Marking A Milestone

THE BEST LAID PLANS...
Thursday afternoon, July 9th, my sweet and very patient wife and I slipped quietly out of town for a couple days of very much needed decompression.  We had intended to make this little journey to our favorite place on the Central Coast for the Independence Day holiday, but the traffic was so thick - it took us 4 hours to travel a mere 90 miles - that we chucked that plan and returned home to the war zone known as Costa Mesa for that weekend.

...AND WE ALMOST FORGOT
And, because we decided to resurrect our plans this weekend, a special milestone slid right past me, so I'll mention it now.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO A BUBBLING CAULDRON
Ten years ago - July 9, 2005 - I launched this blog using another host.  From that date until November 1, 2006 I published my little rants unimpeded by comments because that host didn't accommodate that function.  You can find all those entries HERE.

HERE'S THE FIRST ONE
Here's what that very first entry looked like:

Saturday, July 9, 2005
EMINENT DOMAIN AND THE WESTSIDE

The potential redevelopment of Westside Costa Mesa got a whole lot more interesting recently. On June 23, 2005 the United States Supreme Court ruled in a Connecticut case that eminent domain can be used to force property owners off their land so another entity can replace it to generate more tax revenue. However, the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution states, in part, "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation". In this case that term, "just compensation", is just another way of saying, "way below market value".

If I were a business property owner on the Westside of Costa Mesa I would be shaking in my boots about now. It was bad enough when the residential overlay was approved for the entire area that will permit a willing industrial property owner to sell to a developer and facilitate the integration of residential units in the present industrial area. This recent ruling makes it a whole new ball game. Now eager developers can sweet talk our City Council into using the sledgehammer of eminent domain to oust even the most reluctant of property owners. Do I hear the jingle of campaign finance coins in the air?

You're probably saying to yourself, "Nah, our council members would never do that." Well, don't be too sure. It takes lots of money to successfully run for public office. Eric Bever, for example, managed to round up over $50,000 for his war chest in his slim victory last November. He and his pal, Mayor Allan Mansoor, seem likely to run again - Mansoor in 2006 and Bever in 2008 - so developers with jingling pockets will probably start showing up on their doorsteps pretty soon with plans for the "mansionization" of the Westside.

Ambitious Mayor Pro Tem Gary Monahan, who theoretically is termed out of a council seat after his current tour, might be looking forward to higher office - perhaps County Supervisor. I imagine he will have his ear cocked for the sound of jingling coins, too.

Lest you think the ladies on the dais will be left out, I suspect Katrina Foley and Linda Dixon can expect the developers to come calling, too.

If you're thinking to yourself that this won't affect you, think again. If you own a one of those little, old homes on the Westside in an area that falls under the shroud of the residential overlay, you might be getting a queasy stomach right about now. If you had a cocky smirk on your face a couple months ago when the Westside Redevelopment Oversight Committee's recommendations were usurped by Bever's sleight of hand that put the residential overlay over virtually the entire Westside because you thought it would rid you of obnoxious industrial neighbors, think about this: As I understand this ruling, it would be entirely possible for a residential property owner living in a redevelopment zone to be forced to sell his home for "just compensation" so a new, larger one could be built that would generate more property tax. If your little bungalow just happens to sit on a sliver of land that might be a key acquisition for a larger development, we could soon be seeing your taillights as you head out of town, because you sure won't be able to afford another place in Costa Mesa with the proceeds of your "just compensation". 

Are you nervous yet? You should be - especially in this city, where the ruling troika on the City Council has already demonstrated a smug willingness to play fast and loose with the rules.

I, for one, expect to have more than a few sleepless nights about this issue.

2:48 pm pdt

A LOT HAS CHANGED...
There's been a lot of water under the bridge since that time.  A lot has changed in Costa Mesa since then.  The governance has devolved from the inept bumbling of Chris Steel and the deer-in-the-headlights incompetence of Allan Mansoor to our current condition, with the devious, manipulative, ego-centric, heavy-handedness of the carpetbagging political opportunist, Jim Righeimer and his faithful sidekick, Steve Mensinger.  About the only constant has been Gary (What's in it for me?) Monahan.

COMPETENCE AND COOPERATION
During that time we've seen the economy tank and force our municipal leaders to make some difficult decisions.  Fortunately, under the steady hand of City Manager Allan Roeder, they had laid the groundwork in the form of cautious, conservative fiscal management, so there was enough money in the kitty to help the city survive those difficult time.  Everyone in the government pitched in to help.

THINGS ARE NOT BETTER TODAY
Today, though, it's a different story.  Those leaders are being vilified by the current leaders for building up excessive reserves, and for making careful, thoughtful decisions regarding staffing to help bridge those tough times.  We've gone from a time when the employees and the leadership worked as a team, working together to find solutions, to the current situation where the elected leaders consider the employees their adversaries.  They've tried to layoff - illegally - more than 200 employees and the two top elected leaders have sued the men and women charged with keeping us safe - the CMPD.  They've created such a toxic atmosphere at City Hall that several dozen employees have opted to retire earlier than planned or have left to work at other jurisdictions. 

PUBLIC SAFETY SLIPPING...
Today we don't have enough police officers to effectively protect our city.  Crime statistics are up dramatically.  Today we see political opportunism interfere with the implementation of a new fire department deployment model that would dramatically improve that part of our public safety equation and save us a lot of money at the same time.  We see a government willing and eager to put potholes before public safety.  We see leaders willing to change the rules and create ordinances with which to bludgeon long-time businesses so they will reevaluate their operations with an eye to make it easier for their developer-friends to snatch up those beleaguered properties for pennies on the dollar.

STIFLING FREE SPEECH
And, of course, those current elected leaders don't take criticizm very well, so they've found ways to insitutionalize the stifling of critics by bifurcating public comments and barking chiding remarks during and after they speak.  They interrupt and intimidate speakers who offer an opposing viewpoint.  Free speech is an alien concept to them - except when applied to themselves.

LEGAL COSTS HAVE SOARED!
Their actions have resulted in legal challenges unheard of in decades past.  Through those capricious and sometimes malicious acts the City Treasury has been forced to squander millions of dollars on legal fees - money that could have been used to rebuild public safety, for example.

AND WE REPORT...
And through it all we've been here, trying to present our views of these issues for your consideration.

LOTS OF WORDS...
I didn't begin to count the entries at the beginning, but the current blog host does that for me. This will be my 2,715th entry on this site and we've generated almost 2.3 million page views.  Thanks to all of you for that.  And, along the way other organizations have recognized the meager efforts here.  The OC Weekly has named A Bubbling Cauldron as it's Blog Of The Year a couple times and the Daily Pilot has recognized our efforts in their DP 103 list several times.  We are very grateful for that.  In hindsight, I should have figured a way to get paid by the word...  Oh, well...

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
My goal when I began writing this blog was to get a few more folks in the community interested in what was happening in their government.  I think it's safe to say that we've met that goal - and then some.

ONWARD...
So, off we go on our second decade.  Thanks, again, to all of you who take the time to read what appears on this site, and especially to those of you who have taken the time over the years to offer your opinions and/or suggestions.  I'm not sure how much longer the old Cauldron will continue to boil - events involving friends and neighbors continue to remind us that life is short and to make every day count.  But, as long as we think it makes a difference, we'll just keep throwing logs on the fire and continue to stir...