Last Week Plus A Note From Allen Huggins

 MEMORABLE!
Well, the past week was certainly one for the books!

FIRST, MY ANNIVERSARY!
Last Monday I celebrated my 46th wedding anniversary, which turned out to be the high point of the week by far, HERE.

CRAPPY CONTRACT
Then, on Tuesday, the Costa Mesa General Employees (CMCEA) was sucker-punched with an offensive contract offer, which we wrote about HERE and again, with the text of the offer, HERE.

 STAFFERS PLACED ON LEAVE
That same afternoon, just before the City Council meeting began, Public Affairs Manager Dan Joyce and his assistant, Christine Cordon, were placed on administrative leave, HERE.

POLICE RECRUITMENT
Then the Daily Pilot published an excellent article outlining the difficulties the Costa Mesa Police Department has been having recruiting new officers, HERE, which I wrote about HERE.

MOVING BOXES
And, finally, on Friday around noon a group of men were seen removing carts full of files, computers and other stuff from City Hall to the Costa Mesa Police Department headquarters, HERE.

JUST A LITTLE TENSE, YOU SAY?
Word has it today, Monday, that things were particularly tense around City Hall today.  Gee, I can't understand why! ;-)

A VIEW FROM THE TRENCHES
In my post about the Police Recruitment I asked for responses from police officers.  So far, nothing.  However, today recently retired Captain Allen Huggins posted a multi-paragraph comment on the Daily Pilot article.  I wrote to him for his permission to reproduce it here because it provides us with a special perspective of a man who served our community with pride and distinction for 27 years and was here through the beginnings of these difficult times.  Here is his comment just as he wrote it:

Allen Huggins · Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
I have refrained from commenting on the inner workings of the City and the Police Department for many months since I retired. To be honest, I didn’t want to subject my family to the mudslinging that is all too common in Costa Mesa today. With that said, and in my opinion, the latest comments from Righeimer and Mensinger are misleading and I think the record needs to at least be accurate.

There is a significant issue with attracting quality personnel to the Department, and there has been shortly since the Righeimer and Mensinger were elected and appointed, respectfully. The Department has also been experiencing an exodus that is unprecedented. While there are a variety of reasons, it would be unreasonable to believe there isn’t a connection between the tenor the City Council has set, under the tutelage of the current majority, and the personnel difficulties the Police Department has been and is facing.

To provide some basic background, I have been a life-long Republican, and I recently retired after over 27 years of service to the City. I also am a realist and recognize that the economic issues have necessitated changes in the salaries and benefit packages. It is not the changes in the salaries and benefits that is causing such a huge exodus of experienced personnel and the lack of quality lateral officers and applicants, it is the rhetoric filled comments by members of the City Council that many times are lacking the veracity expected of elected officials. The employees are not the enemy of the City or the people who live, work and play in Costa Mesa. They are, for the most part, dedicated, hard working people who are doing what they were hired to do. Rhetoric calling them “union thugs” and worst is uncalled for and unproductive.

In my former life, I had direct knowledge of the quality of people who were applying to be officers. While there were some good applicants, there were many more that had too many questions to hire in a position of a police officer, which requires significant community trust. The hiring standards are and were not too high, as alleged. If anything, the standards were relaxed as much as is reasonable. I don’t believe that the Police Department should ever deviate from insisting that integrity, honesty and proper values be a cornerstone of what makes up a new officer. The rigors of the job can be challenging enough, even with the proper cornerstone. Does the Costa Mesa community really want the police department to reduce the standards of the police officers it hires?

As I indicated previously, the economic environment dictates that all expenditures be reviewed, including salary and benefit packages. What isn’t necessary is the rhetoric the City Council majority likes to inject into discussions. Other cities, like Newport Beach for example, have been able to accomplish salary savings without all the “union thug” accusations and demeaning, unproductive comments. The frequent accusations accomplish nothing but resentment. Now I know that the Council majority will say they like the employees and they are good people, but that is not how they treat them. Watch closely what they do.

Costa Mesa used to be a place of destination. It may be again, in the future, but it is not one today. Facts are facts and the significant exodus of police officers is just a glimpse of the personnel issues facing the City. With the cost to hire and train a new officer well into the six figures, doesn’t it make sense to figure out the “why” and fix the problem?

The community doesn’t need divisive leadership; they need leadership with integrity so they can begin to once again make Costa Mesa a place of destination. One important trait that all good leaders know is to have the integrity to admit what they don’t know, and to reach out for assistance from those who do. While I don’t know how to be a successful developer, and freely admit that, I do know what good city leadership looks like, and what it doesn’t look like, and it doesn’t look like the current majority is providing. The Costa Mesa community deserves better than they have been receiving.

I’m not bitter, nor did I leave on any terms but my own. In fact, I was truly honored to serve the Costa Mesa community for most of my adult life. I want the best for the community and City departments. In my opinion, the various misstatements from the Council majority are beneath what the people of Costa Mesa deserve.

Thanks to Huggins for his comments.  Much appreciated.

GRIPES INSTEAD OF CAKE!
So, with only one meeting this week - the Charter Committee meeting on Wednesday, at which Tea Party Tom Pollitt will probably whine again about not being able to pray - it's almost like a vacation.  In fact, if it wasn't for that meeting my sweet and very patient wife would be taking me out to dinner for my birthday.  Instead, I'll spend three hours listening to gripes about the way the government runs and watch folks being facilitated.

Another Long, Eventful Evening

FINISHED BEFORE MIDNIGHT - AGAIN!
What should have been a relatively short meeting of the Costa Mesa City Council Tuesday night turned out to be another long one, although it "only" lasted until around 11:30.

MY PREVIOUS REPORT
You can refresh your memory about everything that was on the agenda from my earlier post, HERE.  However, here's a summary of what transpired last night. 

KUDOS TO OFFICER KHA BAO
The council recognized police officer Kha Bao as employee of the month for his remarkable accomplishment of arresting 432 drunk drivers last year.  He led a team of CMPD officers in achieving "Century Club" status - snatching up 100 or more drunk drivers for the year.  Officer Bao is shown here with members of the CMPD command staff.  Left to right, Captain Les Gogerty, Captain Allen Huggins, Sergeant Greg Scott, Officer Kha Bao, Chief Tom Gazsi and Lt. Rob Sharpnack.

SMART KIDS
Mayor Eric Bever also presented certificates to members of the Costa Mesa High School Business Academy/Virtual Enterprise teams for recent accomplishments.

MORE NEW HOUSING
The council approved a small-lot residential development at 743 West 20th Street despite numerous and significant variations from the established guidelines.  They also heard the screening request for 40 live/work units at the location of the present Anchor Mobile Home Park on Newport Boulevard near Industrial Way.

 RELAXED RESTAURANT PARKING REQUIREMENTS
They adopted the resolution relaxing parking requirements for certain types of establishments where food and beverages are sold in the city and gave second reading to the ordinance that forbids sex offenders from entering any park or athletic venue within the city.

AN EXPLOSIVE INDEPENDENCE WEEK AHEAD
The council also affirmed the current ordinance about sale and discharge of fireworks.  That means that this year residents will be able to purchase so-called safe and sane fireworks from June 30, 2012 through July 4, 2012 and discharge them from July 2 through July 4th.  Very little discussion was conducted on this item and there were no voices of opposition heard even though there seemed to be no good reason to permit the discharge of fireworks on the two nights leading up to July 4th.  Pet owners beware - it's going to be a long week for you.


FISH FRY, BEER AND WINE AND DEMOLITION
The council made quick work of the two items on the agenda involving the Fish Fry.  They approved moving it from Lions Park to Fairview Park and also approved the establishment of a beer and wine garden - similar to the one approved for the Concerts In The Park last year.  They also approved the demolition of the picnic shelter at Lions Park using $60,000 from the CEO's contingency fund to get it done immediately.

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS...
The most fun came during the discussion of sending Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer and his pal, councilman Steve Mensinger to an economic development conference in Las Vegas later this month.  The amount of money was small - probably less than $1,000 (the Convention and Business Bureau is picking up about half the cost) - but the discussion was lively.  Actually, despite the fact that this reeks of a boondoggle, sending those two council members to this particular conference makes a lot of sense.  As Gary Monahan observed, they ARE developers and speak the language, so if we're serious about enticing developers to consider Costa Mesa in their future plans, their presence at this conference makes sense.  The council approved it, 4-0.

ROAD TRIP!
An amusing sidebar was during the public comments on that item.  Resident Terry Koken, who has been known to croon his message to the council in the past, suggested that, because much of the discussion on this subject implied that some folks didn't trust Righeimer and Mensinger in Las Vegas, perhaps Wendy Leece should accompany them as chaperone.  Koken then expressed concern about possible Brown Act violations so suggested an alternate chaperone - ME!  It may have been the high point of the evening.  I later asked Mensinger when he and Righeimer would be picking me up and asked if I could ride shotgun.  Mensinger suggested the Mitt Romney approach - me in a dog crate on the roof.  Sounds like fun...
CALL FOR CIVILITY REJECTED BY THE COUNCIL
Early in the meeting, during public comments, resident David Kincaid suggested the need for more civility in the discourse about city matters.  He wasn't very specific, although he did glance back my way a couple times.  Members of the council agreed with him.  I must observe, however, that the only rancor last night came from the dais when, near the end of the evening, Mayor Bever was his usual snippy self and Monahan criticized the long discussion of the Righeimer/Mensinger trip as "getting personal" against those two men.  He aimed his comments at Leece and the audience.  And, Bever topped it off with another snide remark about Leece that got her daughter, Amy, so angry that she sprinted up to the dais after the meeting closed, ready to confront him.

BEVER THE BOOR
Bever continued his petty, boorish behavior when he dashed down into the audience at the end of the meeting to confront young Orange County Register reporter Sean Greene, raking him over the coals for apparently not contacting Bever for comment on an issue recently.  This from a guy who is notorious for his lack of responsiveness to the media!  Greene, during his brief tenure as a writer for the Register, has done a very good job and this meeting may have been his last - he's off to grad school.  He probably should have told Bever to stick his complaint where "the sun don't shine", but he didn't.  He just stood there and took it, much to his credit.

JUST A WARM UP
So ended another adventure with the Costa Mesa City Council.  And, since May promises to have perhaps another half-dozen meetings due to the budget, I fear this is just the warm-up for this month.

Cha, cha, cha, changin'...

IMPORTANT STAFF CHANGES
I've neglected some pretty darn important personnel announcements in the past few days, so I'll try to catch up in this entry.



MUNOZ NAMED PUBLIC SERVICES DIRECTOR
Tuesday, just before the scheduled council meeting, Costa Mesa Director of Communications, Bill Lobdell, sent out a press release announcing the promotion of Ernesto Munoz as Director of Public Services, locking up the job he's held on an interim basis for the past five months.

HATCH LAUDS MOVE
Regarding Munoz, Lobdell quotes City CEO Tom Hatch, "As he's done throughout his career with the City, Ernesto has performed well in his new assignment. His expertise, institutional knowledge and professional manner made him an easy choice to lead our Public Services Department in the coming years."

BIG JOB
According to the press release, "Munoz heads a department with 163 employees, an annual operating budget of $17.3 million and more than $400 million in City assets under its care. he replaced Peter Naghavi, who was recently promoted to a new position focusing on the City's economic development efforts."

A GREAT MOVE FOR THE CITY
Personally, I've always found Ernesto Munoz to be extremely responsive and highly professional. The City is very fortunate to have him in this position as we move forward in troubled times.

*****

CMPD STAFF CHANGES
Police Chief Tom Gazsi recently announced some organizations changes in the Costa Mesa Police Department to strengthen the organization at a time when it is being asked to do more with less.

HUGGINS AND GOGERTY
Lieutenant Allen Huggins, a 25 year veteran of the CMPD and formerly the head of the Professional Standards Bureau, was promoted to Captain and now heads up Field Operations, replacing Captain Les Gogerty, who now heads up the Support Services Division.

SCHENNUM AND GLASS
Lieutenant Tim Schennum replaces Huggins as the head of the Professional Standards Bureau and is also now the CMPD Public Information Officer (PIO), replacing long-time PIO Lieutenant Bryan Glass, who now heads up the Telecommunications Bureau.

GAZSI UP TO THE TASK
With the promotion and re-assignment of these veteran CMPD leaders, the recent extension of CMPD lobby hours to include Saturdays and the conversion to a 4/10 -3/12 hour shift configuration, Chief Gazsi has shown that he's ready, willing and able to make major organizational changes in order to meet the demands of policing our city with fewer resources.