Thin Council Agenda - Lots Of Action Anticipated

COIN TOSS - SHORT MEETING OR LONG?
Tonight the Costa Mesa City Council will meet again for what, based on the agenda, HERE, should be a relatively short meeting.  However, considering the single item on the agenda - Councilwoman Sandra Genis' request for a re-hearing of the now-controversial plans for the Fairview Park Entryway Plans - nothing will surprise me.

The Consent Calendar brings us some interesting items tonight.

MORE LEGAL BUCKS
Item #3, Warrant #2493, HERE, includes an entry for our contract law firm, Jones and Mayer, for $132,140.30 - again and amount that exceeds the annualized projected costs for their services.  And, again, it includes an entry for the "Acosta Appeal", which seems like it is hanging on forever!

WHO?  FOR WHAT?
This same warrant includes $11,862.00 to an outfit called Interwest Consulting Group,Inc., for "Professional Svcs - Jul 2013".  Who are they and what kind of services did they provide?

COINCIDENCE?
Item #4 is Warrant #2494, HERE, and includes an interesting entry to Cognify for $52, 274.33.  You remember those guys, right?  Their head honcho, Mace Wolf, is a contributor to Mayor Righeimer's campaign.  I'm sure it's only a coincidence that we keep on paying this guy big bucks, right?

IT'S BAAACK!  NEW COMPUTERS
Item #12, HERE, is the return of the request for 435 new Desktop computers throughout the city.  Once again, the staff - this time in the form of Costa Mesa Police Captain Les Gogerty - will attempt to convince the council of the pressing need for this equipment.  And, once again, a grumpy old fella from Mesa North will tell them that they shouldn't buy them all at once.  For an alleged Mensa member, he sure can be stupid sometimes.  We hope the council has the wisdom to proceed with this critical purchase to keep our depleted staff more effective with contemporary productivity enhancing equipment.

AN ESSENTIAL TECHNOLOGY UPGRADE

Item #13, HERE, is a similar issue.  This one is for an essential upgrade to Broadband Service, again, to help the police and fire staff be more responsive and productive.  This is especially critical now that the short-sighted council majority has caused a critical and on-going shortage in police staffing.  Again, Captain Gogerty will lead this presentation.  The staff report makes it crystal clear why this upgrade is so important.

GENIS' REQUEST

The final item - the only item - on the actual agenda is Genis' request for a rehearing of the Fairview Park Entryway Concept Plan, HERE.  This one could be VERY interesting.  I expect we'll hear from more than a few interested residents, maybe some dueling archaeologists and, perhaps, some Native Americans with a very real vested interest in how Fairview Park is managed.  I have no idea if members of the federal government will show up - probably not, since they're on furlough.

NOT RE-HEARING, JUST A REQUEST
As I understand it, tonight is just Genis' attempt to convince the remainder of the council that they need to re-hear the item.  It won't be re-heard tonight, but the public can certainly weigh-in on the issue.  If the re-hearing is granted it will likely come sometime in November - maybe the first meeting.  Regardless, a lot has happened since this item was last formally discussed from the dais.  It will be interesting, indeed.

EARLY CLOSED SESSION
This one could be a short meeting or another long one.  As it is, the council begins their day with a very early closed session - 4:00 p.m instead of the normal 5:00.  There are two items on that segment of the agenda - a conference with CEO Tom Hatch on negotiations with the Costa Mesa City Employee Association, Costa Mesa Division Managers Association and the Costa Mesa Fire Fighters Management Association.  The second one involves existing litigation between the Costa Mesa Employees Association and The City.