, too, since the Fair is dark on Mondays and Tuesdays. It's going to be a very, very interesting meeting - to say the very least. I'll report back when I know more.

Fairgrounds Intrigue & My Pal's Birthday

What's going on over at the Fairgrounds?

INTERESTING AGENDA ITEM
Late yesterday I got a heads-up that the Fair Board, at it's meeting Monday morning at 10 a.m., will consider Item #8. A. "Review and Approve Revenue Sharing Proposal between the 32nd DAA and the State of California."

NO STAFF REPORT AVAILABLE
Since no staff report is available on this subject, it's difficult to tell exactly what the Board is up to - no surprise there - but it certainly looks like the same issue that the State refused to consider several months ago, when it agreed to enter into exclusive negotiations with the City of Costa Mesa for the purchase of the Fairgrounds. At the time the Fair Board and management were ticked off that the State wouldn't hear their proposal. NOTE: Just got off the phone with Steve Beazley at 11:15 a.m. He promises a staff report on this issue will be available for viewing Saturday, tomorrow. He confirmed that this is exactly the same issue they placed on their agenda in April, but that the Governor asked to be pulled at that time.

WHY NOW?
While the Fair Board is not known for it's openness and transparency as it conducts business, the timing of the consideration of this issue now seems curious. Because at least a couple members of the Fair Board are very well-connected in Sacramento - that's probably the biggest understatement you'll ever see on this site - one might suspect that some inside information about the future of the deal being hammered out by Costa Mesa has led the Fair Board to re-visit this issue at this time.

WHAT DO THEY KNOW?
For example, I wonder if they have received insider information that the legislature will not pass the required bill to facilitate the sale of the Fairgrounds to The City? If so, from whom? The legislature goes on a summer break next week for a month, which leaves us all waiting a long, long time for that proverbial "other shoe" to drop.

HUMMING THE JEOPARDY! THEME, WAITING...
I tried to contact Fairgrounds CEO Steve Beazley about this a few minutes ago, but reached only his voice mail. The folks in Media Relations at the Fairgrounds were no help, either. So, until we have a chance to view a staff report and/or hear back from someone in authority at the Fairgrounds, we are left to speculate... I'll report back if and when I hear more.

***
LARRY MOORE'S BIRTHDAYToday would be my buddy Larry Moore's 69th birthday. Regular readers here know the story of our relationship - best friends for 57 years - and the tragic circumstances of his passing. I've written about it here and elsewhere since he died more than six years ago.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMIGO
Today, rather than re-hash all the pain of his passing, I'll simply wish my friend a Happy Birthday, knowing that he's looking down on us from a better place. If you wish to re-read some of the things I've written about him and our life together in the past you can do so HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

DO IT NOW
I leave with the reminder that you need to tell those you love how you feel NOW - don't wait. You never know what is around the next bend in the road.

Chris Blank Withdraws From Campaign

BLANK OUT!
Costa Mesa Attorney Chris Blank has decided NOT to run for City Council this time around.

THE REASON? - BUSINESS DEMANDS
Blank, a community activist in Costa Mesa for many years, cites the demands of his business that will preclude him from being able to devote enough time to campaigning and, if successful, to the very time-consuming job required as a city council member.

HE'LL BE MISSED
In my opinion, Blank's absence from this campaign will leave a huge hole in the discussion of important issues as the campaign season moves forward.

WENDY AND RIGGY GRINNING TODAY
I suspect both Wendy Leece and Jim Righeimer are all smiles this afternoon. Blank's absence leaves them competing with previous candidates Chris Bunyan, Chris McEvoy and newcomers Susan Lester and Jeffrey Chapman.

OC Non-Profits May Lose Tax Exempt Status

REGISTER WATCHDOG ON THE CASE
The Orange County Register's Watchdog, the tenacious Teri Sforza, reported in the very early morning hours on Tuesday, July 27th, that certain Orange County charities might be on the verge of losing their nonprofit status because of a change in the law in 2007 that requires small non-profits to report financial information. You can read Teri's complete report HERE.

COSTA MESA'S GROUP
I read the article and followed some of the links. I downloaded the Orange County data - which you can do, too - that she and her team had sifted from the more than 325,000 organizations nationally - 35,400 in California. Among the 2410 Orange County organizations I found 118 in Costa Mesa, some of which raised an eyebrow - they might for you, too.

Here are the names of a few of the non-profits from the list that jumped out at me:

Releaf Costa Mesa

Orange County Sportswriters Association

Orange County Polish Club (there's a great joke in there somewhere)

Mesa Verde Community, Inc.

Mesa Pride

Harbor Area Baseball, Inc.

Friends of the Costa Mesa Libraries

Eagle Pride, A California Non-Profit Corporation

Costa Mesa High School Track & Field Boosters

Citizens for Jobs and the Economy

Children's Theater Guild of Newport Harbor

Carden Christian Foundation

BBC Outrigger Canoe Club, Inc.

TAX-EXEMPT STATUS IN JEOPARDY
According to Sforza's piece, the list contains the names and addresses of non-profits which have not made the appropriate financial filings three years consecutively. The link to the IRS site, HERE, tells us that those organizations who fail to make the appropriate filings between May 17, 2010 and October 15, 2010 are in jeopardy of losing their tax exempt status and, as a result, donations to those organizations will not be tax deductible.

FOLLOW THE LINKS
If you follow the links in Sforza's article you find that you can download the information as a pdf. file or an Excel file (which permits you to sort the data).

FIX IT!
So, check the list, look for your organizations and get cracking with the filings - OR ELSE!

Jana Ransom Leaving Costa Mesa

Some sad news floated my way today...

JANA HEADING TO IRVINE
Costa Mesa's outstanding Recreation Manager, Jana Ransom, is leaving her job in a couple weeks for a similar position with the City of Irvine. Jana's last day will be August 12th and she begins with Irvine the following Monday.

CONSUMMATE PROFESSIONAL
This is a big loss for our city. Jana has been a very effective manager and a consummate professional in her eight years with Costa Mesa. The past few years have been difficult - her organization experienced a 30% budget cut over the past couple years due to the dire financial condition we find ourselves in these days.

OUR LOSS - AGRANVILLE'S GAIN
Her new job in Irvine, while similar in scope to her current assignment, has a tremendous upside. Irvine - Agranville, as I refer to it - is more than double the size of Costa Mesa and has on the horizon the development of The Great Park - a recreational professional's dream assignment.

SENIORS WILL ESPECIALLY MISS HER
Many folks will miss Jana, including the folks at the Senior Center, where she has been the city liaison.

GOOD-BYE AND GOOD LUCK, JANA
We here at A Bubbling Cauldron wish her all the best in her new gig.

They're Off And Running!

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN
Well, the campaign season is officially in full swing now because the first candidate forum has been scheduled for this summer.

MESA VERDE FIRST
Our friends at Mesa Verde Inc. have firmed up a date and place for their candidate forum - as usual, they are the first.

AUGUST 18TH
According to their organizers, the event will be held on August 18th at the Mesa Verde United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, 1701 Baker Street in Costa Mesa. According to my sources, the "schmoozing" will begin at 5:30 and the actual forum starts at 6:30.

USUALLY THE BEST
It's been my experience that this forum is usually the best of the bunch because the candidates are all fresh, well-scrubbed and coiffed and eager to answer questions. And, our friends from Mesa Verde have good snacks.

More about this forum and others as I hear about them in the weeks to come.

***

PARKS & REC. MEETING WEDNESDAY
It's a fairly slow week in our town. Wednesday evening Chairman Mike Brumbaugh will lead the Parks and Recreation Commission in their only summer meeting at 6:00 in the council chambers. This meeting may set an all time record for brevity unless tree removal requests drag on and on.


***


MICKADEIT REPORTS CORREA AGAINST FAIR SALE
Orange County Register columnist Frank Mickadeit reports today that State Senator Lou Correa is unhappy about the Fairgrounds Sale deal - and not because of the Rule of Law City controversy. Nope, he thinks it's a bad idea for several reasons, which you can read at length HERE.

Who's Running? & Roeder on City Talk

PAPERS ARE FLYING
As of early Thursday afternoon the Costa Mesa City Clerk reports that, so far, seven residents have pulled papers to run for the two seats on the Costa Mesa City Council in November. Some of those names will be very familiar to you and a couple will raise question marks. Since the period for pulling papers ends the first week of August there is still time for more candidates to throw their hats into the ring.

WENDY'S RUNNING AGAINThe list below is random, except I gave Wendy Leece first position because she is the only incumbent running. Leece is ending her first four year term following her election back in 2006, when she rode Allan Mansoor's coattails to victory. She didn't really run her own campaign - her campaign web site never did get up and running and seldom was she seen on the campaign without the shadow of Mansoor on her shoulder.

RIGGY - ONE MORE TIMECarpetbagging Planning Commission Chairman Jim Righeimer, amidst much hoopla and with a crowd of more than two dozen well-wishers cheering him on, pulled papers this week and held a "news conference" - with no members of the media present - on the steps of City Hall. There's a short video clip floating around out there of the event, but it's of such poor quality that I didn't bother to provide it. Here's a photo of Riggy and his entourage that morning. See how many elected and appointed officials you can identify. Here's a hint - there are three council members, four planning commissioners, one parks and recreation commissioner and one water district director.

CHRIS BUNYAN AGAIN
Local businessman, author and former candidate Chris Bunyan is back. Bunyan has been devoting a great deal of time on the Banning Ranch issue and I suspect that will be part of his campaign platform.


CHRIS MCEVOY, TOO
High school math teacher Chris McEvoy is also back again. McEvoy, true to his promise following the last election, has remained immersed in municipal issues and has been a regular presence before the City Council and commissions. He has consistently presented his views respectfully and with clarity and certainly has a better feel for how things work - or don't work - in our city than he did two years ago.

ONE MORE "CHRIS" - BLANK IS RUNNING
Yet another "Chris" is running this year - lawyer Chris Blank has decided to take his considerable legal and organizational skills into this campaign. His presence in this campaign will add a very different dynamic to the process.


SUSAN LESTER
Newcomer to Costa Mesa, Susan Lester, didn't let any "grass" grow under her feet and has pulled papers. Lester has been a frequent speaker before the council recently, with her primary focus being on the sale of medical marijuana in our city. Her name appears in a closed session agenda item involving a lawsuit between the City and several proponents of the distribution of medical marijuana. She's relatively unknown in our town and it's going to be very interesting to see what the thrust of her campaign will be.

JEFFREY CHAPMAN - WHO?
Finally, someone named Jeffrey Chapman has pulled papers for this campaign. We will find out more about him once he returns the package to the City Clerk, but for now he's just a big question mark.


IT WILL BE A FUN SUMMER
This promises to be a very interesting campaign - as the past several have been in our city. We'll find out if Leece can actually mount an effective campaign on her own.

RIGGY'S THE ONE TO WATCH
Of greater interest to me will be the campaign Righeimer mounts this time around. The last time he ran he finished 4th. Riggy is "one of the boys" in the Orange County Republican Party - he's in very tight with the Chairman, Scott Baugh. You don't get any more "connected" than Riggy is, so we can expect a lot of support from the OC GOP for his campaign. I'll be very surprised if he doesn't end up out-spending every other candidate very significantly this summer and fall.

I'M NOT A RIGGY FAN
Those who read this blog frequently know that I'm not a big Riggy fan. I didn't - and still don't - like the way he blew into town here during Allan Mansoor's re-election campaign almost four years ago to the day and then ended up elbowing his way onto the Planning Commission just a few months later with an application filed well after the deadline - shoving aside Mansoor loyalist Paul Bunney in the process. I've said many times, his appointment was pure political payback for the support he and his buddy, Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, provided for Mansoor.

HE'S A BULLY
I also don't like Righeimer's style as Chairman of the Planning Commission. He plays fast and loose with the rules, ignoring established procedures and protocols and has been seen bullying more than one applicant appearing before him. He has a tendency to micro-manage projects coming before the commission, attempting to overlay his own personal agenda instead of following the rules in place at the time. He seems to frequently be trying to re-shape our city into some distorted version of Irvine all by himself.

FAIRGROUNDS DEAL THREAT
Righeimer's behavior relative to the Fairgrounds Sale issue makes me very distrustful of him. As councilwoman Katrina Foley reported on the dais, he told her that he was ready to "blow up" the deal because he was being blocked from playing a role in the process. I have no reason to doubt Foley since he told me virtually the same thing during an earlier telephone conversation.

A COUP COMING?
And, my biggest concern about Jim Righeimer is what appears to be a planned take-over of our municipal government. He's manipulated himself into a powerful commission assignment, where, as chairman, he runs things like a little kingdom. Of even more concern is a report I recently received about him telling a long-time community resident and activist that he no longer had a political future in Costa Mesa and that Righeimer and his cadre of buddies - Steve Mensinger, Colin McCarthy and Jeff Mathews - were all lined up to jump into city council slots as the opportunities presented themselves.

MENSINGER MANIPULATION
In my opinion, it is absolutely no coincidence that Mensinger has headed the "draft Katrina Foley for School Board" movement this year. If Foley runs for Michael Collier's seat and wins she will have to abandon her council seat with two years left on her term. The new council - the one seated following the November election - will most likely appoint someone to serve out her term. If that council is comprised of Riggy and Leece plus Eric Bever and Gary Monahan I think there will be ZERO chance that they would take the next-highest vote-getter from the election, even though that person will have already been vetted and considered by the voters. Nope, I think they would appoint one of "their boys" from the group mentioned above to get another step up in their take-over.

PAY ATTENTION OR PAY THE PRICE
I certainly hope the voters pay attention this year, and that they take the opportunity to attend any candidate forums presented this summer and fall to personally assess all the candidates. If they don't, and if that results in Riggy's election to our city council...well, they will get what they deserve - a dictatorship.

***

ROEDER ON "CITY TALK"
On a much more positive note, City Manager Allan Roeder is featured again on the most recent edition of Costa Mesa TV's City Talk. This time he answers questions by host Dane Bora about the budget and the Fairgrounds Sale. This is an excellent half-hour presentation and should be required viewing by every Costa Mesa resident. You can view the streaming video HERE. The following is the viewing schedule for the remainder of the month on CMTV, Channel 24 on Time Warner Cable and Channel 99 on ATT U-Verse.

Councl Meeting Wrap-up

The Costa Mesa City Council meeting last night went about as expected.

SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS
Wendy Leece pulled the issue of the loss of two school resource officers from the Consent Calendar for separate discussion. After much discussion and explanation by members of the Police Department, the council voted to approve the Memorandum of Understanding with the School District which eliminates two school resource officers - budget cuts are a pain!

MEASURE "C"
Former mayor Sandra Genis pulled item #7, the results of the June 10, 2010 election as respects Measure C. Her concern was that some elements of the MOU in place Facilities Management West would supersede Measure C and the current zoning plans for the Fairgrounds site. After some discussion City Manager Allan Roeder affirms that the language in question was a safeguard, not a loophole. Katrina Foley requested that language in the land lease be crafted to further protect from those issues about which Genis expressed concern.

SENIOR CENTER CORPORATION BOARD APPOINTEES
After some spirited discussion, applicants Judi Berry, Kathleen Eric and Agnes Dubberly were appointed to the Costa Mesa Senior Corporation Board. Board President Bruce Garlich expressed some concern with the application of Judi Berry - that it seemed quite adversarial. I posted that segment of her application in my last entry, and I agree with Garlich.


BERRY WAS A POINT OF CONTENTION
Allan Mansoor recommended Berry - no surprise there, since she's his long, long time supporter and campaign Treasurer. (Wonder if she's sent all that money back to the Facilities Management West donors yet?) In my opinion, placing Judi Berry on the Senior Center Corporation Board is like turning a fox loose in the hen house. I suspect her presence will not reduce the animosity between the Board and the City, but will exacerbate it. Foley, from the dais, suggested that Garlich and Berry get together and try to find common ground. We'll see how that goes.

ERIC MAY BE A GOOD ADDITION
Kathleen Eric may actually be an excellent addition to the board. She has a strong positive senior orientation and has been attending board meetings for some time.

DUBBERLY HAS STRONG BACKGROUND
Agnes Dubberly brings a very strong background to the board, including extensive experience with non-profits and management background.



BROADWAY SAFE ROUTE TO SCHOOL GRANT
Perhaps the most positive segment of the council meeting was the presentation of the public hearing about the Broadway Safe Route To School Grant. This, as Foley stated during the discussion, was a perfect example of what can happen when community members and the city staff collaborate on an issue. Public Services Director Peter Naghavi made an excellent presentation and many residents and officers of the Eastside Neighbors Group spoke in support of the plan. Broadway is the widest residential street in the city and is an almost uninterrupted straight line from Irvine Avenue to Newport Boulevard. I'd have loved to grow up here - Broadway would have made a great drag race street!

GOOD JOB BY STAFF AND RESIDENTS
In any event, the council moved to proceed with this project and use nearly $1,000,000 of federal grant funds to make the improvements that will make that important stretch of roadway safer, slower and more beautiful. Congrats to all involved and especially to Naghavi and his staff for the excellent work done on this project.

DELINQUENT FINES
Perhaps the most uncomfortable segment was the one dealing with the authorization of placing delinquent fines on the tax rolls for collection. Nearly $25,000 in overdue fines which have exhausted all local collection efforts and appeals require city council approval to turn the fines over to the county for placement on the tax bills. Two residents, with delinquent fines totaling $2,000 and $850 respectively, made impassioned pleas for the council to not place the obligations on the tax rolls. The discussion was frustrating. Eventually, a motion by Foley and seconded by Leece to permit those two to pay a small amount now and the balance within a year, was rejected. Both debts, plus the others for whom nobody spoke, will be placed on the tax rolls and will be due with the first installment of the property tax in November.

"THE MOUTH" IS BACK - UNFORTUNATELY
Scattered throughout the meeting were comments by the Costa Mesa racist laureate, our old buddy, The Mouth From Mesa North. He didn't miss many opportunities to berate the council on any issue, including another dose of "drain the swamp", and "bulldoze the apartments". He keeps yapping about making Costa Mesa a nicer city, but now the hypocrite is really ticked off because The City is going to purchase and rehabilitate a couple homes to be sold to low-income families in his Mesa North neighborhood. It was refreshing to see at least one resident rebut his rants. It's interesting that he no longer makes any attempt to veil his racist views, either in person or on his pathetic blog. It looks like people are finally beginning to figure him out...

ANNE HOGAN SHERESHEVSKY

At the request of Katrina Foley, the council adjourned the meeting in memory of community activist Anne Hogan Shereshevsky, who passed away recently. Anne was a fixture in the council chambers and elsewhere, speaking out on many issues near and dear to her heart. She was very active in the Costa Mesa senior community and frequently addressed the issues important to that group. She was a strong advocate against so-called safe and sane fireworks, and lobbied each year for a community fireworks show instead. She was direct and articulate, which caused some elected officials some heartburn from time to time. Her contributions to our community will be missed.

Just When You Thought Things Had Calmed Down...

UH-OH...
What I thought might be a fairly short, fairly smooth City Council meeting tonight in Costa Mesa may turn out to be a barn-burner if certain activists have their way.

FUN WITH THE CONSENT CALENDAR
On the Consent Calendar, near the beginning of the meeting, in which the council may simply vote all the items as a package, there are a couple that will certainly be pulled for separate discussion and vote.

LOSS OF TWO SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS
The first, Item 6, is a vote approving the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and The City on the reduction of two School Resource Officers - bringing the total down to 2. I suspect there may be some folks that will want to hear the logic of this decision. We'll see..



MEASURE "C" VOTE
Then, Item 7, which is a resolution declaring the result of the June 1, 2010 election... this item will affirm the passage of Measure "C". It's my understanding that members of several groups opposed to the sale of the Orange County Fair and Event Center will be in attendance to request this item be pulled for a separate vote. This one is going to be interesting because it may be alleged that Measure "C" is moot in light of the creation of a Joint Powers Authority to deal with the proposed lessee of the Fairgrounds following the sale. Some activists plan to show up in large numbers and demand an explanation. I wouldn't be surprised to see former mayor Sandra Genis stand and ask questions the council will be hard-pressed to answer.

SENIOR CENTER BOARD APPLICANTS
Late in the meeting, under New Business #1, the council will consider appointing up to three new members to the Costa Mesa Senior Center Board. There are five candidates listed in the staff report, all of which seem to bring certain strengths to the board, four from Costa Mesa and one from Newport Beach. You can read their applications and backgrounds HERE.

MANSOOR'S PAL, JUDI BERRY
Among the Costa Mesa applicants is the perky Judi Berry, a long-time Westside community activist and strong supporter of Mayor Allan Mansoor - she managed the finances for his campaigns. Her most recent high visibility bit of activism was her crusade, along with her husband, Mike, to restore dog feces collection bags in our local parks. As I've said before, every time I see a pile of dog doo in our parks I'll think of the Berrys.

NOT CREDENTIALS, HER MOTIVATION
Ms. Berry fancies herself a financial guru and has been omnipresent during budget discussions for the past several years. According to her application, she brings a strong financial management background for our consideration. I don't question Ms. Berry's credentials - but I wonder about her motivation.

ATTITUDE
In response to the question about why she wishes to serve on the Board she begins with this statement: "For several years I have been concerned about the "not so stellar" reputation that the Senior Center has with some of the seniors and others in the community. I believe that this can be changed by having a more sensitive and respectful board. I also believe that the finances of the center should be completely transparent. For example, for several years I made donations to the Senior Center. I stopped making these contributions when I could not get anyone to return my telephone calls. They did not even know what I was calling about, but could not be bothered to return my calls. I believe that this attitude can be changed by having some new people on the board."

A VENDETTA?
Now, I don't know how you interpret that statement, but it sure seems to me that she wants a position on the board so she can get even for perceived past rebuffs - not the most noble of motives, for sure. I'm not sure how effective Ms. Berry will be on the board, regardless of her credentials, when her motivation is revenge.

WESTSIDE ACTIVIST KATHLEEN ERIC
Also among the applicant pool for consideration is another long-time Westside activist, Kathleen Eric, who, with her husband Christian, have been involved in many efforts to affect positive change to their part of town. They are part of a cadre of activists who gave us Mansoor, Eric Bever, Wendy Leece and, of course, Chris Steel.

ANTI-MANAGEMENT BIAS?
Ms. Eric brings a different skill set for consideration than Ms. Berry, but when reading her application is seems clear that they share an anti-management attitude - a general displeasure with the way the Senior Center is managed - and want a seat at the Board table so they can "fix it".

HELP OR HINDER?
It seems to me that, because of their political connections with members of the City Council, both Ms. Berry and Ms. Eric are slam dunks for seats on the board. I find myself wondering if their presence at the table will actually improve the difficulties they perceive or will it only further exacerbate the turmoil caused by the interference of Wendy Leece in the day-to-day operations of the Senior Center over the past couple years and further erode the Center's fund raising capability? Sadly, I suspect the latter.

ANOTHER CHAPTER IN THE DRAMA...
So, tune in for another chapter in the on-going drama that is our Costa Mesa City Council...