City Responds To Appeals Court Decision

CITY RESPONSE...
As discussed in the previous entry, the Fourth District Court of Appeals today affirmed the preliminary injunction imposed by Judge Barbara Tam Nomoto Schumann.  At the time of that post I had not heard from the City on this issue.  

$495 PER HOUR LAWYER OPINES
Shortly after 2:00 p.m. today Communication Director Bill Lobdell issued the following statement:

A statement by Richard Grabowski, special counsel for the City of Costa Mesa, on the Court of Appeals ruling today that upheld a preliminary injunction preventing the City from outsourcing services to private companies until a lawsuit filed by the Costa Mesa City Employees Assn. is heard in court.

"We are looking forward to proceeding to trial. There is nothing in the court's opinion today that precludes the city from ultimately outsourcing once the trial court has had an opportunity to review all of the facts."

Then, about 90 minutes later he followed up with this statement:

After reviewing the Court of Appeals ruling today, Richard Grabowski, special counsel for the City of Costa Mesa, had this statement:

"The Court of Appeal's decision today recognizes that Costa Mesa has the authority to contract out jails, payroll and special services, and has remanded the case to the trial court for a trial on the merits. As the contracting out of these services is the fiscally prudent thing to do, the City looks forward to having its day in court on those issues."


 

 CAN'T FIND HIS AUTHORITY...
Subsequently I spent a good amount of time reading through the actual opinion by the Court, trying to find the basis for Grabowski's final statement - and failed.  Nowhere in the document produced by the Appeals Court do I find authorization to contract out jails, payroll and special services with the injunction in place.

 THE METER KEEPS ON SPINNING
So far, in Fiscal Year 2011-2012 with additional charges still pending, Mr. Grabowski's firm - Jones Day - has billed the city for over $999,000 dollars.

COURT OF APPEAL DECISION
The actual document from the Fourth District Court of Appeals begins with the following statement:

THE BEGINNING
"Plaintiff Costa Mesa City Employees' Association (CMCEA) represents workers who are employed by the City of Costa Mesa (the City). In response to the City's plan to contract out for a variety of city services, CMCEA filed suit against the City and its Chief Executive Officer Thomas Hatch (collectively defendants) for injunctive and declaratory relief. CMCEA contends the City's proposed outsourcing plan violates state law as well as the parties' collective bargaining agreement. Trial on the matter has not been heard, but on July 15, 2011, the trial court granted a preliminary injunction enjoining defendants from contracting with a private entity for any of the services that are performed by CMCEA members or laying off CMCEA members as a result of such contracting. In this appeal, the sole issue is the propriety of the preliminary injunction. Defendants contend it was improvidently granted, but we disagree and affirm the trial court's ruling."

LOTS OF CITATIONS
In between there are 20 pages of information, case citations expansions of their views which, over and over again, support the need for the preliminary injunction.  At the end the judges conclude with this segment.

THE END
"At this point in the controversy, however, we are convinced CMCEA's members would suffer irreparable harm in the absence of a preliminary injunction, there is “some possibility” they will prevail on both their contract and statutory claims (which are independent grounds for relief), and the relative harm to the parties favors preliminary relief. Therefore, we will not disturb the trial court's decision to grant a preliminary injunction in CMCEA's favor."

Read the full Appeals Court Opinion HERE, thanks to the Daily Pilot.

DOOR SLAMMED ON MOST OUTSOURCING
So, now we wait until this case actually goes to trial.  And, as I read the court's document today, the City MAY NOT proceed with any outsourcing that is not with another government agency.  That means the Jail, for sure.  We may hear more from contract City Attorney Tom Duarte at the council meeting scheduled for next Tuesday, August 21st.

Employee Lawsuit Pushed Out Until Fall

TRIAL DELAYED UNTIL APPEAL OF INJUNCTION IS HEARD
Sources tell us that the lawsuit filed on behalf of the Costa Mesa City Employees Association (CMCEA) against the City for it's bogus outsourcing scheme, originally scheduled to go to trial beginning April 9. 2012, has been delayed until the appeal of Judge Barbara Tam Nomoto Schumann's temporary injunction is heard by the 4th District Court of Appeals.


ALL PARTIES AGREE
According to sources on both sides of the issue, this move was agreed to by both parties and Judge Tam Nomoto Schumann and means that it is very possible that this trial may not be heard until sometime late in the late fall - near the November elections.

INJUNCTION REMAINS IN EFFECT
In the meantime, the temporary injunction remains in effect and, except for those operations that might be outsourced to another public entity, no further action can take place except to gather bids and sit on them.


ONLY THE LATEST EVENT
This is the most recent step in this ill-advised, ham-handed attempt to disenfranchise the employees of the city. This news comes in the wake of the first anniversary of the tragic death of Huy Pham, the young maintenance worker who, when called to City Hall to receive his 6-month layoff notice last St. Patrick's Day, instead went to the roof of City Hall and leaped to his death.

BULL-IN-THE-CHINA-SHOP
This debacle has become a dismal example of the management style of the current city council majority. Rather than attempt some kind of conciliatory negotiations with employees last year they chose the bull-in-the-china-shop approach and the result has been, much like that bull, only chaos destruction and broken dishes.

A TOXIC, HOSTILE WORKPLACE
This administration has been marked with lies, fabrication of "facts" and bullying that has turned the City Hall into a toxic, hostile workplace, where employees are constantly looking over their shoulders rather than staying focused on the job at hand. It is this environment that results in mistakes - like the missed Charter submission deadline. I did not use that word "toxic" lightly. Stress levels are so high at City Hall these days that employees at every level are experiencing health issues as a result.

FABRICATIONS MARK THEIR RULE
Led by head thugmaster, Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer, this council majority demanded unrealistically low staffing levels in public safety organizations, then vilified the employees who were FORCED to work overtime to provide appropriate levels of safety to the residents, businesses and visitors in this city. They've fabricated "budget" numbers without any kind of analysis and then hold the CEO, Tom Hatch, and his staff responsible for meeting those fabricated numbers. Their 5-year Forecast spreadsheet was only a "wish list", but now Righeimer demands that those "wishes" be met without any kind of consultation with the senior staff. One speaker Tuesday night had it right when he said this council has created an oligarchy - a government ruled by a small group of people.

WHAT'S IT GOING TO TAKE?
I'm not sure what it's going to take to awaken the voters of this city to what has been happening to their town over the past 15 months. Those of us who do pay attention have spoken out, only to be vilified by the council majority as not being representative of the majority of residents. Well, the majority of residents do not pay attention, so they may be right. However, those days are coming to an end. Groups of citizens are coalescing around the city, forming organizations to inform their neighbors about how this proud city is being destroyed by a clique from the Orange County Republican Party - MY PARTY - the result of which will be the enhancement of the political future of one man - the carpetbagger, Jim Righeimer.

REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER
It's well-past time for the voters of this city to wake up and see what's going on. We're going to help them. We're going to be sure they remember in November.

Judge Rejects City's Attempt To Dismiss Lawsuit

REQUEST FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT DENIED
In a press release by the Orange County Employee's Association, reproduced in it's entirety below, we learned today that Judge Barbara Tam Nomoto-Schumann has ruled that the lawsuit filed on behalf of the city employees can proceed to trial. That trial is scheduled to begin April 9th.

(click on image to make larger)

DUARTE - LOOKING FORWARD TO DAY IN COURT
Costa Mesa City Attorney Tom Duarte released a statement following Judge Schumann's decision which said, "This is consistent with the judge's previous rulings on the case. The City looks forward to its day in court."

Appellate Court Rejects Costa Mesa Petition

OCEA ISSUES PRESS RELEASE
Jennifer Muir, Communications Director for the Orange County Employees Association, issued the following press release late this morning.

Appellate Court rejects Costa Mesa petition

SANTA ANA The Fourth District Court of Appeal on Thursday summarily denied the City of Costa Mesa’s Petition for a Writ of Mandate, which sought to dissolve a preliminary injunction halting the layoffs of more than 200 City employees.

Nearly half the City workforce received layoff notices on March 17 after the City Council majority voted to outsource their jobs. The Orange County Employees Association, on behalf of the Costa Mesa City Employees Association, commenced litigation in May that resulted the issuance of a preliminary injunction halting the layoffs and prohibiting the City from outsourcing to private contractors.

“Courts continue to reject any justification for the City Council majority’s outsourcing scheme,” said OCEA Communications Director Jennifer Muir. “We sincerely hope this latest rebuke by the Courts will motivate the Council to abandon its needless campaign against its employees and all the residents who have urged them to stop dismantling the City.”

“This is yet another outcome welcomed by City employees and the thousands of residents who have rallied to their support,” Muir said. “The City Council has shown its willingness to disregard both the law and it own policies. It’s time for them to stop wasting the City’s valuable resources pursuing this political agenda.”

The City’s request is attached. You can review and print the Court's "Disposition" from the following link: http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/disposition.cfm?dist=43&doc_id=1988987&doc_no=G045666

NO OUTSOURCING TO PRIVATE COMPANIES UNTIL CASE HEARD
One can assume that the injunction issued by Superior Court Judge Barbara Tam Nomoto Schumann remains in force, and that the City of Costa Mesa MAY NOT proceed with layoffs as a result of their outsourcing plan until the case is heard in court.

Costa Mesa To Investigate Combining Services With Others

PRESS RELEASE OUTLINES PLAN
Recently renewed Costa Mesa Interim Communication Director, Bill Lobdell, issued the following Press Release just after noon today:




City to explore joint services with Newport, Huntington

COSTA MESA, CALIF. - The neighboring cities of Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach will formally explore the viability of combining five municipal services to improve efficiency and save taxpayer dollars.

After preliminary discussions, officials with the three cities have decided to study five areas as potential candidates for shared services: Police Special Weapons and tactics (SWAT) services; lifeguard services; jail services; animal control services; and police and fire dispatch services.

To facilitate an in-depth analysis of the impact of shared services, Management Partners, Inc. has been contracted to prepare a study. Each city will pay a third of the $81,675 fee ($27,225 will be Costa Mesa's share).

The overall goal of the report will be to assess the intial and long-term costs and savings for shared municipal services, along with the implementation and service-level needs.

The study will start within the next few weeks and is scheduled to be completed within five months.

STUDIES MAKE SOME SENSE
From my view, these studies make some sense. In these troubled fiscal times we cannot ignore potential opportunities to combine certain public safety-related functions if it can be done without any drop in service levels and can save the cities tax dollars.

WILL THEY IGNORE THE CONSULTANTS AGAIN?
It's interesting that the consultant chosen, Management Partners, Inc., is the same outfit Costa Mesa contracted with to do the restructuring evaluation of the Costa Mesa Police Department a few months ago. After spending thousands of dollars on the study, done by an organization with decades of experience under it's collective belt, the micro-managing element of the City Council rejected their recommendations and arbitrarily "picked a number" for the staffing level of the department. It was that scenario that caused former Interim Police Chief Steve Staveley - a legend in California law enforcement - to depart, leaving in his wake a scathing memo that pointed out the deficiencies of this council.

SHORT STAFFING IS ALREADY SHOWING
I can tell you from very recent first-hand personal experience that the residents and visitors to our city are not going to be served well by the reduced staffing levels. We are going to have an under-staffed police department that will, necessarily, be forced to work more overtime hours to meet the crime-fighting demands in our city. They will be exhausted by the continued extended schedules and, sadly, will likely begin to make mistakes because of the stress and pressure of those extended hours.

IS THIS "OUTSOURCING"
Does this move violate the terms of the Preliminary Injunction recently imposed by Judge Barbara Tam Nomoto Schumann in the outsourcing case between the City and the CMCEA? It seems like it might. If so, and the City decides to proceed with this study, are there legal consequences?

HOPING FOR NO CALAMITIES
We can only hope that there are no serious incidents as a result of this short-staffing situation.

It's BARBARA, For Goodness Sake!

ONE LAST THING TONIGHT...
Before I hit the sack tonight after a day of venting my spleen, one last thing needs to be flushed out of this old skull before I snuggle up to the wife of almost 44 years and get some sleep.



WHAT'S HER NAME?
In EVERY article and other news reports I've seen, heard or read about the lawsuit between the city employees and the City, the judge in the case is referred to as, "Tam Nomoto Schumann" - except HERE on this blog. HERE we refer to her with her entire proper name - Barbara Tam Nomoto Schumann.

I'M RIGHT, RIGHT?
I'm trying to figure out just who is wrong in this case - me or EVERYBODY else. While I'm not always right (keep the laughter down, please), I think I'm right this time.

WHY THE EXCEPTION?
In every other news article where a judge is addressed the full name is used - like Judge David O. Carter, who heard the now-infamous Benito Acosta case and married Loretta Sanchez and her boyfriend the other day. So what is it with this situation? Is it possible that EVERY other media outlet just doesn't know her proper name? Really?

HERE'S PROOF...
Here's a profile I found on the internet, which I'll just publish in it's entirety here to keep you from having to exercise your mouse finger reaching the link (http://www.occourts.org/media/pdf/profiles/schumann.pdf ). As you browse down through her background some familiar names may catch your eye.

SCHUMANN, Barbara Tam Nomoto, JUDGE, SUPERIOR COURT, Orange County.
Elected (succeeding Judge James J. Alfano, retired) for term of office commencing January 6, 1997. Judge, Municipal Court, Central Orange County Judicial District appointed April 5, 1979 by Governor Brown, Jr. 1979, Referee, State Bar Court, Orange County. 1974-77
Deputy County Counsel, Orange County, California. Private practice, 1974 Nossaman, Waters, Krueger & Marsh, Los Angeles, California. Admitted to California Bar 1973. J.D. 1973 University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, Berkeley, California (recipient American Jurisprudence Award (twice); International Legal Studies Scholarship. B.A. 1970 University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California (Phi Beta Kappa). 1966(?) graduated Lowell High School, San Francisco, California. Born April 21, 1950, Oakland, California. Married Edward Schumann (attorney). Lutheran. Enjoys playing piano, equestrian, backpacking and aerobics.
Faculty: 1987 __University of California, Irvine, Lecturer, Criminal Procedure & Constitutional Law; 1985__, CJER Faculty; 1986 California Continuing Judicial Studies Program Judicial Planning Committee.
Publications: 1988__”Ask the Judge,”: Columnist for the Los Angeles Times, 1979
Orange County Conservatorship Manual, published by the Orange County Bar Association for general distribution to all attorneys; “Probate Conservatorship Termination and What is That Burden,” Orange County Bar Journal (Fall 1978); “The New Probate Guardianship and Conservatorship Law,” Orange County Bar Journal (Spring 1978).
Member: American Judges Association, 2003 __; California Judges Association 1979; Family & Juvenile Advisory Committee, 2003; Chair, California Judges Association Discipline Committee; 2001____Chair, CJER Governing Committee; 2001-2002 Chair, CJA Ethics Committee; 2000 - 2001 Vice Chair, CJER Governing Committee; 1990-91 CJSP, Chair; Secretary, Ethics Committee, 1989-91; Vice Chair, Ethics Committee, 2000-2001, Judicial Council; 1978 Estate Planning, Probate & Trust Law Section, Probate Legislative Committee, Japanese American Bar Association, Orange County Bar Association.
Assignments: 1997_ Civil Panel; 2002 Family Law.
Office: 1275 North Berkeley Avenue, P.O. Box 5000, Fullerton, CA 92632-0500.
Telephone (714) 773-4400.

Judge Affirms "Outsourcing" Preliminary Injunction (Amended)*

VOICE OF OC REPORTS LAYOFFS MUST STOP
As announced this morning by Managing Editor Norberto Santana, Jr., in the Voice of OC blog, HERE, Judge Barbara Tam Nomoto Schumann has issued an order prohibiting the City of Costa Mesa from laying off City employees until the case filed by the Orange County Employee's Association is heard. According to that article, no trial date is set at this time.

OCEA PRESS RELEASE
The OCEA, through it's spokeswoman, Jennifer Muir, issued the following Press Release today:

Judge issues order stopping Costa Mesa layoffs

SANTA ANA, CA – A Superior Court judge has issued an order prohibiting the City of Costa Mesa from laying off City employees pursuant to outsourcing their jobs to the private sector.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Tam Nomoto Schumann issued the preliminary injunction late Friday following a verbal ruling July 5. After the Court’s July 5 ruling, the City issued a press release erroneously claiming that Judge Schumann’s ruling would expressly allow layoffs so long as the City followed “proper procedures.”

Judge Schumann rejected a request by the city to allow it to lay off City employees if it followed “proper procedures.” Instead, the order very clearly prohibits the city from contracting out services currently performed by City employees to any non-local public entity under the Government Code, and further prohibits the City from laying off City employees pursuant to any such contracting out.

“We respect the judge’s ruling, and we hope the City Council and CEO Tom Hatch will do the same,” OCEA spokeswoman Jennifer Muir said. “The ruling has been clear from the beginning, and we’re hopeful that now that it has been issued, the written order will clear up any confusion caused by the City’s press release.”

Nearly half the City’s workforce received six-month layoff notices on March 17 after the Costa Mesa City Council majority voted to outsource their jobs. At the time, the City Council had not studied the cost of outsourcing or the negative impacts to community services, and they still have failed to do so.

The Orange County Employees Association, on behalf of the Costa Mesa City Employees Association, filed a lawsuit in May to stop the layoffs.

Attached, please find the order for a preliminary injunction, the judge’s minute order, the City’s July 5 press release, and a copy of the City’s proposed injunction language, which was rejected by the Court.

NO WORD FROM THE CITY YET
I tried to contact representatives of the City of Costa Mesa for comment but was unable to reach anyone before I published this. I imagine word from the City will be forthcoming later today. When it does I'll report it.

***

*CITY RESPONSE TO THE RULING
The following is the response to the ruling by the judge, issued in the form a press release by Interim Communication Director Bill Lobdell late this afternoon:

Judge temporarily prohibits Costa Mesa from outsourcing jobs to private
companies until lawsuit is heard; contracting to public agencies OK

COSTA MESA, CALIF.—Orange County Superior Court Judge Tam Nomoto Schumann issued a preliminary injunction late last week prohibiting the City of Costa Mesa from outsourcing jobs to private companies until a lawsuit filed against the City by the Costa Mesa City Employees Assn. (CMCEA) is heard.

No trial date has been set for the civil suit, which seeks to halt the outsourcing plan. The ruling doesn’t prohibit the City from contracting jobs with the County of Orange, neighboring cities and other public agencies or exploring the viability of outsourcing services to private companies.

The ruling also doesn’t affect a proposal by the Orange County Fire Authority to provide fire services for Costa Mesa and hire all City firefighters. The Costa Mesa Firefighters Assn. employees are not covered in the injunction.

The written injunction clarified initial remarks made at a hearing on July 5 by Judge Schumann, who said at the time: “So as far as the City’s ability to explore other avenues of perhaps fiscal soundness, I do not think that this injunction extends to preventing the City from doing that as long as they do not terminate folks without following the proper procedures.”

Schumann did not make a reference to halting outsourcing to private companies until a verdict was reached in the CMCEA lawsuit (see transcript below).

The City Attorney’s Office had originally interpreted the judge’s oral remarks to mean that the outsourcing process—including the potential contracting of jobs to private companies—could continue as long as the City could show that it had followed “proper procedures.”

“The injunction makes it clear that the judge has ordered the City to not outsource jobs to private companies until the CMCEA lawsuit is concluded,” City Attorney Tom Duarte said. “We respect her decision and are now looking at our next legal options.”

In March, the City Council voted to send six-month layoff notices to 213 city employees—more than 40% of its workforce. The Council wanted to explore the viability of outsourcing to stem rising pension costs, among other concerns. Because of contracts with employees’ association, the City was mandated to give six-month warnings for any outsourced job.

COURT REPORTER'S TRANSCRIPT OF 7/5/11 SESSION
Read the Court Reporter's Transcript of the July 5, 2011 court date HERE. This should download a pdf file to your desktop.

Council Meeting Wrap-up

SHORT AND SPARSE, BUT MEMORABLE
The Costa Mesa City Council meeting last night was an anomaly when compared to most recent meetings - it was fairly short and relatively sparsely attended. At the peak there was probably no more than 75 people in the auditorium at any one time. And, we were out of there shortly after 9 p.m. Still, after all was said and done and the council disappeared into seclusion for their closed session, there were a few interesting moments. Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer was absent due to illness of his parents in the Midwest.

BENDING OVER BACKWARDS FOR BAUGH AND ELLIS?
For example, during the discussion of the reduction of the rates we presently charge for police and fire service for special events, it was alleged that we're "gouging" folks like the Orange County Fair and Event Center and the Orange County Marathon for those services. The council eventually agreed to reduce the charges by around 25% effective yesterday. The original proposal was to make the reduction retroactive to April 1st! That would have taken in the last OC Marathon. As one glib observer noted, the OC Marathon is Orange County Republican Party Chairman Scott Baugh's baby and that it's just a little paradoxical for him to be demanding fiscal reforms in Costa Mesa on one hand and becoming the beneficiary of this rate roll-back on the other. One might find it curious that another OC GOP bigwig, OC Fair Board President Dave Ellis, is in the same situation and will also be the beneficiary of this change.

MENSINGER - "GET THE SHERIFFS"
I thought it particularly interesting that non-elected city councilman Steve Mensinger instructed CEO Tom Hatch to investigate having the Orange County Sheriff's Department perform the security and traffic control duties for those events. As he stated, he knows our police like that overtime, but using the Sheriff's would take some of the stress off of them. His exact words were, "I know they like the overtime, but I don't want to put them in that kind of a stressful position." That was just another backhand to the police by a guy who apparently shares the animosity for them with his buddy, Jim Righeimer. Or, maybe he still has that old Mike Carona phony badge and he thinks he can dress up like a Sheriff and do crowd control at the Fair.

COUNCIL BUTTONS-UP NEW MASSAGE ORDINANCE
The council agreed to the new Massage Parlor ordinance after only a moderate discussion. That's a good thing for the community because way, way too many of those establishments have been fronts for elicit activities. I'm sorry, I still chuckle when I think of the staff putting together the definitions in the ordinance. Yikes!

FOTI DID THE PRESENTATION RIGHT
We also received a very professional presentation by auditor Steve Foti, the fellow who conducted the audit of city finances at the request of the Orange County Employee's Association recently. Unlike the previous meeting where Righeimer was aggressive with the union official who stood-in for Foti, the council was respectful of Foti and his explanations of his audit. It was agreed to permit the staff to continue with its analysis of the report so they can respond point-by-point at a future meeting. They are apparently also doing a similar analysis of the presentation made by a much less credible source - Colin McCarthy's Costa Mesa Taxpayer's Association, a group of right wing ideologues with a very specific agenda guided by and supported by the OC GOP.

WHAT PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION?
Almost no mention was given to the bombshell that exploded shortly before the meeting - the ruling by Judge Barbara Tam Nomoto Schumann placing a Preliminary Injunction on the City in its outsourcing and layoff scheme. As mentioned in my previous post, there's a difference of opinion about what that actually meant.

POTTER SAYS...
This morning I spoke with Harold Potter of Jones & Mayer, the lawyer representing the City in the case. He told me that the City is free to continue with its "research and development" - the preparation and distribution of the Requests for Proposals for the several units/functions within the city government. The judge will present a written ruling early next week, following review of Potter's objections to the current ruling and the OCEA's review of his objections. Seems like it takes FOREVER for something to snake its way through the legal process. I was unable to reach Richard Levine, lawyer for the OCEA, for his take on this issue. More on that when there's more to tell.

Spinnin' The Judge's Ruling And More Lopez

WONDER WHY WE'RE IN COURT?
After the battle of press releases Tuesday afternoon, there is no doubt in my mind why the City of Costa Mesa and the Orange County Employee's Association, representing the non-public safety Costa Mesa employees, are in court. They can't even agree on what the judge said Tuesday, for goodness sake!

THE JUDGE RULES, KINDA...
Judge Barbara Tam Nomoto Schumann issued a ruling from the bench, which apparently will be followed up in writing soon. So, what to do the opposing sides think? Well, you tell me!

TWO VIEWS
Below are two press releases issued shortly after the ruling. The first, sent out by OCEA spokeswoman Jennifer Muir just after 4 p.m. today, gives us one view.

*****

MUIR'S TAKE ON IT

Judge stops Costa Mesa layoffs

SANTA ANA, CA – Expressing concern about a looming layoff date, a Superior Court judge this afternoon told attorneys she would issue a preliminary injunction precluding the mass layoffs of municipal employees within the City of Costa Mesa.

Nearly half the City’s workforce received six-month layoff notices on March 17 after the Costa Mesa City Council majority voted to outsource their jobs. At the time, the City Council had not studied the cost of outsourcing or the negative impacts to community services, and they still have failed to do so.

The Orange County Employees Association, on behalf of the Costa Mesa City Employees Association, filed a lawsuit in May to stop the layoffs.

“This is a positive outcome, but it is only one step toward holding this Council accountable,” OCEA Communications Director Jennifer Muir said. “It will prevent the City from laying off employees to outsource to the private sector. At least temporarily, it removes a dark cloud from over the heads of City employees, their families, and the entire community. ”

*****

The second one, fired off by Costa Mesa's Bill Lobdell an hour later, gives us his take on it.

*****

LOBDELL'S VIEW

Judge rules Costa Mesa can continue outsourcing process, but can't lay off employees until after all 'proper procedures' are followed

COSTA MESA, CALIF.—Orange County Superior Court Judge Tam Nomoto Schumann ruled today that the City of Costa Mesa can continue its exploration of outsourcing many of its services, but can’t lay off employees until all “proper procedures” were followed.

The Court didn’t make a finding that the City wasn’t following “proper procedures.”

The preliminary injunction was sought by the Costa Mesa City Employees’ Assn., which filed a lawsuit in May to stop the potential outsourcing of 213 employees. In March, Schumann denied a temporary restraining order to stop any potential layoffs.

Schumann didn’t specify what exactly the proper procedures were, but Costa Mesa City Attorney Tom Duarte said the City has and will continue to follow the law and provisions in the employee association contract while it explores the viability of outsourcing services. The association’s contract mandated a six-month notice if City jobs were outsourced. The City began issuing the notices in March.

“We are following the proper procedures,” Duarte said. “This ruling doesn’t affect the City’s ability to research outsourcing possibilities and, if it’s prudent, to outsource City jobs down the road.”

Under the judge’s ruling, the City can continue to request proposals for outsourcing from other agencies and private companies and weigh whether the outsourcing is viable. If the City decides to outsource a service, it would meet with the Costa Mesa City Employees’ Assn. on the impacts of the outsourcing and, with the “proper procedures” followed, lay off the affected workers.

*****

MAYBE SOME ENLIGHTENMENT ON WEDNESDAY
So, I guess we're left to our own devices to figure out just what is happening. I will, however, follow-up with lawyers from both sides tomorrow if at all possible to see if they will, or can, slow the spin down just a little bit so we laypersons can try to figure out what happens next.


LOPEZ SIGNS IN AGAIN WEDNESDAY
In the meantime, Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez gives us his third in what looks like a mini-series on Costa Mesa's travails with his column in print on Wednesday, HERE. He gives us some pretty provocative quotes to contemplate and kind of affirms how we got here in the first place - meetings at Skosh's bar, sipping suds and designing strategy.

Employees Win Preliminary Injunction!

JUDGE GRANTS PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION
According to a press release generated by Orange County Employee's Association spokeswoman Jennifer Muir this afternoon, Judge Barbara Tam Nomoto Schumann of the Orange County Superior Court today granted a Preliminary Injunction to Costa Mesa Employee's Association in the case of the potential layoffs for 100 employees who are their members.

NO LAYOFFS MAY OCCUR
According to early reports, this means the City MAY NOT proceed with any layoffs as a result of the notices given earlier this year having to do with outsourcing of city services. She will issue her written ruling later this week. It's unclear whether the existing Requests For Proposals - which have taken more than 3 months to prepare and have still not been released to the public for bidding - may still be processed, although it is assumed that process will be able to continue.

SHORT OF AN AGREEMENT, THIS GOES TO COURT
It is our understanding that this ruling means that, unless some kind of an agreement can be reached between the City and the Costa Mesa Employee's Association regarding the potential layoffs, the issue will go to trial. In the meantime, the City MAY NOT layoff anyone involved in the potentially outsourced unit. More when we know more.

More news to follow when it's available.