The Excrement Hits The Oscillating Unit!
ZINT SHINES A LIGHT ON A PROBLEM
Wednesday evening the Daily Pilot published an excellent piece by Bradley Zint that addressed allegations made at a Costa Mesa City Council meeting a week ago that there was impropriety in the allocation of playing fields, HERE.
COMPLAINT BEFORE COUNCIL
You will recall that we addressed that issue in our post about that meeting on February 4th, HERE. At that time resident and softball player Roger Chadderdon waited until past midnight to step up during the "trailed" public comments segment to complain that his adult softball team and a youth team had been displaced from the TeWinkle Sports Complex, being replaced with Matt Leinart's Flag Football program. He was confronted by Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger at the end of the meeting.
THE REASON KNAPP LEFT?
At that time Chadderdon also stated that Recreation Manager Bob Knapp had lost his job because of that situation.
WHAT'S THE TRUTH?
Well, Zint's piece delves deeply into this situation and tends to confirm that Knapp did, indeed, resign when he balked at displacing long-time users in favor of Leinart's program. He doesn't name names when asked about who directed him to oust the softball programs in favor of Leinart's program, but he is quoted as saying it was not a council member.
SOME BACKGROUND
A quick peek at the video clip of the May 23rd Parks and Recreation meeting, HERE, will permit you to hear a discussion by the commission about the Field Allocation Use Police. Shove the scroll bar over to 2:51:00 for the beginning of the conversation. This seems to be the preamble of what happened. And, you can also read articles in the Daily Pilot HERE and HERE that mention the involvement of Matt Leinart in local activities the middle of last year. Some eyes are now raised because his program - a new program to Costa Mesa - managed to shove long-established groups off of their scheduled fields AFTER the money had been paid and schedules established. This article generates more questions on an issue that has a less than fragrant aroma coming from it.
Wednesday evening the Daily Pilot published an excellent piece by Bradley Zint that addressed allegations made at a Costa Mesa City Council meeting a week ago that there was impropriety in the allocation of playing fields, HERE.COMPLAINT BEFORE COUNCIL
You will recall that we addressed that issue in our post about that meeting on February 4th, HERE. At that time resident and softball player Roger Chadderdon waited until past midnight to step up during the "trailed" public comments segment to complain that his adult softball team and a youth team had been displaced from the TeWinkle Sports Complex, being replaced with Matt Leinart's Flag Football program. He was confronted by Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger at the end of the meeting.THE REASON KNAPP LEFT?
At that time Chadderdon also stated that Recreation Manager Bob Knapp had lost his job because of that situation.WHAT'S THE TRUTH?
Well, Zint's piece delves deeply into this situation and tends to confirm that Knapp did, indeed, resign when he balked at displacing long-time users in favor of Leinart's program. He doesn't name names when asked about who directed him to oust the softball programs in favor of Leinart's program, but he is quoted as saying it was not a council member.SOME BACKGROUND
A quick peek at the video clip of the May 23rd Parks and Recreation meeting, HERE, will permit you to hear a discussion by the commission about the Field Allocation Use Police. Shove the scroll bar over to 2:51:00 for the beginning of the conversation. This seems to be the preamble of what happened. And, you can also read articles in the Daily Pilot HERE and HERE that mention the involvement of Matt Leinart in local activities the middle of last year. Some eyes are now raised because his program - a new program to Costa Mesa - managed to shove long-established groups off of their scheduled fields AFTER the money had been paid and schedules established. This article generates more questions on an issue that has a less than fragrant aroma coming from it.Labels: Bob Knapp, Matt Leinart, Parks and Recreation Commission, Steve Mensinger
posted by The Pot Stirrer at 2/13/2014 01:11:00 AM
13 Comments:
Since it's a for-profit league, everyone makes money or benefits - the league, local HS programs, who knows else - except for the residents (adult softball, non-profit little league) who pay the taxes.
Gonna be a lot of flag football over on that side of town on Fridays now, what with Friday Night Lights, which my son plays in, already taking up the lower Farm fields and part of the upper.
This story is going to get interesting, though. Regardless, Knapp has a lot of integrity for taking a stand. Just wish he would name names, but we can never seem to get a straight answer anywhere these days, from anyone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SECVGN4Bsgg
MEMO
To: Tom Hatch
From: (Redacted)
Can we send some workers out to TeWinkle to mow grass on some of the fields? I just want it to look better. By the way, someone gave me a sign that says "Real Men Do Nothing But Play Football." Can a city crew put it up at TeWinkle at no charge to me or my friends? It's electric so I'll need a free power source too.
Many bars have a sing hanging on the wall that says, "We reserve the right tor refuse service to anyone." Maybe one of those is hanging up in city hall now.
It is great seeing so many people chime in on the Daily Pilot article. Bradley stired something up and the city folk cant hide from it now.
Geoff,
It's fascinating that the ONLY place the Councilmen want transparency in in negotiations is with the Associations.
No transparency with:
1. The Trail on the Bluffs
2. The 60th Party spending
3. TeWinkle Park bribe for better evenings to play.
(Knapp Rocks!)
4. (insert controversial issue here)
These guys are pretty slimy! Transparency when it's convenient for the Councilmen? Hahahah!
COIN? What a joke!
I just read the string of comments basically consisting of two adults bickering back and forth in a public forum. It seems both should have quit while they were ahead. During that string, I found irony in the response to a question reference playing your 3rd string came back. "If my top two quarterbacks were not being good citizens, trying to bully others and not being honest with their teachers that is exactly what would happen." Don't we have council members who do exactly that but are still in the game?! It was then just icing on the cake to read that "the council will review a proposed ordinance that would provide a reward of up to $2,000 to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of vandals" If this had been in place sooner, might we not have had to wait for the Federal Govt. to get involved with trying to determine who laid the unlawful DG path in Fairview Park. Inquiring minds are curious to know!!
Also noted in that DP string was Katrina Foley stating that the council had no part in the Leinart field use issue.
We absolutely do need an investigation into this and not by Hatch. I want to know who is paying who, how much and how they are being paid. We know money is changing hands but I want to know whose hands. This is absolutely wrong on every level.
Hatch (senior management) might have told Knapp to give the field time to Leinart's for profit - out of town football league - after a loooong time user 1 group had already booked and paid for the fields, but there is no way in hell he would ever make that decision all by himself. He was ordered by someone above him - and I don't think it was Sandy or Wendy. There's only a couple of degrees of separation between all underhanded/illegal actions taking place in our beleaguered city and certain members of the city council.
Who but Tom Hatch would have had authority to give such an order to Knapp? Whoever actually made the decision would have to go through Tom Hatch. That's how a council member could keep his fingerprints off the matter, and Knapp could truthfully say it was not a council member who gave him the order.
Hold 'em, I'll take #4: "Contracts for an undisclosed amount of money upward of $30,000, and executive positions upward of $100K/yr...
The correct answer is: Why is there no Coin-like transparency for almost every contract, consultant and executive hire in the last 4 and-a- half years?
Disgusted Republican: does the NMUSD have the authority to move around the teams at the public fields such as TeWinkle? I don't think so, so that means the order to move the teams around would have to come from "senior management". Knapp got fired, and who has the authority to fire someone the councilmen stacked the hiring process in order to get hired? Only the councilmen that hired him. Hatch doesn't blow his nose without permission. You are right, it wasn't Wendy or Sandy, and I doubt it was Gary or Jim, so...that only leaves one councilman who brags that Leinert is his personal friend. Care to guess who? Could it be that Kateina misspoke??
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