Fairview Park Citizens Advisory Committee Meeting
A TOUGH DECISION
Last night was a crap shoot... I had to choose between the latest meeting of the Fairview Park Citizens Advisory Committee meeting and the Westside Master Plan Community Outreach meeting, both of which were held in the same venue - the Neighborhood Community Center - at the same time. Primarily because of the controversy embroiling Fairview Park issues, I chose the former.
THIRTY PEOPLE SHOWED UP
The meeting was well-attended - at least 30 people showed up and a third of them chose to speak to the committee. I thought that was a good sign and hope even more people will attend the next meeting on October 2nd at the same venue.
A FEW PRO-FIELDS SPEAKERS
The first speaker was Gordon Bowley of Costa Mesa United. He asked to be placed on the agenda for the next meeting so he could address the committee on youth sports. He was the first speaker and formed part of a pro-sports fields bracketing, with Devin Lucas speaking last and stressing the need for more playing fields. Harold Weitzberg again stressed the need to carefully evaluate whether ANYTHING needs to be done in the park. He encouraged the group to carefully assess the need for playing fields, for example. He implied that the demographics may not support more fields.
PACIFIC AVENUE IMPROVEMENTS
Several of the speakers were very concerned about the plans for the new parking lot and play area off Pacific Avenue, stressing congestion on an already-crowded narrow street. They also spoke of the need for a restroom near the proposed playground. One speaker, Jordan Strickland, told the group and audience that Mayor Jim Righeimer will be holding a "Meet the Mayor" meeting at his, Strickland's" house on September 12th at 6:00 p.m. to discuss those very improvements. His address is 2303 Pacific Avenue - last house on the left at the end of Pacific. Watch for the announcement on the city web site.
NORTHEAST QUADRANT
Then Bart Mejia, Project Manager for Fairview Park, presented an overview of the Northeast Quadrant of the park - the section off Placentia and bracketed by the Fairview Channel and the homes up the hill to the north. It's a relatively small segment of the park and right now is just the home to an overlook site. There was NO discussion of possible enhanced uses of this quadrant - those suggestions will come later in the process.
MEMBER COMMENTS
During Member Comments Brett Eckles expressed an opposing viewpoint to that expressed by Weitzberg. He stressed we NEED more fields.
Dennis Popp echoed Eckles and suggested that folks seeking assistance from committee members be ready to offer "help" in return. He mentioned the excellent community outreach by the Model Train folks and the various sports groups. There was really no other way to interpret his comments except that he was unwilling to listen to folks who were not willing to give something in return. That attitude, of course, is typical of the rest of the followers of the current power elite in Costa Mesa. He's basically saying that if you want your ideas included in the final solution to the park update, then you'd better be ready to fork over your time - at least. I thought it was extremely inappropriate and was surprised that nobody challenged him on it.
Anna Vrska wanted more data. She felt the need to know with much more specificity the demographic of our sports teams so she could more accurately project future needs.
Chairman Richard Mehren requested Public Services Director Ernesto Munoz to provide the committee with use data involving all team sports. Eckles said he has a lot of that data and will present it at the next meeting. The discussion then evolved into a broader discussion of data acquisition and verification.
Ron Amburgey made it very clear, once again, that he felt the need for fields was very strong and that he would just disagree with those who felt differently.
MUNOZ ON THE DG TRAIL MITIGATION
Munoz gave the committee an overview of the memo from LSA Associates regarding the DG trail and the mapping of all vernal pools. He provided copies of the document to everyone at the meeting and explained some of the choices that were offered to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in a memo yesterday. He doesn't expect to hear back from USFWS for at least a couple weeks. The results of that evaluation will be presented to the committee, then the Parks and Recreation Commission. In response to a question by Vice Chair Steve Smith, Munoz affirmed that we would be guided by the decision of the USFWS to perform whatever mitigation of the encroachment of the DG trail into Vernal Pool #6.
The meeting wrapped up in a short 90 minutes. I suspect the next one will be longer...
Last night was a crap shoot... I had to choose between the latest meeting of the Fairview Park Citizens Advisory Committee meeting and the Westside Master Plan Community Outreach meeting, both of which were held in the same venue - the Neighborhood Community Center - at the same time. Primarily because of the controversy embroiling Fairview Park issues, I chose the former.
The meeting was well-attended - at least 30 people showed up and a third of them chose to speak to the committee. I thought that was a good sign and hope even more people will attend the next meeting on October 2nd at the same venue.
A FEW PRO-FIELDS SPEAKERS
The first speaker was Gordon Bowley of Costa Mesa United. He asked to be placed on the agenda for the next meeting so he could address the committee on youth sports. He was the first speaker and formed part of a pro-sports fields bracketing, with Devin Lucas speaking last and stressing the need for more playing fields. Harold Weitzberg again stressed the need to carefully evaluate whether ANYTHING needs to be done in the park. He encouraged the group to carefully assess the need for playing fields, for example. He implied that the demographics may not support more fields.PACIFIC AVENUE IMPROVEMENTS
Several of the speakers were very concerned about the plans for the new parking lot and play area off Pacific Avenue, stressing congestion on an already-crowded narrow street. They also spoke of the need for a restroom near the proposed playground. One speaker, Jordan Strickland, told the group and audience that Mayor Jim Righeimer will be holding a "Meet the Mayor" meeting at his, Strickland's" house on September 12th at 6:00 p.m. to discuss those very improvements. His address is 2303 Pacific Avenue - last house on the left at the end of Pacific. Watch for the announcement on the city web site.NORTHEAST QUADRANT
Then Bart Mejia, Project Manager for Fairview Park, presented an overview of the Northeast Quadrant of the park - the section off Placentia and bracketed by the Fairview Channel and the homes up the hill to the north. It's a relatively small segment of the park and right now is just the home to an overlook site. There was NO discussion of possible enhanced uses of this quadrant - those suggestions will come later in the process.
During Member Comments Brett Eckles expressed an opposing viewpoint to that expressed by Weitzberg. He stressed we NEED more fields.
Dennis Popp echoed Eckles and suggested that folks seeking assistance from committee members be ready to offer "help" in return. He mentioned the excellent community outreach by the Model Train folks and the various sports groups. There was really no other way to interpret his comments except that he was unwilling to listen to folks who were not willing to give something in return. That attitude, of course, is typical of the rest of the followers of the current power elite in Costa Mesa. He's basically saying that if you want your ideas included in the final solution to the park update, then you'd better be ready to fork over your time - at least. I thought it was extremely inappropriate and was surprised that nobody challenged him on it.Anna Vrska wanted more data. She felt the need to know with much more specificity the demographic of our sports teams so she could more accurately project future needs.
Chairman Richard Mehren requested Public Services Director Ernesto Munoz to provide the committee with use data involving all team sports. Eckles said he has a lot of that data and will present it at the next meeting. The discussion then evolved into a broader discussion of data acquisition and verification.
Ron Amburgey made it very clear, once again, that he felt the need for fields was very strong and that he would just disagree with those who felt differently.
MUNOZ ON THE DG TRAIL MITIGATION
Munoz gave the committee an overview of the memo from LSA Associates regarding the DG trail and the mapping of all vernal pools. He provided copies of the document to everyone at the meeting and explained some of the choices that were offered to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in a memo yesterday. He doesn't expect to hear back from USFWS for at least a couple weeks. The results of that evaluation will be presented to the committee, then the Parks and Recreation Commission. In response to a question by Vice Chair Steve Smith, Munoz affirmed that we would be guided by the decision of the USFWS to perform whatever mitigation of the encroachment of the DG trail into Vernal Pool #6.The meeting wrapped up in a short 90 minutes. I suspect the next one will be longer...
Labels: Anna Vrska, Bart Mejia, Brett Eckles, Dennis Popp, Ernesto Munoz, Fairview Park Citizens Advisory Committee, Harold Weitzberg
posted by The Pot Stirrer at 9/05/2013 12:53:00 AM
10 Comments:
I went to Catholic school for half of my education. Popp reminds me of those kids who were "nun groupies"- always making believe they had superior knowledge or intelligence while basically just being butt-kissers.
Those of us who were actually gifted found more fun things to do. As adults we passed up the Popp types decades ago.
Joe, very true. He actually isn't "in" the power elite, he is just a wannabe who they know they can count on for a vote. He is not a "thinker", so to speak and certainly not a writer, but he is one of those individuals that makes a fool of himself whenever he opens his mouth and doesn't have the sense to shut up.595
Glad you thought thirty people was a good show for our wonderfully densely populated city. I’m not picking on you, it’s sad. There are more people that show up at PTA meetings. Shame on us. I wanted to go but deal with three herniated discs in my neck and sometimes life is not easy. I’m sitting here wondering how you can build a fire under people’s seats; maybe spend some money on mailing flyers to our residents? Not everyone has a computer or even checks the City’s websites. I think far too often we let the other person do it. Thank you Geoff for your dedication to us all. Please thank your wife too.
I agree that things need to be mulled over more before deciding what to use the land for at Fairview Park. It’s not in a particularly good location for sports as I stressed in another post. I played baseball up in the mountains long ago, we gave up. Also have fractured an ankle stepping into a gopher hole running backwards trying to catch a fly ball. I think an awful lot of money would have to be spent on maintenance in that spot let alone anything else. I do admire the concern for giving our youth something else to do rather than tag properties or get involved in drugs. We don’t have a lot of room for playing fields. Also, is it me, or are an awful lot of our streets beginning to look like layout plans for Harlem tenements or decaying Brownstone buildings, one right next to the other? I can’t fault people for living here but I would imagine if a fire starts in one it’s going to shoot through the others like an airplane fuselage. Back to the kids though, yes a place for them to run and play is needed, but some where that makes sense. Sport fields do need room to exist but then you also need room for bathrooms, concession stands and several playing fields for tournament season. What about batting cages? And that’s only covering baseball. Long gone are the skating rinks and community swimming pools. Youth today have a plethora of sports equipment at their finger tips yet no space to hone their skills or build highly needed social interaction or teamwork comradery.
Going off course again, I needed help with doctor’s forms when still working. The doctor assistant was an absolute angel in helping me and I expressed it to her. She looked at me and mentioned my two youngest daughters, which made me stop and really look at this young lady. Then I recognized her, all grown up. She told me how many hours I put into sitting in the dugout with the girls and helped them with tips during the games. I was floored. She said that I enabled her to have the only joy in her life to happen. This child was not poor, but she did need attention, and she thanked me for it. All children need attention and guidance in a place where they can call their own and feel safe. We as adults need to recognize that and stop bickering to make sure it gets done.
It is understood to me that nothing happens quickly around here. It might be mystifying or idiotic, but never quickly. City government is bound by many other mandates. It would probably be easier for someone to will their property over to an organization for a specified use but since that’s probably not going to happen we are stuck with what we have, a dried up, rolling hills piece of land with dangerous edges and ages old protected wild life. I haven’t checked or compared but I wonder if buying up some of the closed businesses around here and razing them would take less money. They already come with plumbing and buildings. Maybe I should save these comments for a meeting, huh?
I wanted to go to the meetings last night, but my wife was still somewhat under the weather, so I chose her instead…
I have an issue with there being two meetings at the same time at the same venue…It does make it hard for The Pot Stirrer to cover them both…Not that anyone would deliberately do that just to spank TPS, although it would not surprise me at all…
The Daily Pilot has a larger staff and is friendlier to the city staff and council…
I sure do hope that there is no park built at the end of Pacific actually, as I am going to mirror Dark Moon’s thoughts in another thread I read earlier… Kids need shade, water, supervision and a restroom…As a parent and grandparent, I have some real misgivings about the security of our kids over there…That is not saying that the folks who live there are a problem for the kids, or would not keep an eye out for them, it is just not the right location as a destination for kids…There are some real creeps in this world…
If anyone thinks that there is a homeless problem at Lion’s Park where there is nowhere to hide at night, there will be plenty of problems at the end of Pacific…If you build it, they will come…So far we have been lucky that we have not had any of our family members kidnapped, sexually assaulted that I know of or murdered…I have lost a friend to murder in Anaheim and had a family member raped before…It is not pleasant……
This park is just a bad idea and needs to be dropped…
its a scary day when i agree with the CMPRESS, but on the issue of fairview park it seems our two disparate worlds share something. Thats how special fairview is!
I am shocked to know how many dont know about the issue. Lets be honest, most people just go to work come home and dont pour energy into this kind of thing. My guess is, if i can agree with the cmpress, we might have a huge majority wanting to have a local nature park.
It seems mr. "i know nothing" messinger had nothing mentionable to say last night? Cat got his tongue? Feeling a little sheepish?This sounds just like the same group hand picked by the three stooges on the CC for the charter committee? No one with a thought of thier own, just rubber stampers following orders. I've personally gone around via e-mails with one of the members who insists they are totally independent and open minded. Open minded I guess if you look in one ear and can see out the other side?
I think you overestimate the impact of old grumpy from Mesa North. His blog has become increasingly irrelevant in the discussion of important Costa Mesa issues.
If the kids want shade , a stellar play area with swings , jungle gym, see saw, sand and jungle gym, not to mention ocean views, large grassy play area, with barb ques and nice big restrooms with a drinking fountain,....there already is one at the end of Pacific Ave. It's called Vista Park. it's right down the street from where they are planning this one. The parking lot is too small and an emergency vehicle can't pull in and turn around, but there it is. I've enjoyed it with my two kids for almost twenty years.
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Ok….I spent 3 hours today walking the entire DG trail and gathering my evidence of what really happened…I have a pretty clear picture, which I will keep to myself right now…I took about 100 photos…I spent another 4 hours going through all of the city warrants available looking for something……
But as soon as M.H. Millard was brought up here, the trail issue itself hit the back burner for me…
How do I say this in the correct way…..M.H. Millard is lost…I am Swedish…I grew up around wealthy white John Birchers…I know the philosophy inside out…I lived an absolute life of luxury and joy, other than the queers chasing me around all the time, hiding behind their money…I delivered the Daily Pilot for years on the best route in Newport Beach…I knew all the power families…I had to attend a private High School on the Fairgrounds for wealthy white kids that is long gone…You know… one teacher for two students…We smoked in class…I got sent there because I got kicked out of Harbor High School and Clara McNally on the corner of 19th and Newport because I was a punk, long before they built the Security Pacific Bank headquarters….
When Mesa Verde Country Club opened for the poor people who could not afford Newport, most people just thought it would be another flash in the pan…Too bad they built the 405 through Costa Mesa…They built housing in Mesa Verde and built Estancia and all hell broke loose…
My 100% Swedish father was born at home in Wilmington, went to Banning High School and spoke fluent street Mexican before I was even born…He was factory manager at U.S. Divers on Warner in the 50’s working for Cousteau who owned the place…Next he moved over to Voit on Harbor Blvd. working for Willard Voit as factory manager..Voit sold out to AMF and brought New York City to the area with it..…Voit had 3 shifts and 1500 people sitting out in the middle of a field on Harbor…Both of these factories were staffed with Mexicans, Blacks and Whites..I worked at Voit myself…We spent a lot of time in Mexico because my dad loved the culture and the people..
Regardless of what anyone says, we are invaders in the natural habitat of the Mexican people and should treat it as such, even if you don’t like Mexican’s…This is not a white community, but the civic leadership is….The 60% non owner occupied, is owned by developers….
If you have read any of my other stuff on here, you know I think our civic leaders suck…I have lived in this area longer than anyone of them and know it’s history better, because I lived it…You guys suck out loud….
M.H. Millard is a man lost in time…John Birch is dead…David Duke is a clown…If Millard and the current council had it his way, they would bulldoze everything from Newport Blvd and 19th street all the way to the Harbor and Wilson, down to the sea and carpet it with new developments that had signs outside that would read..”White Only”…George Wallace would be on the city council…Bang it Millard…Regardless of your view on Fairview Park …Wherever your house is, it should be razed in the name of decency….You and your kind need to be run out of town…
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