Feet To The Fire Fun
Now THAT was fun! Last night more than 300 of your friends and neighbors were treated to a very special event. Just enough tough questions, pressed for answers by the interrogators, to make it memorable. A leash just long enough to demonstrate which candidates found it necessary to disrupt the flow of the proceedings by inserting defensive comments out of turn. Plenty of audience interaction to let the candidates know, in real time, that some were simply not buying what they were selling. I don't recall any forum in recent years when candidates were actually boo'd by the audience, but that happened several times last night. And the interrogators had their feet held to the fire, too. As Jack Wu attempted to make a long, rambling statement one frustrated woman near me shouted out, "Just ask the question!" Yes, it was fun last night.
Barbara Venezia and her journalist cohorts, John Canalis, Roger Bloom, Jack Wu and Frank Mickadeit, did a terrific job - some better than others - of interrogating six Costa Mesa City Council Candidates last night. Venezia, decked out in brand new flaming leathers, picked up some of the slack created by the absence of panelist Norberto Santana, Jr., and expanded her moderatrix role to that of an interrogator, too. She frequently pressed her questions, not letting candidates slip off the hook. I had to smile as Bloom, normally a pretty easy-going guy, pressed candidates for answers. At one point he reminded Mensinger that he wasn't running for school board when his answer drifted too far. After his first question Mickadeit basically became an observer. Wu wore the mantle of pit bull last night, aiming his questions at the so-called challengers. Canalis warmed up slowly, then asked some tough questions as the event moved forward. As I said, it was fun.
In the 90 minute program that just flew past candidates Sandy Genis, John Stephens, Harold Weitzberg, Colin McCarthy, Steve Mensinger and Gary Monahan all had their "squirm" moments and most of them handled them well.
UH-OH!At the beginning I thought that, as I had feared, this event was going to take a very decidedly "pro-3M" tilt when their drinking buddy, Mickadeit, started things off with a question directed at the three "challengers" - I guess Mickadeit is so close to our politics that he considers McCarthy an incumbent. Of course, he's not. Anyhow, he asked each whether they want to see Costa Mesa as a "Contract City" or a "Full Service City"? He wanted to know if they oppose all forms of contracting or just some.
MEASURED RESPONSES BY SOME
Weitzberg responded that we needed to be careful. Genis said before contracting out quantifiable and measurable studies should be conducted. She spoke of her previous tour on the city council from 1988 - 1996 and, referring to the current council's haste in their outsourcing scheme, said, "Before you jump off the high board be sure there's water in the pool."
MONAHAN DEFENSIVELY INTERRUPTSBefore Stephens could provide his answer Monahan butted in and referred to the alleged savings of $700,000 with the proposed Jail outsourcing to a private company and the alleged savings of $1.4 million by outsourcing Park Maintenance to a private company - both of which have been approved but await the resolution of the lawsuit. He also mentioned Payroll. Stephens finally had his chance to answer and said he would NOT outsource public safety and referred to selling off the assets - primarily fire fighting equipment - as trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube.
GENERALLY SPEAKING...
In broad brush strokes, here's my reaction to each of the candidates last night, presented in the order in which they sat on the stage last night.
Harold WeitzbergHe may have been the strongest, most articulate speaker last night. He answered the questions crisply and with confidence. He did not attempt to dodge the question that some voters will have about him - his wife's medical marijuana dispensary. He explained the background - her own personal pain and inability to find relief from it with traditional pharmaceuticals - that caused her to begin using medical marijuana for relief, then establish a safe, clean dispensary to help others in her situation. He supports a small, tightly-regulated medical marijuana industry in Costa Mesa. His explanation gave perspective to the broader discussion of the issue later.
If body language tells you anything, his slouching and smirking told me that he was peeved at actually having to answer the questions. He frequently interrupted the proceedings with condescending comments. Based on the crowd reaction, I suspect he didn't gain many voters last night. Sorry, I didn't have a usable photo of Colin from last night... he slouched down so far that I couldn't see him.
Steve Mensinger
As a few people commented to me after the event, Mensinger finally heard how many people beyond his own small circle of acquaintances feel about him. His answers were the "most boo'd" last night. He took it in stride and continued to flex his ego at every opportunity. He, once again, mentioned that he didn't like the criticism because "his kids watch"... It seems to me that he is much too thin-skinned for public office. He's more suited - as he indicated when he was sworn in eighteen months ago - to coaching youth football. That's a place where being a dictator is acceptable behavior.
She clearly was comfortable on the stage. She answered the questions with facts and waited courteously to be recognized to respond to questions and statements of others. Her answers were authoritative, based on her previous eight years on the council and her professional background as a land use consultant and she appeared to keep her humor all evening.
Based on his performance last night, Monahan is in trouble. He was defensive most of the evening. When Venezia asked him directly about his ability to commit time to the job if re-elected, his answer was a classic tap-dance. We all recall that he stepped away from the mayor's position earlier this year, citing family and business demands. When Venezia pressed him he said he had time to be a council member, but didn't have time for "all that glad-handing" that being the mayor involved. Since he's recently missed all or big parts of recent meetings it's becoming increasingly clear that it's time for Gary to spend time where HE feels it's needed - with his family and business. This began on St. Patrick's Day, 2011, when he chose to stay at his bar, pulling beer taps on what he told a member of the media was "the biggest day of my life" rather than fulfill his responsibilities as mayor on the worst day in the City's history - the day of the 213 layoff notices and Huy Pham jumping off the roof. It's time for Gary to step away... the electorate should help him with that decision in November.
John Stephens
He may have been the best-prepared person on the stage last night. His responses to questions about Jim Righeimer's Charter were clear and carefully documented. He has actually recently read the charters for EVERY Orange County Charter City to put the proposed charter in perspective. He had chapter and verse down pat. He deftly deflected Mensinger's attempt to portray him as uninterested in Costa Mesa schools because his children have attended catholic schools by reiterating his heavy involvement in youth sports in town.
OTHER TOPICS
In addition to a discussion of Jim Righeimer's Charter - Righeimer was perched on a chair in the front of the room - the candidates fielded questions about the Banning Ranch traffic agreement, medical marijuana dispensaries, civility at council meetings and the obvious lack of involvement by Latinos in city government - something we here have mentioned several times over the years.
When asked by Venezia why some folks consider him a bully, Mensinger answered, in part, "People who call you a bully usually don't like your decisions." As the audience groaned I found myself thinking, "No, Steve, it's because they don't like your actions!" Geez, is he obtuse!
A lively discussion ensued on the subject of Righeimer's recent unpleasant encounter with the CMPD. Weitzberg and Stephens criticized him for blowing it up into a national issue. Stephens said that by going on John and Ken (radio show) and being in the media non-stop for days that Righeimer damaged the "Costa Mesa Brand".
When Canalis asked the Charter supporters why they did so, McCarthy said the city should have been a Charter City 59 years ago, and that we could save millions, following the Righeimer party line. Stephens rebutted with facts - pointing out that most of the California cities currently facing serious financial difficulties - bankruptcy, in many cases - were Charter cities. He went on to point out specific areas in Jim Righeimer's Charter that are problematic, specifically the one dealing with no-bid contracts and the deletion of a requirement for annual audits. Weitzberg pointed out that it does not enumerate council powers and, as a result, may be in violation of state laws passed to prohibit "Bell" situations.
Bloom brought up the Banning Ranch traffic mitigation agreement, pointing out that Newport Beach negotiated a deal with the developer that was ten-times more lucrative than Costa Mesa's. He asked why no hard-ball negotiations took place. Monahan attempted to explain that it was a good deal, better than we could have expected to receive legally because the project was not in Costa Mesa. Genis corrected him, pointing out the deals made in Irwindale, Walnut and Diamond Bar when a football stadium was planned for that area. She clearly demonstrated that it's helpful to be smart and have actual knowledge of facts.
Bloom pushed the "Latino" question, asserting that the nearly 40% of the population of the city were under-represented and suggested that electing council members by districts - as is done in Newport Beach - might change that. In a quick "yes or no" poll posed by Bloom, only Weitzberg said he would support electing council members by district. McCarthy, Mensinger and Monahan said "no" and Genis and Stephens hedged their bets. As the discussion played out Mensinger, who has been heavily involved in Estancia High School sports, touted that school as a GREAT school - it may well be. He said "they" don't want to be considered "Latinos", "they" want to be considered Americans. All of that may be true, but it didn't answer the question - how to involve a huge segment of the population in the governance process. McCarthy pointed out that the Westside - where many Latinos reside - is presently represented by two council members. That would be Wendy Leece and Eric Bever. In the case of Bever, our part-time, part-time lame duck mayor, the thought of him "representing" the Latinos in his part of town makes me chuckle.
HERE'S AN IDEA...
Last night the only Estancia students in attendance were staffing the campaign tables for McCarthy, Mensinger and Monahan in the rear of the room. On the other hand, Newport Harbor High School government teacher Michele Lee had most of her class at the forum, taking notes and learning how government works. Her students have been frequent visitors to city council meetings over the past few years. Maybe that's where increased Latino involvement should begin...
You can read Mike Reicher's take on the event in his Daily Pilot article, HERE, and you can reade Elysse James coverage from the Orange County Register HERE.
You REALLY need to watch this event for yourselves to get the flavor of the evening. Dane Bora and Brad Long from CMTV filmed the proceedings for later replay. Here's that schedule for your viewing pleasure. You can also view it on streaming video at the City web site once it's uploaded later today. Venezia also arranged to have it live-streamed last night. Early reports from views indicate spotty coverage.
The next candidate forum is on Thursday, September 20th at the same venue. Our friends at Costa Mesa United will host an event that will include all the council candidates plus the three members of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District who retained their seats without being on the ballot because they were un-challenged. The issues to be discussed at that forum are related to athletics, academics and activities. More on that one later.
Labels: Barbara Venezia, Colin McCarthy, Feet To The Fire Forum, Frank Mickadeit, Gary Monahan, Harold Weitzberg, Jack Wu, John Canalis, John Stephens, Roger Bloom, Sandra Genis, Steve Mensinger
posted by The Pot Stirrer at 9/06/2012 11:10:00 AM
45 Comments:
booing from the audience? what group would do that? hmmm. the usual suspects from the cc speakers podium and unions? didn't see it but i get the gist: 3M's bad, cm4rg great. i am predicting that when i see it i will think i am watching a totally different forum than the one described herein.
Geoff,
I was glad to hear Weitzberg and Stephens tell Righeimer to his face that his milking of the DUI stop is ruining the Costa Mesa brand. Does this even matter to Righeimer? Many people believe he's just using Costa Mesa as a stepping stone to higher office.
Who were those shills at council the other day? Sounded like they were reading scripts like those poor young Republicans were handed to read last month. At least they mentioned Bubbling Cauldron.
You must be doing a good job if the bad people are upset.
What a blast! Weitzberg, Genis and Stephens were clearly heads above the rest. Their intelligence is a refreshing change. The 3Ms think money is going to buy them this election. I wouldn't be so sure.
Subtract out the imported haters and the 3 M's clearly won. Stephens was arrogant- telling us his billing rate, Weitzman doesn't know anything- his idiotic Spanish rambling was his Howard Dean moment and Sandy Genis is just Sandy Genis. No one wants her back. She was awful.
I predict Monahan, Mensinger, McCarthy in that order
*laughing at Barry* Wrong! As usual. People don't "Boo" for someone that wins...DUH!
just wondering... said...
*laughing at Barry* Wrong! As usual. People don't "Boo" for someone that wins...DUH!"
It's a good thing Barry/Marty left early- the room's ventilation system was already strained.
Homeless from across the street said they were bringing him a change of clothes.
Barry... Please say something that's not stupid just once so we know you're not really a monkey!
If you can't do that, then at least tell one of your side who you are so they can tell you to shut up. You're not doing them any favors.
Wait!... On second thought... don't. You actually represent them and what they stand for perfectly.
It is clear Monahan has overstayed his welcome. I always felt he was on the council to further his own business, collect a partial pension and insurance benefits. There is no reason why he should still be on the council as he is ineffective, complacent, and absent both physically and mentally. McCarthy would squirm in his seat anytime/everytime Genis, Weitzberg and Stephens had anything damaging to Righeimer's charter. Cleary Colin does not like people to have a different opinion and think for themselves. If he is this bad now then just imagine how he would be on council.
Oh Barry - John Stephens mentioned his rate only after being told by the person asking the question that it was $400-$500/hour and he corrected them. You really must listen to everything, not just the things you want to hear.
Go on thinking there were imported haters; I saw my friends and neighbors. Free-minded, intelligent, non-union (mostly) citizens who want more for their city than the current leadership is willing/able to provide.
Congratulations to Stephens, Weitzberg and Genis for accurate and detailed information, a positive attitude and respecting your constituents.
Barry, how can you support Monahan who is the biggest hypocrite and flip flopper in recent council history? He will be on any side as long as it benefits him personally. He voted yes on every previous employee contract even the police contract of October 2010 that you vilify Leece for. The only reason he wants to stay on the council is so he can keep his cadilac benefits and pension. It is okay for him to receive those benefits as a part-time employee, but actual workers can't. He is a typical wannabee that hangs out with the bullies so that he can justify his pathetic existence. He is a wuss just like McCarthy.
Gary doesn't really want to be a Council Member, he only wants the $ 1850.00 a month for medical insurance that comes along with the position. This guy checked out a long time ago, and now it's time to send him on his way. Vote him out.
Where's the 'bombshell' the M supporters keep saying is about to hit? All I hear are crickets, and the classier, smarter, more well-spoken candidates on the other side.
It would really behoove him to just bow out gracioiusly and take the high road. But, I doubt that he is the type.
This will be an interesting election for sure. Mansoor even showed up on his break from Sacramento.
Genis showed she is a knowledge factory. She was well prepared and was able to elaborate where most could not. Weitzberg I was unsure of until last night.
What I was looking for in our candidates was how do they respond to pressure. Unfortunately Monahan, Mensigner and McCarthy all seemed concrete in their position and unwilling to even concede that perhaps mistakes had been made. I cannot vote for people who demean and belittle others; it is not the way you run a city or negotiate with our employees. They consistently treat them as welfare recipients.
WOW! Congratulations to Genis, Stephens and Weitzberg. What a great slate of candidates.
I stayed for about 90 percent of the event and I took some notes.
Mensinger showed his hypocrisy last night, as he did today in the Daily Pilot.
Last night he went into some civility commentary, yet all he did all night was make condescending, snide and completey idiotic comments.
Telling Sandy Genis she needs to come to the meetings and watch what is going on I thought I was going to fall out of my seat laughing. Who pays more attention to the details than Sandy Genis?
Then after laughing at this big joke, I thought I was going to puke when he told John Stephens he needed to spend more time in Costa Mesa. Stephens who is involved in youth sports, shops, socializes and is raising his kids in our city. Yeah John you need to spend more time in Costa Mesa observing what is going.
Well the good thing is the slap in the face of civility and to Stephens didn't go unnoticed as people booed when he made his idiotic statement directed at John Stephens.
He said at one point they had no options with employee contracts so they had to issue the pink slips.
But he then admitted even though the Fire Fighters contract wasn't open they came to them to be a part of the solution over a year and a half ago.
So which is it Steve? Is this the same Fire Department that was called tone deaf and demonized over and over by the council boys? The same Fire Union Assoc. that has held the city hostage in the past. Seems like even with closed contracts there are other ways to get things done. So these bad fireman came to you guys to be part of the solution. Did I hear that right?
Lastly his comments the Union was the problem with all the charter bankruptcies and cities like Stoctons ills. Has anyone ever googled Stockton and read the main reasons for their financial troubles? The Housing market crash and people exiting their city. Then of course with the decline in their economy the pension became a problem but didn't cause the problems.
Sounds like they me be worried about something and their names are Genis, Weitzberg and Stevens!
McCarthy and Monahan had their moments too.
McCarthy once again falsely claims that Newport doesn't have to pay union wages. He said that before in one of his Daily Pilot commentaries and included our other neighbor Huntington.
But if you check the "FACTS" Newport and Huntington both have to follow state laws on prevailing wages. Their charters do not excempt them from prevailing wages.
McCarthy's whine about PI's coming to his house and knowing his address first made my feel sorry for him but then it made me laugh.
I think his comments and fears are a ruse really.
Our personal information is all over the place and I could find McCarthy's address easily if I wanted to and I am certainly not a detective. Internet anyone?
Gary Monahan said he gave the reigns to Eric Bever because he wanted to step up and do the mayoral things. Like ribbon cutting and gland handling etc. Has anyone seen Eric Bever at recent events.
The Daily Pilot article on the olympians didn't show Bever or Monahan there. Maybe they were in the audience.
I am sorry I just laugh when Gary says he gave Eric Bever the reigns. Those two are the worst no shows of anyone.
This is the kind of circus act our city has become with the current regime.
K.O.
Thanks for enhancing the coverage of the event. Much appreciated.
But my Favorite idiot or joke of the night was John Wu! Sorry Geoff. Pitbull? More like a hyena!
What a useless tool he was and is.
He kept almost whining when ever the discussion mentioned Righemier.
Well folks for thoss of you have been sleeping Righeimer is the catalyst for the hatred directed at the Police and Fire. The charter, the outsourcing and some believe the Fairgrounds fiasco, the banning ranch cave in and so much more.
But my favorite hypocrisy of Wu and even Mensinger and their supporters is this.
Wu being the biased, lowlife stooge he is tried to trap Stephens by impying Stephens must feel the electorate is stupid in Costa Mesa.
But when you look at the FACTS it is Wu, Mensinger, Righeimer and charter supporters who must feel the electorate is stupid or naive. Their very argument for the charter is that Unions have duped the elctorate into getting their candidates elected. That is the mantra over and over from this council.
So Wu if anyone is saying the electorate is stupid and influeced it's the current council not John Stephens.
John Stephens by the way answered intelligently, succinctly, passionately and basically had Wu squirming in his seat. I guess Wu couldn't get under John Stephens skin. That Wu guy is just slimey.
But on a good note the 3 CM4RG backed candidates really shined at this forum. While the others just sputtered and spun. Residents have a good chance this year to see change.
We gotta make sure the word gets out and introduce Genis, Weitzberg and Stephens to our neighbors and friends in our beloved city.
I agree with the other side about onething though and this is also about our kids. For my 3 little ones sake I am voting for Genis, Stephens and Weitzberg.
Rather than a point to point debate of your myopic view of life, we can check the internet too. We see John Stephens lists Fountain Valley Softball and know that is where John chooses to spend time. The endorsements he lists are all people we do not know, people who are not involved, just like John. He is not in the top 3 now, and we don’t see anything he can do to change that. Sorry Katrina, we smile knowing this will piss you off.
The CM4RG candidates support the status quo, they do not want change and their answers demonstrate they have not been involved. (Sorry, Sandy has ranted at many council meetings) On many key issues that have been debated recently in our city and studied and discussed at Council meetings, John Stephens says he has not studied the important issues on several responses. To us, that demonstrates he only became involved when Katrina asked him to use his “I’m a lawyer” status to sue the City to block our Charter Vote. What is Stephens & Foley so concerned about? They must not trust the Costa Mesa voter. We do.
We are not concerned about the like of Harold, going forward labeled as “Angry Harold”. We agree in part with Keen Observer that CM4RG shinned. But it was Harold’s red face that shinned when he angrily spoke, even in Spanish. Harold will never be taken seriously in this race. Even Sandy Genis is distancing herself from the CM4RG endorsed team.
Lastly we wanted to thank No Growth Genis for her involvement. We think this will allow funding from sources who do not want Sandy Genis anywhere near that dias. From Newport Beach, from projects that want to move forward but will not want Sandy to challenge growth and change, just like she has done with so many other major projects in the past. Thank Sandy when you see the mailboxes full of 3M & Yes on V. It is Sandy in the race that will drive the big bucks.
The next Forum will contain questions that favor the 3M’s. John will be able to talk about his investment in youth sports, as long as no one calls him on the fact that it occurs in Fountain Valley.
Instead of our drinking game of drinking whenever John says “I’m a lawyer”, we are going to change to “I haven’t studied that” to all the questions of “How are you involved with youth sports?”, “How will you work with NMUSD?” (No John you will not be able to say that you will call Katrina and do whatever she says)
And we hope that as many AYSO families show as did the vocal minority at the Feet to Fire. That will be great to see “Anti” Genis shouted down for her demonstrated opposition to youth sports.
Keen Observer proves that this crowd enjoys the status quo. They do not want change. They are stuck in the past. That is not what the silent majority wants and they will prove it in November.
Keen Observer brings up a great point. Mensinger, McCarthy and Monahan, the puppets of Righeimer, DO NOT TRUST the voters.
It's like Mensinger when he says he is civil, then he turns around and is completely uncivil, condescending and snide. They say some of the right things then they do the actual opposite. Like that the entire charter is based on them not trusting the voters and if you listen this is why we need the charter.
We need the charter they say because they dont trust the voters. They are the ones who keep regurgitating the voters were duped by unions candidates, the voters were not smart enough or were naive and voted in Union friendly councils. This is their argument.
So now they want to dupe the voters. So they say things like they are civil but then act anything but civil.
If you get a chance to watch the forum from Wednesday night I encourage you to do so. Watch McCarthy and Mensinger. It's very telling.
As far as Harold Weitzberg I don't see anger. I sure see someone serious about the issues destroying our city. But if he is indeed angry he has a lot of company if you watch and listen to the people.
KO sorry to point out that you are wrong, but Stockton's main reason for bankruptcy was their ill conceived redevelopment plan in its downtown area. They spent millions of dollars they didn't have, the housing bubble burst, and the expected tax money never arrived.
Maybe Mickadeit needs to undergo DUI tesingt at these forums. Was he drunk as usual or just biased in his reporting?
What forum did he watch? If anyone who watches the RG3 candidates and thinks they are for status quo they are seriously mental or drunk.
They all acknowledge reforms are needed. It's the way you go about getting those changes that separate the candidates.
The 3 M's believe even illegally is OK.
RG3's believe do it the right way.
In fact if you know what happened even the current council admits they negotiated with the fire union who wanted to be part of the solution and came to an agreement.
So they didn't have to cause all this damage and divide the city. All they needed to do is sit down and hash it out with their city employees who all get it. They understand and even after being trashed and demonized by this council they wanted to still be part of the solution.
Mickadiet misses so much. But then again I think everyone knows he is just a hack for the OCGOP and throw in a scotch and WOW!
He should apologize for the gist of his last written glasshouses.
At least Frank listen to the entire forum. He seems to be uninterested in the entire event unless it's his questions or he is part of it. Sad.......
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
No Reading Comprehension
Dearest Keen Observer,
Who's John Wu? Was there a John Wu at this forum?
It's no fun getting insulted by a person if he/she can't read, or has no reading comprehension, or is just...slow.
It's Jack Wu genius. Learn it, love it, live it!
Oh yeah, it's spelled ELECTORATE not "elctorate." Great job on that. Learn how to spell before telling others to check facts.
Unless Keen Observer is an 8 year old, which would explain the lack of reading comprehension and 2nd grade spelling level, then kudos for learning how to insult people so young!
Coward anonymous 8 year old!
Genis, Stephens and Weitzberg should chisel away at monahan for his record on voting YES on police and fire union pay and pensions. monahan cannot campaign on his stance against pensions since he is the only council member who will ever receive a pension. Regardless on how small of a pension it is, he still will make the city pay him for the remainder of his life. monahan has been in the pockets of Costa Mesa taxpayers since the 1990's. Genis, Stephens and Weitzberg should channel their inner Lee Atwater and hit the three m's hard. The three m's are Manny (mesinger), Mo(mcCarthy), and Jacked(monahan).
Lucca & CM4RG will sleep with the proverbial fishes in November. This is the type of comments that the community sees right through
Anyone buying into Colon's propaganda posts today?
I didn't think so.
Oh Colon, time to bring Mr. Hanna his coffee! Then come home and take care of Riggy..
Why was WuWu even on the panel? He's a bean counter and ocgop playmate, not a journalist. Ah, it must be his sense of style..
"Keen on you" -- Actually the community sees right through the three m's known now as M anny(mccarthy), Moe(mesinger) and Jacked(monahan). The question posed at the Feet at the Fire forum was why/how the Hispanic population can be more involved. Weitzberg, Genis and Stephens should've answered because the current council majority excludes everyone in the community and only appoints their cronies. Planning commission, Parks & Rec, Homeless Task force and the application period was extended just for the Twinkle Sports Complex Task Force was extended to Mesinger's buds could turn their app in? Look at the composite of all the commissions: Planning Commission-- Fitzpatrick,Matthews(both donated money to campaigns of council majority) Parks & Rec baby Ethan and the list goes on.
mcniff: the bombshell I spoke of turned out not to get much coverage though I still think it was: the agreement with the firefighters was the bombshell. they caved because they know more hardball to protect the taxpayers was/is coming. This was HUGE victory for the councilmen but given scant attention. turns out the unanticipated PI gate and firing of negotiatior by police association did in fact upstage it. Maybe the firefighter agreement will sink in. Sorry for the lack of explosion.
you can't name him angry Harold. that moniker has been taken by Angry Dan , the water board wannabe.
deepthroat....The FF's caved? Really? How exactly did they cave when they (the ff's) put that offer on the table in March? Right, they didn't cave. But nice try with the spin. The real question is how much more could have been saved if this council had accepted the offer in March? Then add that to the money the council squandered by breaking off negotiations with the ff's when the ff's offered to continue to paying that 5% last year. Than add that to the amount of money the previous council (your boys Bever and Monahan included) squandered when they ignored the cops proposal for over 4 months. Millions in squandered taxpayer money for nothing more than politics.
Wyatt:
"Millions in squandered taxpayer money for nothing more than politics"
Yep. Napoleon doesn't care, he just wants to get his mug and Richard Simmons voice on as many national shows as possible.
He's itching to get on the Food Channel for the free eats, "Bridezilla," where his brother Bever learned his lack of manners and class, and "Bar Rescue," where experts will go to a certain dive and try to convince the proprietor not to dress up in a skirt and throw a brick from the inside out..
Ah, deepthroat, there you are again. Well, your boy picked his poison, and made it a media event so he can go on and on and on and on and on (didja hear about the 12 step group for compulsive talkers?It's called on and on and on...) My cousins in kansas are laughing at us now. Absolutely wonderful PR for costa Mesa's image. They think JR is a bufoon.
You all still got the Lorna bomb? Cause she better get ready to run to her shelter if you drop that one. It will backfire too, like the "Genis and Leffler go to Huntington Beach" tape you thought was such a killer. Now we know those gals did Costa Mesa a big favor and kept the City out of another lawsuit. You're bombing allright!
wyatt, the "strings" were what made the march offer unacceptable. they were eliminated by hardball. ff's removed strings and we thank all our ff's. wake up call to you guys wyatt, ur next. i agree w/deepthroat, this was a bombshell.
Thank you Jack Wu for the perfect illustration of what I said.
To show how slimy, hypocritical and deceitful he is, as I said...if he had any reading comprehension he would notice I spelled electorate correctly the first two times I wrote it. Therefor the third time, was obvious to anyone with half a half a brain, a typo not a lack of spelling.
I often use mobile devices with smaller keyboards and my typing is horrendous. As an example you'll notice I left out the N in influenced and the L in imply in that very same commentary. These were simple obvious typos.
But Jack being slimy opportunist tries to deceive others into thinking it's a lack of being able to spell thereof I must be intellectually below him and you must dismiss the commentary entirely.
Notice though how he doesn't address the actual issues or comments. He can't refute the comments so he lowers himself to his usual slimy tactics deceitfully trying to imply I can't spell when it's obviously typos.
So thank you Jack or John Wu...whatever. You are that insignificant I really don't care to get your name right ajd you perfectly illustrated my points about your character.
To my cousin not so keen observer. You start off by saying I have a myopic view and then illustrate that it is you with the actual myopic view.
You do as Wu would do, ha ha... You myopically state only his Fountain Valley community involvement and leave out his involvement in Costa Mesa American Little League.
If you want to accuse someone else of being myopic maybe you shouldn't illustrate an extreme myopic view in the same commentary.
So anyone who does bother to check the internet as you say will see Costa Mesa American Little League also listed. St. John the Baptist is listed too, another Costa Mesa entity. You sadly, although we all know its purposely done, leave those out. So who is really being myopic here?
Then you state and try to deceive us about his endorsement as non involved and unknown. Simply a lie by you.
Let me introduce you to some of his endorsements.
One of the greatest women to ever serve Costa Mesa, former Mayor, current Vice President of Coastline College District, former Senior Center Board member and many other community involvement positions...Mary Hornbuckle.
Our very own local High School baskeball coach and our communities favorite singer... Danny Krikorian.
Former council member Jay Humphreys.
Larry Weichman, current Chamber of Commerce President and completely involved in this community.
While certainly not the high powered GOP connected operatives the other side has. While most of the others might be lessor known they still very active in the community and grassroots people. I actually like that and find it an attraction to the GOP backed machine. And I am a republican myself.
I do not mean to slight people like Patricia Bates or any of the other party line backers or even the other sides community involved backers, but I like the local grassroots people and seeing them back John and hopefully the other candidates as well.
I hope most of the charter and M's supporter do however continue to show their true characters, like Wu and not so keen observer, by these deceitful and disgusting tactics, by ridiculing the local maybe unknown to them community involved folks and all their other disgusting tactics. It's almost as if you are wanting to show it.
And nothing Wu or any of the others can say will change the facts that it is the current council and backers who think the voters are stupid.
Wu disgustingly tried to paint that onto John Stephens the other night and it totally backfired in face.
So much so Wu's participation the rest of the night was rendered to whining every time Righeimer was brought into the discussion. Even if Wu doesn't get it, I think he knows and is just being Wu, most do get that Righeimer is at the very heart of outsourcing, the charter, the divisiveness and most every other decision being made in Costa Mesa.
Amazingly the current charter was born from the idea and beliefs by the charter creators that the voters are stupid and get duped by the unions to elect only union backed candidates. Listen to Mensinger and Righeimer when they talk. This is what they say and write over and over.
Mensinger again just yesterday in his pilot commentary reiterated this. The voters are stupid and allowed the unions to dupe them so we need to take the power from the voters and give it to the council.
In Mensinger's Pilot Article yesterday he once again disparages the cities unions. Associations really but let's play his game.
Mensinger says Billy Folsom and Mike Ruhl are great city employees it's their Union leaders that are the problem. Although i will bet you a Million Dollars if you asked either of them they both would tell you Steve Mensigner and his repeated comments make them feel as if they were the problem and horrible employees.
But back to hypocrisy. He said it's their union leaders. I guess he must mean Tim Vasin, Jason Chamness and Helen Nenadal. Well, let's see...Steve Mensinger said the other night these evil union leaders, which would be led by Tim Vasin, came to them 1.5 years ago and said they want to be part of the solution. Yeah sounds evil to me. CMCEA led by Helen Nenadal 2 years ago offered and approved a 2nd tier for new hires and approved to pay the employee full share of their part of the cost. Wow, how evil again. Just 2 years earlier, back in 2008 when CMCEA got their enhancement, they actually in good faith paid for it. The current Mayor at that time, Eric Bever, backed by Allan Mansoor, not only made the motion to approve but actually thanked the city employees for understaning the economics of the enhancement and praised them for paying for it. Wow again what evil and tone deaf employee unions or associations we have.
These are the same people vilified, called tone deaf, greedy and whatever else for last few years now. They don't sound so greedy and now we hear the very council member making some of these claims admits that while they were saying these things about those evil SOB union members those evil SOB union members actually came to them and said we want to be part of the solution in Costa Mesa.
Did I really hear this right?
As I go start my day I leave you with this. The good news is. There is an excellent slate of candidates who have stepped up.
RG3 if you will. The Responsible Government 3. This will not be easy. But this time, as opposed to the last election where a virtually unknown with hand made signs received over 10,000 votes, there is an AWESOME chance to change the power grab.
Now off to do something in the community. Oh wait...according to the other side we don't do things for the community.
As a voter, I want to know if Mensy ever received a college degree.
I want to know why he was allegedly sued for sexual harassment.
I want to know if he has a job and what it is.
roboto....pay freezes until (no raises, but also no pay cuts) 2017. Hummm, sounds like a string to me. Probably an oversight on your part to attempt to claim victory over those big, bad firefighters. I'm waiting also. You know what offer has been on the table and what "string" was attached. Wow, talk about asking for the world (tongue planted firmly in cheek).
Thanks KO for the great observations. I would like to add that in addition to trashing the unions and now admitting our fire association came to them over a year and a half ago asking to be part of the solution another conflict.
Colin McCarthy and Steve Mensinger both seem to chastise people for not trusting the council with the charter and other powers. But isn't this also against why they are implementing the charter because they say other councils were not trustworthy and gave away these high pensions?
So on one hand they say trust us and give us the power because councils can't be trusted.
I confused!
This is from Jack Wu's September 1 column. He makes the below claim and then spends a great deal of his time at the forum crying about Righeimer being part of the discussion.
So when it benefits his OCGOP pals like Righeimer it's OK to discuss Righeimer but when it doesn't he goes into some childish rant to try and get them off the topic of Righeimer.
The guy I tell you folks is just disgusting. Here is what he said in his article before the forum...
Pretty sure we're going to be talking about the Righeimer-Lanzillo issue quite a bit.
JACK WU is an accountant who lives in Newport Beach and practices in Costa Mesa. He is a longtime Republican Party loyalist and a volunteer campaign treasurer for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa). His column runs Sundays on the Daily Pilot Forum page. He can be reached at jack@wubell.com.
This is why you shouldn't listen to Colin McCarthy. He either just makes up his own facts(a liar) or he is just clueless.
He runs around around telling people and even writing in his commentaries we need to be more like HB and Newport where they don't have to pay union wages or prevailing wage. Well no matter what side of this issue you are on Colin McCarthy's claims were and are false.
I have seen someone here before state HB nor Newport could do this. I guess the bloggers on the Bubbling Cauldron or more honest than candidate Colin McCarthy.
From the Daily Pilot.
The Newport Beach City Council on Tuesday is likely to pass an ordinance exempting public works projects from a prevailing-wage requirement.
The change would allow construction companies to bid on city jobs without paying their workers the state-regulated wage.
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