Time For Some Contemplation
TEN DAYS OF DEEP BREATHING
Now that we have a budget and that drama is behind us for the time being, it's time to take a deep breath, pause for a few days and contemplate where this city goes from this point forward. We don't have another scheduled council meeting until July 5th - the day after the three-day orgy of fireworks promoted by a couple members of the city council to the detriment of the rest of us. Oops, there I go again.
WISDOM IMPARTED
My friend, Bruce Krochman, operates a blog called "Civil Thinking" on which he occasionally p
osts his views of our community. He doesn't post nearly frequently enough, but when he does, those entries are always worth a careful reading. On April 12th of this year - the same date, by the way, that recently-departed Interim Police Chief Steve Staveley presented CEO Tom Hatch with his ideas about how to structure the Police Department - Bruce published a little essay he titled, "My Little Corner of Paradise is Feeling More Like a War-Zone", which you can read HERE. I encourage you to do so, because it provides a pretty concise summary of events in the recent political history of our city from the last campaign until that date.
STOP "DISSIN'' AND LISTEN
Some members of our City Council have been dismissive and condescending with folks who rise to speak before them. Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer, in particular, apparently feels that those folks - who take the time to study issues and regularly attend council meetings - don't really represent the views of the majority of the residents of the city. He apparently feels that the absence of the other 110,000 residents means that he and this council must be doing a good job. He, of course, is wrong.
LISTEN TO YOUR NEIGHBOR'S VIEWS
Lest you think that all of those who rise to speak to the council are a bunch of l
unatics or partisan political hacks - yes, there are a few of those - from time to time I'm going to give you a peek at what some of your neighbors have said to the council. Late last week I provided you with four video clips in one post to show you some of the concerned voices pleading with the council for the exercise of wisdom on the police department restructuring and the budget. If you had difficulty viewing those clips you may wish to update your browser and you may have to download Microsoft Silverlight, HERE. It's free and makes viewing those clips possible.
LEFFLER AND REEDY - VOICES OF REASON
Today, I present a couple more voices that spoke before the council on June 22nd. Both of these women, Robin Leffler and Lisa Reedy, are respected members of their individual communities - Leffler in Mesa Verde and Reedy in Mesa del Mar. Each have been officers in their respective homeowner's associations and Reedy has been a candidate for City Council in the recent past. Both study the issues and present their views with clarity and passion. These women are repre
sentative of the best among us. They are also among those voices consistently ignored by this current City Council as it doggedly slogs forward, attempting to re-make our city into the image held in the minds of politicians living outside our community. Take a few minutes to view their presentations before the city council and ask yourselves why these uncomplicated , respectful and sincere requests for consideration and moderation are being ignored.
ROBIN LEFFLER
LISA REEDY
Now that we have a budget and that drama is behind us for the time being, it's time to take a deep breath, pause for a few days and contemplate where this city goes from this point forward. We don't have another scheduled council meeting until July 5th - the day after the three-day orgy of fireworks promoted by a couple members of the city council to the detriment of the rest of us. Oops, there I go again.WISDOM IMPARTED
My friend, Bruce Krochman, operates a blog called "Civil Thinking" on which he occasionally p
osts his views of our community. He doesn't post nearly frequently enough, but when he does, those entries are always worth a careful reading. On April 12th of this year - the same date, by the way, that recently-departed Interim Police Chief Steve Staveley presented CEO Tom Hatch with his ideas about how to structure the Police Department - Bruce published a little essay he titled, "My Little Corner of Paradise is Feeling More Like a War-Zone", which you can read HERE. I encourage you to do so, because it provides a pretty concise summary of events in the recent political history of our city from the last campaign until that date.STOP "DISSIN'' AND LISTEN
Some members of our City Council have been dismissive and condescending with folks who rise to speak before them. Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer, in particular, apparently feels that those folks - who take the time to study issues and regularly attend council meetings - don't really represent the views of the majority of the residents of the city. He apparently feels that the absence of the other 110,000 residents means that he and this council must be doing a good job. He, of course, is wrong.LISTEN TO YOUR NEIGHBOR'S VIEWS
Lest you think that all of those who rise to speak to the council are a bunch of l
unatics or partisan political hacks - yes, there are a few of those - from time to time I'm going to give you a peek at what some of your neighbors have said to the council. Late last week I provided you with four video clips in one post to show you some of the concerned voices pleading with the council for the exercise of wisdom on the police department restructuring and the budget. If you had difficulty viewing those clips you may wish to update your browser and you may have to download Microsoft Silverlight, HERE. It's free and makes viewing those clips possible.LEFFLER AND REEDY - VOICES OF REASON
Today, I present a couple more voices that spoke before the council on June 22nd. Both of these women, Robin Leffler and Lisa Reedy, are respected members of their individual communities - Leffler in Mesa Verde and Reedy in Mesa del Mar. Each have been officers in their respective homeowner's associations and Reedy has been a candidate for City Council in the recent past. Both study the issues and present their views with clarity and passion. These women are repre
sentative of the best among us. They are also among those voices consistently ignored by this current City Council as it doggedly slogs forward, attempting to re-make our city into the image held in the minds of politicians living outside our community. Take a few minutes to view their presentations before the city council and ask yourselves why these uncomplicated , respectful and sincere requests for consideration and moderation are being ignored.ROBIN LEFFLER
LISA REEDY
Labels: Bruce Krochman, Civil Thinking, Jim Righeimer, Lisa Reedy, Robin Leffler
posted by The Pot Stirrer at 6/25/2011 08:44:00 AM
20 Comments:
You listen but only hear what you want to hear. I hear a City with a balanced budget with leaders prioritizing things like roads and bike lanes. I hear of great new positive development projects, improving schools and an energetic new city manager. The voices you hear are the same 5 folks who speak at Council meetings and think they represent the City. They don't. Great things are happening in Costa Mesa, get out of your closed world and hear it. I love this town and it is moving forward, with our without you guys.
If I recall correctly, these two speakers had absolutely nothing to tell us other than "the sky is falling". They are simply parroting the greedy city workers mantra of "we want all the money", and "we want it now".
Nothing they suggested will do anything whatsoever to change the crime in Costa Mesa. It is what it is. What would change the crime rate in Costa Mesa is running the criminals out of our city. That can only be accomplished by ridding the town of it's slums. That must be done by the city council.
Before the layoffs the CMPD only took reports of criminal activities - if they could be coerced into doing so. They don't actually "do" anything about most of our crimes. If our police force was truly effective, we wouldn't have any crimes. Consequently, whether we have 131 cops or 125 cops won't make a nickel's worth of difference.
Face it, we can only afford the number of cops that we can pay for, unless they want to volunteer their time. Would the same cops that are complaining now want to work if the city's coffers were bone dry? I don't think so.
It's obvious why people like Leffler and Reedy are being ignored:
The decisions have already been made, the extremist agenda is proceeding, and only the lawful removal of Righeimer, Mensinger and their enablers Bever and Monahan from government will restore democracy to our city.
To paraphrase Barry:
"BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH"
Reality - what won't change the crime rate in CM is FEWER cops. Doesn't take a genius to formulate that. I hardly think what the council is doing will 'rid the town of it's slums,' either. They'll be long gone, and we'll all be screwed, left holding the bag.
Barry needs to come out of his bubble......
Barry, is that you? The most unpopular guy in the Tree Streets? Well, whatever. At least you did a better job with your spoon fed talking points this time, trying to make them sound more personalized.
We like those gals, they are straight shooters, informative and do their homework. Kudos to all the residents who show up and try to speak common sense to this run away freight train of a Council. You all have a lot of friends out here.
Here's news from the City of Orange; the trash hauler who won the contract on a low bid just came back to Council for permission to charge the residents more money. He got it too. The City entity did save money...all the burden got shifted to the residents in the form of new fees. Hurray for outsourcing!
So far the CM Council plans have cost a lot of money and will cost us much more. Consultants, alienated department heads, increased overtime, legal fees...the list is long. True budget hawks would be much more fiscally responsible. I don't believe for a minute that a balanced budget is the main priority. This council is ambitious and vindictive.
Hey Barry, not to pile on ........but you seriously need to walk a few precincts for the Costa Mesa Taxpayers group...get out there, talk to your neighbors. Precinct walking is a real eye opener.Barry should do it more often and get an actual consensus , instead of mandating what your neighbors should do. Go see how they actually feel about getting thier services cut without any tax breaks......go on.......SELL THAT.
You should tell that clown over at Civil Thinking that he needs to do a better job of editing his BS.
Some of those supposed sentences were almost impossible to track!
So, do you rant into a mirror often? :-)
Thanks for playing...
If you want entertainment, listen to money matters on 101.5. Lobdell tows the line and when questioned . The way the council feels is why. I interpreted it as, Riggy and mensinger said so...Thats why. He should stick to print, he can proof read.
Barry, I've heard the "Improving Costa Mesa" song and dance and now this, common on. What I see is empty lots throught Costa Mesa, a energetic new city manager loseing his job to Mensiger(who will be appointed CEO, cause he will lose in the elections). Improving schools, yeh right? How many kids from H.B or F.V. transfer to NMUSD? I'm getting thirsty, which development project has the kool-aid stand? Maybe I can take the new bike lane route.
Leffler is hardly a respected member of the Mesa Verde community when it comes to her solutionless complaints about change. She is a nice lady but really is way too emotional and believes there is a conspiracy behind every mention of change. And she does not like change of any sort. She complains about everything and when given facts that should calm her apparently does not listen. Great heart, emotional wreck. Viewed the song from the homeless guy and the reading of the letter by Genis. This is considered good stuff? When their looks go they are history because the talent is not there.
Barewire, there is a conspiracy of sorts. Mensinger and to the same extent Riggy use their connection with youth sports as their platform to get their word and their word only out. They engage in their politics and among the group who they tend to bully, they find like minded people, or intimidate others into supporting their platform.
Once the group has begun engaging in group think rather than having individual ideas, they slap each other on the back and convince themselves they are smarter than those who have gone before them and their ideas are the only solutions. I have seen it first hand.
The sad thing is that Monahan is being led around by the nose. I thought HE was the mayor. However, judging by the way I continue to see Riggy on Fox News, Fox Business news, the LA news stations etc, one would think HE is the mayor. He certainly portrays himself as the leader of this council. Clearly he is the one leading the charge and the rest are just along for the ride.
Based on the following that is taking place on the council, they could hardly be described as civic leaders. Riggy is leading, the rest are civic followers.
I remember when Monahan was just "Skosh" the guy that pulled the taps at the Goathill Tavern. He was a likeable enough guy. He has somehow lost that likeable charm since he sold us all out.
What were Monahan and Bever promised?
The "orgy" of fireworks has begun in my neighborhood, two illegal type incendaries rocked my house, from a party next door. Talked to occupants, they were drunk, rude, arrogant but promised there would be no more. About 20 minues later another blast. Called 911, the officer was prompt, cordial but not much he could do, occupants insisted "party was over". Party was far from over, many stayed the night and party went all on day next day without further incident. Officer did wish us good luck with only 124 officers this was probably last call to expect PD to have staff to respond to illegal fireworks ingnited on illegal day. Only a couple blocks from Monahans' pub, they must have heard it there as well.
So the "precinct walkers" came by our house on the Eastside yesterday. I engaged one of them. Paid OCEA walker who knows nothing about our City. Couldn't even name one Councilmember. Pretty sad campaign by the union. One thing- please stop littering our City with all of these illegal signs. You'd think employees union would care more about our town. They don't seem to have any respect. It saddens me. Respect our town, please.
Um, Roberts Family, don’t know if you listened closely to the VOLUNTEER who knocked on your door. There are no paid workers in this grassroots movement. OCEA did print the signs, but there's a coalition of all sorts of citizens walking who don't want to see our City dismantled by this reckless Council. Some of us are Republicans, appalled that so -called fiscal conservatives would even think of laying off half the workforce without doing a lick of analysis.
Who started this illegal sign nonsense? That's just more deliberate misinformation coming from the experts at misinformation. The "Cancel the Layoffs" signs are legal on private property 24/7, and allowed in the public right of way from Friday afternoon to Sunday night, same as Real Estate signs.
Roberts Family- Why are you spreading lies? Every single employee who spent their Saturday morning talking to citizens knows all of the City Council members. The signs are placed in citizens yards who request them. They are legal and we don't work for anyone but the City of Costa Mesa and the citizens.
there are many illegal signs no matter how you spin it. they are a blight and illegal and will backfire so please keep them out there and keep disrespecting our city.
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