Perspective On Public Safety Pensions

 A PROBLEM WITHOUT A VISIBLE SOLUTION
Public Employee Pensions, and the unfunded liability involved, continues to resonate around Costa Mesa.  The past council majority did virtually nothing about it.  They appointed a committee to "oversee" the issue.  They met frequently but offered no viable solution.  That committee will now be blended with the Finance Advisory Committee and the joint group will have a new, as-yet undefined, charter.

FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE
In the meantime, public employee pensions continue to be the topic of conversation nationwide.  I present to you this link, HERE, to an entry recently published by the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs that discusses recent events in San Jose and Dallas.

CONSEQUENCES
Tinkering with pensions previously promised has consequences.  We saw that in a smaller scale with the CMPD when it wasn't really the pension issue alone that cause more than 50 officers depart - either through earlier-than-anticipated retirements of off to greener pastures at other jurisdictions - an event that was compounded when Jim Righeimer and Steve Mensinger refused to let then-chief Tom Gazsi recruit to fill those vacancies for most of a year.  That placed us in a hole we are still trying to dig out of.  And our crime rate continues to climb...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
I offer no solution to the pension unfunded liability issue.  I do offer this article for you as perspective - food for thought. 

THANKS...
And, I offer my thanks to the men and women of the public safety organizations that serve our city - the Costa Mesa Police Department and the Costa Mesa Fire Department - for their unwavering service and dedication to the residents of this city.

Good Turnout For CM4RG Town Hall

PUBLIC SAFETY AND SOBER LIVING DRAWS A CROWD
Somewhere around 100 people turned out for the Town Hall sponsored by Costa Mesans For Responsible Government (CM4RG) Thursday evening at the Neighborhood Community Center.

CANDIDATES WERE ALSO PRESENT
In addition to the presenters of information, city council candidates, representatives of certain initiatives and candidates for the Mesa Water District Board and the Costa Mesa Sanitary District Board were also present to answer questions and hand out literature.

 Costa Mesa Sanitary District Board Members 

Art Perry and Jim Ferryman, running for re-election.

OMNIPRESENT BARRY FILMED IT
Barry Friedland of Costa Mesa Brief was on hand to record the event, so look for his work product at his YouTube Channel in the next few days.

REICH TO LEFFLER...
Alex Reich, candidate for the Mesa Water Board, acted as the Master of Ceremonies.  He kicked the meeting off at around 6:45 p.m., then handed it over to CM4RG President Robin Leffler, who led the pledge of alligience and then explained a little bit about the organization.

...TO LEECE
Former councilwoman Wendy Leece then stepped up to provide an update from the Orange County Vector Control Board, of which she was a member during her tour on the City Council.  She explained the need for resident diligence due to the growing problems with West Nile Virus and now the Zika Virus.  No standing water.  Contact Vector Control if you suspect a problem.

COSTA MESA FIRE DEPARTMENT DISCUSSED
Next up was Ralph Taboada, Chairman of the Bikeway and Walkability Committee and member of the Pension Oversight Committee, to talk about the Costa Mesa Fire Department.  He explained that the department used to be one of the premiere departments in Orange County - a destination department.  He explained that the members of the CMFD are active in the community, including teaching CPR and making school presentations.  Members of the CMFD are usually pillars of their communities.  He explained the history - 5 Chiefs in six years - and used slides to enhance his presentation.  These are mostly self-explanatory.

SOBER LIVING HOMES
Then came community activist Teresa Drain to speak about Sober Living issues.  She told us also on hand for questions was Robert Mann of the Sober Living Network.  She gave us some statistics that really made you think.  Speaking of heroin specifically, she told us that there have been 1800 deaths due to overdoses in the past five years and the Center for Disease Control estimates 70 lives a lost daily due to addiction.  There are 300,000 addicts in Orange County.  She told us Costa Mesa has 300 licensed liquor dispensaries.

ADDICTION A DISEASE
She then described Addiction as a disease and Sobriety as addiction in remission.  Among the stats she told us was that there is a 86% failure rate with heroin addicts.  She spoke about the 12-step programs, first evolving from Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and now used with Narcanon, too.

DUAL PROBLEM - DRUGS AND ALCOHOL
She spoke of the dual problem of alcohol and drugs and mentioned the Orange County Sober Living Coalition as an organization helping with the problems.  She told us that 80% of criminals have drug and or alcohol addiction issues.  She told us that 95% of those incarcerated for drug issues return to the drugs once released.  She told us that treatment and recovery is the solution, not incarceration, which is why so many petty criminals with drug issues are currently involved in Sober Living Homes.

SPADONI DISCUSSES THE CMPD
Mary Spadoni, life long law enforcement officer - she was the first woman police officer to work in patrol many moons ago - next spoke about the Costa Mesa Police Department.  She spoke about the impact of AB 109 and Prop. 47, and told us to oppose Prop. 57 on the November ballot because it just goes one step further in the wrong direction than Prop. 47.  Because of those laws we have many more criminals on our streets.

STAFF SHORTAGES
She spoke about the decline in staffing of the CMPD - how the current council majority issued over 200 layoff notices to city employees in 2011, several of whom were civilian employees of the CMPD.  She spoke of how that act caused a lawsuit by the Orange County Employees Association, which represents the employees in question, and how the city lost that lawsuit and cost nearly $400,000 in legal fees.

HISTORY OF STAFFING
Spadoni told us a little history of the staffing of the department, and mentioned that currently the authorized staffing level of the CMPD is 136, but that we actually have only 113 on the payroll, 10 of which are out on injuries.  We have only 52 officers available for patrol duty and many of the speciality assignments to which officers aspire - Gangs, Narcotics, K-9 - are no longer available, which hampers recruiting and retention of officers.

ATTRITION REPORT
She mentioned the attrition report prepared by former Chief Tom Gazsi more than two years ago which outlined for CEO Tom Hatch the reasons for the departure of so many officers due to retirement and/or moving on to other venues.  That report was never acknowledged.  Much of that turnover was due to the toxic environment created by the current City Council majority.

PAROLEES LOVE COSTA MESA - NO COPS
Spadoni told us of a meeting in 2014 of representatives of the County Probation Department and State Parole organization in which Costa Mesa representatives at the meeting were told that parolees like to come to Costa Mesa because we're understaffed in the CMPD, so chances of them being picked up for crimes is small.  She described our situation as a perfect storm - fewer cops and greater demand.  She said we're "understaffed and overcrimed".

SHARPNACK TRYING, BUT...
She praised Chief Rob Sharpnack for his energy and enthusiasm trying to get the CMPD back on track, but the process is taking a long time - despite what Mayor Mensinger told us earlier this year.  She cited the influx of sober living homes as part of our problem keeping crime down - it's up dramatically.  She said we're not "Costa Mayberry" anymore.  She told us that Costa Mesa has 3% of the county population but 27% of the sober living homes.  She said 63% of our residences are rentals.  She cited the unrealistic positions taken by candidates Mensinger, Mansoor and Ramos on public safety issues.

Q & A
Next came Questions and Answers presented by the audience via note cards.  The panel included retired CMPD Lieutenant Clay Epperson - a long-time Costa Mesa resident; Former man-of-many-hats, retired Interim Chief Fred Sequin and Robert Mann of Clear Path Recovery to answer Sober Living Questions.

CMPD 5 YEARS BEHIND
In response to a question about police staffing, Epperson told the audience that we're 5 years behind.  That we have a hard time recruiting and retaining officers because of the atmosphere within City Management towards the CMPD.

CMFD WORK SCHEDULE
Seguin was asked about work hours.  He explained that the CMFD works a 56 hour work week and that it's not at all unusual for firefighters to work hundreds and even thousands of overtime hours because of the depleted staffing.

MANN DODGED THE QUESTIONS
Mann, didn't really answer many of the questions posed to him.  Most of the time he waltzed around and did a promotion for his industry and his business specifically.  He feigned ignorance of statistics when asked.  He was not the only Sober Living operator in the room.  He was asked, for example, why there was no mechanism to return failed "clients" to their homes instead of just turning them out onto our streets.  He didn't really answer that, except to say his organization sometimes turns those failures over to other organizations.  Kind of an incestuous situation.

CRIME FROM DRUG AND ALCOHOL USE
Other questions were asked about  rising crime.  Epperson told us much was due to drug and alcohol users.

JULY 4TH ENFORCEMENT?
Seguin was asked about July 4th fireworks and how it is enforced.  He said with current staffing levels it's hard to catch perpetrators in the act.  One angry audience member demanded to know how many arrests were made this year - he had no answer.  He did say it's hard to catch those shooting off illegal fireworks because they are masked by legal fireworks.

IMPACT OF OVERTIME
He was also asked about the impact of overtime on the firefighters.  He responded that it was hard on the firefighters AND on their families due to the unanticipated demands for overtime.  He said it's not unusual for a firefighter to work several consecutive shifts without time off.

FIND BARRY'S RECORDING
The meeting ended just after 8:30.  Find the Costa Mesa Brief recording, HERE.  It will be worth your time.

THANKS TO CM4RG
Thanks to the folks at CM4RG and all the volunteers who put this program together.  I think most who attended thought it was time well-spent.  Interestingly, despite some grumbling on certain social media sites, I saw no members of the opposition in the audience.   That wasn't all bad.  One particularly mouthy candidate for a Sanitary District Board seat kept yapping about attending all week, then did a no-show.  No loss.

Costa Mesa Ambulance Service Study

CONSULTANT STUDY AVAILABLE 
The City of Costa Mesa has posted a link to the 51-page report from consultants A.P. Triton, LLC titled "CMFD Ambulance Service Feasibility Study", which can be viewed HERE. 

OFFSHOOT OF CHIEF ARNOLD'S PLAN
This study has been a long time coming and is an offshoot of the deployment model created by former Interim Fire Chief Tom Arnold a few years ago which was presented several times to the City Council.  Part of that model involved the acquisition of six Paramedic Rescue Vans and would include the transportation of accident victims and others by those vans and produce significant revenues to the City as a result.  The current private transport ambulance service would be dropped under that plan.

WE BOUGHT THE VANS, BUT...
For reasons unclear at this time - but about which we can speculate - Arnold's plan never seemed to get the attention needed to fully implement it.  The six vans were acquired - to the tune of more than $1.6 million - nearly 18 months ago and the deployment model was tentative due to the need to make significant repairs/replacements to fire stations.  Right now we have three (3) of the six deployed - sometimes four (4) - with the others in reserve awaiting final decisions and staffing authorizations.  And, Arnold's model included a cost savings by closing our newest, most modern fire station - #6, on the north side of the I-405 Freeway.

CHIEF STEFANO WILL PRESENT IN JANUARY
Fire Chief Dan Stefano has been working hard to massage this process and this effort by consultants on our behalf is the most recent step.  This report was received the afternoon of the last City Council meeting, so Stefano and his staff had not had a chance to digest it.  He gave a very short, un-agendized,  presentation to the council during CEO Tom Hatch's reporting time, during which Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer demanded that a cost estimate for paramedics to be assigned to the private haulers be included in the presentation of this study, to be heard by the council in January.  To those of us observing it seemed like a ploy to perpetuate the participation of private haulers in this process.  It will come as no surprise to know that the current hauler, CARE Ambulance - which holds the contract worth several million dollars each year - is a significant campaign contributor to Righeimer.

INVESTIGATION OF A FAMILY CONNECTION?
Of even greater interest is persistent rumor - as yet unsubstantiated - about the possibility of a familial connection to the Danish owner of CARE Ambulance, Falck Corporation, to Righeimer's family.  Falck also owns G4S Secure Solutions, the outsourced company that secured a contract worth around $60,000 per month to manage our Jail.  Interested parties are investigating this issue,

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
When you read this report - I have, twice - you'll see that the option shown on the chart below from the report that seems to make the most sense is option #2, which has the Costa Mesa Fire Department assume ALL medical transport responsibilities and results in over $4 million in NEW revenue to the city.  It's going to be very interesting to see what kind of a report Stefano and Hatch put together for the council early next year, and what part Righeimer's demands play in it.

WHAT ABOUT STATIONS 1 AND 6... AND THE CONTRACT?
There are many issues to consider in this complex puzzle, including the future of the Metro Station - Station #6 - now that more high and mid-rise development is in the works for the north side of the freeway.  Also, the future of Station #1, on Royal Palm in the Mesa Verde section of town, is under consideration and $8 million has been bandied around as the cost to replace that aging structure at it's current location.  However, there is in existence a previous consultant study that proposes an alternate location for that facility that seems to have been all but forgotten.  Again, there are many pieces to this puzzle.  And kind of lost in the shuffle is the fact that the firefighters are working without a contract.  This uncertainty complicates recruitment and management issues.

STUDY THE REPORT AND WRITE...
So, take some time between now and the new year to read through the Feasibility Study and voice your opinions to Hatch, Stefano and your council members.  I know they will love to hear from you.

Big Fire Department Ceremony Friday Morning

A SPECIAL DAY FOR THE COSTA MESA FIRE DEPARTMENT
Chief Dan Stefano and the Costa Mesa Fire Department today announced that on Friday, October 30, 2015, beginning at 9:00 a.m. in City Council Chambers, there will be an official swearing-in ceremony for several staff members who have had recent promotions.

FOUR MEN PROMOTED
Steve Airey, Fred McDowell and Taylor Voss will officially receive their badges for their promotion to Captain and Jason Pyle will receive his badge for promotion to Division Chief.  You can read about their backgrounds in the official press release, HERE.

PLUS, THE 9-11 RESCUE REMEMBRANCE PROJECT
Coinciding with the swearing-in ceremony there will be a display of the 9-11 Rescue Remembrance Project.  Read more about that HERE.

GREAT EVENT... BE THERE!
See you at City Hall Friday morning.

Independence Day Holiday After Action Report

PUBLIC SAFETY AFTER ACTION REPORT

The "after action" report, prepared by the Costa Mesa Police Department and the Costa Mesa Fire Department, covering their activities and the results thereof over the multiple-day Independence Day holiday this year is available at the City website, HERE.

CHARTS SUMMARIZE
The following two charts summarize some of the activities over the holiday.  Click on the image to enlarge if necessary.

READ THE REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Please take a few minutes to read the comprehensive report.  It provides not only a clear overview of this year's activities, but also a list of 13 recommendations for future years.  That list appears here (click on the image to enlarge it):

KUDOS TO OUR PUBLIC SAFETY FOLKS

Thanks to the men and women of the Costa Mesa Fire Department and the Costa Mesa Police Department for their diligence again over the past Independence Day holiday.  The fireworks exploded for a couple weeks before and a couple weeks after the already too long period allowed by law.  Pets were terrorized and, I am told, veterans suffered, too.

MAYBE, JUST MAYBE...
Perhaps, one day the residents of this city will come to their senses and celebrate this holiday with one, big community fireworks extravaganza instead of permitting the so-called safe and sane fireworks to be fired-up for several days.  Next week the holiday falls on Monday, so I won't be surprised if we see a week of safe and sane fireworks, culminating on that day.  Too bad for us all.