Field Use Policy To Council - Leinart In Limbo

A "FUAP" SANDWICH
The Costa Mesa Parks & Recreation Commission met last night and sandwiched the biggie of the evening - the new Field Use Allocation Policy (FUAP) - between some pretty easy issues.  Taking it from the top...

MEDIA ON THE SCENE
When I arrived at City Hall I found the lovely Stacey Butler of Channels 2/9 sitting in a van with her cameraman, waiting for the meeting to begin.  I walked over to her and said, "Well, I guess all it takes to get you out here is Matt Leinert, huh?"  She smiled and said, "Yep".  They covered the early stages of the FUAP issue, then departed.  Nobody named Leinart showed up.

PUBLIC COMMENTS
Following some brief public comments in which Beth Refakes, a member of the Military Affairs Team, reminded us that they are collecting used ball gowns for the women of our adopted Marine battalion, the 1/5 Marines.  Rocky Evans also stepped up again to ask for an extension of hours at the Skate Park.

PRECEDENT-SETTING!
Then we had a VERY unusual situation occur.  City CEO Tom Hatch stepped to the speaker's podium and addressed the Commission and audience with a prepared statement that addressed the controversy unearthed by Scott Reid's article in the Orange County Register yesterday, HERE.  I addressed that article in my previous blog entry.  You'll recall that it said that Matt Leinart Flag Football (Leinart) had misrepresented itself as a non-profit organization and, as a result, was permitted to use fields at a significantly reduced rate.  In order to NOT misstate what Hatch said I have provided the text of his statement for you to review: (Click on the image to enlarge it)

TWO PROGRAMS
He talks about both the Leinart football program and the Friday Night Lights (FNL) program, which have been operating side-by-side at the Jack Hammett Sports Complex this past season.  Ironically, last year there was a similar problem with FNL which resulted in that operation being charged fees retroactively on a payment schedule.  And, in that letter you'll notice Hatch used some peculiar phrases.  For example, addressing the FNL and Leinart programs, he said that while both operate quality programs, "there are concerns about the vicious competition that is occurring."  Later he said, "the competition appears too profit-focused and unhealthy."  This may be THE most weird official communication I've ever seen come from City Hall.  Please take a few minutes to enlarge it and read it.

DE ARAKAL EXTRACTS A COMMITTMENT
Immediately after Hatch spoke - read - Commissioner Byron De Arakal spoke and said he was asking the Leinart folks to step up and agree to pay the back fees to avoid any lengthy analysis and investigation.  Subsequently, Leinart representative Frank Albers - long time Costa Mesa High School Football coach and now a coach at Calvary Chapel High School and who works for the Leinart Program - agreed to that request.  It's not clear that he has the authority to make that commitment and no other person representing the Leinart program spoke last night.  More on that issue later.

PLANT PALETTE
They made short work of the first agenda item - the plant palette for medians along Mesa Verde Drive East and California Street, HERE.  In 20 minutes flat they heard the presentation and voted on choice 2A.

FITS AND STARTS
Then began the long, herky-jerky journey through the FUAP process - a trip that ended three hours later, during which we saw fifteen (15) people speak (some twice!), commissioners wrestle over minor and major changes in the policy and confusion reigning when the final vote was taken.

WHAT IS THAT SMELL?!
First off, I had a strong sense of deja vu, since many of the members of the audience last night were also there for the budget meeting Tuesday, when youth sports was also the cause dujour.  There was so much testosterone in the room one could close his eyes and think he was in a football locker room.

KARLEN LED THE DISCUSSION
Recreation Manager Travis Karlen led the discussion of the new policy, addressing the reasoning behind the changes - there was a lot of "cleaning up" to be done, plus some significant clarification of terms and some re-definition of some issues.  He also spoke of field use in the terms of the practice by some groups of "splitting fields" - taking a full field and fracturing it into several pieces to facilitate practices and games with larger groups.  That discussion thread carried through the entire 180 minute conversations.

JACK HAMMETT SPORTS COMPLEX USE
Much of the discussion revolved around issues at the Jack Hammett Sports Complex, our premiere sports facility, where fields are highly prized and where both the Leinart and FNL programs co-exist - barely.  Issues were wear-and-tear on the fields, safety and parking.  The facility was designed, both from a field-use standpoint and from a parking standpoint, for 132 players on the fields at any one time.  Overflow parking is not readily available, although it might be accessible when construction at Costa Mesa High School is completed.

SPLITTING AND CHARGING FOR IT
The issue of "splitting" of fields was discussed, with the question broached about proper charges if, for example, four-times the number of players are occupying one field because it has been fragmented for that use.  Threshold numbers for Costa Mesa residents were also discussed for several user group designations, but not resolved at that time.

ALBERS FOR LEINART
When representatives of user groups were permitted to address the commission, the aforementioned Frank Albers stepped up and committed that group to pay the back fees.  He indicated they were a good corporate neighbor and were grateful for a place to play.  He said they didn't "compete" with FNL, but you could see that may not have been entirely accurate.   He said, "We're not trying to move anybody out." a couple times.  He indicated that when they split the fields they might have 24 kids playing at any one time.

NON-CONTROVERSIAL SPEAKERS
Representatives from AYSO 97 and AYSO 120 plus the Newport Harbor Baseball Program spoke about their operations.

UNDERSTANDING THE NUMBERS -KINDA
Then Scott Mahaffy, representing Friday Night Lights, stepped up.  Addressing Albers' comments, he said there are "no negatives from us."  As the conversation moved a long it certainly did sound like there is anything BUT a friendly relationship between the two programs.  He expressed concern about the equitability of field distribution, indicating that the Leinart program had three fields for 200 kids and FNL had three fields for more than 800.  He told us that they might split their fields into 4, 4 and 3 for a total of 11 playing venues and that they might have 132 kids playing at any one time - precisely the number Jack Hammett was designed for.  (I found myself thinking, "Yeah, on half the fields!").  That issue got batted around by Commissioner de Arakal, who was attempting to get the actual numbers from Mahaffy.  He never really did get the number.  And, when pressed later by Commissioner Don Harper, Mahaffy acknowledged that there might be 8 kids per side per field, counting substitutes, for a total of 16, not 12 playing in a game on one section of "split"field.  De Arakal tried to sort out how many "games" might be played each night - unsuccessfully.  Here's what I took away from that conversation.  The three (3) FNL fields might be fractured into 11 individual playing venues, on which there would be 8 kids (including subs) playing at any one time on a side, for a total of 16 per game.  16X11=176.  However, there could be as many as four (4) games played on each field each Friday night.  4X176=704.  And, considering that Mahaffy previously told us that he had 860 kids in his program, that number actually seems pretty conservative.

MORE NUMBERS
Albers didn't tell us how many games they played each Friday night, but if you presume they also play four per field, that would give you 4X24 =96, so it certainly looks like 800 kids might be playing on the six Jack Hammett fields every Friday night during their season.  That's a lot of traffic in and out and certainly would fit the description provided by many speakers last night that it's a party atmosphere.  AND it explains the City concern about safety and parking.

LEINART RATIO WAY, WAY OFF
At one point the issue of the ratio of Costa Mesa kids playing on each program came up.  It was stated that only 14% of the Leinart kids were from Costa Mesa - which rocked back all the commissioners.  Later speaker Chris Cox, who works for Lienart, denied that number.

DEMANDS FOR INTEGRITY
Of the other speakers who addressed the commission, several were "regulars" before the City Council and the commissions like Cindy Black.  They spoke in a broader context, stressing that Costa Mesa fields should be, primarily, for Costa Mesa kids; that the drought is going to negatively impact field availability; citing the resignation of Bob Knapp - mentioned in that Register letter - and demanding we operate with integrity and linking contributors to the Leinart program to local politicians

SUPPORT HEAVILY FAVORED FNL
Of those parents and who addressed this issue, far and away most were in favor of FNL, citing the "family atmosphere" of the program.  Only Albers and Cox - also a coach at Calvary Chapel and also a coach with the Leinart program - spoke in favor of that program.  And, as part of the agenda packet there were twenty (20) letters on this subject, of which 17 were in favor of FNL.  The remainder were either against both or against the Leinart program.  The FNL letters appeared to have been driven by a set of talking points.  Clearly, that side of the equation was much more organized.

MIXED SUCCESS
When the discussion turned to making changes to the proposed policy, de Arakal took the lead and attempted to get seven changes made.  He was successful in getting his peers to agree to add language defining the authority of the Assistant CEO in some decision-making segments.  He did not get support to require proof of residency for the kids and also failed to get support for the elimination of Group 6 (non-Costa Mesa adults) programs and fold them into Group 4 with a change in that definition.  It was a 2-2 vote with Commissioner Harper abstaining - something he did several more times last night.  It also happened on a vote to change the demographic for Group 3 users.  That was troubling for me.  If he's not going to vote he might just as well stay home.  He never did give an explanation for a couple of his abstentions.  Very odd.

GROUP 1 STATUS AFFIRMED FOR 3 GROUPS
When the final two votes - the ones requested by the staff - came up, the first one approving the FUAP with changes previously approved passed, 4-0, with Harper AGAIN abstaining.  The second vote, which gave permanent Group 1 status to  AYSO 97, Newport Harbor Baseball Association and Newport Mesa Girls Softball, passed, 5-0.

CONFUSION
Confusion came when the issue of the extension for a year of the Group 3 status for the Leinart program was NOT included in that vote.  Before the earlier vote was taken de Arakal confirmed with Karlen that the Leinart program was still a Group 3 program, which is why it was NOT included in the vote.  Following the break Harper asked the clerk to read the issue they voted on, because he thought there was confusion.  She read the entire paragraph, including the Leinart reference.  When I got home I checked my recording.  That was NOT included in the vote.  Further conversation with staff confirmed that the Leinart remains a Group 3 user group.  The only issue remaining is whether or not it is a legitimate non-profit organization - their representative, Albers, acknowledged it is not  when he agreed to pay the required fees.  And, there is the membership percentage that needs to be fleshed out.  It certainly is NOT qualified to be a Group 3 User with only 14% of the kids being from Costa Mesa.  If that's the case - or if that number is anywhere close to it - the Leinart program would default to Group 5 user status and make it difficult for them to qualify for premium field use.

VERIFICATION METHODOLOGY NEEDED
It was clear to me last night that there needs to be a mechanism to accurately determine the residency and/or other qualifications for every child participating in these programs so the fields can be honestly allocated.  Concerns about the legality and availability of the data quashed that process last night.

TO COUNCIL IN JULY
This new policy will be sent to the City Council for approval in July so user groups can get on with their fall registrations.  According to the staff, there really is no wiggle time available.  It is hoped that the "Leinart" issues will be resolved by then.

GREAT IRONY
It was quite ironic last night,  as I sat there and listened to speaker after speaker extol the virtues of their various programs - citing the life-lessons the kids learn, like sportsmanship, hard work, teamwork, leadership and all the other obvious lessons one gets from playing a team sport coached by strong leaders - realizing that the two programs that got the most discussion last night, FNL and Leinart, both exist under huge clouds involving the honesty and integrity of their leadership.  It just seemed out of whack to me.  This segment of the meeting ended at 9:57 p.m.

"BOB'S BENCH" APPROVED
The placement of a "temporary for one month" bench in Fairview Park requested by Graham took ten minutes and resulted in the bench being placed there permanently.  The commissioners felt no "study" was necessary and it was within their purview to order the bench installed.  Graham was happy.

TREE REMOVAL REQUESTS - 3 OUT OF 4 APPROVED
The two separate tree removal requests moved briskly.  The first one, at 871 Prospect, resulted in both trees being approved for removal.  The second one resulted in one of the two being approved for removal.  This seems like an every-meeting occurrence, since there has been ongoing dialogue between the staff and the neighbors who live in that enclave near the ramps from Bear Street to the 73 Freeway.  Canary Island Pines, planted by the developer decades ago, have begun to destroy the block walls in that neighborhood.  So far, only one neighbor has opposed the tree removal requests - she also appeared last night and sat as far from the other eight neighbors in the auditorium as she could during the proceedings.  The others spoke in support of the removals.  Both items were completed by 11:00.

BART'S BRIEF REPORT
Parks Project Manager Bart Mejia gave a very brief report on the status of some pending projects, including the launch of the consultant study for the update of the Parks Master Plan.  We were out of there at 11:15 p.m. - the same day, for a change.

Lisa McPherson Says Good-bye

A BAKER'S DOZEN, THEN GOOD-BYE
After thirteen years working for the City of Costa Mesa, Recreation Supervisor Lisa McPherson is moving onward and upward.

MOVING NORTH
Today McPherson announced that she is moving to the City of Dublin, California - up north in that "other" part of the state - where she will hold a management-level position in their Parks and Recreation Department.  If you click on that title you'll find Dublin is about 2/3 the size of Costa Mesa and has about half the population.

A STEADY, PROFESSIONAL
This seems to be an outstanding opportunity for McPherson, who has served Costa Mesa with loyalty, passion and diligence through her tenure, and particularly through the past few years of turmoil and tumult.  With the hiring of Travis Karlen as Recreation Manager last Monday she now has had eight bosses during her tenure with the City.  She, in fact, ran the Recreation Division several times for varying periods of time as managers came and went - most recently when Bob Knapp left.

HIGHLIGHTS
Among the many highlights of her tenure in Costa Mesa - she's a resident, who moved here because she has had such strong affection for the City - she cited the rescue of the R.O.C.K.S. program and helping facilitate the Estancia Adobe becoming a National Historical Site - something that will take place officially soon.  As City Staff liaison to many of the committees, she helped the volunteers craft programs and implement them. 

LOOKING FOR A BETTER PLACE
Clearly, it was time for her to move on to a city that values her credentials and experience and values employees beyond being viewed as just so many widgets to be easily-replaced.  She feels she's found that place in Dublin.

WE WISH HER WELL...
We here at A Bubbling Cauldron wish Lisa McPherson all the best in this latest step in her career.  We will miss her perky demeanor, her professionalism and dedication to the residents of Costa Mesa.  Her final day on the job here will be August 15th.

Travis Karlen Named Recreation Manager

NEW RECREATION MANAGER NAMED
In a press release issued yesterday, below, the City of Costa Mesa announced that Travis Karlen has been named Recreation Manager, replacing Bob Knapp who left earlier in the year.  I could find no verifiable photograph of Karlen.

FROM MINNESOTA VIA ARIZONA
According to the press release, Karlen comes to Costa Mesa from Maricopa, Arizona, where he held a similar position since late last year.  Prior to that he worked in municipal recreation in Minnesota.

EXPERIENCE...
The press release says he has 20 years experience in parks and recreation, although he apparently graduated from high school in 1995 and from college in 2000.

...AND HE SINGS
According to information available online, Karlen has a musical background, too.

Here's the press release:

Travis Karlen named recreation manager for Costa Mesa

Posted Date: 7/8/2014

Travis Karlen, a 20-year veteran in the field of parks and recreation, has been named recreation manager for the City of Costa Mesa.

Most recently, Karlen was recreation manager for the City of Maricopa, Arizona. Before that, he held municipal recreation positions in Plymouth and Skakopee, Minnesota.

During his career, Karlen has managed a total of six aquatics facilities, one amphitheater complex, a community center that housed a fitness facility, ice arena, gymnasium, meeting spaces, teen center and skate park.

Karlen’s first day will be July 28.

“We are excited to have Travis on board to help us continue the great work done by our recreation team,” said City CEO Tom Hatch. “I’d also like to thank interim Recreation Manager Penny Loomer and those in our recreation department for their extra effort and dedication during this transition period.”

Karlen’s annual salary will be $105,516.

Lethargy Prevails At Fairview Committee Meeting

A "MEASURED" PACE
Guided by Chairman Dr. Richard Mehren and Vice Chair Steve Smith, and moving at a pace that would make a snail appear to be a Forumula 1 race car by comparison, the Fairview Park Citizens Advisory Committee crawled through the agenda, HERE, of their meeting Wednesday night.

FINALLY, SOME FIELD USE NUMBERS!

The diminished committee - member Brett Eckles was absent and member David Stiller passed away recently and has not yet been replaced - began by hearing a presentation on Field Use Allocation by members of the Costa Mesa Recreation Department.  Assistant Recreation Supervisor Cecily Renteria led the discussion, assisted by Recreation Supervisor Lisa McPherson.


SOME QUESTIONS NOT ANSWERED
The discussion was fairly straightforward, with clear descriptions of the various user group designations and headcounts from the previous years players.  Member Anna Vrska inquired about the recent dislocation of long-time group 1 users from the TeWinkle Park Sports Complex in favor of Matt Leinart's Flag Football program.  The response was that the decision was made by the "administrative staff" and the existing party line - they were not displaced, just given other fields and times - was played back for them.  Member Ron Amburgey attempted to somehow defend the Leinart football program, indicating that they didn't even know they would be given a field this year.  Lame excuse.

DODGED THE TOUGH ONE
Questions were asked about the departure of Recreation Manager Bob Knapp earlier this year.  McPherson dodged that one, as she should.  This is a very sticky wicket (sorry for the pun) and it was not her place to answer.  More on a related story at the end*.

SMALL CROWD
A half-dozen members of the small - 30 people - crowd spoke.  Kim Hendricks wondered why the meeting began with a discussion of youth sports fields;  A local mother and daughter praised the tranquility of nature at Fairview Park; two young men from out-of-town (Fountain Valley and Westminster) spoke about the value of the open space at Fairview Park.  Several of them also spoke during the discussions of the items below, too.  (Member Lee Ramos could be seen texting away during this segment, obviously more interested in messages on his phone than what the speakers had to say.)

TWO ITEMS MADE THE CUT
At 6:45 the committee began discussing the dozen remaining items to be potentially considered for the Southwest Quadrant of the park.  At the previous meeting they discussed the first dozen.  After an hour of discussion only two items were given a "yes" vote, to have the staff analyze and return at the next meeting with possible solutions.  Those two were #4 on the list, "Improve/Designate Bike Paths" and #6, "Plant Native Drought Resistant Plants Center of SW Quadrant".  The second one was actually an extension of the work recently performed by Eagle Scout Christian Redman last month.  All the remaining 10 items on the list for consideration were rejected by the committee as inappropriate for this particular quadrant of the park.

OCME DAMAGE STORIES RECOUNTED
During the Committee Member Comments segment at the end member Terry Cummings told the group of the ongoing damage and theft at the Orange County Model Engineers location on the East side of Placentia within Fairview Park.  He was very grateful for the huge public support following the first wave of damage.  The police have been notified and, we were told, more incidents of vandalism occurred Tuesday Night.  Cummings attributed at least some of the damage on kids, mentioning that it seems to increase near the end of the school year.

STILL LOOKING FOR FIELDS
Ron Amburgey commented on the Field Allocation information and observed that most of the playing fields being used belonged to the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.  Only six of the 27 are actually City sites and he opined that we needed more and hoped to find support from his colleagues for fields on the East side of Placentia when that section is discussed.

ALL BLUSTER AND PUFFERY
Member Dennis Popp, grumpy most of the evening to this point, said he received several telephone calls - it turned out to be three - from people with suggestions but - he said - refused to come to the meetings because of the "hostile atmosphere".  Well, I've been to all but one of these meetings and Mr. Popp is just plain full of manure on this issue.  This reeks of stuff Steve Mensinger and Jim Righeimer used to pull at council meetings a couple years ago when angry residents spoke out about some of the things they were doing.  Yes, people are passionate about retaining open space, and speak out accordingly, but there has never been any hostility.  Popp also alluded to the packet of letters distributed with the information available that evening, saying that there were 50 letters and they should be considered.  Well, I read through those letters and most look nearly identical.  They look like someone in a parent group told their fellow rugby parents to send off form letters to the city about the shortage of fields.  In fact, one letter in the mix appeared to include a guidance sentence about preparing the letters.  It appeared that this was simply an attempt to stack the deck - roboletters, as it were.

WHAT DID HE SAY?
Member, and council candidate, Lee Ramos was next, following his campaign manager, Popp, and he promptly went into a defensive mode, alluding to having been referred to as "one of the guys" - whatever that means - then did a revised version of his stump speech, talking about growing up on the Eastside and emphasized that he enjoyed hearing from the public.  Thank goodness he didn't talk about his coffees at Panera!  He said something confusing about the committee shouldn't feel short-changed, but then, we were moving closer to his bed time, so I shouldn't really expect him to make sense.

MEHREN GRATEFUL FOR RECREATION INFORMATION
Dr. Mehren, who had a pretty shaky evening as Chairman, addressed the information provided by the Recreation Department team, opining that it was important for the committee because it had previously asked for that information but was not provided with it.  The meeting adjourned very near 8:00 p.m., with the next meeting scheduled in May.

NO MORE "COSTA MESA BRIEF" COVERAGE
Unfortunately, Barry Friedland and his Costa Mesa Brief cameras were not at this meeting.  Apparently he told the City Staff that he cannot continue providing a video record of the meetings - they don't get enough views to justify his time and expense producing them.  That's a shame, since he did a good job with it.  I tried to do my part by plugging his productions - the hit counter jumped when I did so - but he apparently only has a very few regular viewers for his YouTube Channel.

*ZINT: BOWLEY RESIGNS TWO POSITIONS
As mentioned above, there was big news in the Daily Pilot last night, HERE.  Bradley Zint broke the story that Gordon Bowley, former President of Costa Mesa United and Chairman of the Costa Mesa Youth Sports Foundation, had resigned both those positions last month in the wake of his son-in-law, Bob Knapp, resigning and following the whole Leinart Football mess.  In Zint's article Bowley makes some pretty scathing comments about City of Costa Mesa leadership.  This is a VERY BIG story - one that will likely resonate throughout the community, and particularly in the youth sports community, where his family has been an integral part of improving sports opportunities for many years.

News Doesn't Wait For Me!

YIKES!
Geez, I take my lovely and very patient wife on a little birthday excursion - much-needed by both of us - over the past weekend and all heck breaks loose (literally) back at home!

WHITE NOT GUILTY
It's hard to decide what's the most important news item locally that broke while we were gone to our favorite big city, but I guess it would have to be the story about the jury in the Steven White sign theft case finding him NOT GUILTY after a very short 3-hour deliberation.  You can read Jeremiah Dobruck's article, "Accused sign vandal found not guilty", including viewing the video clip, HERE.

VINDICTIVE
In my view, this is just another example of terrible judgment by members of the Costa Mesa City Council - in this case, Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger.  The fact that he actually hired a private investigator to stake out a specific batch of campaign signs and video someone destroying them is bizarre.  And, it's unclear whether Mensinger was in the car with the PI while this video was recorded.  If so, why?  For $5.00 worth of signs?  Of course, when you're out of work for a long time, every penny counts, right?  No, this was just another vindictive move on Mensinger's part - much like the bogus lawsuit against the men and women of the Costa Mesa Police Department - that demonstrates how unqualified he is to hold a public office.

SOME NOT SATISFIED
I did not attend the trial so did not hear the testimony.  However, the video was shown and it did not convince eight jurors of White's guilt.  The comment thread on Dobruck's article is fascinating.  More than a few commentors, including at least one elected official, are apparently unwilling to accept the result of the legal process because it doesn't agree with their opinion.  Sad, indeed.

WILL HE SUE?
Now White gets on with his life, unless he plans legal action of his own, and Mensinger and his cronies will moan and cry about the "unfairness" of this decision for months.

FOOTBALL FIASCOS
The second big story that broke while we were gone is Bradley Zint's excellent piece titled, "Hatch alleges Friday Night Lights misled city", HERE.  This story is part of the whole Friday Night Lights Football/Matt Leinart Football drama that has been playing out over the past few months in Costa Mesa.

HATCH'S COMMENTS
While I'm certainly concerned about the possibility of someone defrauding the City, as is alleged in this article, for me the greater concern is the position taken by City Chief Executive Officer Tom Hatch regarding former Recreation Manager Bob Knapp as quoted in the article.  As you will see when you read the article, Hatch is quoted by Zint as saying, "I believe Bob Knapp Knew that the letter was not accurate and that he did not investigate it further to help his friend." So, is he saying Bob Knapp committed a crime?  Did he misuse public funds?

KNAPP'S REPLY
Knapp, of course, denies any improper behavior and, according to Zint, describes the memo from Hatch that Zint reviewed for the story, "a 'smear' attempt to use him as a 'scapegoat for the poor decisions of others'."  Zint further describes Knapp's response, quoting him thus: "Knapp called the allegations'very disppointing, and I think it's a real true sign of the nature of leadership in our city.' 'And I don't mean the council, I mean the fifth floor [of City Hall],' Knapp added, a reference to where the city's top management keeps offices."

AND, THE "LEINART" THING...
The article also describes the event that apparently caused Knapp to resign the job he held for eighteen months - the ouster of long-time Group 1 softball players from their scheduled time at the TeWinkle Sports Complex for Matt Leinart's Flag Football program.  I watched some of the discussion of that situation in City Council chambers and recall feeble excuses that the softball group "didn't lose their field, they had a choice of five other nights during the week" when Leinart's program was given their favored Friday night slot.  Lame, to say the least.

THIS STINKS!
All this stuff just reeks.  The pungent odor of rotting management permeates City Hall.  This kind of decay starts at the top and it certainly should cause the residents of this community to be more than a little concerned about the strength of the senior leadership of this city.  Of course, some of that may be due to pressure being applied by a city council majority with warped values.  I was aghast when Hatch threw Knapp under the bus on this issue.  He should have said NOTHING about Knapp in this situation, and may have placed the city in legal jeopardy by making the comments above.

COSTA MESA UNITED
I find myself wondering about the relationship between Costa Mesa United, where Gordon Bowley - Knapp's father-in-law - plays such a big role, and the city leadership as we move downstream from this debacle.

AN EXCLAMATION POINT!
And, maybe as an exclamation point to all this stuff, Friday night the region had another earthquake! HERE.  We were more than 100 miles away but my sweet wife heard the hotel "crackle" at the time the biggest quake hit.  Yikes!

MORE LATER
Another interesting week ahead.  More on that later.  It's nice to be back, but it was VERY nice to take a short break from all this crap.