Scheafer Appointed President of Sanitary District Board

LONG-TIME VOLUNTEER APPOINTED 
The Costa Mesa Sanitary District announced today that Mike Scheafer was appointed as President of the Board of Directors at their meeting last night.

MANY YEARS ON THE BOARD
Scheafer is a nearly life-long resident of Costa Mesa, successful businessman and community volunteer.  According to the press release, he was first appointed to the CMSD Board in 1993, where he served for two years.  He was elected to the Board again in 2010 and recently re-elected for another 4-year term.

MANY YEARS OF SERVICE ...
In addition to his service on the CMSD Board, Scheafer has been a member of the Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions Club where he chaired the annual Fish Fry many times.  He was on the Board of the Boys and Girls Club of the Harbor Area; Costa Mesa Senior Center; Costa Mesa United; South Coast Children's Society; Newport Elks Lodge and was Chairman of the Costa Mesa 60th Anniversary Committee.

...IN LEADERSHIP ROLES
He is also President of the Independent Special Districts of Orange County Executive Committee and is a member of the Board of the Special District Risk Management Authority.

CITY ASSIGNMENTS, TOO
Scheafer has also served the community as a member of the City Council and the Parks and Recreation Commission.

OTHER APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCED, TOO
Also announced in the press release - Art Perry was appointed as Vice President; Bob Ooten was appointed as Secretary and Arlene Schafer as Assistant Secretary.

A Civil Finale To The Campaign Forum Circuit

TIME FOR A CHAT...
Last night, at the Halecrest Swim and Tennis Club, the Friends of Costa Mesa Libraries hosted a candidate event that left a good taste in your mouth for a change.  This one was designed to present candidates for seats on three Special District boards and give them an opportunity to tell you about themselves and to address issues they felt were important for the positions they are seeking.  Just under 50 people attended, counting staff members and relatives of the participants.

SPECIAL DISTRICTS
The special districts represented in this event were the Orange County Water District, Mesa Water District and the Costa Mesa Sanitary District.  A total of eight (8) of the nine candidates running for the positions available in these special districts within Costa Mesa were present.  Only candidate Chuck Perry failed to show up.

ORANGE COUNTY WATER DISTRICT
Candidates for the Area 7 seat on the Orange County Water District are incumbent and current board president, Shawn Dewane and termed out Costa Mesa City Council member, Wendy Leece.

MESA WATER
Candidates for the Mesa Water District seat are Ron Amburgey and incumbent Jim Atkinson.

SANITARY DISTRICT
Four candidates for the three seats on the Costa Mesa Sanitary District Board are long time incumbents Arlene Schafer, Bob Ooten and Mike Scheafer plus first time candidate Brian Peotter.  As I said, Perry failed to show up.

OOTEN HANDS OFF TO FISLER
Ooten, in his role as President of the Friends of the Costa Mesa Libraries, gave a brief introduction to some of their members present, defined the organization and it's role with the three libraries in Costa Mesa and presented an award to a long-time employee.  He then turned the meeting over to Mesa Water District Board President Jim Fisler, who acted as moderator.  In this case, his role was just to introduce the candidates, since no questions were posed to them.

DESCRIPTION, HISTORY AND FUNCTION
Fisler gave a description of Special Districts and some history.  We learned that there are 2,160 special districts in California - 27 in Orange County alone.  They cover such things as cemeteries, recreation, police and vector control - and, of course, water and sanitation.  He emphasized the value of a tightly-focused board, usually responsible for one or two elements in a community.  He also mentioned that they are governed by many of the same rules as are city councils - the Brown Act and Fair Political Practices Commission regulation, for example.

SEVEN MINUTES EACH
Then he announced that each candidate would have seven (7) minutes to introduce themselves and talk about their candidacy.  The candidates would appear in the order they appear on the ballot.

MESA WATER
First up were the two candidates for a seat on the Mesa Water District Board.

RON AMBURGEY
Ron stressed that he's a first-time candidate and that he decided to get involved after attending a meeting of the organization last June at which a rate hike was passed.  He spoke against it.  He told us he's involved with Costa Mesa United, and that he will probably be elected President next time around.  He also told us he was on the board of the Youth Employment Service (YES) since 1987 and has been involved with the Lions Club.  He neglected to mention that he was an appointee to both the Charter Committee and the Fairview Park Citizens Advisory Committee.

He told us, that although he has many friends on the Mesa Water board, he's "not feelin' the love" - apparently because of his position on the rate increases passed recently.  He's a believer in term limits and he doesn't want to get into any negative campaigning.  He didn't tell us if he knew anything about water.

JIM ATKINSON
Jim is the incumbent and has been on the Mesa Water Board for 16 years and knows his stuff.  He used his time to give the audience a primer on Mesa, the need for long-term planning and how he was a "ratepayer advocate" who voted NO on the rate increase.  He stressed that the biggest cost in delivering water was the cost of electricity used to move it from one place to another.  He talked about the 350 miles of pipe, the replacement of which would cost about $1.5 million per mile.  He spoke of the 9 wells the District maintains.  He spoke of the excellent bond rating - AAA, and quoted from a Fitch report that described Mesa Water's performance that justified that high rating.

ORANGE COUNTY WATER DISTRICT
Next came the candidates for the Orange County Water District.

WENDY LEECE
Wendy is a termed-out Costa Mesa City Councilwoman, who has also served on the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Trustees.  She told us she's not a "career politician", then listed all the political positions she's held.  I smiled.  She told us she has no conflict, unlike her opponent who serves on TWO water boards now.  She stressed that she's a hard worker who does her homework and that she works for the residents and ratepayers.  She also spoke briefly of the Poseidon desalination project that would apparently run a pipeline across Costa Mesa and cause significant disruption to the lives along it's path.

SHAWN DEWANE

Shawn is currently the President of the Orange County Water District Board and also a member of the Mesa Water District Board.  He's a 27 year Costa Mesa resident with a decade serving on the water boards, which he says provides "pure, plentiful and affordable" water.  He is a self-described financial expert.  He mentioned that twice, in case you missed it the first time.    He spoke with authority about his contributions to the water entities in our region, with his ego fully on display.  He also mentioned his participation in the creation of the trade organization, CalDesal, which he described as a one-stop-shop for folks interested in desalination projects, and explained it was formed because of the fourteen years and thousands of forms and papers required to get the Poseidon Project to where it is today.  He explained his many trips to Sacramento and Washington, D.C. to work on water issues.  He took much of the credit for the excellent condition Mesa Water finds itself in today and beamed with pride when he spoke about the "largest water recycling facility in the world."

COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT
Next came the candidates for the three seats available for the Costa Mesa Sanitary District.  Candidate Chuck Perry was a no-show for this event.

ARLENE SCHAFER

Arlene raised a family in Costa Mesa.  She has served on the Planning Commission and the City Council, where she was Vice Mayor and Mayor.  She's a long-time member of the Sanitary District Board and is seeking re-election next month.  She spoke of her role as a Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) member, and that she had been President of the California Special Districts Association.  She spoke briefly of the upcoming Organics Recycling Program.  She also spoke of how well the board members get along.

MIKE SCHEAFER

Mike is a long-term board member, former Parks and Recreation Commissioner and City Councilman (he didn't mention either of those), long-time member of the Lions Club, President of the Costa Mesa Senior Corporation Board and Chairman of the recent 60th Anniversary Celebration (he didn't mention those, either).  He did speak briefly about some of the things he's accomplished while on the board, like using Ipads instead of killing forests to produce staff reports for meetings.  He spent a big chunk of his time discussing the upcoming conversion to the Organics Recycling program and the value of doing this inevitable conversion early rather than later.  He spoke of the fiscal solvency of the Sanitary District.

BRIAN PEOTTER

Brian, a self-described "Rocket Scientist", seemed like a nice enough young fella who just hasn't been alive long enough to understand the job on the Sanitary District Board.  In fact, he told us his goal is to eliminate it entirely by folding the Sanitary District into the Water District or The City.  He made some not very veiled criticisms of the current board and further demonstrated his lack of knowledge of the inner workings of that organization.  It's unclear if he had ever attended a board meeting or not.  I'm told not.  He ripped a page from the Jim Fitzpatrick song book and spoke of not putting the trash hauling contract out for competitive bidding since the "Eisenhower era".  He was hyper-critical of the Organics program, but didn't say anything that demonstrated that he knew much about it.

BOB OOTEN

Bob is an double-degreed engineer with more than two decades experience with the Orange County Sanitary District.  He spoke in detail of the infrastructure of the Costa Mesa Sanitary District and the pro-active steps taken to prepare for disasters and to keep the effluent flowing.  He described himself as a fiscal conservative and also of the need to implement the Organics Recycling program to save money.

NO QUESTIONS - JUST CIVILITY
The program didn't provide an opportunity for any of the four-dozen audience members to ask questions, but the buzz around the room at the conclusion of the formal segment of the program seemed very positive.  Folks seemed to have learned a lot from this process and were busily chatting away with the candidates.

COSTA MESA BRIEF
Costa Mesa Brief was on hand to film the festivities.  I'm sure it will be up on their YouTube website soon.  I didn't see them circulating like vultures this time, looking for "gotcha" moments, although the owner of the site engaged me in "spirited" conversation.  It seems he doesn't like the way I do my thing, doesn't like what I write and is offended when I refer to him - even though every time I mention his work the hit counter on his site starts spinning.  I encouraged him to NOT read what I write, but smiled that it bugged him so much.

THAT'S IT!
So, folks, that's it!  No more candidate forums.  From now until the election you will be deluged with stuff jammed into your mailboxes, exposed to the blight of campaign signs everywhere and have candidates and their minions knocking on your doors.  It will soon be over, though.  Early November 5th we'll have a good idea of what this city will look like politically for the next few years.  Take a deep breath - we can to this!

Meet Special Districts Candidates

MEET AND GREET

The Friends of the Costa Mesa Libraries will host a Meet And Greet event Thursday, October 16, 2014 at which the voters will have a chance to spend some time with candidates for several special districts that serve Costa Mesa.

HALECREST, 7-9 P.M.
The event, to be held at the Halecrest Swim and Tennis Club, 3107 Killybrooke Lane, will run from 7 - 9 p.m. and will be moderated by MESA Water District President Jim Fisler.

MOST CANDIDATES WILL PARTICIPATE

As of this writing the following candidates have confirmed their attendance at this event:
Orange County Water District - Wendy Leece and Shawn Dewane
MESA Water District - Ron Amburgey and Jim Atkinson
Costa Mesa Sanitary District - Arlene Schafer, Mike Scheafer, Bob Ooten and Brian Peotter.  (Chuck Perry has declined to participate)

A MORE CASUAL FORMAT

It's my understanding that the format will be more casual than other forums.  It will begin with fifteen minutes during which the candidates will mingle with the crowd.  The formal part of the meeting will then begin with an introduction by the hosts and Fisler will discuss Special Districts.  Then each candidate will have seven (7) minutes to introduce themselves and discuss anything they feel is relevant to their candidacy.  The hosts have suggested the following topics for each group:

For Mesa Water District Candidates - Drought, Water Bond and Water Supply

For Orange County Water District Candidates - Drought, Desalinization and Basin Water Replenishment

For Costa Mesa Sanitary District Candidates - Residential Trash Rates, Consolidation and the Organics Program.

NO QUESTIONS FROM AUDIENCE

There will be NO questions asked of ANY candidate from either the moderator or the audience.

MORE MINGLING
Following that portion of the meeting the candidates will adjourn to their tables and/or just mingle and answer any questions individual members of the audience might have.

OLD BARRY TO RECORD IT
I'm told Barry Friedland and his Costa Mesa Brief crew will be on hand to provide a video record of this event.

Sparse Crowd Sees Organic Recycling Move Forward

OOPS!
Did you every wonder what happens when you throw a party and nobody shows up?  Well, that's kind of what happened Tuesday night at the regular meeting of the Costa Mesa Sanitary District Board.

BIGGER VENUE, MOSTLY EMPTY
In anticipation of a large turnout to hear the discussion of the proposed Organics Recycling plan and observe the vote on the issue, the Board moved their meeting to the Multipurpose Room at Sonora Elementary School in the Mesa Del Mar section of town.  As it turned out, the meeting could have been held in the cozy confines of the Conference Room at District Headquarters.

ONLY 8 RESIDENTS SHOWED UP
In addition to the Board members, District Staff, representatives of CR&R Environmental Services, Barry Friedland of Costa Mesa Brief (on hand to record the meeting) and Bradley Zint of the Daily Pilot, only 8 residents showed up and only three spoke to the Board on the issue.

BOARD APPROVES THE CHANGE
The short version is that the Board voted unanimously to move forward with the proposal.  The actual launch date will be determined later, but it is presumed to occur between November of this year and January of 2015.  Details of the actual "roll-out" will be fleshed out as they move forward with more informational town hall meetings throughout the year.

THE FUTURE IS NOW
Board President Jim Ferryman indicated that he, personally, would prefer to stick with our current single can system, but times are changing and he felt it was better for the Sanitary District and its ratepayers to be out front on this new plan instead of being caught in the rush to find places to deal with our waste later.

BEST RATE - FOREVER
Board member Arlene Shafer concurred, indicating that it's better to be first-in with a good rate.  Based on the terms of the contract with CR&R, the Sanitary District will always have the lowest rate. Even if they negotiate a lower rate with other municipalities, our rate will be adjusted to match the lowest.

NO DECISION ON PAYING FOR IT
There was no discussion of the cost of this project, although there has been plenty of information made available at the four town halls held over the past few months.  According to Scott Carroll, General Manager of the Sanitary District, discussion of any increase in rates will not occur before early next spring.  Based on what we've been told in previous meetings, this program will cost an additional $500,000 a year and several options are available to the District to cover that cost, including possible use of reserves.  That decision will come at a future date.

NO AUTOMATIC "OPT OUTS"
Carroll was clear when he responded to inquiries by members of the public about being able to "opt out" of the program.  There is NO automatic "opt out".  There may, however, be circumstances that permit a household to have an exemption, but those will be handled on an individual basis.   The process for those evaluations will be determined as we move closer to the roll-out date.

WHERE WAS FITZY?
I was amused that, despite venting his prodigious spleen today with a critical essay as a "guest commentor" on another local blog, former Sanitary District Director Jim Fitzpatrick - apparently a very vocal advocate of plans like this one in the past -  failed to show up at this meeting.  His hypocrisy knows no bounds.

MORE INFORMATIONAL MEETINGS TO COME

Now the Sanitary District will proceed with more informational meetings and hammer out the details of the implementation of this plan.  For details on this program go the Sanitary District web site, HERE, and review the presentations available on the Home Page. 

Fish Fry Fun In The Sun

ANOTHER GOOD YEAR!
I don't have any final attendance numbers for the 66th annual Costa Mesa Newport Harbor Lions Club Fish Fry yet, but informed sources tell me that it looked pretty darn good again this year.  Reports are that they hoped to raise somewhere in the area of $30,000 for local organizations again this year.

KIDS LEARNING TO SAVE LIVES
My lovely and patient wife and I stopped by Fairview Park Saturday afternoon and, while the crowd was sparse at that time, I understand attendance really picked up in the evening.  She wanted to learn the "Hands Only CPR" technique, so we found Fire Protection Specialist Brenda Emrick of the Costa Mesa Fire Department instructing two young ladies on the procedure.

AND OLDER FOLKS, TOO...
Then she taught my wife the procedure in about a minute.  Everyone should learn about this and, as I mentioned in an earlier post, Diane Hill will be at the City Council meeting Tuesday to make a presentation In Honor Of Paul and will also have a table outside council chambers for interested parties to learn about this life-saving CPR method.

S.W.A.T. TRAINING
Of course, now that she knows how to save lives, my wife immediately skipped over to the Costa Mesa Police Department Swat booth and had a chance to fondle an AR-15.  She seemed to be having way too much fun with that assault weapon!

HAIL TO THE CHIEF
Lions Club President Mike Scheafer seemed to be everywhere Saturday afternoon.  We caught up with him here, near the fish frying venue, looking very dapper in his Fish Fry t-shirt and his hat.  I think he was telling us that the fish dinners cost ten bucks...

FRYING UP SOME LOVELY GRUB
Lions Club stalwarts were tending to the job at hand.

 

KIRK AND SANDY SERVING, AS USUAL 

And were joined by Councilwoman Sandra Genis and Estancia High School Principal Kirk Bauermeister.

THEY'LL LET ANYONE BEHIND THAT TABLE! 

Volunteer Bruce Krochman was also seen behind that table, although I'm not quite sure what his job was - maybe performing magic tricks, because he was hiding something behind his back.  Or, maybe he was guarding that bucket.  Thanks to him and all the volunteers for a job well-done.

60TH CELEBRATION BOOTH 

There were lots of booths operated by many organizations this year again.  Here is one being tended by folks promoting the 60th Anniversary Celebration, which is coming up the last weekend of June.  More on that in the coming weeks.

 

HOPING FOR A LONG TRIP DOWN UNDER 

And here's a booth peddling cookies and other sweet stuff by the bright young Estancia High School kids who are hoping to make a trip to Australia later this year.

SOMEHOW APPROPRIATE 

I saw uber-booster Greg Ridge "supervising" the corn-on-the-cob roasting, too.  He was watching while that young woman did the roasting.

CONVENIENT PLACEMENT 

And, of course, there were many folks penned-up in the Beer Garden, sitting and sipping in the shade and enjoying the day.  I did notice the convenient location of the portable outhouses - good planning.

STAYING IN TOUCH 

I'm not sure what these three fellas were up to, but they sure were focused... a sign of the changing times, I guess.

CMTV ON THE SCENE 

Brad Long (behind the camera) and Dane Bora (with the mic) from Costa Mesa Television are shown here interviewing another volunteer fish server, former Mayor and current Costa Mesa Sanitary District Director, Arlene Schafer.  Bora and Long were omnipresent during the day, capturing the fun all over the venue for later viewing.

MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC... 

One of the great bands that played throughout the day and evening, keeping toes tapping and people smiling and singing along.

STAND-UP AND PRIZES, TOO 

Just before we left President Mike jumped up on the stage - well, maybe "jumped" is a generous term -  and held a drawing for some pretty darn cool prizes.  He did a great job, but is going to have to work on his repertoire of jokes.. don't quit that day job, Mike.

IN MEMORY OF ROLLO... 

Before I close, please note that this edition of the Fish Fry was dedicated to the memory of long, long time Lions Club member Rollo McClellan, who passed away not too long ago.  For more than six decades the members of the Costa Mesa Newport Harbor Lions Club have served our community and Rollo was a big part of that effort -  manning the fry tanks and doing whatever was needed to make the Fish Fry a success.  He set the bar high for all those hard-working volunteers who have followed him.  Thanks to them all...