Costa Mesa Plans Charter End Run
UNDER THE WIRE!
Sneaking in just under the
wire, the City of Costa Mesa announced this afternoon - just under the deadline for notifications of an emergency council meeting - that the City Council will hold a special council meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, April 10, 2012 - immediately following the scheduled study session - in council chambers to discuss the placement of Jim Righeimer's Charter scheme before the voters in a Special Election coincident with the June 5th state-wide primary election. You can read the staff report for that meeting HERE.HASTE MADE WASTE
You will recall that the original plan was to have Jim Righeimer's Charter placed on the consolidated ballot, but either a clerical error or a screw-up of biblica
l proportions, depending on which version of the story told by the attorney's from Jones Day you choose to believe, kept that from happening. Because of that gaffe City Clerk Julie Folcik was placed on Administrative Leave and an investigation is being conducted to try to determine just how the deadline was missed.RIGHEIMER'S ANGER AT PLAY HERE
In the meantime, I suspect Righeimer has not enjoyed the broad-based euphoria demonstrated by opponents of his scheme and was certainly looking for a way - any way - to keep this issue from being forced onto the November General Election ballot, where a larger cross-section of voters would be lured to the polls by the presidential contest.MUCH MORE COSTLY
According to the staff report, if the council chooses to conduct its own election on June 5th, it will cost nearly 50% more than if it had been considered on the consolidated ballot and much more than if it was to be placed no the November ballot. The staff report states it will cost more than $153,000 to conduct this special election. You can read that 5-page report breaking down the costs HERE.
WHAT'S THE RUSH?
Again, I ask, what's the rush
? Every step they've taken in haste on this issue has been disastrous. Now they will ask the taxpayers of this city to foot the bill to assuage the anger of one petty political operative eager to show his pals that he's got what it takes. Well, he doesn't - everything he has done in this city has been detrimental to all of us. IF - and that's a VERY BIG IF - a Charter is right for our city, then there should be no rush to get it on the ballot and there should be every precaution taken so the largest possible cross section of the electorate has a chance to consider the issue.NEVER MIND
Oh, yes... remember in my last post when I said this was going to be a slow week? In the immortal words of Gilda Radner as Emily Litella - Never mind!
Labels: Charter City, Emergency Meeting, Jim Righeimer
posted by The Pot Stirrer at 4/09/2012 05:08:00 PM
41 Comments:
Sure- Napoleon SpendBoy has no problem spending all the city's money to push his "cost-cutting" agenda. Anyone know if he paid his own lawyers yet from that arbitration decision?
Anyone still want to claim this isn't class war?
They are going after Costa Mesa with a battering ram.
June 5th is 8 weeks, or 56 days away.
State law says (under AB 1344) that a charter election can be held, "provided that there are at least 88 days before the election." Do a search on AB 1344 and you will find the text in the quotes.
It then has to be asked: What are the penalties for holding an illegal election?
See you tomorrow night at council.
I know cost is no object but, for those who do care, the staff report says the $153,697.80 "does not include any potential costs from the Registrar of Voters. At this time, it is unknown how much the Registrar will charge the City."
Another blank check?
Can they be recalled? Righeimer's so afraid of the November electorate that maybe he'd just quit rather than face their wrath.
I am confused. Doesn't AB 1344 state otherwise? Here is the text of the law that went into effect January 1, 2012.
(1) The bill requires a city charter or charter amendment,
whether submitted to the voters by a charter commission or the
governing body of the city or city and county, to be submitted at the next established statewide general, statewide primary, or regularly scheduled municipal election date, provided there are at least 95 days before the election. This bill would also require a proposal to adopt a charter, whether submitted to the voters by a charter commission or the legislative body of a city or city and county to include in the ballot description an enumeration of new city powers as a result of the adoption of the charter, including, but not limited to, whether the city council will, pursuant to an adopted charter, have the power to raise its own compensation and the compensation of other city officials without voter approval.
So if the city council pushes forward with this special election, they are in violation of state law and thus any vote on the charter would be invalid?
I am not attorney and hopefully one will post here on the validity of this action. You would think Duarte would tell them they can't do it because it is illegal, unless I am missing something.
as i said before when you all were jumping for joy at the brilliance of Foley: we will vote on this b4 Nov! Unions will of course sue to stop this but they would have filed suit even for a Nov. vote so bring it on. Stopping the charter IS A UNION PRIORITY, WE WILL LET THE TAXPAYERS KNOW THIS. Yippie!
Queens Gambit Accepted, brilliant. Vote on the date of the statewide primary and thus comply with the law. Sign the attorney up who came up with this. It has already been noticed, ballot arguments made, all we need is a vote of the people. Why deny that? Your move counselor.
Greg,
Only Righeimer could be recalled. Well, Wendy Leece could be recalled, too, but nobody's after her scalp. For the others their terms expire following the November election - Bever's termed out (thank goodness!), Mensinger may or may not run to fill Katrina's seat he's been borrowing and Monahan theoretically will run.
Mike H. Is is 88 days or 95 days? Not that it matters for the June primary. One would think that if you held an illegal election, the results would be null and void. I can't believe the Registrar would go along with this because it looks like a violation of State law.
This is almost beyond belief. The Riggy clan must be so concerned the charter won't pass in November that they will expend any amount of money in hopes of a slighty better chance to pass in a special election.
Btw - I happy with just Righeimer being recalled:-)
Hey, why should Riggy and his clowns care - it's not their money? These guys live in bizarro world.
Re the leader of the Wrecking Crew: What do you get when you cross a developer with a politician? A guy who relentlessly pursues any path to achieve his goal … as long as it’s with somebody else’s money.
Mensy: "Gee, Riggy, what do you want to do tonight?"
Riggy: "The same thing we do every night, Mensy—try to take over the world!"
One question Yippie!
You are obviously in the know because your posts dictate such.
If you and the other council supporters know the "Unions" are going to sue to stop the charter election why continue spending money to push it forward before November?
Oh and how much money is this charter thing going to save. Realistically?
this is bizzare. letting the people vote? rigdiculous. stop this democracy now, let the mobs rule. and no secret ballots, we must know who votes yes. my kids are hiding under the bed crying right now because of this possible vote (Daddy is union). Do the councilmen really hate babies and animals this much to actually allow the silent majority to vote? And who is/are "WE"? How much do they kickback ? First they came for the helicoptors and very few spoke up, then they came to fix roads and parks and very few spoke, now they come and ask you to vote...absolutely bizzare.
Confused: I am not in the know, I just follow what's going on. Once the Clerk "missed" the deadline I tried to identify the next move and then the response and then the next move. That's why I told Geoff not to stay on vacation too long, that something big would break. It was obvious, and me saying the unions are going to sue is a ridiculously easy call. that's their style, to either win or at least delay, delay delay. I surmised that if I were a charter proponent then I would go to plan B, concurrent election w/primary (since date already noticed to public) and get lawyered up. Total savings of charter I don't know. This is now a battle of will, not money. Voters ultimately decide winner. Genis and her group burnt bridges for a year with all the insults, minor gotchas, imaginary Brown act violations, recall talk, payoffs from contractor charges,rude behavior, etc. This will be framed taxpayers vs.unions, I just want her and her group to take a whippin' just, well, because they irritate me, especially robin and cindy b, ridge, and tamar.
Geoff, neither you nor Serna mentioned AB 1344 in your articles. Why is that? AB 1344 says they can't have the vote on June 5th because of the 88 day rule. Was there a reason you did not mentioned it?
With the state doing away with RDA's, more and more Cities will flock to run away from General Law.
Costa Mesa will ne validated as a front running thought leader.
And the Haters will get more angry.
And ... Stay tuned
My question is.... when is the OC Register "WATCHDOG" going to do an expose on the wasteful spending of tax payers money by Righeimer and this crew of zombies he's apparently bitten.
Over $150k (in addition to what's already been spent) to keep this thing off the November ballot. Sounds like a story to me!
I'm afraid it's pretty clear now... you really do have to be a idiot to support these guys.
AB 1344,
I asked Lobdell about that before I posted this entry this afternoon. He told me they had the time to get it on the ballot June 5th. I know... the numbers don't add up to me, either.
Of course Lobdell doesn't tell you how they have the time to get it on the June 5th ballot. Sounds like Riggy math to me.
So the scenario will be to A. Put the item on a special election ballot for June 5th. B. Lawsuits are filed to prevent this from happening. C. More money spent on lawyers arguing how Costa Mesa is special and should be able to do what they want. D. Judge says, No! again. E. Charter back on the November ballot.
The Watchdog's Teri Sforza has been in lock step with Righeimer since day one. If you expect her to comment on Costa Mesa's never ending spending spree, you are going to be disappointed. She is anything, but impartial. The OC Register is a rag for the OCGOP.
leavingtown....The OCR can't do that because it would put Rig and the crew in a negative light. Remember Sforza's expose' a few weeks ago about that firefighter OT? She allowed Vasin to speak and he shoved it up Rig's rear end and broke it off. Basically Vasin showed Righeimer for what he is with facts, dates, etc. The OCR has been completely silence on Costa Mesa politics since that date (obviously in the hopes folks would forget and the OCR could point to that singular article as their "balance" on these issues). Don't expect a peep about this out of anyone in the "mainstream" media. except Geoff West and anyone else who pays
I really want to do the Network thing!
june 5th would be approx 90 days after council called for it to be voted on June 5th and city had paperwork in hand= they made it in time. not a legal opinion since i know little about law, just thinking this is the math now being used.
I don't know how many signatures it would take to recall Righeimer, but if you show people how much he's cost the taxpayers in this quest to fix the game in his favor I'd think that it could be done in a few hours.
Oh come on people! $200,000 to run a special election is "just noise" as Piggy likes to put it!
It's "just noise" Piggy because it isn't your money!
This bloated faced Piggy who came to town sure messed things up REAL bad for our city! GET HIM OUT!
Yippie! - so you want your side to win, just to win, not cause of money or helping the community or anything like that ? No wonder people don't take you seriously, this is a community and we need to support each other, this isn't a ball game man.
If 200K is over the amount that is saved in this summer road construction by this emergency election, then Riggy has a moot point on money alone. Someone should do those figures. My guess is well under that is saved by the rush, which really only includes 2 months of summer at that point. Lame excuse Riggy.
Cypherin Fool...Council voted on March 5, 2012, to put the charter on the June 5, 2012 Direct Primary Election. The council did not vote to hold a special election on the same day. That will happen on April 10, 2012, which is only 55 days until June 5, 2012. The council will try and push this through, but it will be challenged in the courts.
After checking the CIP budget for FY 2011-2012, the projects slated for summer work all have funds that require the payment of prevailing wages including Gas Tax, Measure M, CDBG, and AQMD. So Righeimer is lying again and yet the press does not call him on his lies. So typical.
of course it will be challenged in court. that's the way to deny a vote union does not like. after challenging the next step is to chastize council for spending money on a lawsuit filed against them! There's more but jimmie order me down on knees
Is there any way to debunk the theory that all of us council 'haters' are union people? I could give two sh*ts about the unions/'employee associations'; what I do care about is living in a city that's run by people that have ethics and a clue.
Mike M.,
Don't worry about it. The folks who use that term are the real "haters" - small people with such a limited intellect that they don't know how to express themselves - like an infant that can only cry when it wants something. Just consider the source, smile and move on.
Geoff's correct Mike, HE never uses name calling or baiting. and the haters never would consider personal attacks on riggy or his followers. they are brainiacs and don't stoop so low as the bootlickers, trolls, and puppets that use derogatory terms such as hater.
Joe not in blue writing - you completely disregard my point. Suck it - there, now I'm down on that level too. Stay on point.
Mike M,
I suggest we just refer to him/her as "bogus joe", since that's what he is. Not only is he/she and imposter but his/her views are bogus.
Joe is far up Riggys rear-end that him and Mensinger are fighting it out for elbow room in there. Bever tried getting in, but he got lost and ended up staying home.
Did Bever sign up to get in? He's very big on process if and when it suits him. Other times... not so much.
Yep- If the "Joe" at top of post is not in blue, then it's an imposter, not me.
The Riggclones and their chubby leader are running scared.. :)
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