Surprising Lack Of Unity Marks Planning Commission Meeting

OOPS... A LITTLE DISAGREEMENT
The Costa Mesa Planning Commission met Monday night to a full agenda and, to my amazement, they actually found an issue that split their vote.  More on that when we come to it.

PUBLIC COMMENTS
During Public Comments Beth Refakes, representing the Military Affairs Team, gave an update on the success of the gown drive for the wives of the 1/5 Marines and announced the current candy drive - Trunk or Treat - for the children of that organization.  Individually wrapped candies may be delivered to the lobby of City Hall for this drive.

FIREFIGHTERS FOR THE GOOD GUYS
Mary Spadoni announced the Firefighters event supporting candidates Sandy Genis, John Stephens and Jay Humphrey on Saturday, October 1st at TeWinkle Park at which the firefighters will serve pancakes in the morning and roasted brats for lunch.

CRITICIZING COLIN, TICKING OFF MATHEWS
An unidentified woman took Commissioner Colin McCarthy to task, citing his recent commentary in the Daily Pilot praising the current council majority.  She also asked Vice Chair Jeff Mathews where he lived - south county?  Mathews was REALLY peeved at that question and said he lived on 20th Street and "don't ask me that question again!"  Hmmm... struck a nerve, did she?  As a matter of fact, she can ask him anything she wants and Mathews can do nothing about it.  Methinks he doest protest too much.  Hmmm...

GOOD JOB, SAILORS
During Commissioner Comments Stephan Andranian praised his alma mater, Newport Harbor High School, for their good behavior while losing the Battle of the Bay last weekend.  He was obliquely refering to some bad behavior by students from Corona Del Mar High School at the event.

PETTY TIM
Tim Sesler was peeved at Spadoni's announcement.  He, of course, mispronounced her name - SPANDONI - and suggested she ask firefighters about their high pay.  It was hard to hear him on the CMTV feed - I think he sometimes speaks with marbles in his mouth.

COLIN CAMPAIGNS FROM THE DAIS
McCarthy also used his time to campaign from the dais, speaking about his personal experience ten years ago with alleged firefighters going door-to-door.  He launched in to a lauditory screed about how lucky we are to have the current council majority because they are responsible for our $11 million surplus.

THEY JUST CAN'T STOP IT
Chairman Rob Dickson spoke briefly about how lucky he had been to have purchased a former rehab home on the Westside and how the property has doubled in value.  Again, campaigning from the dais.

CORRECTING THE RECORD
The only item on the Consent Calendar was the minutes of the September 12th meeting and resident Steve Chen pulled them for discussion.  He presented some specific items on the minutes that he said misrepresented the actual facts and asked that they be corrected.  The commission decided to have the staff review the entries and bring the minutes back for approval at a future date.  I think this is the very first time I've seen anyone from the public challenge the minutes.  It was refreshing.

788 CENTER STREET FIRST
Then, instead of taking the Public Hearings in order they decided to pull #4 to the front, apparently because the applicant showed up with small children.  So, the commissioners took a couple of minutes to hear the staff report and hear from the applicant for 788 Center Street in which an old single-story home will be demolished and two units built.  It was approved, 5-0.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF 2850 MESA VERDE DRIVE EAST
Then we went back into the normal order and heard Public Hearing #1, the General Plan Amendment and Rezone at 2850 Mesa Verde Drive East.  This one is curious - and I don't mean that in a good way.  It seems this is out of sequence because the City Council, during a Special Meeting in June to hear the General Plan Update, somehow managed to approve, 4-0 (Gary Monahan was absent) that this issue would be included in the motion.  Normally, there would be a separate hearing in which a Tentative Tract map would be considered.  So, Peter Zehnder - who has build several small developments around town, including one right next door to this proposed project - presented it for the commission's consideration.  The plan is to demolish two existing office buildings and replace them with low density housing.  Zehnder provided a potential project layout.

LOSS OF BUSINESSES
Several prople spoke out against this plan, including Reverand Jim Terrill, who has had an office in one of the buildings for 28 years.  He spoke about the disruption of him and 20 other tenants and those who used the services provided by those businesses.

LOSS TO THE COMMUNITY
Robin Leffler, a Mesa Verde resident, spoke about the loss of this "business community" and how it would negatively impact the nearby residential community.

MCCARTHY BRUSHES CONCERNS ASIDE
After a discussion in which McCarthy shrugged off the claims of this business complex would be a loss to the community by telling us that his dentist used to be there but he didn't like the shabby buildings, so he changed dentists - as if that had ANY relevance to the issue at all!

"THE COUNCIL GAVE US DIRECTION, SO...."
Commissioner Stephan Andranian said he sympathized with the business owners, the City Council had apparently provided direction that this is the way they wanted to go with this proposal.  So, the commission passed it along, 5-0.

LOW DENSITY IN MESA VERDE... CURIOUS
An observation - low density developments are pretty rare these days in our city.  It's more than curious that two of them are now going to be done back-to-back in Mesa Verde - where McCarthy and the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem lives.   Just sayin'......

SOBECA - DON'T BLINK
That brought us to Public Hearing #2, the required action bringing the recent changes to the General Plan Update for the SoBECA area into compliance with the General Plan.  This took less than 10 minutes and the commisson passed it, 5-0.

PIERCE STREET ANNEX/THE COUNTRY CLUB
Then came Public Hearing #3, the proposal to convert the existing Pierce Street Annex, a bar at 330 East 17th Street, into a restaurant to be called The Country Club.  The applicant, Mario Marovic - owner of the Wild Goose a block to the East - also wanted to have operating hours of 6 AM to 2 AM.  We've seen Marovic in action before - when he pitched his ideas for The Wild Goose.  He's a very polished operator and, lest you forget that, he comes prepared with slides and charts telling you what a great guy he is.

WHAT LIVE ENTERTAINMENT?
One thing that happened during the discussion was the revelation of a couple things.  One, the current operation was already permitted to operate starting at 6 AM if they wished to. And, contrary to a section in the staff report, the current use already includes live entertainment.  That surprised the commissioners.  Marovic didn't want to give either of those up.  There was also some haggling over the facade in the front of the restaurant - the City wants more "transparency" in the front wall and Marovic didn't.  The staff could find no record of a live entertainment permit having been issued - but this place has been open for business under one name or another since 1959.  After nearly 90 minutes the commission eventually passed it, 5-0, with some changes regarding the facade - more light showing - and deleted the reference to live entertainment.

PARKING PROBLEMS WITH THE CRACK SHACK
After a short break they tackled Public Hearing #5, the conversion of a bank building at the corner of 17th Street and Orange Avenue into a restaurant called Crack Shack - a place that specializes in chicken and egg dishes.  This one seems like an interesting concept, but parking was an issue.  The applicant, Mike Rosen, brought with him a "parking consultant" who proceeded to tell the commissioners why our parking standards are all wrong for this use - at least, that's what I think he said, because we couldn't hear a word of his presentation.  He had stepped away from the microphone to be able to read his slides, so those of us watching at home have no clue about what he said, except what we could attempt to interpret from his slides.

RESIDENTS BALK AT PARKING PROBLEM
Beth Refakes and Chuck Perry - both Eastside residents - expressed grave concerns about the parking issue.  It seems our requirements for this use is 75 spaces and the applicant's solution only provides for 62, but does include a valet option.  Round and round the discussion went.  McCarthy observed that in EVERY case involving this kind of a situation the applicant will present a parking expert to find a way around our parking requirement and the result is severely underparked projects like this one.  He specifically cited 17th Street, where parking is terrible.

 SHARED PARKING OPTION
Andranian suggested that the applicant find a nearby business to negotiate a shared parking arrangement.  The applicant said that was in the works, but balked at the requirement because of the unknown of the future of the business in question.  He was adament that his project met the city requirements via the use of valet parking.  After a little more than an hour the commissioners voted, 3-2, to REQUIRE the applicant to find shared parking for 13 more cars.  Dickson and Sesler voted NO.  That was VERY interesting.

 LATER HOURS AND ALCOHOL FOR PIZZA PRESS
The final item, Public Hearing #6 - a Conditional Use Permit for the Pizza Press at Metro Point to operate past 11 p.m. with the onsite sale of alcohol.  The hours would be 11 AM - 1 AM.  The commission took only 10 minutes to approve this one, 5-0.

LATER THAN WE THOUGHT
Dickson adjourned the meetin at 10:10 p.m.

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.

Meet Special Districts Candidates

MEET AND GREET

The Friends of the Costa Mesa Libraries will host a Meet And Greet event Thursday, October 16, 2014 at which the voters will have a chance to spend some time with candidates for several special districts that serve Costa Mesa.

HALECREST, 7-9 P.M.
The event, to be held at the Halecrest Swim and Tennis Club, 3107 Killybrooke Lane, will run from 7 - 9 p.m. and will be moderated by MESA Water District President Jim Fisler.

MOST CANDIDATES WILL PARTICIPATE

As of this writing the following candidates have confirmed their attendance at this event:
Orange County Water District - Wendy Leece and Shawn Dewane
MESA Water District - Ron Amburgey and Jim Atkinson
Costa Mesa Sanitary District - Arlene Schafer, Mike Scheafer, Bob Ooten and Brian Peotter.  (Chuck Perry has declined to participate)

A MORE CASUAL FORMAT

It's my understanding that the format will be more casual than other forums.  It will begin with fifteen minutes during which the candidates will mingle with the crowd.  The formal part of the meeting will then begin with an introduction by the hosts and Fisler will discuss Special Districts.  Then each candidate will have seven (7) minutes to introduce themselves and discuss anything they feel is relevant to their candidacy.  The hosts have suggested the following topics for each group:

For Mesa Water District Candidates - Drought, Water Bond and Water Supply

For Orange County Water District Candidates - Drought, Desalinization and Basin Water Replenishment

For Costa Mesa Sanitary District Candidates - Residential Trash Rates, Consolidation and the Organics Program.

NO QUESTIONS FROM AUDIENCE

There will be NO questions asked of ANY candidate from either the moderator or the audience.

MORE MINGLING
Following that portion of the meeting the candidates will adjourn to their tables and/or just mingle and answer any questions individual members of the audience might have.

OLD BARRY TO RECORD IT
I'm told Barry Friedland and his Costa Mesa Brief crew will be on hand to provide a video record of this event.

Mayor And Minions Crash Party - Are Jeered

MY QUESTION ANSWERED
Well, I guess that question I asked on a comment thread last week was partially answered last night.  I asked a commentor with whom I was having a "conversation" just how far Mayor Jim Righeimer and his supporters would go to win the election in November.

BAD MANNERS, POOR JUDGMENT
Last night, at a "meet and greet" event for council candidates Katrina Foley and Jay Humphrey and Orange County Water District Board candidate Wendy Leece, Righeimer and some of his minions crashed the event and attempted to make Foley look bad before the eyes of the the three dozen voters assembled to hear what she and the others had to say.

THREE STOOGES PLUS ONE

Several reports from the event, including directly from Foley, Humphrey and Leece, informed me that Righeimer, Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger, Mesa Water District Board candidate Ron Amburgey and Costa Mesa Sanitary District candidate Chuck Perry wandered into the meeting at the Greenleaf Mobile Home Park on the Westside of town, hunkered down and then began asking aggressive and challenging questions of Foley.  At one point Righeimer was so rude, interrupting Foley during a response to a question, that Leece had to remind him that this was not a council meeting and he should just be quiet.  I'm told the assembled group did not take kindly to their interruption of the event, and that the mayor was actually jeered.

THE EXCUSE FOR EVERYTHING!
This, of course, is bad form - even for them.  Reports from the scene indicate that, when challenged on the issue, Righeimer is quoted as having said, "It's only politics." - as though bad manners and equally bad judgment can simply be brushed aside as "politics".  That tells you a lot about the man.

FAIR IS FAIR, RIGHT?
So, I guess it will be OK for Foley, Humphrey and Leece to waltz into any future fundraiser/meet and greet held for any of those men and just begin asking probing questions and interrupting, right?  Fair is fair!  After all, "It's only politics."