Fairview Developmental Center, The Chargers, And More

 AN INTERESTING MEETING AHEAD
The Costa Mesa City Council meets again tomorrow night, Tuesday, March 21, 2017 beginning at 6:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers.  That meeting will be preceded by a Closed Session beginning at 5:30 p.m.  which will be recessed to Conference Room 5A immediately following being called to order and the two issues read into the record.  You can read the full agenda HERE.

FAIRVIEW DEVELOPMENTAL CENTER IN PLAY?
This Closed session takes on a special meaning because an item was added to that segment of the agenda this morning.  That is Item #2, "Conference with Real Property Negotiator" for 2501 Harbor Boulevard... that's the address for the Fairview Developmental Center!  Yep, it does appear that the ball in now rolling on the possible sale of that 100 acres by the State of California to the City of Costa Mesa, and Assistant City Manager Rick Francis is the negotiator for The City.

THE WARRANT
The Consent Calendar has some interesting items on it, again.  Item #2, HERE, is Warrant 2573, which shows us how The City has spent nearly $3 million of our tax dollars.  I'm not going to give you a long list of items we purchased, but that link will help you review it.  We continue to spend tens of thousands of dollars on consultants and temporary employees throughout City Hall.  Scroll down the list and you'll see them clearly defined.

NEW SIDEARMS FOR THE CMPD
Item #7, HERE, is interesting.  This involves the complete re-arming of the Costa Mesa Police Department to the tune of nearly $85,000.  Currently the CMPD officers are issued Heckler and Koch (HK) .40 Caliber service pistol.  After extensive testing - that discussion can be found HERE - the committee recommended purchasing the Sig P320 for a price that roughly equates to the trade-in value of the current firearm.  You can read the Purchase Requisition for 230 guns and related equipment HERE.

DE NOVO HEARING ON PLANNING COMMISSION DENIAL OF A 1-YEAR EXTENSION, 2068 MAPLE AVE. 
Public Hearing #1, HERE, is a de novo hearing - meaning that they start from scratch - on the denial of a one-year time extension on a development at 2068 Maple Avenue.  This development was approved by the previous commission in 2015, changed hands in 2016 and the request for the time extension was denied by the current Planning Commission.  This is an appeal of that request.

CHARGERS TO USE JACK HAMMETT FOR TRAINING CAMP
New Business #1, HERE, is an agreement between the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League to use two of the six fields at the Jack Hammett Sports Complex on Fairview Road as a facility for their annual summer training camp.  The staff report outlines the particulars, but basically the Chargers would use two fields during the period when the entire sports complex would be dormant - roughly 5 weeks in July and August.  For that use they would pay the City a little over $150,000 per year for ten years.  In addition they will pay $50,000 towards the recently-approved mobile recreation van and $10,000 to AYSO 120 for dislocation the first year.  I did notice that The Chargers will rehab fields 3 and 4 each June.  I wonder if the kids that will be playing on it from August through June will be playing in the divots created by 400 pound linemen digging in?  Guess we'll hear about that tomorrow.  Read the staff report.  And, if you wish, you can take 30 minutes to view Barry Friedland's Costa Mesa Brief coverage of Tom Johnson's StuNews Sunday radio program yesterday, HERE, to see City Manager Tom Hatch and Councilman John Stephens discuss this plan in detail.  An interesting sidebar is the fact that Mayor Katrina Foley must recuse herself from this discussion because her home backs up to the site.

NEW SPORTS FACILITY GRANT PROGRAM?
New Business #2, HERE, the consideration of a Direct Partnership with the Newport Mesa Unified School District for the Sports Facility Improvement Grant Program.  This is VERY interesting because it appears to cut Costa Mesa United out of the funding loop.  Plus, it changes the terms to include, on an alternating-year basis, ALL Costa Mesa Elementary Schools, too!  In fact, if you look at the items below, one wonders what role Costa Mesa United will continue to play, if any.  This should be interesting.

NEW COSTA MESA COMMITTEES
New Business #3, HERE, is a discussion of new Costa Mesa Committees.  The staff is asking for direction from the City Council on the following committees:

• Fairview Park Steering Committee
• The Youth Sports, Open Space & Recreation Advisory Committee
• The Youth Sports Committee
• Open Space and Recreation Advisory Committee

The staff report contains all the particulars... read it.

AN INTERESTING MEETING, FOR SURE
Tomorrow's meeting should be VERY interesting.  There's plenty of cool stuff - The Chargers, for example - to draw folks to the chambers or watch on television or streaming on their computer.  Regardless, we'll be watching from somewhere and report later.

Fun Times At Snoopy House Kick-off

HAPPY 50TH, SNOOPY HOUSE!
The 50th celebration of the Snoopy House kicked-off at City Hall last night and it was a rousing success!

A GREAT TURNOUT
Hundreds of people visited the site, which included a pile of real, for goodness snow, hot cider and popcorn plus some entertainment and a few politicians - of course.  The new city council majority shown below.

 HATCH AS MASTER-OF-CEREMONIES
The event was launched by City Manager (no longer CEO) Tom Hatch, who introduced the local elected officials - Councilwomen Katrina Foley and Sandra Genis, Assemblyman Matthew Harper and councilman-elect John Stephens.  Tim Whitaker represented the Board of Supervisors.

JORDAN'S RECOGNIZED
The centerpiece of Hatch's presentation was the recognition of Jim and Linda Jordan, who made the Snoopy House available to the City.  For decades this display appeared on the lawn of the Jordan's Eastside home over the Christmas holiday.

LIGHTING IT UP!
The assembled dignitaries counted down the lighting of the City Hall lights.

TRAINS
Kids enjoyed the train rides.

SANTA
The line for Santa this first night was long.  He will be there every evening from 7-9 p.m.

ENTERTAINMENT
Young Miss Hayden Curteau serenaded the crowd.

ESTANCIA CHEER SQUAD STRUTTED THEIR STUFF

SNOW, SNOW, AND MORE SNOW

  
 STAFF ORGANIZATIONS CREATED CHRISTMAS TREES IN COMPETITION WITH EACH OTHER.

 Fire Department creation

Police Department tree was clever

YOU JUST NEVER KNOW WHO YOU'LL SEE WANDERING AROUND

 Katrina Foley and ace videographer Barry Friedland.  His Costa Mesa Brief was on the case and will soon have his coverage up on his YouTube Channel.

 Foley, Staffer Dan Baker (Snoopy House is his baby) and City Manager Tom Hatch

 Sandy Genis wandering past John Stephens and his wife, Amy

 Workout mates Sue Lester and Stephens

 Lovely and very patient wife, Sue, chatting with activist Cindy Black and Elizabeth Harper, spouse of Assemblyman Matt Harper.  The pooch getting her chin scratched is Cindy's Nana.

One of the hundreds of children being entertained by all the festivities.

And then there was this old fella, obviously in the right spot, but not the right time.

OPEN FROM NOW THROUGH THE 23RD
Be sure to visit the Snoopy House.  It's open every night from now through December 23rd beginning at 5:30 p.m.  Santa will be in the house from 7-9 p.m.  This is great family fun and one of my personal favorite city events each year.

Anger, Frustration Mark The Planning Commission Meeting...

...AND THAT WAS JUST AMONG THE COMMISSIONERS!
Yes, it was a short, tense Planning Commission meeting tonight.  Yes, there was anger, frustration and disappointment in the City Council Chambers, and probably felt most strongly on the dais, as all five commissioners clearly showed their anger and frustration at not being able to hear the four remaining items on their agenda.  Three others had been pulled last week.

LAWYER ABSENT DUE TO FAMILY MEDICAL EMERGENCY
According to information provided by staff during the short discussion of the first item, it seems the lawyer for all of the applicants tonight had some kind of a family medical emergency and so all the applicants and the lawyer requested that all the items on the agenda be continued - and they were!

ANGRY CROWD HEARS BAD NEWS
At the very beginning of the meeting, before what I've been told was a packed house, Chairman Rob Dickson mentioned that there was a possibility that each of the items on the agenda - all sober living homes - would be continued, but they wouldn't know for sure until they began hearing the items.  The members of the public who took time out of their busy lives - again, for some of them - clearly were not happy with that news.

HELPING STANDING ROCK
Thirteen (13) members of the public stepped up during Public Comments to express their views on this situation.  Only one, Mary Spadoni, spoke on another issue - the recent community outreach to gather goods for the Native Americans at Standing Rock.  She used a clever video clip of a pooch to enhance her presentation for the sales of homemade dog cookies, the sale of which will be donated 100% to the folks at Standing Rock.

QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUES
Many of my Eastside neighbors spoke tonight.  Katie Arthur spoke about the impact of the sober living homes on our neighborhoods, citing quality of life issues.  She encouraged the commission to be bold - to think outside the box and work together to get this issue resolved.

"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH"
One speaker told the commission she was appalled that they were considering continuing the items, advising them that these venues were all over the Eastside and that they were near areas earmarked for high density housing.  She told the commission that "enough is enough".

"SICK AND TIRED OF IT"
A local businessman angrily spoke to the commissioners, telling the commissioners they are not listening to what the people are saying, and that they - the people - are sick and tired of it.  He used the word "corrupt" without any details.

SHARED HORROR STORIES
Flo Martin spoke about personal issues and those of her relatives and neighbors in College Park dealing with the impact of sober living homes.

RESTRICT TO COMMERCIAL AREAS
A gent from Irvine who alleged having ties to Costa Mesa suggested closer attention be paid to the State Health and Safety Code and that sober living homes should be restricted to commercial areas.

PANDERING
Richard Russell, a frequent speaker, praised the commission - "you guys make good decisions" and refuted an earlier suggestion by a speaker that the city "invited sober living homes into the city."

CORRUPTION?
The final speaker, who didn't identify himself but proclaimed that he had previously worked for Solid Landings - a large sober living outfit in town - and painted a grim picture of those operations.  He said the operators take advantage of the families of kids in need of detox - claiming that they charged $30,000 per bed per month.  He claimed that the organization broke the rules by housing too many clients, then disbursing them when inspections were scheduled, only to return them later.

SESLER PLEADS FOR UNDERSTANDING
The Public Comment segment lasted about 25 minutes, then came Commissioner Comments and you could see the steam coming from their ears.  Stephan Andranian had nothing to say.  Tim Sesler acknowledged the passing of Jeff Arthur, Chair of the Pension Oversight Committee.  He then pleaded with the audience to understand that the commissioners were there to do the right thing, citing the fact that they all live in the city and raise their families here.

COLIN DEMANDS NUMBERS
Colin McCarthy also acknowledged Jeff Arthur.  He then asked interim Development Services Director Jay Trevino to check with the staff and come back with a number of high density projects this commission had approved in the past 4 years - again, attempting to refute claims made by earlier speakers.  He said he could only recall a couple.

MATHEWS SHOULD HAVE KEPT QUIET
Vice Chair Jeff Mathews was clearly peeved and he said he wanted one or two Code Enforcement officers assigned to doing regular, frequent checks on all the sober living homes in Costa Mesa.  He said if we don't have enough staff he wanted more to be hired.  He also complained about sober living homes being located in residential neighborhoods, defining it as "stupid" that they can be there.  I thought it was interesting, since all the guidance the city has gotten from our lawyers tell us to avoid inflammatory statements like that because it may bite us later in court - it shows an institutional bias against sober living clients - a class of people protected by the ADA and Fair Housing laws.  Usually Mathews just sits there and says nothing.  Tonight that would have been a good idea.

STAFF READY TO GO, MORE OR LESS
At 6:40 p.m. Interim Assistant Director of Development Services Sherri Vander Duessen began, with Deputy City Attorney Tarquin Preziosi, to discuss Public Hearing #1, the sober living home at 2041 Tustin Avenue - a couple blocks from my home on the Eastside.  It was this hearing that took the longest because the issue of the absence of the lawyer for the applicant was discussed at length.

SUMMERHILL KEPT THEM ON COURSE
As each commissioner expressed their anger and frustration it became clear that they REALLY wanted to move forward with the hearing, but the staff was firm in their advice against it.  Deputy City Attorney Yolanda Summerhill held a steady hand on the tiller, reminding the commissioners that it was critical that the applicant receive a fair hearing and that he not be denied due process.  And, of course, she was correct.   To do otherwise would have likely entangled us in lengthy, costly legal battles.

NO MAS!
Both Andranian and Mathews expressed the opinion that if they agreed to continue this item they wouldn't agree to subsequent continuances, even if the applicant's lawyer wasn't available.  Andranian opined that there are plenty of other lawyers out there.

VOTED TO CONTINUE
Summerhill reminded the commissioners that we need to take these issues step-by-step.  Finally, at 6:55, the commission voted, 5-0, to continue this item to a future date - undefined at this time.  The crowd was angry and many began to leave, so Dickson called for a short break - it lasted 2 minutes as the angry folks filtered out of the auditorium.

TEN MINUTES FLAT FOR THE OTHER THREE
When they re-convened they made quick work of the other three sober living issues remaining on the agenda.  It took less than 10 minutes to have each read into the record and to vote to continue them on 5-0 votes.  During the first couple several commissioners continued to grumble about it.

SHORT AND NOT VERY SWEET
At 7:05 p.m. - 65 minutes after the meeting was called to order - Dickson adjourned in memory of Jeff Arthur to the meeting NEXT Monday night, December 12th.  It's my understanding that they have a full agenda at that meeting, too. 

FRUSTRATION ALL AROUND, BUT THEY DID THE RIGHT THING
Here's my view on what happened tonight.  I certainly understand the anger and frustration expressed by my friends and neighbors - and by the commissioners, too.  I believe the commissioners had no other choice but to honor the requests for continuances, even though all were frustrated because a couple had previously been continued.  McCarthy, in an earlier meeting, opined that they were being "played" - manipulated by the lawyer.  That may, in fact, be the case.  However, Summerhill gave them good advice - all five of the commissioners have legal training - and they took it, although begrudgingly.

THE NEW CITY COUNCIL WILL HAVE THESE THROWN TO THEM
It's going to be very interesting to see how this all plays out over the next few months.  The staff has consistently recommended denial of these issues.  The can will be kicked down the road under the normal course of events to a brand new city council.  These hot potatoes will be dropped squarely in their lap, most likely beginning in January.  It's going to be very interesting.

ON JEFF ARTHUR...
On a personal note, I didn't know Jeff Arthur well, but did have several conversations with him and had a chance to watch him work on city committees.  He was a hardworking, decent man who brought intelligence and decades of solid business experience to his assignments for the city.  His presence on the Pension Oversight Committee will certainly be missed.  You can read Bradly Zint's piece on his passing from the Daily Pilot HERE.  Condolences to his family and his friends on this loss.  The following is a video clip from our pal, Barry Friedland at Costa Mesa Brief of a presentation Jeff made to the local Tea Party group on the issue of pensions.