Committee Application Period Extended
The City of Costa Mesa extended the application date for those residents interested in volunteering for several city committees. Those committees are:
Cultural Arts Committee
Historical Preservation Committee
Investment Oversight Committee
DEADLINE EXTENDED
The original solicitation for these committees this year was announced on April 12th with a deadline for submission of applications of April 19th. Apparently the response was low because, on April 20th, the deadline was extended to April 27th.
NOT SURPRISED
Quite honestly, I'm not surprised if there has been a small response to this solicitation. Some history....
36 APPLICANTS LAST OCTOBER
Last October, in response to a similar request for volunteers, three dozen interested parties replied with applications for these committees plus the Redevelopment and Residential Rehabilitation (3R) committee and the Costa Mesa Senior Center Board.
NOT GOOD ENOUGH
MOTION: Amended Council Policy 000-2 with the following changes:
1. That membership of the Cultural Arts Committee, Historical Preservation Committee and the 3R Committee be reduced to 9 regular committee members and 2 alternate members.
2. Limit appointees to only Costa Mesa residents.
3. To no longer consider late applications.
4. To reduce the recruitments to once a year in the spring (April).
5. That those applications received for reappointment be reappointed to fill the current vacancies.
6. Directed that all the applicants that submitted, and not appointed be considered at the Spring realignment and recruitment.
7. Directed that the numbers of the membership would be ultimately reduced with the spring recruitment.
The following reappointments were made:
Anthony S. Manqrique was reappointed to the Cultural Arts Committee as a regular member;
John McQueen, was reappointed to the Historical Preservation Committee as a regular member; Terry Shaw was reappointed as a regular member and David Stiller was reappointed as an alternate member to the Investment Oversight Committee; Robert Dickson, Philip Morello, Arlene Schafer, Cambria Briggs and Bob Wakeham were reappointed as regular members and Andrew Smith was reappointed as an alternate to the 3R Committee.
UNACCEPTABLE COUNCIL BEHAVIOR
The remainder of the applicants didn't receive so much as a thank you for applying after being stiff-armed by the council. I know more than a few of those summarily rejected. They are good, solid citizens with an interest in serving their city. The behavior of the council last year was not only unexpected, but unacceptable.
TIME FOR A CHANGE
Labels: Committee Appointments, Wendy Leece
posted by The Pot Stirrer at 4/24/2012 12:22:00 AM
22 Comments:
Normally I would not even be aware of the need of volunteers. Now that I do, I choose to avoid humiliation by these guys and not submit a request to be on the cultural arts committee as I might wish.
Tina,
I understand... These guys gripe from the dais about their pals being intimidated by folks in the audience so they stay home and yet it is they who have created this adverserial atmosphere.
Don't forget the "Attack Geoff" Committee with its standing members Colon, Baby Ethan, and Fitzpatrick. Maybe they can get a grant from the Heritage Foundation and use it to eat all day..
while not a "pal" of the councilmembers but just a grateful voter and donor, there is no way I would go speak at a meeting to support them with the rabid audience there. Why get "marked" by them, the unions, or the cops? I support them by voting and donating, all in secret. I enjoy watching the meetings on tv while enjoying a good meal and wine. the adversial atmosphere is caused by both sides. that is a given mathematical certainty. one side cannot possibly cause an adverserial atmosphere alone. this council has taken much abuse and handled it well. it is good they listen to the lies and refute them publicly, thus enabling the citizenry to decide who comes off best, who makes sense, and who is working on behalf of the taxpayers. All this implied corruption, Brown Act violations, kickbacks, etc. is "noise", nothing ever proven. Most likely corruption seen so far is city clerk not filing charter on time but usual suspects give that a pass. anyone remember how Foley used to cross examine speakers who she disagreed with?
Well we all know what Fitzpatrick would be eating-- the cream-filled, sponge cake devil that he craves for and can't resist--the TWINKIE.
ocgop4ever: Just curious - how many bottles of wine does it take to get through one of these Council meetings? I guess we can give these guys credit for supporting the alcohol industry!
One bottle suffices. Actually it is not council that causes us to like wine. We just sort of like it and incorporate it into our meals now and then, strictly as a constitutional of course. May we suggest a good red from Frog's Leap winery?
Valan2,
As one of the people who mocks speakers who speak in support of the council - way to avoid any of the issues ocgop4ever raised...
The OCGOP an aberration? If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and …
The local GOP organization is faithfully following the national strategy to weaken the opposition Democratic Party by weakening unions, the Dems’ major supporters.
Nationally, the cover story in each case is that “a fiscal crisis” forces the harsh moves.
The state of Wisconsin is the poster child for this strategy. The Republican Party took control of both the state legislature and the executive branches in the 2010 election. They immediately set about to permanently weaken public worker unions. They did so, sparking such outrage that Gov. Scott Walker faces a recall election, only the third Governor to face recall in the history of the U.S. But was it just a few malcontents? The recall was certified by a huge number of signatures, 2 million, when 1 million was all that was needed.
Note that Walker could claim fiscal crisis with a semi-straight face only because he had first pushed through a huge tax reduction for businesses that put the state budget in the red. Further note that there were strong protests by tens of thousands of Wisconsin residents, but the GOP legislators did not budge. Several of them have since been recalled.
Ohio is another state that has pushed the same agenda. As I remember, every state with GOP control of the levers of power has followed this agenda to an extent.
Known enablers of this agenda are the ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) and the uber wealthy Koch brothers. Thus, the national Republican agenda and its supporters is in plain sight for all to see.
When I compare the evidence of this coordinated national GOP attack on Democrats with what’s going on in Costa Mesa, I have to conclude that OCGOP Prez Scott Baugh and his CM “ground zero” team are singing from the same song book.
First, the Righeimer/Bever/Monahan/Mensinger (RBMM) team contrived all of a sudden to have a fiscal crisis in the city … cash flow, reserve fund, pension debt, you name it, trouble everywhere. Then came the secret meetings – with no minutes – that resulted in RBMM announcing layoffs of over half of the city workforce. When that got stymied by a judge, they came up with the idea of floating a city charter whose main purpose was obviously to kneecap the employee associations. (Compare the high level of detail for those provisions with the low levels for anything else.)
Sad to say, the Republican party that I loved is no more, and the OCGOP is an enthusiastic supporter of whatever it is that has taken its place.
OCGOP fan:
Other than "sneers" by some in the audience, what "hostility" has any speaker on any side had to endure? You state categorically that those in opposition to council would/could be "marked by the cops". That's a pretty bold statement. Do you honestly think the officers of CMPD care about the opinions of those that come to speak? The officers are out in the community 24/7 365 and encounter all types of hostility for merely doing what they are sworn to do. So to be honest, anything that happens in council chambers is in fact just "noise".
On the flip side, using your logic, wouldn't it be just as easy for council to use their police to gather intelligence on those who speak against the council? Or worse yet, use an agency like Talon to do so? Of course I'm making conspiracy theory supposition, just as you are, but the logic follows.
Again, you throw out a red herring. You have made the same accusation in an almost identical post previously. I took umbrage to it then but made no comment. I think your straw man merits comment this time. You and the council will continue to use the hostile crowd theory as to why true supporters don't make themselves known. It's the old "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" scenario.
ocgop4ever, so many lies and false comments or implications in one small paragraph.
1st: you being afraid of being targeted for speaking at a council. I think everyone knows what is in play with that comment. Imply the other side are thugs and hopefully some will believe your false implication.
2nd: completely false claim one side cannot cause an adversarial atmosphere. What is your educational background. That is just too funny. One side can attack another totally being the single cause of an adversarial atmosphere.
3rd: regarding the clerk, Jim Righeimer himself publicly stated at a council meeting it was an honest mistake.
There is more in your post of lies but I will stop there.
Tom Egan,
Thanks for further underlining the plain and simple fact that unions are necessary to prop up the Democratic party with forced campaign donations, as it is obvious that they know damn well that the individual union members would never voluntarily donate millions to Democrat politicians and issues.
Why is it obvious? They have fought right-to-work laws and paycheck protection proposals at every step of the way.
Whew! I am so relieved that Egan let me know there is no pension crisis here or elsewhere. Thanks Tom, it is the opposite of all the news I hear but good to hear anyway. Of course if he is wrong many of todays union workers may never see their owed monies since there won't be any. But we can kick that down the road for a few years.
do you believe everything Riggy sez ocgop2? or just one thing, the "honest mistake". Missed hearing that. Have heard way different. Maybe smart to call it honest mistake for the time being until depostions are finished.
Unions = political coercion:
So you'd rather no lower or middle class people have a voice and the rich, which rule the GOP, haev all the say ? Rich people aren't better people because they have money.
hesaidshesaid are all you supporters totally braindead? I am not asking because you are supporters I ask based on your comments. Not only did Righeimer call it an honest mistake in.court the city and their legal team defended the clerk. Are you then now implying Righeimer lied on TV and the city and their legal team lied in court? I guess that should be revealed to the voters.
Colin,
How does that even make sense? To even suggest that there are not millions of lower or middle class people who support the GOP, or rich people who support the Democrat party is just plain dishonest.
There are both Democrat and Republican PACs, as well as corporate donations to both parties. The difference is unions force members to contribute to causes and candidates that they may not support. Dues money that could go to healthcare, retirement funds or any number of other programs to benefit members are spent on propping up the Democrats.
In CA, according to the FPPC, unions are the biggest donors. From 2000 - 2010, the CA Teachers Association spent $211,849,298 (more than double the next non-public employee organization) and the CA State Council of Service Employees spent $107,467,272. The California School Employees Association spent $31,861,749.
$350 Million taken out of the pockets of "lower or middle class people" and used to support causes they may object to. They have no real say, and they cannot refuse to pay their dues.
Private donors are trade groups, associations and tribes - all private money, not forced donations.
Your comment is absurd and completely defies reality - but par for the course when defending the indefensible practices of big unions.
Interesting how many council supporters can be counted upon to avoid honest discussion.
1. Egan writes that he sees a pattern throughout the nationwide GOP that also is apparent in OCGOP and Costa Mesa councilmen: Try to kneecap unions in order to weaken support for the Democratic Party.
2. ocgop4ever apparently agrees, because he doesn’t challenge Egan’s assertion.
3. oc.. does try to change the subject, though, perhaps to distract readers from the truth of Egan’s assertion. He throws up yet another straw man (a favorite tool of council supporters) – “… Egan let me know there is no pension crisis here or elsewhere” – that he can summarily dismiss.
(It’s a straw man, of course, because oc .. phrased his snide comment as an “always” statement, invoking our test-taking smarts to throw out a multiple-choice answer that something is “always” true, or “never” true. Thus, oc .. doesn’t even have to do any work to prove to the reader that his straw man is true, as the reader’s internal logic will rule it to be true.)
4. Why would he construct a straw man and then knock it down? Well, for starters, he might get a reader unfamiliar with the straw man fallacy to think, “Well that certainly makes Egan look stupid! And if Egan is wrong about that, everything else he wrote is probably wrong, too.”
The risk oc .. runs is that, when people catch on the straw man fallacy, they’ll start ignoring ALL of his ideas when they get a whiff of it lurking in all his pretty words.
Tom Egan,
"Interesting how many council supporters can be counted upon to avoid honest discussion."
Yet you have managed to avoid an honest discussion about a direct challenge to your central premise in multiple subsequent posts.
Really, very impressive Mr. Egan - textbook "Big Lie" propaganda technique. Bravo!
To u. = c.:
Your chutzpah enveloped by humor is like a cheeseburger smothered in fudge sauce.
You accuse me of avoiding “an honest discussion about a direct challenge to your central premise in multiple subsequent posts.” Then you coat that direct lie with a splat aimed at me that's Something Borrowed, Something You, “Really, very impressive Mr. Egan - textbook "Big Lie" propaganda technique. Bravo!”
Before I sign off on this going-nowhere volley, I’ll observe that there were absolutely no challenges to my central premise in any subsequent posts. Rather, they were each unresponsive (you know, like the four councilmen); they changed the subject and then used the platform to rant against unions.
At this point, I believe an unbiased judge would rule that you have, by your nonresponsive behavior, agreed with my point that the OCGOP supports (as do the four councilmen Righeimer/Bever/Monahan/Mensinger) and is involved in the national GOP strategy of weakening the Democratic Party by kneecapping the unions.
It’s nice to get some agreement out of you for a change!
What role/influence do these committees have??? It is very apparant the four men on our city council do not want to hear what the citizens our our fine city have to say, feel, or have researched. Why would anyone want spend their valuable time away from family, jobs, friends and self renewal to spend unselfish hours sharing intelligent, thought provoking, creative ideas when not one of the four men on council want to hear any of it. Or will they ever act on any thing recommended or suggested.
Tom Egan,
"national GOP strategy of weakening the Democratic Party by kneecapping the unions."
You have not once described just how anyone is "kneecapping unions" so it can only be asumed that you are referring to paycheck protection and right-to-work initiatives. If so, yes! As they should. Why in the world would you or anyone but a union leader or democratic party leader support insanely un-American practices such as mandatory union membership or involuntary dues payments and political contributions?
Why assume that all unions members are democrats?
Keep spinning, you still haven't engaged in an honest discussion about your "kneecapping unions" conspiracy theories.
Post a Comment
<< Home