Solid Landings Sues City and Citizen(s)

YOU'VE READ ZINT'S ARTICLE, RIGHT?
By now you may have read Brad Zint's piece in the Daily Pilot, HERE, in which he discusses the lawsuit filed last Friday by Sober Living operator Solid Landings Behavioral Health, Sure Haven and Rock Solid Recovery against the City of Costa Mesa and DOES 1 through 100, inclusive and Ann Parker plus the grass roots organization "Take Back Our Neighorhoods" - TBON and more than 1,000 "DOES", as in John Doe.  I don't know if that organization, TBON, even exists any longer, nor if there is a membership roster in existence.  I do know it was a loosely-organized grass roots organization of concerned residents who were looking for relief from the influx of sober living establishments in our city.

A GOOD JOB, BUT...
Zint does a good job of providing you with the skeleton of the suit in his article.  I've seen the 61 page complaint and, according to the information contained therein, the folks at Solid Landings, etal (I'm just going to refer to them as "Solid Landings" for ease of typing), want a judgment against the City as follows (my shorthand of the actual text):
1) The City to set aside its denial of the original request;
2) The court to judge that the denial and associated decisions are unconstitutional, invalid and of no force and effect;
3) For declaratory relief;
4) For costs of the suit, including reasonable attorney's fees;
5) For other such equitable or legal relief, or both as the Court deems just and proper.

ANDRANIAN CHANGED HIS MIND
It is my understanding that, when Ann Parker filed her request to overturn the Zoning Administrator's approval of the minor conditional use permit, she had been under the impression that rookie Planning Commissioner Stephan Andranian, a lawyer, was going to "pull it up" - ask for the decision to be reviewed by the Planning Commission.  However, on the last day that such an action could be taken Parker was told by Andranian, for reasons known only to him, that he changed his mind and would NOT be requesting a review.  So, she had no recourse except to dash to City Hall, scratch out her request for review and pay the $690.00 in fees to meet the filing deadline.

BOTH THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND COUNCIL AGREED
Subsequently, based on her presentation to the Planning Commission, that body reversed the Zoning Administrators approval.  That decision was then appealed by Solid Landings to the full City Council, which also upheld the denial of the permit. 

INSUFFICIENT TIME TO COMPLY
The lawsuit implies that Solid Landings had insufficient time to comply with the conditions of approval imposed by the original Zoning Administrators decision before the issue was reviewed by the Planning Commission.  I don't know if that's the case...

CHILLING EFFECT ON ACTIVISTS
I don't know how this will shake out.  I DO know the impact it is having on many residents of this city - some of whom have joined Parker over the past couple of years in speaking out against what they perceive to be a infestation of sober living homes throughout our neighborhoods, particularly on the Eastside of our city.  Many of those folks are fearful of being dragged into this lawsuit because they have exercised their right of free speech to tell the Planning Commission and City Council how they felt about these businesses in our town.  I, personally, have no doubt that this will stifle some community activism... and perhaps that's really the purpose of this lawsuit... I don't know.

NEW ORDINANCES
The City has passed an ordinance governing sober living establishments in R-1 zones and is poised to pass a second ordinance covering all other residential zones throughout the city.  Parker has been a persistent observer of sober living activities - perhaps the most persistent - and has been personally responsible for providing information about the location of sober living homes in our community to the City for their records.  In my opinion, we should be grateful for her tireless efforts to help establish controls over such businesses in our town.

WE NEED RECOVERY FACILITIES, BUT...
Few people will deny the need for recovery services for folks with alcohol and drug addiction problems.  According to some recent proclamations by members of the City Council, the recovery business is a $35 BILLION per year business.  It has been widely reported that Costa Mesa now contains well over one quarter of all sober living facilities in Orange County.  One recent speaker - a long-time operator of a sober living home in Costa Mesa - told the audience at a recent meeting that "this is all about the money."  She said that Obamacare has provided so much money for recovery that homes are popping up all over town.  She said, "I sure wouldn't want to live next door to one!"

CITY SHOULD COVER PARKER'S LEGAL COSTS
 Zint mentioned that Parker chose not to comment for his article on advice of an attorney.  I'm happy if she has legal representation in this matter, but one attorney who has worked for the City in the past has recently opined that the City should be covering whatever legal costs she incurs in this matter.  I agree with that assessment.  All Parker did was attempt to follow the rules as presented to her and was successful in her presentation of facts to not one, but two official City bodies.  Although City officials refused to refund her filing fee, in my view they have a clear obligation to pay for her legal defense in this matter.

WHAT WILL THE IMPACT BE?  WE SHALL SEE...
This will be interesting to watch as it unfolds in the weeks to come.  It will be interesting to see if the sledgehammer of a lawsuit does, in fact, stifle the expression of public opinion on this subject in our city.

Brief Planning Commission Meeting Yields Info

EARLY AND INTERESTING
The Costa Mesa Planning Commission meeting Monday night went about as anticipated.  It started on time and finished just before 8 p.m. - a nice change.

CANDY FOR THE 1/5 MARINE KIDS
During Public Comments Beth Refakes reminded us that the Candy Drive is underway for the families of the 1/5 Marines at Camp Pendleton.  There's a collection point in the City Hall lobby and every piece of candy must be individually wrapped.

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
Ann Parker asked for clarification about her appeal of the Solid Landings issue, citing the fact that Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer had called her a liar in a public forum.  It was confirmed that Commissioner Stephan Andranian was the only commissioner who expressed interest in appealing the issue, but changed his mind at the last minute, forcing Parker to dash to City Hall and post the fee to get the item appealed, which was successful.  She also address other sober living venues in the city.

COMMISSIONER COMMENTS
Stephan Andranian said he was honored to participate in the Joint Study Session last week and complimented the staff.  He also responded to Ann Parker's comments, affirming he was planning to appeal the Solid Landings issue, but changed his mind at the last minute.

Tim Sesler chided Parker for her attitude at the speaker's podium, admonishing her that she'll get more accomplished with sugar than vinegar.

Colin McCarthy started off by saying he's hearing an undercurrent of criticism of the staff and he doesn't understand it.  Maybe he's hearing that on the Costa Mesa Public Square, because I don't hear it at all.  He told us he was proud of the Building Inspection group.  He praised the Joint Study session, calling it "illuminating".  He addressed the Westside Plans, saying that he was getting tired of hearing complaints about them.  He said, "I'm not interested in hearing discussions on Westside plans.  That ship has sailed."  Really, Colin?  So, one more exposition by a member of the folks in power that they don't want to hear a dissenting voice.  Well, tough!  You're still going to be hearing from folks if they don't like what you're doing.  Get used to it or get out.

Chairman Rob Dickson thanked Beth Refakes for the information on the Candy Drive and asked her to be sure another video of the event is produced this year.  He also praised the Joint Study Session and the staff for the work they put into it.  He also mentioned that, during the month of August, 11,000 building permits had been pulled - substantially more than a year ago.

Vice Chair Jeff Mathews had nothing...

NEW FIRE PLAN SUBMITTAL CHECKLIST AND GUIDELINES
The new Fire Plan Submittal Checklist and Guidelines presentation was pulled from the Consent Calendar and Fire Chief Dan Stefano and Fire Prevention Specialist Dave Hollister were ready to answer questions about this new, valuable document.  The whole presentation, including questions and observations, took about five minutes.  Kudos to Chief Stefano and Hollister for the production of this important guideline.

PUBLIC HEARINGS
As expected, the first two public hearings were continued to a future, un-named, date.

APPROVED - WITHOUT UNDERGROUNDING
#3, the design review and subdivision of  two new 2-story residences at 288 E. 15th Street, should have gone right through without much discussion but the developer was thrown a curve at, literally, the last minute.  Apparently, at 4:00 Monday afternoon, he was advised that the City wanted him to underground the utilities to his project.  Based on some quick investigation he learned it might cost $200,000 - something he had not anticipated.  At one point he said that, if forced to pay for the undergrounding, he might just have to walk away from the project.  It was anticipated that the two units might sell, based on his other projects in the City, from $1.1 - 1.175 million each.  In the end the commission moved the project forward without the burden of undergrounding the utilities.

APPROVED - WITH UNDERGROUNDING
#4, the 10 unit 2 and 3 story residential development at 527-531 Bernard Street, was a different story.  Most of the commissioners were also uncomfortable about the new undergrounding requirement, but they ended up passing the project WITH the requirement of the utilities being undergrounded with some qualifying language that went something like the utilities would be undergrounded "to the extent logistically feasible".  The Director of Development Services will determine the feasibility issue.

UNDERGROUNDING
All the commissioners, during both discussions, expressed angst about having this issue sprung on them at the last minute.  Most expressed the need for more specific direction from the City Council on this issue.  Undergrounding is VERY expensive, which is the reason the idea has stalled.  However, to do it piecemeal like this - in 50 foot segments, as was described at the meeting - makes little sense.  IF there is an intention to enforce some kind of an undergrounding edict, there needs to be more formal discussions on the issue, including input from the public.  Both items felt very loosey-goosey - not the way business is normally done.

BIG JERRY GONE
The biggest news that came my way Monday was word that former consultant and, theoretical, new city employee Jerry Guarrancino is no longer with The City.  Apparently this news broke in a special staff meeting last Friday, with no more information available at this time.  It's my understanding that his Code Enforcement staff will be folded into the regular Code Enforcement organization, at least temporarily, until a decision is made about whether, and how, to fill his slot.  You might recall that he spent more than a year working in various jobs as a consultant, including acting as Interim Assistant Development Services Director during Claire Flynn's absence - and being paid a lot of money doing so - before a position was created that seemed specifically crafted for him.  We don't know what prompted his departure, but the curiously quiet circumstances only adds to the speculation.  And, it's unclear whether he actually ever did become an employee, since his consulting gig was to have shifted from one vendor to his own consulting practice.  It's all very strange.

It Began Positive, But Ended Negative

SHORT, BUT MEMORABLE, MEETING
The Costa Mesa City Council met again last night in a meeting that lasted uncharacteristically briefly - we were out of there at 9:30.  However, it was not without its moments, so let us begin...

ANOTHER LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT
Right out of the chute Contract City Attorney Tom Duarte told us that, during the closed session that preceded the council meeting, the council agreed to settle a claim with Myra Bailey for $150,000 to settle a lawsuit.  The vote was 4-1, with Gary Monahan voting no.

DEVELOPMENT HEARING CONTINUED
We then were told, as we had heard earlier in the afternoon, that the developer involved in the plan to replace a commercial building at 440 Fair Drive with 28 residential units - New Business #1 - had asked for the item to be continued to September 15th.  It seems he wants to engage the community in some outreach efforts to assuage the angst that was obvious and palpable in the College Park community.  Although provided the opportunity to speak to this issue during Public Comments, nobody did.

A WORTHY RECIPIENT!
A highlight of the meeting for me was the presentation of the Mayor's Award to Costa Mesa icon, Hank Panian.  Brad Long of CMTV prepared an excellent summary of Hanks life in Costa Mesa - narrated by Hank himself.  I sat there, hearing about his life and his outstanding contributions to our community - a life-long teacher at Orange Coast College; was part of the original creation of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District; was instrumental in the establishment of what is now the Mesa Water District; was a member of TWO Charter committees a generation apart.. and on and on.

GRACIOUS, AS ALWAYS
Following the presentation Hank took great pains to thank all those folks along the way who helped him in his community service and, in particular, his wife Barbara, with whom he will celebrate 62 years of married life in November.  Hank Panian is certainly a man who has made a difference in our community.

PUBLIC COMMENTS
The Public Comments segment included presentations by fourteen (14) people and the subjects were wide-ranging.

RUSSELL
Richard Russell went on a three minute rant about the recent newspaper articles concerning the Chris Lanzillo affair, misrepresenting the facts and demanding answers.  Funny, he didn't get around to asking Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer if, since the judge threw out the charges involving him, will he and his wife drop their civil lawsuit against the men and women of the Costa Mesa Police Department.  Must have been an oversight.

RAMOS
Once and maybe future council candidate Lee Ramos made a brief showing at the council meeting and spoke about the brand new Car Wash on East 17th Street and thanked the council for permitting it to exist.(!)  He then complimented councilman Monahan for a recent fundraiser at his bar.  Yep, it was pandering time for Old Lee.  He left shortly thereafter.

LAVERE
John LaVere, a 30 year resident who works at Lions Park complained about the locked bathrooms at that park, and the lack of picnic tables because he's involved with children in the park and they need restrooms.

LEFFLER
Robin Leffler observed that the 5:45 start time for council meetings is inconvenient for many residents and requested the start time be moved back to 6:00.  Mayor Mensinger blurted out that the meeting starts at 6:00 - which is NOT true.. the posted time for commencement of the regular meeting is - at his request - 5:45.

KOKEN
Terry Koken returned after a few months off to regale the council with another of his pithy observations.  He punctuated them by presenting to the three men on the council a booklet, which he told us was entitled, "How to extract your head from your butt".  I think the council got his drift.

PARKER
Ann Parker stepped up to, once again, express concern for the sober living situation in the city.  She spoke about the recent problems at Heller Park and the many sober living residents terrorizing parts of the Eastside.  She described having had a lighted cigarette butt flung at her during an encounter.  She also expressed concern that Solid Landings on West 19th Street is operating as before.

MOONEY
Margaret Mooney expressed concern about the City not having Supportive Housing and about the locked Lions Park bathrooms.

REFAKES
Beth Refakes told us - and showed us images - of the results of the recent ball gown drive for the 1/5 Marine Battalion at Camp Pendleton.  She said the contributions by Costa Mesa residents were really appreciated.

PERRY
Chuck Perry rose to praise the council for the recent pavement on Red Hill and for the residential development on the corner of Tustin and Ogle on the Eastside.

HUMPHREY
Jay Humphrey complained about the misinformation about the initiative petition being circulated and asked that it stop.

SPADONI
Mary Spadoni bemoaned the loss of 8 police officers in 9 days nationwide and criticized the first speaker - Russell.  She encouraged everyone to get behind our police department.

AHLF
Karl Ahlf spoke of upcoming meetings on the Poseidon desal plan, and also complained about the unsafe conditions at Lions Park because of the homeless folks.

LESTER
Sue Lester spoke strongly about the growing homeless problem, explaining first-person experiences with "tweekers" recently.  She observed that Prop. 47 is causing all kinds of problems because the dopers know they will not be incarcerated, only cited.  She said she's afraid to ride her bicycle in certain areas of town because of this infestation. (my word)

GRAHAM
Parks and Recreation Commissioner Bob Graham spoke about the impending dismantlement of the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant and suggested something be done about it.  Of course, there is NOTHING our city council can do about it.  He suggested that, rather than have Southern California Edison pass along the estimated $4-5 billion cost of dismantlement, they should pay someone to take it off their hands and refurbish it.  Sounds naive...

COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS
FOLEY
Katrina Foley, during Council Member Comments, spoke of upcoming fundraising events and of the generosity of the Segerstrom Family for their contributions to our community.  She asked for a report on summer recreation activities, including participation.  She acknowledged the presence of new Public Information Officer, Tony Dodero, in the audience.

GENIS
Sandra Genis asked for an update on Group Homes and spoke of the upcoming meeting at Orange Coast College at which their modified Vision 2020 plan will be address on Wednesday, September 9th.  I'll write more about that later in the week.  She also mentioned the passing of Russell Yamaga, the man responsible for the entry garden at City Hall and asked the Mayor to close the meeting in his honor - he didn't.

MONAHAN
Gary Monahan almost had nothing to say, but got riled-up by earlier speakers.  He addressed what he called the "Red Light or Stop Light Initiative" brought up by Jay Humphrey, and instructed Jay to "stick to the facts", which, of course, Jay had done.  It's VERY obvious that the male majority on the council is REALLY angry about the initiative and seem willing to participate in spreading misinformation about it.  He then went off on a rant about homeless, citing all the hard work the Homeless Task Force has done.  Of course, that organization doesn't exist any longer - somebody should remind him of that.

RIGHEIMER
Jim Righeimer said he was going to speak on only one subject - San Onofre - and began by saying, "I do a lot of development around the country", then complained that nobody will bring business to California.  His exact words were, "Nobody will bring employees to this state, period!"  He then continued with "People have to take personal responsibility"... somehow he thought that was related to the closing of a nuclear power plant!

MENSINGER
Steve Mensinger used most of his time to rant about the homeless situation, telling us that "a month and a half ago a resident called me about Wilson Park - she had recently moved from out of state into a condo next to the park and was concerned about the transients in the park".  He got in a little promo for the Costa Mesa Not-So-Public-Square Facebook site - you know, the one that says everyone is welcome, but blocks many residents and ousts those who don't toe the party line.  Mensinger is a frequent participant on the site.

BEING PROPOSITIONED

He complained about Prop. 47, indicating it created a revolving door  among criminals.  He said the Homeless fall into three categories - (1) those in need; (2) criminals and (3) mentally ill.  He described a recent meeting with county officials at which he and his entourage expressed the need for more "resources".  He said, "We can't police ourselves out of this."  He told us that the about-to-be- defunct Costa Mesa Motor Inn and another nearby problem motel are "incubators for crime".  In an amusing story, he described having received a complaint about the Vagabond Inn, calling Assistant CEO Rick Francis to meet him there and, upon arrival, being propositioned by a prostitute.  He then called Police Chief Rob Sharpnack to the podium to address the issue.

SHARPNACK
Sharpnack echoed Mensinger by saying, "We can't arrest ourselves out of this".  He spoke of the mentally ill and the social workers that accompany officers occasionally.  He spoke of the new bike patrols that will make a difference and, vaguely, about undercover operations.  He told us the Patrol Force is at capacity and that, later this month, they will promote several officers and begin to re-staff specialty units as the staffing levels rise.  He also spoke of the impact of Prop. 47, which needs to be fixed at the state level.

STUPID MENSINGER QUOTES
Mensinger took the ball back and said, " All of us have to be part of the solution.", which might be OK in a football huddle, but didn't tell us just what our part might be.  Are we all supposed to start packing guns and helping the cops enforce the laws?  He then said something that might have been the stupidest thing he uttered all night, "You can't expect 200 police officers to solve it."  What a crock!  This city has NEVER had 200 cops and, right now, the command staff would just be happy to have half that number ready and able to report to work!  One must wonder if the mayor ever thinks before he speaks - most of the time it appears not to be the case!  You get the impression that he's not really paying attention most of the time.

LETOURNEAU
Assistant CEO Tammy Letourneau, standing in for absent CEO Tom Hatch, told us that the Dog Park is out of commission and undergoing renovation this week; the Crime Map Feature is back operating and Fire Station #4 has had the ground breaking for the renovations there.

CONSENT CALENDAR
Items 9 and 11 were pulled from the Consent Calendar, so the rest passed without discussion.

SMOKING LOUNGES AND VAPING
Public Hearing #1, the amendments to the Municipal Code regarding Vaping and Smoking Lounges, was up next.  After a brief staff report Genis asked about the health issues with e-vaping.  Amy Buck from the Orange County Health Care Agency stepped up and gave a short, quick briefing on the dangers of vaping and hookah, after which Mensinger observed "Well, that answers the health issue."  The presentation was so quick, and the slides used for information purposes were on the screen for such a short time that I couldn't capture any of the images.  Foley expressed concern about locations of smoking lounges and vaping sites regarding schools.  Only one person stepped up to speak on this issue - Ann Parker.  She wondered why we just cannot ban them, period.  She observed that the only hookah parlor in town now - the others closed down - is adjacent to the Tower On 19th - the senior living facility formerly known as Bethel Towers.  Not a single supporter of vaping or hookah spoke.  In fact, there were few folks in the audience for this issue.  The staff will bring back more details about school locations for the second reading.  The first reading passed, 5-0.

CAPITAL ASSET NEEDS ORDINANCE
Public Hearing #2, the first reading of the Capital Asset Needs Ordinance, which codifies the current policy of earmarking 6.5% of the General Fund budget for capital expenditures in two segments - 5% and 1.5% - generated some heated discussion.  In a nutshell, Foley and Genis seemed concerned about the need to codify this into the Municipal Code, which would then require a 4/5 majority to overturn part of it.  Genis was concerned about the fact that, for the past several years, we have not had a balanced budget, yet we would require this money to be used ONLY for these purposes.

STUPID RIGHEIMER QUOTES
Mensinger and Righeimer strongly supported it.  Righeimer got off some great lines during the discussion.  He said,"It's six and a half percent of the budget.  It's not a big deal!"  Well, that would be more than $7 million this time around, so it really IS a big deal!  In response to Genis' observation that this seemed not very conservative, he said, "We have money gushing into this city like a fire hose.", totally ignoring what happened in 2008 and 2009, when that fire hose went limp when sales tax revenue dropped like a rock!  He went on to blame any fiscal problems on the fact that we had more employees back then.  In response to Genis observation that by tying up this money we would lose flexibility in municipal management, he said, "Too much flexibility is not what we need."  He made my head hurt!

YEP...
Foley, during her comments, described this as simply a political ploy, and that the ordinance is unnecessary, but she supports the concept and would prefer it remain as a policy.

SPLIT VOTE - WHAT A SURPRISE!
When the vote was taken it passed the first reading, 3-2, with Foley and Genis voting NO.  We took a 10 minute break and began again at 8:15.

VACATION OF RIGHTS-OF-WAY
Public Hearings #3 and #4, which involved vacation of road right-of-way and flowage right-of-way were quickly dispatched on 5-0 votes, taking only 20 minutes between them.

PARK FEES ON NEW APARTMENTS
Old Business #1, which was the second reading of the changes to the Municipal Code regarding the imposition of Park Fees on Apartment developments for the first time, also got a quick hearing and passed, 5-0.

LEINART CASH STAYS IN GENERAL FUND
New Business #2 - #1 had been continued - was the question of what to do with the nearly $25,000 in fees paid to the City by Matt Leinart Flag Football for field use last year.  Katrina Foley brought this forward for discussion, feeling that the money should be split between the two high schools for uniforms or equipment instead of going into the General Fund.  By this time Monahan had disappeared...  After a short discussion two speakers addressed this issue.  Teresa Drain reminded the council that Matt Leinart Flag Football had recently been caught in a similar "misunderstanding" in Irvine and had to pay the full amount - something like $60,000.  She opined that the "misunderstanding" was really just flat-out lying.  Wendy Leece suggested this whole thing reeked from the beginning and smacked of a back-room deal.  In the end, Foley withdrew her request and the money will remain in the General Fund.  No vote was taken, but Genis asked for a copy of a letter mentioned by Foley that had been circulated among booster groups during that time frame.

VOTING DELEGATES NAMED
New Business #3, the appointment of voting delegates to the Annual California League of Cities Conference was quickly dispatched, with Mensinger being designated as the voting delegate and Genis being the alternate, on a 4-0 vote.

APPEAL FEE REIMBURSEMENT REQUESTS
The final bit of agendized business was New Business #4, the request for reimbursement of appeal fees by Ann Parker and Carrie Renfro for two successful appeals recently.  Parker's was an appeal to the Planning Commission of a decision by the Zoning Administrator on the Solid Landings facility on West 19th Street.  The Planning Commission upheld the appeal and the City Council confirmed it when the applicant appealed that decision.  Renfro's was for the proposed Farmer's Market at a church parking lot at the corner of Orange Avenue and Bay Street.  She appealed the Planning Commission decision to the City Council and they found in her favor.

IGNORING PRECEDENT
Because there is precedent for returning the fees for similar appeals, it seemed like a slam dunk, right?  Wrong!  From the very beginning it was clear that Righeimer and Mensinger were NOT in favor of returning fees.  In fact, he was so adamant about it that Righeimer actually misrepresented the facts of Parker's issue, claiming she could have asked "any council member" to bring the appeal forward without paying fees.  In her case, that was NOT true!  When Parker presented her facts to Planning Commissioner Stephan Adranian he said he would appeal the issue, but then backed out at the VERY last minute, which seemed curious at the time.  Parker, having NO alternative, dashed to City Hall and filed her appeal paperwork with barely minutes to spare - and paid the $690 fee.  Her appeal presentation was powerful and factual and was upheld - twice.

DUG DEEP AND GOT NEW INFORMATION
In Renfro's case, she dug and dug and got information from archives the city staff apparently didn't even know existed regarding land use restrictions on the church property, which formed the lynch pin of here argument.  Her appeal of the Planning Commission decision was upheld by the City Council.

COMPROMISE FAILS
After all the discussion - which included the idea of preparing a Municipal Code section to address how to handle successful appeals - and it was clear that Righeimer and Mensinger were NOT voting for full reimbursement,  Foley finally offered a compromise solution - to pay half the fees.  Genis seconded her motion, but the resultant vote was 2-2, which means it failed.  Foley offered to pay each of the women $50.00 toward their fees - in my view a symbolic and pathetic gesture.

VINDICTIVE PAYBACK
Here's my opinion on this subject.  The mayor and mayor pro tem don't much like being told they're making mistakes and, in the case of Parker, she tells them that frequently.  Similarly, Renfro has been a vocal critic on the sober living home issue which infests her neighborhood.  She held a meeting on her lawn many months ago when then-mayor Righeimer spoke to the issue.  I think both men approached this with their minds already made up.  This is just another way to stifle dissent and they used it to make that point.  A couple times Righeimer mentioned that "it's not much money".  Really?  Maybe it's not much to him, but to someone on a fixed income, relying on Social Security, it's a LOT of money.  Of course, it's not surprising that both men have that attitude, since one is presently building a new home and the other, according to reports, is contemplating the same thing.  And, interesting to note, that one of the two recent appeals for which the fee was refunded was a pal of theirs.  Uh, huh...  This was one of the most disgusting displays of vindictiveness and misuse of their power that I've ever seen... and that's saying something!

ANOTHER WAY TO STIFLE DISSENT
And, after the vote was taken and Foley asked staff to come back with some kind of policy/code amendment to make this kind of issue equitable, Righeimer asked that they include an analysis of what our appeal fees actually are.  Earlier he suggested raising them, which would "price out" some potential appellants - another way to stifle dissent.

WE WON'T FORGET, STEVE...
Well, Righeimer is termed out next year, (Oops!  No, he's not - wishful thinking on my part!) but Mensinger is going to be wearing this on his shoulders during his campaign and there will be more than a few of us there to remind him of it.

DELMAR ENTRANCE IMPROVEMENTS
The final two items discussed were Consent Calendar items 9 and 11.  #9 was a discussion of the street improvements at Newport Boulevard and Del Mar.  It took ten minutes - nine minutes longer than necessary, but the council approved it, 4-0.

SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS - AGAIN

Number 11 was the Memorandum of Understanding with the Newport Mesa Unified School District

for the placement of two (2) School Resource Officers in several campuses beginning this school year.  The School District pays for half the cost.  It's been three years since we've been able to provide SROs because of staffing issues.  The issue passed, 4-0.  And we were done...  The Mayor adjourned the meeting, ignoring Genis' request earlier.