Thursday, February 14, 2013

Look For This (Most Of It) In The Daily Pilot

SOME EASY READING
In case you're bored and are looking for something to read, the following letter was posted online in the Daily Pilot Thursday.  We assume it will appear in print sometime soon, but that's never a sure thing these days.

EDITED, OF COURSE
Actually, the editors excised a few of my words due to space considerations.  However, that's not a problem here, so I've included the un-redacted version for your reading pleasure.  The segments they chopped are in red... what they printed is in blue.  Enjoy... 
 *****
During last Tuesday night's relatively brief Costa Mesa City Council meeting we learned a few new things about this council.

First, the new, kinder, gentler Mayor Jim Righeimer better not quit his day job if he's trying to make it as a stand-up comedian.  Several times he attempted humor and had to remind the audience that he just made a joke.  I do give him credit for trying, though.


Second, Former Mayor Sandra Genis -  now a council member again - is not to be trifled with.  Her tenacious thoroughness in fleshing out details and her strong institutional knowledge of policies and procedures is going to make life much more complicated for Mayor Jim Righeimer and his pals on the dais.  She's actually going to make them follow the rules!

That tenacity and thoroughness resulted in the council agreeing to do the right thing and re-hear on February 19th the appointments of defrocked former Costa Mesa Sanitary District Director Jim Fitzpatrick and Auto Club lawyer Timothy Sesler, who were appointed to the Planning Commission at the previous meeting.  And, they will also deal with the appointment of a replacement for commissioner Ed Salcedo, who resigned one day before the previous meeting.  Current Planning Commission Chairman Colin McCarthy had been selected for that two-year term.  That's been reversed.  So, on the 19th the council will re-visit all the Planning Commission appointments and select three from the more than a dozen applicants.

We also learned that Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger thinks this exercise is a waste of time - because he said as much at the council meeting.  He told us, just before the council voted to move the replacement for Salcedo to the 19th, "I will support the motion, but it doesn't really change the outcome."  That's not really a surprise, but the fact that he was willing to admit it certainly was.

And, if the selection process for the four Parks and Recreation Commissioners is any indication, the presumed coalitions on the dais - the boys and the girls - may not be quite as tight as some may have assumed.  That's a good thing, in my opinion.  It's a good thing if there are fractures in the factions - it may make for more healthy debates on issues and better votes as a result.  It certainly did make for interesting watching.

Coming up - the mid-year budget review, a discussion of the Consolidated Comprehensive Annual Financial Review (CAFR) which showed we had an unanticipated $2.5 million surplus and a study session on pensions.  It's going to be another interesting month.
 

Geoff West
Costa Mesa 
 ***** 
ENLIGHTENED?
Now, don't you feel enlightened?  Sure you do!  I know you'll tell me if you don't... ;-)

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7 Comments:

Anonymous Westside Mom said...

Thanks for sharing.

Daily Pilot, it's a Daily Joke for me. Are they taking side?

2/15/2013 12:42:00 AM  
Blogger Mike H. said...

They've taken sides long ago...

2/15/2013 07:57:00 AM  
Blogger The Pot Stirrer said...

Mike H.,
I think the Pilot does a pretty darn good job of providing both sides of important issues. You know that's the case when both sides accuse it of not providing both sides of the issues. Sometimes, my friend, we READ things with our own bias.

During the run-up to the last election commmentaries were coming fast and furious and yet they did a good job of giving both sides space.

2/15/2013 10:50:00 AM  
Anonymous Pilot Schmilot said...

I think the Daily Pilot suppresses negatives in this community that are hot buttons like the West Side and Soup Kitchens and homeless and the like.

Very passive journalism that the populace should not rely upon for real feet on the ground issues such as doctors being drug dealers *see that Vu guy on the LA times front page?

Or even locally 0 I notice on another thread the serious issue of dead homeless and the West Side deteriorating is kind of buried and ignored by the Pilot. The real issues confronting this City are sector-wide 0-like the West Side.

When was the last time you saw the DP write something substantial about the issues of the West Side?

Bunch of wussies! The Daily Pilot is bubblegum news.

2/15/2013 09:26:00 PM  
Blogger Westside Mom said...

To Pilot Schmilot,
That's one reason you should chew on those bubblegum and spit them out.
Garcia Recycling was a perfect example. DP was not "reporting" in a fair way.
As a reader, we had to point it out, or find other sources, such as here... Thanks to The Pot Stirrer -for better or worse. Let's take care our city, our home.

2/15/2013 11:55:00 PM  
Anonymous comprende said...

"consolidated annual financial report"?

uh, the cafr is the "comprehensive annual financial report"..

report on it once you get the name right.

2/19/2013 07:02:00 AM  
Blogger The Pot Stirrer said...

Of course, you are correct. Chalk it up to advancing geezerness. I note your snark is anonymous. It would carry more weight if you used your own name, coward.

2/19/2013 08:25:00 AM  

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