An Evening Of Juggled Agendas And Surprises

ANYBODY THERE?
Hello?  Hello?  Tap, Tap.... anybody out there?  Testing... One... Two... Three... Hello?  It's me... The Pot Stirrer... Finally sending a message.... Tap, Tap... Can you hear me?  Testing....  



NOT YOUR TYPICAL MEETING... AGAIN

The Costa Mesa Planning Commission met last night in a meeting that was marked by a shuffling of the agenda deck, some surprises and no small amount of irony.  For the second consecutive meeting the commission managed to stretch the proceedings out until they almost wore out the entire audience - almost.  There were still a handful of us left in the auditorium when Chairman Rob Dickson finally closed the meeting at 11:58 p.m.  At least this one finished in the same day it began - barely.   The ironic part was the fact that the ONLY item on the agenda they didn't discuss was Consent Calendar Item #4, the proposal to cancel their meeting scheduled for July 13th.  Commissioner Stephan Andranian was absent from this meeting, apparently vacationing in some exotic venue.  Smart man.

ORANGE COUNTY BUSINESS COUNCIL FORECAST
Right off the bat we had a presentation by the Orange County Business Council on the state of business and housing in Orange County.  The presentation - full of interesting statistics and nifty slides can best be summarized thus:  We need more jobs and more housing.  HERE is a link to most of the information used in the presentation.  Take a few minutes later to go through it.  Some of the images will really get your attention, while others will just make you scratch your head. 

DENSITY IS GOOD...
Some of the highlights I recall include a chart reflecting home ownership to rentals by city.  Costa Mesa's ratio leads the pack, with 40% ownership vs 60% rentals.  Nobody else is even close.  Another thing that caught my eye was a title of a slide that said, "The Benefits Of Concentrated Density"!  It was then that the light went on and I realized that when Colin McCarthy had invited this group to make their presentation, he may have done it to bolster the much-maligned move within Costa Mesa to build dense, vertical housing developments.

SHORTAGE WILL ONLY GET WORSE
There's no question that we need more housing.  However, as was clearly emphasized, having housing that few can afford doesn't really accomplish the goal.  Mention was made, for example, that today 30% of Costa Mesa's population is 65 years of age or older, but that in 10 years that number will be 50%.  This is problematic if you're trying to find housing stock for younger workers - us geezers are just not dying off fast enough.  Read the report...

PUBLIC COMMENTS
During Public Comments nine (9) people stepped to the podium to address issues important to them.  Chris McEvoy led off with a criticism of the earlier presentation.  He also made pointed reference to campaign contributions provided to commissioners from building groups.

Beth Refakes reminded us of the ball gown collection for the women of the 1/5 Marines and addressed the crying need for affordable housing.

Barrie Fisher provided images of a problem at the KMart Plaza where Planet Fitness has opened.  Apparently, customers are using the handicapped parking.

Former councilwoman Wendy Leece observed that the last meeting went way too long and that nobody was well-served by attempting to deal with important issues past midnight - citing the Farmer's Market issue.  She also observed that the City is inconsistent in their "red-tagging" policy.

Laurene Kean was curious  about how the City worked, because it just didn't make sense to her - and she cited examples.

Ann Parker agreed with Leece about the Farmer's Market meeting, indicating it would have been better to postpone it.  She also wondered why there was no Costa Mesa representation - either by a council member or staff - at a meeting at Hoag Hospital with Newport Beach officials and members of the Air Quality Management District (AQMD) last week that discussed the apparently serious problem of air pollution wafting over the Westside of Costa Mesa from a metal finishing business just across the border in Newport Beach.  She cited the observation by Hoag staffers that there appeared to be "cancer clusters" in Costa Mesa downwind from the plant.

Mary Spadoni observed that if our population IS aging, why are we building housing units designed specifically NOT for that demographic?

Teresa Drain also stressed the need for affordable housing.

MCCARTHY
During Councilmember Comments McCarthy asked Assistant Director of Development Services, Claire Flynn, to provide a quick status report on the Fairview Developmental Center.  she advised that it is to be closed - maybe as soon as 2018 -  and the 281 residents placed in residential units.  She said members of the City staff have been working with State officials, trying to determine the best use for that property.  You could almost see the developers in the room salivating about what they could do with that giant chunk of land in the middle of Costa Mesa - an otherwise built-out city.  McCarthy then took a backhanded swipe at the folks who take their time to speak before them.  One of the speakers noted that members of the public who attended the last meeting had to leave before the final item - the Farmer's Market - was heard because of family and work obligations.  They missed their opportunity to address the commission.  McCarthy seemed to almost get joy from the fact that more critics were foreclosed from participating.  He also complained about what he perceived as criticism of the City staff at the last meeting.  Nope - Colin doesn't like ANY criticism, period!

SESLER
Tim Sesler opened his comments by stating that "I don't recognize the city the speakers were talking about.", which spoke volumes to me.  Maybe he needs to get out and about more - to actually SEE the city the speakers have been addressing for months.  He did observe, referring to the earlier presentation, that the Los Angeles/Orange County area is the 2nd least affordable new housing market in the country.  He also complained about the pastor of his church, Father Phil DeVaul, being "verbally assaulted" by members of the public at the last meeting.  That was interesting.  I don't recall it that way.  DeVaul was criticized and his plan for the Farmer's Market in the middle of  residential area were questioned, but he certainly wasn't "verbally assaulted".  That was just little Timmy posturing for his pastor.

DICKSON

During his comments Chairman Dickson made a statement that should have been a bellwether of what was ahead that night.  Addressing the lateness of the previous meeting, he said, "I will stay here until 4:00 a.m. - if folks want to be here all night by folks repeating themselves, so be it."  He then dismissed the theory that there is a "cabal" in the city, and asked staff about the Planet Fitness parking situation and red-tagging.  (Flynn stated that businesses were typically "red-tagged" when life safety was involved) and he said that the apparent pollution by Hixson Metal Fabricating is an issue for the AQMD, not the City.

MATHEWS
Vice Chair Jeff Mathews, as is usually the case, had no comments.

CONSENT CALENDAR - AND IRONY
Items 1, 2 and 3 were pulled for discussion and the commissioners promptly voted "the remainder" of the Consent Calendar (the cancellation of the July 13th meeting) without comment or discussion.  Again, ironic that they would vote to cancel their next meeting when the last two would run very, very late.

CODE ENFORCEMENT REPORT
Dickson had #1, the Code Enforcement report, pulled and new Chief of Code Enforcement Fidel Gamboa  basically read the staff report to them.  You can read it yourself HERE.

EASEMENTS AT 970 W. 16TH STREET

Activist and former councilman Jay Humphrey pulled Items 2 and 3, which related to the same property to stress that we've already given this developer the chance to build a dense project and wondered who would be paying for the improvements necessary with these easements. (City Engineer Fariba Faseli advised that the developer would be paying)

PUBLIC HEARING NUMBER.... 3!  WHAT?
Finally, at 7:35, we were about to hear the first Public Hearing when Dickson did a little agenda-shuffling and brought Public Hearing #3 forward, apparently because some of the interested parties brought children with them to the meeting.  So, I guess that's the answer in the future... if you want your item moved up on the roster, have some fidgety kids in the audience.  Yeah, I said it that way because the developer is former professional baseball star Doug DeCinces.

So, off we go, hearing about his plan, HERE, to replace six single story homes on Orange Avenue with six two-story homes on a lot that would be a drive-through site between Orange and Norse.  After the staff presentation and the developers pitch, Dickson did something very strange - something we've not seen before.  He permitted some opponents to "pool" their time and let one person speak to the issue.  He first permitted "non-pool" speakers to address the commission for their three minutes, so Jerome Blackman - a neighbor on Norse - Ann Parker and Jay Humphrey all expressed their concerns.  Then a new resident - I didn't catch her name - told us that she and her husband had just moved next door to this proposed development - expressed concern about her privacy, air quality and whether the power lines could be undergrounded.  At that point architect Douglas Gorrie stepped up and used 19 minutes (!) to address a laundry list of concerns - inadequate setbacks, massing, grade issues and his (their) perception that the City is falling short of

protecting them.  He cited several sections from the Municipal Design Guidelines to support his case.  (I didn't see five more people in his entourage, so Dickson really cut him some slack by permitting him to speak so long.  I found myself thinking this is potentially a precedent-setting event - bring your kids, pool your comments and take over the issue)

DeCinces answered all the questions.  He agreed to use Transom Windows so neighbors wouldn't have to worry about being "overlooked" from this project.  It was interesting that he showed photos of the home Gorrie was talking about, citing that IT had sight lines into it's neighbors yards.  Nice touch.  Anyhow, after McCarthy worried about the possibility of walling off a family room for another bedroom, Mathews speculated about making it 5 units instead of 6, Sesler worried about screening the properties from neighbors using plants, the item was passed, 4-0 with the assurance that the developer would work with staff to find "some method" of screening.  It was now 9:00 and they took a break.

PAWN SHOP CHANGES
At 9:20 the meeting reconvened with Public Hearing #1, HERE, the request by a local jewelry store/pawnbroker - Jewelry-N-Loan - to have restrictions on their conditional use permit removed to permit a broader pawn activity.  The applicants - new owners of this business - wanted the current restriction of Pawnbroker limiting them to watches and jewelry only and loans not less than $2,500 to be removed, allowing them to loan less and take a wider variety of goods in pawn.

The applicants were very smooth.  Both lawyers, they made their pitch based on years of experience in the pawn business, citing other locations in Beverly Hills, New York City.  I can just see their business cards now - "Beverly Hills - New York City - Costa Mesa".  Apparently one of the applicants literally grew up in the business.  Anyhow, their tag-team presentation was very slick.  They presented a stack of form letters from neighboring businesses supporting their request.  At least one speaker called into question the methodology used in gathering those letters.  I suspect the commissioners and most in the audience thought this would be a slam-dunk, following the staff report and denying the requested change.  Six people spoke to the issue - five against the requested change and the former owner spoke in support of the new owners, who he described as "great guys".  He told us of how the sale happened - one of the new owners just waltzed into his store one day while he was having his electric car battery charged and, following a 45 minute chat, offered to buy the business.  Hmmmm.  Other speakers cited the proliferation of sober living homes, more parolees and probationers and the dramatically rising crime rate as reasons to NOT approve the request.  The Costa Mesa Police Department apparently did not support the request, although there was no official member of the department present to address it.

SECURITY
In rebuttal, the applicants cited their 27 security cameras, armed guard, the use of Bay Alarm for their system and the fact that EVERY person transacting business with them is required to be identified and thumb-printed.  They emphasized that residential burglars are unlikely to fence their goods at a pawn shop because of all the security measures.

"POUND OF FLESH"
During the discussion the issue of the signage on the building came up.  It seems the commissioners don't much like the signage, which at least one described as "garish".  Well, duh!  It's not Tiffany's, for goodness sake.  Sesler compared pawn shops to tattoo parlors.  Dickson made the astounding I don't see what the problem is here!  They can already buy and sell.  This is a no-brainer."  Uh-oh...  McCarthy replied that it's a "no-brainer" - for NO!, citing the presentation as striking him as not genuine and the number of other similar businesses nearby.  He used the term "NewPawn Blvd."  Despite the fact that Sr. Planner Mel Lee advised the commission that the current signage is in compliance with code, the commissioners persisted.  In referring to the negotiations for this request, Sesler said, "If we're going to extract a pound of flesh from these guys" he wanted sign changes.  My jaw dropped!


PROBABLY WILL BE APPEALED
Finally, at 10:45 p.m., the commissioners voted 3-1, with McCarthy voting NO, to approve the request, but modified it to reduce the limitation to $1,000 - not eliminate it altogether - and have staff work with them changing the signage.  It was all too wishy-washy and I fully expect the applicants to appeal this to the City Council.

"IT CAN BE DONE!"
This brought us to the proposed development on Mesa Verde Drive East - the site of the Church of Christ Scientist - where developer - Peter Zehnder - originally proposed to build thirteen (13) units, then, when he found community resistance, held community meetings and came back with the current plan - for ten (10) R-1 homes that meet every requirement.  The project was universally cheered by the commissioners.  Even speaker Humphrey began his comments with, "My God - it can be done!", referring, of course, to the long recent trail of developments with deviations, modifications, etc., that have flowed through the planning process for the past few years.  After a very short discussion the project was approved on a 4-0 vote.  It must go before the City Council because it requires a zoning change, but I expect it to receive accolades from that body, too.  They will probably spend more time praising it than discussing it.  Anyhow, it seems like a good project for some high quality single family homes with a price point north of $1 million.

MORE WESTSIDE VERTICAL DEVELOPMENT
Which, at just about 11:15 p.m., brought us to the final agenda item, Public Hearing #4, HERE.  Melia Homes plans to build 32 live/work units on the site of an old boat storage yard on the Westside of town.  Despite the fact that this perpetuates the prolifieration of such developments, this project met all the requirements except a minor adjustment of 18 inches between a couple of the units - from 10 feet to 8.5 feet.  Undergrounding of utilities, as it turns out, would have killed the project because the process was too costly.  There were water quality issues which the developer is going to remediate.  Three of the four of us who remained in the audience at this time spoke on the issue.  All thought it was a good project.  Barrie Fisher took the opportunity to address the violation of construction hours on another project by this developer nearby.  Developer Chad Brown promptly agreed to fix the problem, blaming it on over-enthusiastic sub-contractors trying to beat the traffic on Victoria Street.  Concern was expressed about the cumulative increase in traffic due to all these projects.  Staff advised that a record is being kept to be sure the General Plan is followed and that they will provide an analysis to the commission in the near future.  This item passed, 4-0, at 11:58 p.m.!  Yea! We made it in the same day!

COMMISSION HAS HAD BETTER MONTHS
As an aside, the commission seemed a little "off" last night.  Perhaps it was the absence of Adranian, who has frequently brought a dissenting voice to some of the discussions.  Chairman Dickson seemed particularly off his game.  Maybe, as the father of two young children,  he's sleep-deprived.  The past two meetings have gone on much too long and their performance and behavior showed it.  Anyhow, they have no meeting now for a month, so there's plenty of time to rest and get back up to speed.

IT'S BUDGET TIME!
For me... off to the Budget Approval meeting tonight, where we'll see how our elected officials decide to spend nearly $150 million of our tax dollars.  Will they spend more on public safety, or leave $4 million in the library pot?  Will they decide to continue to put potholes ahead of your safety?  Tonight's the night.... see you at City Council Chambers at 7:00 p.m.

Surprises In Marathon Planning Commission Meeting

LONG AND LOADED
The Costa Mesa Planning Commission met last night and, although most observers expected it to be a long meeting, few expected it to run well past midnight.  Even fewer expected there to be charges of racism leveled against staff members.  It was a night of surprises.

CHANGED MY PLANS
I arrived at the Planning Commission meeting a few minutes late, finding half a hundred people in the auditorium.  My grand plan was to attend the Organics Recycling meeting first, then scamper to the Planning Commission meeting.  However, that first one was packed to overflowing, so I gave up my seat and adjourned to the other meeting.  I'll attend the next Organics Recycling meeting Saturday morning at the Neighborhood Community Center starting at 9 a.m.

MATHEWS ABSENT
Back to the Planning Commission.  I arrived just as Public Comments were finishing and Commissioner Comments were about to commence.  I noted that Vice Chair Jeff Mathews was absent.  Apparently an earlier speaker addressed the development on Victoria Street approved by the City Council last week with changes recommended by the Planning Commission removed because Chairman Rob Dickson found it necessary to speak about it.

COLIN ON PARKING AND FUN
Colin McCarthy responded to apparent criticism of parking in the city, indicated that he'd been working under the assumption that Costa Mesa had the tightest parking rules in the county.  Assistant Director of Development Services, Claire Flynn, advised him that a consultant is working on that issue and will report back this summer.  He also addressed traffic and home prices, indicating that he wants to invite someone from the Orange County Business council to address home prices county-wide and citing the lack of housing stock as a major negative on our economy.  He also said he was looking forward to the Mayor's Ball, which he described as his favorite event of the year - a great place to just laugh and joke.  I smiled...

SESLER ON COMPLAINTS
Tim Sesler complained about people complaining about Westside housing - must have meant during public comments.  He attributed the traffic problem to high density apartments, and stated that people want to live in the homes being built on the Westside.

ANDRANIAN ON FIRST FRIDAY ROAD SHOW
Stephan Andranian spoke about parking and the First Friday Road Show, which he described as a great event.

DICKSON ON VICTORIA STRET PROJECT - AGAIN
Rob Dickson again spoke about the Victoria Street project, citing a "hybrid plan" the developer put together for the City Council that the Planning Commission had not seen - apparently defending their decision, which was overturned by the council.

EASY ONE TOOK AWHILE AND WAS SHOVED OUT
One of the surprises of the evening was Public Hearing #1, a nice little two-unit development on Orange Avenue.  This item took an hour for the commission to hear, and then they voted to continue it off calendar so the staff could work with the developer again on a 3-1 vote.  Sesler voted No.

RADIOS AND RACISM
Public Hearing #2, the appeal of the denial of a permit for a radio antenna at an office building location on Fair Drive at Harbor Blvd, brought the most distasteful moments of the evening.  The item was actually pretty straightforward.  They wanted to build a 70 foot tall radio tower and the maximum permitted is 30 feet.  However, when the appellant, Mrs. Mary Luna, began talking she eventually accused Flynn of being racist because Mrs. Luna felt "unwelcome" in Costa Mesa.  I've never heard such a preposterous charge uttered by any applicant.

GRASPING AT RACISM STRAWS
Adding to that theme, Victor Mendez, the founder of the organization who wanted the radio station, emphasized his duel ethnicity - Latino and Black - then dragged out a document that apparently showed that he was an American citizen.  Part of their spiel was that the FCC had "assigned them" to Costa Mesa.  Clearly, all the people in their entourage had trouble comprehending exactly what the FCC told them, and they certainly didn't understand the municipal code.  The City enlisted lawyer Jonathon Kramer - a radio expert - to help sort out the issues.  Resident Art Goddard, who helped create radio antenna ordinance a

couple decades ago, stepped up to refute the claims by the appellant.

SESLER SETS HER STRAIGHT
As the discussion continued Sesler - clearly angry - advised Luna that,  "crying racism is a very serious charge and reflects very poorly on your organization."  He was right.

NO TOWER FOR NOW
In the end the commission voted unanimously to uphold the Zoning Administrator's rejection of their application.  It was very bizarre.

MOVING SUTRA
At 9:00 p.m., following a very short break, the commission began hearing Public Hearing #3, the relocation of the Sutra Lounge from one end of The Triangle to the other, the placement of a restaurant in the vacated spot and the possible use of 7,000 square feet of wine storage space in that center.  Former Director of Development Services, Don Lamm, represented the owners of The Triangle and first provided some history of the shopping center and told us that the current owner had spent $30 million on the center since acquiring it in 2012.  Much of the discussion revolved around the controversial planned patio,  noise, police calls for service and parking.  Eleven members of the public spoke on the issue - 7 for and 4 against.  One of the speakers, Mary Spadoni, mentioned that we lack the ability to enforce our drunk driving laws. 

PULLED PATIO REQUEST
Rob Ariano, Marketing and Event Director of Sutra Lounge, told the commission that they had reevaluated their situation and the request for the patio along 19th Street was being withdrawn.

PARKING
Much discussion was about parking, both within and outside The Triangle.  Neighbors complained about drunks in their neighborhood and parking from cars using The Triangle.

APPROVED
Eventually - at 11:25 p.m. - the commission voted in favor of the requested actions, 4-0,  but wanted the withdrawal of the patio codified and parking reviewed before the 7,000 square feet could be leased for any purpose.

THE BIGGIE
Which brought us - the 30 folks remaining in the auditorium at 11:30 - to Public Hearing #4, the 177-unit project on West 17th Street at the corner of Pomona Avenue, the site of the old J.C. Carter industrial venue.  This site has been vacant for years, with the contamination of both the water and soil a major factor in it not being developed.  According to McCarthy, the cost of remediation was more than the value of the land at one point.

NO TRAFFIC IMPACT?  REALLY, DON?
Lamm was the representative on this project, too.  He began his presentation at midnight, emphasizing that this was exactly the kind of project the Westside Overlays anticipated.  He made a curious statement when he said, "This project has no impact on traffic in this area."  Really?  Hard to imagine, isn't it? We're adding 400 people to an area!

MCEVOY WADES IN
The first member of the public to speak on this item was former council candidate, Chris McEvoy, who introduced himself as "Boycott Skosh Monahan's".  He leveled many complaints about dense development on the Westside, traffic, checking garages for use parking cars and not storage and overflow parking.  Ten more people spoke - many of them the same young people who spoke - twice - in favor of the Victoria Street project last week.  Eight speakers favored the project.  McEvoy and two others did not.

DIRT IS TOXIC
No small degree of concern was expressed about the need to clean up this site, described as a possible Super Fund toxic site by McCarthy.  The water side of the clean up is complete, but millions of tons of dirt will have to be "remediated" - maybe completely removed and replaced - before homesites can be built.  When asked for the possible price point for the units, Lamm speculated they might be in the low $600,000 to mid $800,000 range.

NO SHOWERS IN WORK UNIT!
When it finally passed - at 1:01 a.m. - Chair Dickson required the full bathrooms shown on the plans for the live/work units that formed part of this project be reduced to 1/2 baths - a sink and toilet - to preclude using them for another bedroom or a rental unit.  During the discussion McCarthy took time to thank the people who spoke in favor of the project, lambasting those who "come down here and say they hate everything, then go away."  Those, of course, would be the people who take the time to actually study the issues, go survey the project sites and take time out of their busy lives to dare to step up to speak to the commission on these important issues.

WHEW!
So, that was it for the evening/morning.  More on that Organics Recycling meeting later.

Another Late Night And Righeimer Blows A Gasket

LATE START
The Costa Mesa City Council meeting got off to a late start last night when the council stretched their Closed Session to nearly 2 hours.  We don't know exactly what went on in that meeting up in the 5th floor bunker, but contract City Attorney Tom Duarte "reported out" that the City will receive a $125,000 settlement on the third item on the agenda - a lawsuit that has been pending since July.  We can only assume that the other two items - labor negotiations between the City and both CMCEA and CMPOA were contentious.  Negotiator Richard Kreisler wasn't in the chambers for any kind of a report and, since the COIN process requires a report if offers are made, we must assume no progress has been made on the CMCEA issue.  And, I have no knowledge of whether Mayor Jim Righeimer and Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger left the meeting when the CMPOA issue was discussed.

COSTA MESA UNITED
Once the regular meeting finally began at 6:20 we had a little report from Colin McCarthy and Ron Amburgey, representing Costa Mesa United, on how the monies they raised (and the City contributed) had been spent over the last year.  Unfortunately, Amburgey blitzed through the slide show so fast and without much comment, that I'm still unsure how much was spent, and where.  Still, good for Costa Mesa United.  The schools appreciate their efforts.  It is, after all, all about the kids, right?

PUBLIC COMMENTS
The Public Comments segment was interesting.  As has been his practice, Righeimer was handed a deck of speaker cards, appeared to shuffle them up a little, then called the names of the anointed 10 speakers who would be permitted to address his highness, er, the council.  The remainder would be trailed to the very end of the meeting - in this case, well after 11 p.m.

COPS AND GROUP HOMES
The first speaker, Scott Morlan, addressed the recent series of articles by Eric Hartley in the Orange County Register and asked Righeimer to clarify some of the comments attributed to him.  Righeimer didn't.  Morlan's wife, Lisa, addressed the council on the issue of Group Homes and wondered how many citations have been issued so far under our Nuisance Ordinance.  She also wondered why no list is available for unlicensed group homes, since they are, in fact, businesses.  Licensed group homes are listed on the City website.  Righeimer, in response to her, mentioned that she was one of seven community member selected for his new Preserve Our Neighborhoods Committee.

DENSITY AND TRAFFIC
Harold Weitzberg cautioned the council about the location of infill projects, not wishing Costa Mesa to end up looking like his hometown of Flushing, Queens.   

I'M A SWELL GUY
Phil Morello used his three minutes to pat himself on the back for his accomplishments of the past 20 years as a member of the Wallace Avenue Improvement Group.

COP RECRUITMENT STATISTICS
Sue Lester provided some statistics to the council about the Cost of Recruitment for the Costa Mesa Police Department, explaining that it's MUCH cheaper to find creative ways to retain officers than to replace them.   

CMPD
Margaret Mooney rose to also address the talent drain in the CMPD.

THUNNEL MUZZLED
Then Greg Thunnel stepped up and began to speak, even though his name had not been called.  After a few seconds Righeimer slammed the door on him.  Thunnel didn't stick around until the end of the meeting to speak.

VERNAL POOLS
Kim Hendricks asked why the Fairview Park vernal pools are not being protected.   

FIELD USE ALLOCATION NUMBERS
Anna Vrska took on the recent Field Use Allocation Report, questioned its accuracy and wondered how the scheduled uses compared to the actual use time.

WHAT WILL IT TAKE?
Tamar Goldmann addressed the "Police staffing crisis" and suggested that the council ask Chief Tom Gazsi and the members of the CMPD what it will take to keep them here.

I'M A SWELL GUY, PART 2
Shortly after 7:00 we arrived at the Council Members Comments segment.  Mensinger led off and patted himself on the back as a member of Costa Mesa United.

WANTS A REPORT
Sandra Genis thanked Lisa Morlan for her comments and asked for a report on the citations issued as a result of the Nuisance Ordinance.

COMMITTEES, DEVELOPMENT AND FIELDS
Wendy Leece mentioned the call for volunteers for five city committees and the Costa Mesa Senior Corporation Board that was recently announced, HERE.  She reminded us of the Costa Mesa Relay For Life event coming up on March 31st which she co-chairs.  She addressed Weitzberg's comment and expressed concern for developments that will generate more traffic and increase the density in the city.  On the Field Use issue, she wondered if groups are "hoarding fields" - scheduling them, then not using them.

POLICE CRISIS
Leece then addressed CEO Tom Hatch on the issue of the Costa Mesa Police Department and asked him, directly, what we are doing to address pending retirements.  She said the CMPD is "on the brink of collapse", and that we need a plan to address it.  She implied that this was an attempt at "union busting" to demonstrate to outside entities how tough we are.  I presume she was referring to Righeimer.  She referred to this situation as a "political battle".  She demanded to know what is going to be done and suggested, among other things, we consider hiring/retention bonuses.  I thought to myself that folks are not leaving the CMPD because of money.  Recent reports tell us that many leave because of the political environment created by Righeimer.

AS USUAL...
Gary Monahan, as is usually the case, had nothing to say.  He's been sleep-walking through council meetings for many months.

PRESERVE OUR NEIGHBORHOODS COMMITTEE
Righeimer then took over and yapped for fifteen minutes.  He mentioned his Preserve Our Neighborhoods Committee that has been percolating for "four or five months" and announced the names of the members - which he rattled off so fast that I couldn't catch most of them.  It was strange, since there was no public process for the selection of members to that committee.  I guess he just picked folks he liked.  So much for transparency.  He did mention Lisa Morlan and Tim Sesler - whom he mentioned is a lawyer.  Little Timmy is a Planning Commissioner and one of the inner circle of Riganistas that now dominate most city committees.

COMPARED GROUP HOMES TO THE PORN INDUSTRY
During his rant about the Group Home issue he mentioned that Newport Beach, which found a way to oust them, is now being sued.  He compared that "billion dollar industry" to the pornography industry - a very nice touch.  He said "This is gonna cost a lot of money - litigation does."  He also said, "It's gonna be a long, hard, painful road."

HYPOCRITE!
Addressing the "police" issue, among the pearls of wisdom he laid on us was, "It's important that the people are protected and that they feel protected."  He then defended closing the A.B.L.E. helicopter program by telling us that most cities don't have helicopter programs and they get along just fine.  That's why he "just shifted the dollars".  Well, he shifted one heck of a lot of dollars to potholes from protecting residents.  He closed his segment by saying, "When I ran for office about four years ago I said it and I meant it.  We love our police department!"  I almost threw up in my mouth!  Does he even think about this garbage before he spews it?  I can tell you that the men and women of the CMPD are sure not feeling that love from him!  What a hypocrite!

HATCH
At 7:30 Hatch had his turn at bat.  He told us that a space at the Police Department substation near Lions Park would be carved out as a regular meeting room for Costa Mesa Vets, and that they would continue to be offered meeting rooms at the Neighborhood Community Center free of charge.

GROUP HOME/CODE ENFORCEMENT
Addressing the Group Homes issue, he, once again, spoke of the Code Enforcement officers in the 5th floor unit dedicated to "motels" and "group homes" and told us "public safety is our top priority."  Really, Tom?  Please explain to us how the City's actions square with your words.

ALLEYS, GRANTS AND VERNAL POOLS
Hatch relinquished a segment of his time for Director of Public Services Ernesto Munoz to address alleys - we're ahead of schedule by a couple years of getting all the alleys paved (due in great part to Righeimer's "shifting of dollars" - my words, not Ernesto's); grants - the staff continues to be successful in acquiring grants for important infrastructure improvements and the vernal pools.  We're still waiting from guidance from United States Fish and Wildlife (USFW) on how to proceed.

THREE ITEMS YANKED
Items 6, 7 and 8 were pulled from the Consent Calendar and were addressed at the end of the meeting.

SMALL LOT SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE
Just before 8:00 we got to Public Hearing #1, the Small Lot Subdivision issue.  The voluminous agenda report can be read HERE.  After a short staff report - in which it was stressed that "the proposed ordinance is not intended to increase the density in any multiple family residential zones, modify the minimum requirement for parking spaces, or change the approval process for small subdivisions" -  sixteen members of the "public", including former council candidate Chris McEvoy, rose to address it.  Those included five (5) developers or representatives of developer organizations, who were pleased as punch that Costa Mesa has created this document which will basically make it a lot easier on them - and the city staff - to process their requests.  Previously, most such developments were "bogged down" by the need for variances and deviations from the existing city code.  You know, those codes that had been enacted to protect neighborhoods from things like density and traffic.  This ordinance codifies the deviations from those protections.

SOME HAPPY, OTHERS NOT SO MUCH

Planning Commissioner Colin McCarthy stepped up to praise the council for passing this ordinance.  Retired senior staffer Peter Naghavi stepped up to praise the council for passing this ordinance. Nine residents rose to offer their views.  One of them wondered to the council whether it was working for the people or the developers.  Others suggested that developers go where there is more open space - like south county - for their developments instead of trying to jam more of these developments into Costa Mesa.  In a parting shot, one speaker echoed a phrase Councilwoman Sandra Genis uttered several weeks ago when she observed that she'd heard that Costa Mesa was becoming known as "a cheap lay" within the development community.  Nice, huh?  Another wondered if an examination of campaign contributions for certain council members might find the names of developers.

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT QUESTIONED
The subsequent council discussion was interesting.  Genis - a land planning consultant by profession - expressed frustration because she said the "environmental determination is bizarre" and angrily suggested that the staff needs training on the subject.

AN AMUSING MALAPROP
Mensinger - who sometimes speaks in tongues - in trying to explain how developers had been frustrated by the old process said it "exasperated the problem".  Well, of course, we know he meant "exacerbated", right?  What a guy!  But then, that's just "Steve being Steve".. the cop out for everything he does.

MORE TRAFFIC AND COMMUNITY DENSITY
Wendy Leece expressed concern that this would result in more traffic and stress on our infrastructure.  When the vote was called at 9:10 it passed the first reading, 3-2, with Genis and Leece voting no.

EXPANSION TO MOVE AHEAD
When the meeting reconvened at 9:20 they addressed Public Hearing #2, an appeal of a proposed renovation in Wimbledon Village.  Forty minutes later the council upheld the original decision on a 5-0 vote.

JUNKYARD TO HOMES

Public Hearing #3, the 36-unit combination live/work development on Placentia Avenue, HERE, took more than an hour of wrestling with basically a parking/easement access issue.  The issue of this appeal by a contiguous property owner was the use of the shared easement that was a driveway to both properties.  The current use of the property to be developed is a salvage yard.  The appellant expressed concern about the safety of cars backing out of garages - 10 of the units are configured so the garages face the easement - because of the number of delivery trucks and other commercial vehicles going to their property.  This was partially mitigated by shifting the development a few feet, but Leece and Genis continued to express concern about the safety elements, and that children may wander out onto the easement.

RIGHEIMER LOSES IT!
At that point Righeimer just completely lost it.  He said, "This whole issue of safety is bizarre!" (That's got to tell you something about the man..)  He ranted about council members concerns, saying "we want it perfect!", meaning they - the other council members - wanted it perfect.  Then, as Leece had the floor and was explaining her view, Righeimer threw his arms in the air, rudely interrupted her and - as Monahan and Mensinger squirmed in their seats -  bellowed, "It's just a junk yard!" I knew he'd never make it through the meeting without one of those little explosions for which he has become notorious.  The council approved the development on a 3-2 vote - Leece and Genis voted no.

EXPAND VANDALISM REWARD TO PRIVATE PROPERTY, TOO?
At 11:10 they began considering Old Business #1, the ordinance that provided for a reward to folks who lead to the arrest and conviction of people who vandalize public property.  This was a no-brainer, so the discussion took only couple minutes and it passed, 5-0.  However, (speaking of no-brainers) Mensinger wanted to expand it to vandalism of private property, too.  He couldn't get a second to his motion, but Righeimer directed Hatch to bring back a NEW ordinance to provide rewards - from city funds - for apprehending and convicting criminals who vandalize private property.  I'm not so sure about this one.  Why should public funds be used for this purpose?

DOOR'S OPEN FOR SEX OFFENDERS AGAIN
At 11:15 it took fifteen seconds for the council to vote to repeal the ordinance that forbade sex offenders to be in public parks.  That may be a new record.

QUICK WORK OF CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS
They then took on the three items pulled from the Consent Calendar, numbers 6, 7 and 8.  The first two passed with 5-0 votes and the third, which dealt with the Orange County Marathon, passed on a 4-0 vote because Righeimer recused himself because he said, "I sold some furniture" to the guy who runs the program.  Well, it's more than that, but he left the auditorium for the discussion and vote.

RIGHEIMER QUASHES COMMENTS - AGAIN
And, the meeting ended at 11:33 as the last remaining person who signed up for Public Comments, Cindy Black, questioned the 19th Street bike path.  Righeimer managed, once again, to discourage another half dozen speakers by bifurcating the Public Comments segment.  Folks like James Bridges, who depends on public transportation to attend meetings, had their opportunity to speak before the council delayed and, for all practical purposes, denied.  Such is life in Righeimer's "transparent" world.