A Surreal Election - Trump And A Costa Mesa Power Shift

Updated as of 1:30 a.m, Wednesday, November 9, 2016

WHAT?  HE WHAT?  OMG!
My head is still spinning following the concession by Hillary Clinton and listening to Donald Trump's speech.  I worry about the state of our union, but am willing to move forward with my fingers tightly crossed that we don't end up in WWIII.  I'm going to plan a trip to the border to watch the wall being built and I'm probably going to plan a trip to the Canadian border to watch half of Hollywood as they emigrate.

Back to good old Costa Mesa...

A VERY INTERESTING EVENING
I followed the election results from 8 p.m. on and reported the results on my Facebook page as they were updated by the Registrar of Voters.  Here are some screen grabs of the latest results - those available at the last report for this night at 1:30 a.m.  According to the schedule, there will be no further reports until 5:00 p.m today, Wednesday.

COSTA MESA CITY COUNCIL
Now, THIS is very interesting.  Although we still have some votes remaining to be counted, if the relationships shown below don't change it looks like Mayor Steve Mensinger is out finishing a distant fourth behind Councilwoman Sandra Genis, Lawyer John Stephens and former mayor Allan Mansoor.  Jay Humphrey gave it a good run, but looks like he will finish a close 5th to Mensinger.  Lee Ramos finished a distant 6th and Al Melone is dead last although he sucked up more than 3,000 votes.

LIFE IN OUR CITY WILL CHANGE
There is no way to properly estimate the changes this may mean to Costa Mesa governance.  Certainly, the balance of power will shift and leave Mansoor and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer on the minority side.  I actually expect there to be a more collegial atmosphere on the dais and won't be surprised at all if we see Study Sessions resurrected so issues can now be fully vetted in a public setting.  I must say I'm encouraged by this result - if it holds.

GROWTH ISSUES
Again, assuming these numbers hold, Measure Y, the citizen-generated so-called Smart Growth Initiative, will pass overwhelmingly and send a clear message to the new City Council that enough is enough.  The counter measure, Measure Z, which was placed on the ballot to confuse the voters, will not receive enough votes to accomplish that goal, even though it looks like it will pass.

FAIRVIEW PARK
Presuming these numbers hold up, once again the citizens prevail.  Measure AA, the citizen-generated initiative designed to protect Costa Mesa's Jewel, has passed resoundingly and the city counter measure, BB, appears to be failing.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA
This is very interesting.  It looks like both citizen-generated measures, V and W, are going down to defeat by significant numbers.  The City measure, X, looks like it might pass.  I expect legal challenges if it does, since it specifically forbids retail sales of marijuana.  More lawyers to feed.

VOTE-BY-DISTRICTS
Mesasure EE, the hijacked measure placed on the ballot by Righeimer, looks like it's going to pass.  Sadly, this will result in 6 voter districts and a directly-elected mayor.  It will take two more election cycles to complete this transition.  Don't be surprised if Righeimer runs for mayor in 2018, when he's termed-out of his council seat.

COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT
If the current numbers hold it appears that incumbents Jim Ferryman and Art Perry will remain on the CMSD board - good news for all of us.  They hold commanding leads right now.  Gary Monahan and Jim Fitzpatrick have apparently failed to unseat them - again, good news for all of us.

MEASURE TT
It looks like the meaningless advisory measure foisted upon the voters by the Mesa Water District Board of Directors will pass.  This, as we've mentioned many times before, is simply another part of the ploy for Mesa Water to take over the Costa Mesa Sanitary District - most likely to get their hands on the cash in the CMSD coffers as a result of good, forward-thinking management.  This will NOT be the last we hear of this issue.

FISLER DEFEATS REICH
It appears that incumbent Jim Fisler soundly defeated challenger Alex Reich for the seat on the Mesa Water District Board.  Too bad - Reich had some fresh ideas.

INCUMBENTS PREVAIL IN NMUSD

AND IN THE COAST COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT, TOO

 HARPER HOLDS HIS ASSEMBLY SEAT

AS DOES MOORLACH IN THE STATE SENATE

 AND, OF COURSE, SO DOES ROHRABACHER IN CONGRESS

MY NEXT UPDATE AT 5:00 P.M.
So, I'm hitting the sack now.  I updated this following the 1:30 update.  I'm thrashed.  I will take a peek at the results in the morning and will likely post another entry following the 5:00 p.m. update.  There seems to be much to smile about early this morning.