More Controversy About Smart Growth Initiative Rebuttal

YET ANOTHER WEIRD TWIST
And yet another curious situation has arisen in the case of Eleanor Egan's lawsuit against Costa Mesa City Clerk Brenda Green and Orange County Registrar of Voters, Neal Kelley, to have segments of the rebuttal to Arguments For the Smart Growth Initiative removed because the document "is not really a rebuttal, since it does not address anything in the Argument For the initiative measure."  She goes on to say, "most of the statements contained in the Rebuttal are demonstrably false, and the rest are not capable of being proven either true or false but are misleading and inconsistent with the requirement of the Elections Code."

CO-CONSPIRATORS
The signatories on this so-called "Rebuttal" are Julie Fowler, Chuck Perry, Lee Ramos, Christopher Bunyan and Jim Righeimer.

BACKGROUND
I wrote about this issue earlier, HERE, and Luke Money wrote about it in the Daily Pilot, HERE.

WE'RE PAYING RIGHEIMER'S LEGAL FEES?!
Now comes the new twist.  Informed sources tell me that the City of Costa Mesa will be covering all legal costs incurred by Jim Righeimer in this matter!  And, further, the attorney that will represent him is Patrick Munoz, the high-priced lawyer from Rutan and Tucker - the firm that was retained to cobble together an initiative to compete with the Costa Mesa First's Smart Growth Initiative.  That certainly has the aroma of conflict of interest.

GREEN, YES... RIGHEIMER, NO!
Now, I can see where the City will represent City Clerk Brenda Green - she is simply doing her job, and Egan's beef isn't with her, nor Neal Kelley.  Her complaint is that the rebuttal is false and misleading, as stated above, and she doesn't want it to appear on the ballot.  I have no problem with Green receiving city-paid-for legal help.

NOT APPROPRIATE, AND MAYBE ILLEGAL!
I DO, however, have a problem with my tax dollars being spent to cover whatever legal costs Righeimer incurs in this venture.  He signed the rebuttal as a private citizen, not as the Mayor Pro Tem of the City.  This issue was NOT addressed by the City Council, nor were they asked to waive conflict of interest - a very likely situation.  Instead, someone high up in City government simply decided to make a gift of taxpayer dollars to Righeimer to cover his legal costs in this misguided, malicous and falacious effort.

WHO AND WHY?!
So, I want to know who made that decision and why?  What authority has been given to whom to make such a decision without council approval or even consideration?  Who decided that it's OK to spend our money to facilitate misleading the voters by placing lies on a ballot measure?  Was it CEO Tom Hatch?  Was it contract City Attorney Tom Duarte?  Just who made that decision?  And, if it's OK to cover Righeimer's legal costs, what about the other four signatories?  If they incur costs will we be paying those, too?  Quite frankly, this stinks!

City Clerk and Registrar of Voters Sued!

GOOD GRIEF!
The drama never stops in Costa Mesa!  Late last week Costa Mesa resident Eleanor Egan sued Brenda Green, Costa Mesa City Clerk, and Neal Kelley, Orange County Registrar of Voters, to have purported "objectively false and misleading information" removed from the rebuttal argument on Costa Mesa First's so-called Smart Growth Initiative.

EGAN'S LEGAL CHALLENGE
Egan, a long-time lawyer in the Costa Mesa City Attorney's office back when we actually had a City Attorney and not a contract firm handling our legal affairs, and also a Planning Commissioner not too long ago, took strong legal exception to much of the rebuttal signed by Julie Fowler, Chuck Perry, Lee Ramos, Christopher Bunyan and Jim Righeimer.

JUVENILE PONTIFICATIONS
I've read through the legal paperwork, which includes a record of those statements Egan feels are false and/or misleading and must agree with her.  In fact, it seems like that rebuttal was written as though they were writing one of those stream-of-consciousness screeds seen so often on the Costa Mesa Public Square - the juvenile pontifications encouraged by Righeimer's example.

IT'S RIGHEIMER'S FAULT
Keep in mind that Righeimer has appointed himself to write arguments on several other initiatives.  It's likely that his handiwork could result in even more legal challenges.  Since he's come to town Costa Mesa has become an annuity for lawyers.

NO TIME TO WASTE!
The clock is ticking on this process.  The case has been assigned to a judge who, as of last night, had not yet considered it.  The judge will tell the parties what they must do, or not do, quickly.  The deadline for completion of all the information for the numerous initiatives that will be placed on the ballot is August 12th.  I'll try to stay abreast of this situation and keep you informed.

A Packed House Grills Officials On Group Homes

GROUP HOMES AND CRIME
A packed multi-purpose room at College Park Elementary School greeted Costa Mesa officials and staff as Debbie Leedom and her College Park neighbors hosted a 90-minute question and answer period on two subjects about which they have great concern - the proliferation of sober living homes and crime, in general.

STANDING ROOM ONLY
The meeting, which played to a standing-room-only crowd of approximately 225 in number, was run crisply and pretty much stayed on schedule.  Extraneous questions from the crowd were kept to a minimum until the very end, when time grew short and anxiety continued to build as residents from all parts of the city became not fully satisfied with the answers to their written questions.

 MANY SENIOR STAFFERS PRESENT
Attending for the City were Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer, Councilwoman Katrina Foley, CEO Tom Hatch, Interim Police Chief Ron Lowenberg, Director of Development Services Gary Armstrong, Deputy City Attorney Elena Gerli, Assistant Director, Community Improvement Division Jerry Guarrancino, Police Captain Mark Manley, Police Lieutenant Vic Bakkila, Code Enforcement Officers Mike Tucker and Jon Neal and Executive Assistant to Hatch, Kelly Shelton.

CANDIDATES AND ACTIVISTS
In the crowd I recognized many familiar faces from all regions of the City.  I saw former council candidates Jay Humphrey, Tony Capitelli, Lee Ramos and Chris Bunyan.  Many other activists - regular attendees at many official city meetings and volunteers in may areas in town -  were sprinkled throughout the crowd of otherwise just normal residents with big concerns.

WRITTEN QUESTIONS READ
After Leedom kicked things off she handed the microphone to Righeimer, who provided some perspective and introductions.  Then moderator Jay Friedman took over and asked the written questions of the staff.  In general, the staff decided who would field which question.  As you might expect, lawyer Gerli had a big chunk of them, as did Guarrancino.  Righeimer didn't hesitate to grab the microphone, either.

THE CROWD LEARNED A LOT
Much of what was discussed was not new information to those of us who attend city meetings regularly, but it certainly was to many in the crowd.  Among the many things they learned Wednesday night were:

• The City CANNOT regulate state licensed group homes.
• The City CANNOT regulate homes with six (6) or fewer residents plus a house manager because they are considered a "Housekeeping Unit".
• Our Group Home Ordinance applies ONLY to R1 (Single family residential) neighborhoods.
• An ordinance for other residentially-zoned area is in the works, but it's more complicated.
• The City needs the help of residents to identify group homes.
• Righeimer and other staffers recommended the use of the Costa Mesa Connect Smart Phone App.
• They stressed the need to report the group homes with infractions so a file can be created.
• We must tread carefully as we attempt to enforce our ordinances to be sure we are not violating the rights of the residents in those places.
• We learned from Lowenberg that our police staffing is up to 108 today from a low spot of 85 and that efforts are being made to recruit greater numbers of qualified officers.  He mentioned the recent report on the staffing issue on the City Website, HERE.
• Lowenberg, Manley and Bakkila all stressed that they need our help.  Residents MUST call when they have a problem.
• The revised Crime Mapping Program is now available, HERE, but not without some glitches.
• We learned of a Gang/Narcotics bust on Maple Avenue that snatched up 6 criminals.
• We learned that we should be participating in Neighborhood Watch programs.  As Lowenberg said, "Help us help you".
• We learned that Costa Mesa has a quarter of ALL state-licensed group home in Orange County.
• We learned that there is no limit to the time a person can stay in a group home.
• We learned from Lt. Bakkila that they hope to resurrect their bicycle patrols, apparently a very effective tool.
• Captain Manley told us that, for this part of town, Lt. Bakkila is a "mini-police chief" - "He's the guy who will solve your problems".
• We learned that Officer Bill Adams, currently our only School Resource Officer, is one of the best cops we've ever had.
• In response to a concern about Code Enforcement staffing, we learned from Righeimer that the City will "spend whatever it takes so the problem gets handled properly."  We've heard that before...
• We learned from Hatch - in response to a question about how relapsed residents are handled because some are simply dumped onto our streets and become homeless - that the City is dealing with the homeless among us by identifying those with ties to the city, then providing services to them through faith-based organizations.  So far, of the 125 identified, 50 have been placed in housing.
• We learned that representatives of several group homes in Costa Mesa were at the meeting, gathering information.
• We learned that enforcement of group homes is a long process - a matter of months, as various essential steps are taken in order to be sure the operator has a chance to respond.
• We learned that some folks co-mingle in their minds sober living patients with parolees and other criminals.
• And, we learned a lot more.

NO CMTV COVERAGE?
For example, I learned that the City apparently didn't deem this meeting important enough to provide video coverage by CMTV, but it was important enough to cancel the Fairview Park Citizens Advisory Committee meeting, scheduled for the same time on the same date.  That's a shame, because this meeting is the PERFECT example of what can happen when motivated residents team up with City staff to put together an outstanding community outreach opportunity.

ANGRY INQUIRY AT THE END
At the end of the evening one very impatient man stood up and strongly addressed the panel, wondering if they were aware of the Sober Living Network, and the impact they were having on Costa Mesa.  I found a link to that organization, HERE, which shows Costa Mesa as the location for  nineteen (19) facilities - more than double any other Orange County city shown.  It was unclear if he received a satisfactory answer to his questions and statements.  At Tuesday's council meeting we learned that there are another twenty-one (21) group homes in line for licenses in Costa Mesa!

ANY CONNECTIONS?
The final question asked of all the City panelists was, "Do you have any relationships with any of the group home operators?" or words to that effect.  Every staffer answered a resounding NO!  Bakkila told us he had arrested a few of the residents, though.  Righeimer was the final person to answer the question, also with a NO.  It is interesting to note that for several years, HERE, his great friend, Scott Baugh - they just traveled to Israel together as part of a group and he has shared office space with him for years  - has been an advisor for the sober living industry.  I guess we'll presume they never discussed that business.  Uh, huh...

KUDOS, AND THANKS...
Many questions were either not answered or incompletely answered, but Leedom promised to provide feedback to those interested once the answers are determined.  Good job to our friends and neighbors in College Park for hosting and conducting an outstanding event.

OK, Now It's Official - Foley and Righeimer

FINAL NUMBERS
The Orange County Registrar of Voters, Neal Kelley, has posted what is being represented as the FINAL COUNT for the Orange County races in the election almost two weeks ago. As I type this those same 50 paper ballots remain on the "to be counted" register.  The update may just be slow to load.

TODAY'S NUMBERS
As expected, little changed in the Costa Mesa City Council race from the last report Saturday evening.  Ramos and Simpson each gained two more votes.  Here is how the final tally looks today:

FOLEY THE CLEAR WINNER - RIGHEIMER HOLDS ON
Katrina Foley gathered the highest number of votes at 9,346, or 26.5%.  Jim Righeimer finished well behind her in second place with 7,524 votes, and will retain his seat on the dais.  Jay Humphrey finished 47 votes behind Righeimer with 7,477.  No word yet about a possible recount, but history shows us that it would be unlikely for him to make up that much ground on Righeimer.  Lee Ramos picked up 2 votes today and finished 4th with 5,305 votes.  Tony Capitelli finished 5th, well behind Ramos with 1,856 votes.  Al Melone has 1,470 votes and finished 6th.  Rita Simpson gained 2 votes today and ended up with 1,200 votes and Chris Bunyan finished last with 1,108 votes.

NO MORE COUNTING...
There is no countdown at the top of the Registrar's page, so we assume these are the final tallies, barring recounts.  Because there are a couple of even closer races in the county, the possibility of a recount in them is strong.  

O AND P....
In case you're wondering, Costa Mesa Measures O and P ended up as follows:

OK... NO MORE CHARTER CHATTER!
Once again, Jim Righeimer's attempt to jam a Charter down the throats of the voters was rejected.  This time it was even more firmly shoved back in his face.  Let's hope he finally gets the message this time.


MEASURING A SCREW-UP!
Measure P - the irrelevant advisory message on I-405 Toll Lanes that Righeimer demanded be placed on the ballot so he could show Sacramento officials just how much the residents of our city rejected the idea - was a disaster!  He won't be waving these numbers at anyone following the gaffe of placing two opposing questions on the ballot.  This was a non-starter from the beginning.  Now, those who are in favor of toll lanes can look at these results and say, "Hey, the folks in Costa Mesa seemed relatively unconcerned about it - at least 45.5% seemed OK with it."  Once again arrogance rears it's ugly head in Costa Mesa politics.

It's Over... No Change In Costa Mesa Race Tonight

IT'S OVER...
OK, the Fat Lady is standing in the wings, beginning to wail.  Here's how it looks tonight for the 2014 Costa Mesa City Council municipal election following the 5:00 p.m. release of numbers.  There are NO CHANGES IN THE COSTA MESA ELECTION TODAY.  The counter at the top of the page implies that there will be another count on Monday.  You can see the entire "Results" page HERE.  According to the "What's Left To Count" page, HERE,  there remain only 50 votes county-wide left to be tallied and those are Election Day Paper ballots.  All that remains now is for the Registrar to certify the election next week.  For all practical purposes, this is your final result:

FOLEY IS TOP VOTE-GETTER
Katrina Foley is the top vote-getter in this election.  For the second election in a row the top vote-getter was NOT a Riganista.  Two years ago it was former council woman Sandra Genis.  This time it's Foley, who ended up with 26.5% of the votes.  Mayor Jim Righeimer will retain his seat on the dais by finishing second.  He will finish 47 voters ahead of Jay Humphrey.

WASTE OF VOTES
The also-rans include Lee Ramos finished 4th.  Tony Capitelli finishes far behind Ramos.  Al Melone is next.  Rita Simpson trailed Melone and Chris Bunyan will finish last.

RECOUNT?  DON'T KNOW...
I don't have any idea if Humphrey plans to ask for a recount once Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley certifies the election next week.  He will have 5 days to do so, and to put up the cash to begin the recount.  As I've mentioned before, historically recounts in Orange County don't change things much.  Kelley and his crew do a good job the first time through, as we learned two years ago when John Stephens trailed Gary Monahan by 155 votes.

NO MANDATE!

One thing is clear to me following this election.  Jim Righeimer, despite all his pontification and behaving like a dictator, DOES NOT have a mandate from the voters of this city.  The resounding defeat of his Charter scheme in two consecutive elections by increasing margins demonstrates that the voters are not buying what he's selling.  The defeat of many of his pals in this election further demonstrates the voter's views on him and his behavior.  He should not expect the heat to be lifted after this election.  Quite the contrary... he should expect even more scrutiny.

COMPROMISE NOT LIKELY
In a recent article Foley promised to seek compromise.  Well, check the weather report for Hades... it takes two sides to compromise and the current - and future - majority has shown NO inclination to compromise on anything.  No, what we will see is more contentiousness, more bickering, more angry speakers taking the majority to task.  And we'll see more unilateral, partisan political maneuvering by Righeimer and his group.

I EXPECT MORE DEPARTURES
What do I expect to see as a result of this election?  Well, more defections of public safety folks, for one.  I won't be surprised if we see even more police officers depart or retire early.  I won't be surprised at all to see several of the so-called "miscellaneous employees" leave after the council gutted their contract and left them back where they were a decade ago.  And, I expect recruiting - already very difficult - to become even more so with the specter of two more years of this administration.

A TOUGH JOB GETS TOUGHER
Policing this city is going to become extraordinarily difficult.  With the AB 109 releases already infesting our community, group homes growing like mushrooms and bringing with them increases in crimes and Proposition 47 redefining crimes and their punishment all add up to more work for the cops.  We're so understaffed that it is almost criminal in and of itself.  Jeremiah Dobruck captured part of the problem in an article in the Daily Pilot today, HERE, which discusses the impact of fewer police officers and the DUI arrests.  If you read that article you'll likely come away feeling VERY unhappy.

Righeimer Still Leads Humphrey by 47 votes...

IS THAT HUMMING I HEAR?
Well, it's not over, but it's very close.  Below you will find the results of the Costa Mesa City Council election as of 5:00, Friday, November 14, 2014.  This is the date when Orange County Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley hoped to have all votes counted and expected to be able to certify them early next week.  You can view the "Results" page for the entire Orange County ballot HERE.  The counter at the top of the page is ticking off to 5:00 p.m. Saturday.  Nobody answered the Registrar's phone, so we'll have to assume they'll be counting again tomorrow.

THE WINNER IS...
School Board Trustee and former council woman Katrina Foley is the clear winner in this race, gained 8 more votes today and holds a commanding lead with more than 26.5% of the votes tallied.  Mayor Jim Righeimer gained 7 votes today and continues to hold second place.  Former councilman Jay Humphrey, who gained another votes 8 today, still trails Righeimer by 47 votes.  It's unlikely Humphrey can recover from that deficit, although a time-consuming and costly recount is not out of the question.

THE ALSO-RANS...
Righeimer supporter and de facto running mate Lee Ramos and his supporters spent a lot of cash to have him finish 4th.  He gained 1 more vote today.  Promising young Tony Capitelli picked up another 2 votes.  One-note-samba "Dog Park" Al Melone gained no votes today.  Rita Louise Simpson, described by one wag in town as "Ma Bee", gained another 3 votes and will finish ahead of Chris Bunyan, who gained 1 vote today.

WHAT'S LEFT?
According to the information displayed on the Registrar's site, HERE, there are only 5,963 ballots left to count county-wide.  Included in those numbers are 5,307 provisional ballots;  342 Election Day Paper ballots remain; Only 50 Vote-By-Mail Ballots Returned At the Polls remain.  264 Vote-By-Mail Ballots remain.  You can read the description of the Final Ballots To Count HERE.

Righeimer Increases His Lead Over Humphrey to 48

NOVEMBER 13TH RESULTS
Once again we report the latest counts on the 2014 Costa Mesa City Council election.  Today at 5:00 p.m. the Orange County Registrar of Voters officer released the following numbers in that race:

 

ALL THE INFORMATION
If you're interested in the entire "Results" page, you can view it HERE.  And, you can review all the information for "What's Left To Count" HERE.  I'll summarize it for you below.

THE RACE
As you can see, Katrina Foley, after picking up 59 more votes, continues to hold a commanding lead.  Jim Righeimer gained 46 and increased his lead over Jay Humphrey to 48 votes.  Humphrey gained 38 in the count today and is losing ground.  Lee Ramos gained 34 votes and stays in fourth place.  Tony Capitelli gained 6.  Al Melone gained 3.  Rita Simpson gained 14.  Chris Bunyan gained 6 and remains in last place.

WHAT'S LEFT...
According to the Registrar, there remains an estimated 13,772 votes to count.  Of those, 12,720 are provisional votes.  The remainder of the ballots to be counted numbers are very slow to update.  All 40,000 Vote-by-Mail ballots have been counted.

ON SCHEDULE FOR CERTIFICATION NEXT WEEK
As far as we can tell Registrar Neal Kelley and his team are still on track to finish the counting within the next day or so.  His expectation was to be able to certify the election early next week.  Any candidate or interested party wishing a recount must request it within 5 days of that certification.

Righeimer Stretches Lead Over Humphrey to 37

WEDNESDAY'S NUMBERS
Here we are again with the updated election results as of 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, November 12, 2014.  You can read the entire "Results" page HERE.  You can also read the "What's Left To Count" elements HERE.


FOLEY LEADS, RIGHEIMER 2ND, HUMPHREY 3RD BY 37 VOTES
As you can see below, here's how we stand now, with just a few votes remaining to be counted.  Katrina Foley gained 27 votes and is far ahead, holding 26.5 % of the votes.  Jim Righiemer gained 33 votes.  Jay Humphrey gained 20 votes and trails Righeimer by 37 votes.  Lee Ramos is still solidly in fourth place, having gained 19 votes.  Tony Capitelli gained 10 votes.  Al Melone gained 8 votes.  Rita Simpson gained 2 votes and Chris Bunyan, anchored firmly in last place, gained 3 votes.

WHAT'S LEFT?
According to the site, there remains only 21,749 ballots left to count.  Of those 20,961 are provisional ballots.  There are also 342 election day paper ballots. There are also 446 vote-by-mail ballots returned at the polls left to count.

TIMETABLE
The counter at the top of the Results page indicates we will have yet another tally report tomorrow night at 5:00 p.m.  In my conversation with him this morning, Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley indicated he hoped to be able to complete the process and certify the election early next week.  At that point, depending on how the numbers look, folks have five (5) calendar days to request a recount of any race and will have to pay a deposit in order for the Registrar's office to begin.  The length of the recount depends on the number of ballots to be counted.  The Fat Lady is tuning up....