CITY HALL PARKING ALERT!

THREE MEETINGS TOMORROW IMPACTED
Tomorrow, Thursday, June 27th, there will be three meetings at Costa Mesa City Hall in the evenings.  They are:

60th Anniversary Committee Meeting at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at 5:30

Community Meeting in Conference Room 1A to discuss a pending development at 5:30

Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting in Council Chambers at 6:00

CITY HALL PARKING LOT CLOSED
Each of these meetings will be impacted by the closure tomorrow afternoon of the visitor parking lot in front of City Hall in preparation for the 60th Anniversary Celebration that begins on Friday, June 28th.

FOLLOW THE MAP
HERE is a link to the map of road closures for the 60th Anniversary event.  Attendees of the three meetings mentioned above will have to find their way to the employee parking lot behind City Hall, or use part of the Vanguard University parking lot, adjacent to the City Hall parking lot.  Check it out and plan to give yourself a few minutes longer to make the meetings tonight as you maneuver around Vanguard Way.

CIVILITY PREVAILS, MORE OR LESS...

SPARSE TURNOUT AT FORUM
Last night saw the third of five City Council Candidate Forums put in the can, so to speak. As noted in Alan Blank's article in the Daily Pilot, HERE, a sparse crowd was in attendance at the event jointly hosted by the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce, Churm Media and the Daily Pilot. I estimated that there may have been 50 people in attendance if you count those arriving late and leaving early.

DEBATE AND BALL GAME CONFLICTS
And, to make things worse, those who viewed the proceedings at home on Channel 24, CMTV, had competition from the final presidential debate and the Dodger baseball game. Fortunately for all of us, this forum will be replayed on tape on CMTV on the following schedule:

Tuesdays: 12:30 pm
Thursdays: 9:00 pm
Saturdays: 4:00 pm
Sundays: 10:00 am
Monday, Nov. 3rd: 9:00 pm
Tuesday, Nov. 4th: 4:00 pm

FORUM WELL RUN
As forums go, this one ran quite well. Steve Churm, publisher of OC Metro, moderated the proceedings, with Ann Stawicki, chairwoman of the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce and Tony Dodero, Director of News and Online for the Daily Pilot, pitching questions to the candidates. Ed Fawcett of The Chamber kept the time. The questions were excellent and the answers, for the most part, were crisp and to the point.

(Fawcett, Stawicki, Dodero, Churm)

ANTICIPATED ATTACK DIDN'T OCCUR
The anticipated group attack on Katrina Foley by the OC GOP's favorite troika, Eric Bever, Jim Righeimer and Gary Monahan, didn't materialize except for a couple backhands directed her way by Bever and Monahan - which she deftly parried.

TROIKA PLAYING SOFTBALL
Instead, when the format permitted each candidate to address one question to one other candidate, the troika took turns tossing softballs to each other. A skeptical guy might suspect this part was scripted. Other candidates directed more accusatory inquiries, primarily at Bever - with good reason.

(Moss, Bever, Righeimer, Sneen, Bunyan)

BEVER, ALONE, LOVES THE 19TH STREET BRIDGE
During the more structured portion a multi-part question was asked of each candidate about Banning Ranch and the 19th Street Bridge. One might have bet the farm that every one of them would renounce any idea of a bridge over the Santa Ana River at 19th Street - one would have lost! Eric Bever thought the bridge was a great idea. He told us he lives near that area and would like to be able to go either left or right on 19th Street! That's so typical of him - thinking out a problem only as far as it affects him directly, not considering the impact on the rest of the city.

(Monahan, Reedy, Foley, McEvoy)

BUSINESS ORIENTATION TO QUESTIONS
As might have been anticipated - which I did in my earlier post - most of the questions had a decidedly "business" slant to them. That's just fine with me - without thriving businesses our city would whither. All of the candidates are pro-business - big surprise - but only a few were able to articulate a plan to attract businesses to our city. On that question Gary Monahan carried the day, hands down.

WHO'S AHEAD NOW?
Here's my view of how the candidates did last night. Based on their accumulated performances at the three forums to date, and folding in with greater emphasis last night's performance, it appears to me that three candidates are beginning to open up some space between themselves and the other six. Those three are Katrina Foley, Jim Righeimer and Gary Monahan. Last night they focused primarily on positive issues, emphasizing working together.

Eric Bever continues to muddle through, taking credit for things he didn't do and attempting to discredit Foley's accomplishments. He seemed quite uncomfortable on the dais - perhaps because he was ticked off at not being able to sit in his normal center seat (a complaint he actually voiced last night). It's very sad to see a grown man whine like a petulant child and appear to be treading water for dear life. Based on his performance tonight, he seems to be sinking - and that's just fine with me. He's proven to be unworthy of re-election.

In my opinion, the remaining candidates have not gained much ground - with the possible exception of Chris Bunyan. In each forum his style and banter seems to have struck a chord with attendees and he's tightening up his message while still coming across as an approachable guy. Still, competing for a seat against two former mayors, a sitting councilwoman and a highly polished political operative for one of the three seats available is going to be a tough road for him.

Bill Sneen, who has been working hard getting up to speed on municipal issues, came out with guns blazing, then seemed to run out of ammunition and wasn't able to follow up with strong answers on some very important issues. His management skills and leadership experience would be a welcome addition to our City Council, but, as with Bunyan, there's a tough road ahead.

Lisa Reedy got a late start with her campaign and, while a dedicated community activist, seems not to have a full command of many issues in the city.

Chris McEvoy continues to approach this campaign with a refreshing attitude. He seems eager and willing to challenge candidates twice his age with enthusiasm and candor. I find myself pulling for him to do well in the election.

Nick Moss, the youngest of the candidates by a few months, continues to plug away but....

AN ABSENCE CREATES LIGHT
One very bright spot for me last night was the absence of the character known as Mr. U. Know-Who. He, apparently, decided to stay home and cheer for Obama in the presidential debate instead of coming down to City Hall. There was a welcome lack of gloom in the far right rear of the auditorium tonight.

THREE DOWN, TWO TO GO
So, it's down hill to the election now. Two more forums are scheduled over the next two weeks. The first will be held next Wednesday evening, October 22nd at the Halecrest Community Center. The second, and final, forum will be held on Tuesday, October 28th at the Presbyterian Church of the Covenant. I'll write more about those later.

Newport Affirms City Hall In Park, Spits in Costa Mesa's Eye. Caspa Pokes Other Eye With Stick

The big news in the Newport-Mesa area last night came out of the Newport Beach City Council meeting.

NEWPORT BEACH COUNCIL AFFIRMS CITY HALL IN THE PARK
As reported by Briana Bailey in the Daily Pilot, HERE, the council voted unanimously to support the will of the people and move forward to build the new City Hall on that 12+ acre parcel adjacent to the Main Library. Despite all the wailing and gnashing of teeth by the shrub-huggers, this was a good decision - one that made sense from so many standpoints that it was hard to see how any reasonable person could have opposed it. However, as we have seen over the past couple years, passion and reason are not usually found snuggled up together. The only remaining clinker in this scenario is activist Allan Beek's lawsuit. Hopefully, the well-intentioned Beek will see the light and drop the suit and save the city from having to spend some much-needed money on it. We'll see.

COUNCIL THUMBS NOSE AT COSTA MESA
All was not goodness and light, though. Bailey reports that the council, with a 6-1 vote, chose to ignore the recommendation of their City Manager, Homer Bludau, and decided to move forward with the annexation of the Santa Ana Country Club and some adjacent residential areas. By ignoring Bludau's advice, made quite clear in the last few days in an article by Bailey, HERE, the Newport Beach City Council effectively thumbed their collective noses at the Costa Mesa City Council at a time when it has appeared that there had been progress made in the relationship between the two bodies recently. I fear this new harmony has been blown out of the water.

BYRON'S WRONG, BUT HE'S RIGHT, TOO
My pal, Byron de Arakal, in his column that appears on the pages of the Daily Pilot this morning, HERE, was assuming too much when he projected a wiser vote in Newport last night. You can't really blame him, though. Bludau's recommendation was the right way to go. The council simply ignored it. The title applied to Byron's column by the editors, "Annexation to worsen Newport-Mesa rift", got it right. Even though Byron's assumption of the outcome was wrong, he nails the reasons why there must be harmony between the leaders of our two cities. There are just too many regional issues - Banning Ranch, John Wayne Airport Expansion, the 55 Freeway extension - that will require close cooperation between our two cities if there is to be any progress made on them.

LOOKING FOR STATESMEN
Having watched the Costa Mesa City Council majority in action for some time, I wouldn't be surprised if they chose to look for some way to get even with their counterparts in Newport Beach. That, of course, would be small-minded and petty - but not entirely unexpected of them. It's time for them to shake off this loss and get focused on the other battles to be fought on our behalf. I know it's almost too much to ask, but I'm looking for some glimmer of statesmanship - the maturity to move forward on important issues. In a campaign year, when our mayor is running for re-election and the "improvers" look to solidify their stranglehold on our city government, that seems like an unrealistic hope. We'll see.

HUMBERTO CASPA ADDS SALT TO THE WOUND
And then, in an unfortunate bit of timing, the Daily Pilot published a commentary by former columnist Humberto Caspa, HERE, that is guaranteed to pour salt in the wounds opened by the Newport Beach City Council's annexation vote. Caspa, long a critic of the current majority, and Allan Mansoor in particular, attempts to outline the path to power taken by Mansoor on his way to becoming an international media star who made our city a metaphor for anti-Latino actions. Yep, I can see a rebuttal being pounded out by Mansoor any time now.

NEWS FLASH! INITIATIVE FILED ON NEWPORT BEACH CITY HALL!

NEWS FLASH!

The Red County/OC Blog reported just before noon today that there has been an initiative filed with the Newport Beach City Clerk to relocate the City Hall to the location mentioned in my previous post - just north of the Main Library on that 12.82 acre parcel some folks want to retain as a passive park. You can read that blog entry here.

According to the entry, some big names are included in this filing, including Marion Bergeson, former California Secretary of Education and former State Senator.

This will certainly make an interesting issue even more so and will likely cause a few of the Newport Beach open space advocates to go apoplectic. In the meantime, the clock continues to tick and the price of any new City Hall continues to escalate.

Riggy Jumps The Border To Spread The Wealth

Well, this is going to be fun. I was all set to disagree with Jim Righeimer, carpetbagging Costa Mesa Planning Commissioner, as he launched his first effort as a front-page columnist for the Daily Pilot this morning. Then I read his column and darn if I don't agree with him!

Old Riggy is a pal of Dana Rohrabacher, who helped Allan Mansoor and Wendy Leece get elected in November. He moved to Costa Mesa the middle of last year, then gets appointed to the Planning Commission as Mansoor brushed aside a long time supporter like he was swatting a gnat. Now Riggy steps across the border to take his first swing as a "journalist" and hits the good folks in Newport Beach squarely where it hurts - in the middle of the raw debate about where to build their new City Hall. It's just a good thing that Barry Saywitz isn't the developer on the project because Righeimer would have gotten really nasty!

I'm trying to figure out how this issue is a "conservative issue" - the charter of Righeimer's columns as announced by the editors of the Daily Pilot. I guess you could call it a lesson in fiscal conservatism.

Actually, this an interesting turn of events. It seems that a Newport Beach Planning Commissioner, one Mr. Hawkins, recently attempted to tell Costa Mesans how to manage their traffic. I suppose you could consider Riggy's column a little pay back - a term with which he should be familiar.

In his column Righeimer suggests that the site above the Main Library, bordered by Mac Arthur, Avocado and San Miguel, is the best location for the new City Hall. He and I actually agree on this issue. For a couple years I've commented on the fact that the current location on Newport Boulevard on the peninsula is not the best location for a new City Hall. It's difficult to reach, especially in the summer, it sits astride the Newport-Inglewood earthquake fault and is in a tsunami zone. The last number I saw for the construction of a replacement facility at that location was nearly $100 million, and that didn't include the inconvenience of moving the entire city staff twice in the process.

The site above the library, as I've said many times, is the perfect location for a new City Hall. It's near the geographical center of the city, located adjacent to Fashion Island and is close to good public transportation (for those days when the folks in Newport Beach want to go to City Hall, but the Bentley is having the oil changed.) The site in question is slightly over 12 acres and the new City Hall Bill Ficker designed would take around three of those. The remaining nine acres could easily be used as the passive park so many of the city hall opponents demand. The facility would provide parking space that could be shared with the library - a much-needed improvement. If I recall some of the numbers being floated when Ficker's plan was announced, it would cost somewhere between $25 and $30 million. That's a significant cost savings, no matter how you slice it. Plus, the old site on the peninsula is prime development material and would likely bring a pretty penny - and offset a big chunk of the cost of the new facility.

It's hard to understand how so many of the good folks in Newport Beach fail to agree that this site is the best one for all residents. Sure, a few folks who live above that spot may have their view affected - but not much. An architect with Ficker's skill can address some of those concerns in a final plan. Some of the opponents of the Newport Center site say their city needs more open space. Puh-leeze! How many miles of beach do they have? What about the harbor and back bay? And, if that new "park" at the corner of PCH and Jamboree is an example of what they want put in the Newport Center site I hope they reconsider. It's an eyesore that requires most who would use it to cross at least 8 busy traffic lanes to reach it.

In his column Riggy nibbled around the edges of what may just be the actual problem here. It has to do with an imbalance of fiscal and intellectual resources - more money than brains. I don't have a vested interest in this, but friends and relatives who live in Newport Beach certainly do. I hope their city leaders recognize this opportunity do what is best for all residents. If not, it looks like at least a couple Costa Mesa residents - one who has lived here for more than three decades and another who has yet to hit a year - will try to help them out.