Mooney Demands Identity of Trail Violators - From Mensinger
REGISTER COMMENTARY DEMANDS ANSWERS
Those of you who subscribe to the Orange County Register probably have already seen the commentary published on those pages Saturday, December 27, 2013 written by Costa Mesa resident Charles Mooney titled, "Official owes public an end to trail mystery". You can read it HERE, if you've paid the price to sneak behind their pay wall, that is.
DOES MENSINGER KNOW?
In a nutshell, Mooney aims an incriminating finger directly at Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger
on the issue of the illegal application of decomposed granite on a
trail that encroached on federally-protected vernal pools, suggesting
through the use of direct quotations by Mensinger, that he knows who
installed the decomposed granite.
COSTS SHOULD BE REIMBURSED
Mooney also gives us a very brief summary of activity by federal officials regarding the trail and the vernal pools and suggests that the $14,000 the city is paying to have the offending materials removed should be reimbursed by those responsible for it. And, we still don't know what kind of sanctions, if any, will be imposed on the City regarding our poor stewardship of Fairview Park - that shoe is waiting to drop.
MOONEY'S STATEMENT...
His final two paragraphs says the following:
"I can somewhat understand why the person or persons who installed the trail are afraid to confess and pay for the trail's removal.
However, it seems that Mayor Pro Tem Mensinger knows who installed the trail and, as a public official, has the responsibility to Costa Mesa taxpayers to identify those responsible."
IF MENSINGER KNOWS...
I agree with Mooney... if Mensinger does know who is responsible for the installation of the decomposed granite on the trail that may have harmed an endangered species - the San Diego Fairy Shrimp - he is violating his responsibility as a sworn council member if he does not come forward with that information. Of course, there's always the small chance that he might incriminate himself, in which case he is protected by law from doing so. It's a very sticky wicket. Perhaps the reward that was announced a few weeks ago will produce verifiable leads so this mess can be cleared up once and for all.
Those of you who subscribe to the Orange County Register probably have already seen the commentary published on those pages Saturday, December 27, 2013 written by Costa Mesa resident Charles Mooney titled, "Official owes public an end to trail mystery". You can read it HERE, if you've paid the price to sneak behind their pay wall, that is.DOES MENSINGER KNOW?
In a nutshell, Mooney aims an incriminating finger directly at Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger
on the issue of the illegal application of decomposed granite on a
trail that encroached on federally-protected vernal pools, suggesting
through the use of direct quotations by Mensinger, that he knows who
installed the decomposed granite. COSTS SHOULD BE REIMBURSED
Mooney also gives us a very brief summary of activity by federal officials regarding the trail and the vernal pools and suggests that the $14,000 the city is paying to have the offending materials removed should be reimbursed by those responsible for it. And, we still don't know what kind of sanctions, if any, will be imposed on the City regarding our poor stewardship of Fairview Park - that shoe is waiting to drop.MOONEY'S STATEMENT...
His final two paragraphs says the following:
"I can somewhat understand why the person or persons who installed the trail are afraid to confess and pay for the trail's removal.
However, it seems that Mayor Pro Tem Mensinger knows who installed the trail and, as a public official, has the responsibility to Costa Mesa taxpayers to identify those responsible."
IF MENSINGER KNOWS...
I agree with Mooney... if Mensinger does know who is responsible for the installation of the decomposed granite on the trail that may have harmed an endangered species - the San Diego Fairy Shrimp - he is violating his responsibility as a sworn council member if he does not come forward with that information. Of course, there's always the small chance that he might incriminate himself, in which case he is protected by law from doing so. It's a very sticky wicket. Perhaps the reward that was announced a few weeks ago will produce verifiable leads so this mess can be cleared up once and for all. Labels: Charles Mooney, Fairview Park, San Diego Fairy Shrimp, Steve Mensinger, vernal pools
posted by The Pot Stirrer at 12/30/2013 01:46:00 AM
12 Comments:
Mensinger has the right to remain silent. He also has a duty to resign from council if complicit in the illegal trail.
We have no doubt that Mensinger's supporters like Bruce Krochman and Byron de Arakal, who have claimed all along to support the rule of law, will now come forward and publicly urge Steve to resign.
We already know who did the work as well as laying the DG. We would now simply like Mensinger to "man up" if possible, and take responsibility for his actions. This is the man leading our Pop Warner children. Thankfully my child is too old now for Pop Warner, as I would not want him involved with Mensinger's influence. I am completely ashamed with this man and by association, Righeimer also. This is the type of people we have in city hall. Now the city will have to pay for his arrogant actions, as well as their misguided lawsuits.
This city is in real trouble.
The 14K removal cost is just the beginning. About 10 years ago a childhood friend of mine, with issues, disabled a bathroom smoke detector on a trans-con flight and smoked 3 cigarettes. The feds wanted to fine him 20K just for that.
But Geoff, our brand is strong! Which made me laugh when I read this in the NYT this morning, in an effort to retire the (mis)use of said word, by a certain local politico:
BRAND A close second to artisan, used as a verb and a noun for self-promotion. It sprang from corporate marketing, and then went viral after every 9-year-old with a Facebook page or a Twitter handle began obsessing over how to shape random life events into a monetized narrative. It’s bad enough that politicians worry about their brand. But prisoners?
I don't agree that a city councilman is protected by law, i.e, the 5th Amendment, from his obligation to name the persons who deposited DG on the trail he arranged to have the city create, if he knows who they are. True, he can't be subjected to legal punishment by fine or imprisonment for claiming his 5th Amendment right to refuse to testify against himself, but that doesn't relieve him of his obligations to the city he has sworn to serve. Citizens have every right to demand Mensinger say whether he knows who deposited the DG and, if so, to name them. Of course, Mensinger can continue to stonewall, and voters can take that into account.
Many people know who did DG trail job, Mensinger almost certainly among them. Their collective silence speaks volumes and the longer it stays that way, the worse they make it for themselves. They could have manned up right away and said, "Oops, sorry, we made a mistake and we'll fix it." They could have easily said they misunderstood the regulations and that they were only trying to help kids. People would have forgiven, forgotten, and this all would have just blown away like so much granite dust.
As is often the case, the cover-up is now worse than the crime. Now it hangs over Mensinger and Righeimer. However, I expect the worst from those scumbags, so it's no surprise to me that their cover-up continues. What's more disturbing to me is that the others who participated remain silent. As one who put in many years on Little League and AYSO boards and as former president of two Estancia booster clubs, I cannot imagine myself agreeing to stay silent on something like this. We know that Mensinger believes he's above the law, but the others who did this work or paid for it are the truly disgraceful people in this matter.
Marquis, absolutely true.
I saw all those at CM United as people who would lead Pop Warner and this city. Now I see them as cowards and snakes. Its shameful behavior on their part. I expected it from Mensinger and Righeimer, but I had once thought more of those me. SHAME!
Mike, I know. The brand thing is pretty funny.
Fisler: Polly wanna cracker? ACCCK! The brand is strong, the brand is strong, polly wanna cracker? the brand is strong. ACCCK!
It's amazing how much silence can say stevie. You'll most likely blame someone else. Your normal MO. Coward!
Not long ago, Steve publicly said something about “volunteers” being involved in the DG path. If he knows anything about it , this is one of those ideal opportunities to lead by example. In fact, his example will lead one way or another.
Right here, in this situation, he could set a great example by owning up to what he knows and by his leadership encourage those involved to step up and take personal and financial responsibility for their actions. It would be one of the most positive life lessons he could ever provide “for the kids”.
I guess it took a shrimp to finally shut Steve up. Ok by me. Who would have thought. Does not surprise me though. This is what happens when you think you can take short cuts and do whatever you want. I only hope when the truth finally comes out that someone told Steve it was illegal but he did it anyway. Hopefully Righy will get caught up with it too.
I cannot wait to vote these guys out!!
Last time I was this embarrassed by my Republican party was WATERGATE. Hubris and paranoia caused Dick Nixon to break the law. Dick and his advisors compounded that abuse of the public trust by trying to cover-up what they did.
Now we have PATHGATE brought to us by the local Baugh-ite faction for the same reasons. Hubris and fear, traits of weak incompetent men.
So I am like a broken record. Every time I write I say the same things. They do not represent the mainstream of the GOP. They are their own special interest party. We are not all Baugh sheep. You have to compare what they do with what they say.
Here is a checklist of basic GOP values and how the Costa Mesa Council majority measures up:
1. Are they for small government?
No, they have limited the power of the public every chance they get and centered more power in the council majority. They are enacting intrusive code enforcement with a nanny-state mentality.
2. Do they support self-determination and personal initiative?
No. Don’t make me laugh. They want to determine more and more of how we live our lives in Costa Mesa in our own homes, on our own property. Their crony-reward system stifles real free enterprise.
3. Are they fiscal conservatives?
Hahahaha. I have to laugh. They spend other people’s money (ours) like it is burning a hole in their pockets. Frivolously- on lawsuits and ego projects, on “charity” for pet groups, on tickets to lavish functions, on budget-busting birthday parties that enrich buddies and dis local businesses, on consultants they ignore, and on and on and on, on anything they want without prudent analysis and planning.
So the answers to the 3 basic tests of conservative philosophy are no, no, and hell no.
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