Why I'm Voting NO On Measure EE

CONTEMPLATING MEASURE EE
The election is just over a week away - some of you have probably already mailed in your ballots - but I thought I'd share my views on Measure EE.

WHAT IS IT?
What is Measure EE?  It's the item placed on the ballot by the Costa Mesa City Council that's supposed to meet the requirements of a settlement agreement agreed upon earlier this year... it doesn't.

THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
I wrote about this issue in the Daily Pilot earlier this month, HERE.  You can read that long explanation if you wish, but let me give you the thumbnail version of why I won't be voting for this plan.

A LEGAL SETTLEMENT REQUIRES THE VOTERS TO CHOOSE
We are required by a settlement agreement to present to the voters on November 8th a plan to carve up Costa Mesa into districts from which future City Council members would be elected.  No longer would council members be elected at-large - the way they have for more than 6 decades.

DEMOGRAPHER CARVED UP THE CITY
To accomplish this task a demographer/consultant, David Ely, was hired and, through a series of community meetings, developed several options which had roughly equal number of residents, each of which produced a Latino population majority district - the goal of the lawsuit so Costa Mesa would meet state and federal voting rights laws.

PARTICIPANTS FAVORED A 5-DISTRICT OPTION
The most favored of those choices were two 5-district maps, each slightly different than the other, but both retained basically the same Latino district.

RIGHEIMER REQUIRED A 6-DISTRICT/DIRECTLY-ELECTED MAYOR OPTION
Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer asked the demographer to create a 6-district map that would also require a directly-elected mayor - the council must have an uneven number of members.  Under this plan no longer would the mayor be chosen from among the 5 council members.

THEN FORCED IT ONTO THE BALLOT
When it came time to select a plan to place before the voters Righeimer jammed his 6-district scheme down the throats of the council members and his male majority carried the day.  That's what we're voting on on November 8th.

ANOTHER POWER GRAB ATTEMPT
In my view, this is just another scheme to solidify power in the city by Righeimer and his cronies.  Whatever plan is chosen, it will begin to be implemented at the elections of 2018, at the time Righeimer is termed out of a council seat, but could be eligible for the directly-elected mayor seat.

LET A JUDGE CHOOSE...
If Measure EE fails in the election the issue will likely be placed before a judge, who could select a map for us to implement, and it's unlikely that judge would choose a map already rejected by the voters of this city.  It's likely that a 5-district choice - one of those preferred by the voters - would be selected.  The mayor would continue to be chosen by his peers.

DON'T FORGET HIS TWO CHARTER FAILURES
In my view, Measure EE should be voted down and let the judge choose a map - and abandon Righeimer's latest power grab.  Don't forget his TWO failed Charter schemes!

BLOCK RIGHEIMER'S LATEST POWER GRAB!

VOTE NO ON MEASURE EE! 

Voting District Formation Open House Tuesday

A CRITICAL ISSUE
OK, let's ease back into this with something that is critically important to EVERY resident of the City of Costa Mesa - the plan to completely change the way our elected leaders are chosen henceforth.

LITIGATION FORCES THE ISSUE
Presently each of the 5 City Council members are elected "at-large" - everyone votes for every candidate.  As some know, there is litigation that is forcing the City to come up with a plan to carve up the City into voting districts in order to provide an opportunity for our Latino population - 37% of our residents - to have a greater say in how the City operates.  Under the requirement, candidates will be chosen by a vote of the people in their district - not at large.

WORKSHOPS
A series of workshops have been held, preceded by some one-on-one meetings with the consultant, David Ely, to craft examples of what such voting districts might look like.  I've attended all the workshops and reported on each one.

PUBLIC HEARING TUESDAY
Tuesday, July 5th, in a Public Hearing on this issue at the council meeting held that night, the council will consider the most recent options produced by this effort and MAY, at that time, choose how this issue will be presented to the voters on the November 8th ballot.  We'll know more when the agenda is released sometime Friday.

OPEN HOUSE - 4:30-5:30 TUESDAY
Prior to the council meeting - which usually begins at 5:45 - there will be an Open House from 4:30 - 5:30 in Conference Room 1A, adjacent to the City Clerk's Office.  The City announced this event HERE.  It's my understanding that the maps displayed at the last workshop have been changed based on input at that meeting and subsequent correspondence.  Those maps, which will be available for review and questions to the consultant at the Open House Tuesday, will be available online as part of the agenda package released Friday, July 1st.  Translation services for Spanish and Vietnamese speakers will be provided, just as they have at each workshop.

COMMUNITY INPUT HAS BEEN PROVIDED
Those of us who have attended the workshops have presented questions and offered potential solutions for consideration.  By far, one of the iterations of a 5-district model was preferred at EVERY workshop - it wasn't even close.  It is, in the end, the City Council majority's decision about which alternative(s) will be presented to the voters.  Based on their behavior in the past, it's not a sure thing that they will listen to community input.

DIRECTLY-ELECTED MAYOR SCHEME
One of the recent additions was a scheme - requested by at least one council member - for a 6-district model that would include a directly-elected mayor, which makes the odd number on the dais.  Currently our five council members are subject to term limits.  For example, lamest of lame ducks Gary Monahan is termed out - again - this year.  Unless provision is made in a 6-district scheme for the directly-elected mayor to be subject to term limits we could end up with a mayor for life!  The image below was the latest version at the June 15th workshop.  It has likely changed.

PLEASE ATTEND THE WORKSHOP AND ASK QUESTIONS
I encourage you to attend the Open House and, if so moved, stick around for the Public Hearing and let the council know how you feel about the choices - or their choice.  All that's at stake is the future of our city.

Good Turnout For Final Voter District Workshop

FINAL WORKSHOP
Today, Saturday, the final Voter District Workshop was held at the Balearic Center and the turnout was good, although smaller than some others.  Around 30 residents showed up to listen to the consultants and participate in a discussion of examples of proposed voter district boundaries that may be presented to the City Council on July 5th.

WELL-RUN
The event was, once again, moderated by Yesenia Arias from Arellano Associates and the program was conducted by Demographer David Ely.  City Clerk Brenda Green was also present, overseeing the staff and monitoring the proceedings.

THE PROCESS
Ely provided an overview of how we reached this point, explaining the process that had been followed.  He also briefly explained why we are in the middle of this process - a threatened lawsuit that caused the City of Costa Mesa to sign a settlement agreement that required this process.

GOOD LATINO TURNOUT AGAIN
Again, there was a good turnout by the Latino community - about a third of the attendees were Latinos, several of whom utilized the simultaneous translation of Albert Garcia. I spoke with a few of those folks after the meeting and was told they got a lot out of the presentation.

SOME LOCAL OFFICIALS AND FAMILIAR FACES
There were a few familiar faces in the crowd, including council candidate Jay Humphrey.  Also in attendance were Mike Scheafer and Art Perry, President and Director of the Costa Mesa Sanitary District, respectively.

FIFTEEN PEOPLE SPOKE
Nearly half the attendees rose to speak on the various maps, citing their concerns and preferences.  Ely has, in previous meetings, used community input and demographics to craft these various choices.  They had not changed from the previous meeting earlier in the week.

RETAINING NEIGHBORHOODS
Among the concerns expressed were the placement of the College Park community in a district that seemed to be predominently a Westside orientation.  Westside speakers were concerned that they didn't have a voice on the council - someone who actually lives in their district.  The goal of this process is to have at least one district with 50% Latino voters.  As it stands now, District 4 on most of the maps is that district.

SAME DISTRICTS
Ely presented two maps with five (5) districts; one with six (6) districts (which would also include the necessity for a directly-elected mayor) and one with seven (7) districts.

 STRAW POLL
Near the end of the meeting the consultants did a straw poll, asking the attendees which district maps they prefered.  It was possible to choose more than one.  The results were:
Map 1 (5 districts) - 9
Map 2 (5 districts) - 18
Map 3 (6 districts) - 0
Map 4 (7 districts) - 1

PLUS SOME TINKERING
Additionally, during the discussion Ely, guided by members of the public, tinkered with Map 1, adjusting some of the lines to make Harbor Blvd. the right border and took another vote.  14 people liked that one.

CONSULTANT WILL MASSAGE THE RESULTS
Ely will now take all the information gathered from the public - and from input gleaned from folks who utilized the mapping tool on the City website - and prepare his presentation for the City Council, to be delivered to them at the meeting on July 5th.  You can find that, and almost any other information you need on this issue, HERE.  The council will hold a public hearing and accept comments from the public on this issue on that date - right after the Independence Day holiday.

WHERE WERE THE CANDIDATES?
It was interesting to note that, with the exception of Humphrey, no other council candidate except Lee Ramos has taken the time to attend any of these meetings.  One would think that it might be a good way to take the pulse of the community on this critical issue - one that will affect city governance as we move forward.  I expecially wondered why Julie Mercurio chose to miss this opportunity to get information?  I guess she's too busy 'moderating'...

PREVIOUS REPORTS
I've written about each of the three previous meetings.  You can find those entries HERE, HERE and HERE.  Fewer than 140 individuals attended these meetings, but those who did attend were enthusiastic and focused.

THE CHOICE WILL BE INTERESTING
I look forward to seeing how this process is managed on July 5th.  I get the sense that there are members on the council - perhaps a majority - that will prefer the 6-districts plus directly-elected mayor option.  This, despite the fact that at every meeting this option was not just rejected, but heartily rejected!  It's likely that if they choose to put that option on the ballot the voters will reject it, forcing this issue back into the legal system, where a judge will decide what our voting districts will look like.  Then, again, that shouldn't surprise anyone - our city council majority has become an annuity for lawyers for the past five years.

TWO WEEKS TO GO
See you at City Hall on the 5th for this subject.

3rd Voting District Workshop A Great Success

GOOD TURNOUT
The third Voting By District Workshop is now behind us and it was a big success.  More than 40 people showed up at St. Joachim Catholic Church Wednesday evening and more than half that group were Latinos - the demographic group intended to be positively impacted by making the change in the way Costa Mesa elects city leaders from an "at-large" model to voting by districts.  This was the best turnout of Latino members of our community by far.

DIFFERENT FORMAT
The format for this meeting was different than the two previous events.  This time instead of breaking into groups to design district maps consultant demographer David Ely explained his process briefly and explained the evolution of the sample maps on display around the room.  He explained how the districts were created and that each configuration had plenty of wiggle room to tinker with the boundaries without placing the process in danger of violating state or federal law.  The most current versions include two with five (5) voting districts; one with six (6) districts that would be used in concert with a Directly-Elected Mayor and one map showing seven (7) voting districts.  I've displayed those below. (click on them to enlarge)  They are also on the city website.

Number 1 (5 districts)

Number 2 (5 Districts)

 6 Districts (w/Directly-Elected Mayor)

 7 Districts

 BUILD YOUR OWN IF YOU WISH
Each of these are the products of the two previous workshops, the earlier "meet the expert" small group events and submissions by members of the public of their own personal ideas of maps.  The city has available on the web site all the information you need to know to understand this process and actually create your own district voting map using a "kit" provided online.  You can view the appropriate page HERE and follow the links and create your own version if you wish.  Remember, each district must be approximately the same size population-wise.  Each of the sample maps shown are very close - plus or minus 2% (5% is acceptable).  Follow the instructions on the site and have fun.

ACTIVE GROUP
The group last night was very participative.  Several members stepped up to identify their own personal preference and to ask excellent questions dealing with issues like the statistics being used and why certain characteristics of individual districts existed.  One hot topic was Fairview Park, which can be included in either of a couple of the sample districts.

STRAW POLL (WITH A CLEAR WINNER)
A straw poll was taken of the participants to see how many preferred one of the four options presented.  Here are the results:
District 7 (seven individual voting districts) - 2
District 6 (six districts and directly elected mayor) - 0
District 2 (one of the 5 district options) - 0
District 1 (the other 5 district option) - basically everyone else
  A sub-vote was taken on District 1.
     Those who chose to leave it as shown - 9
     Those who wanted a change - 29
Most seemed to want a reassignment of Fairview Park, to split it so one district wouldn't "control" it.  Of course, that's a bogus fear because any decision about the park would be made by a council majority vote.

NOTABLES AND OTHERS
Among the participants at the meeting were former councilwoman Wendy Leece and current council candidate Lee Ramos, although Lee did not identify himself as a candidate to the group.  He was just another member of the community interested in this process.  There were also a generous sprinkling of folks active in community affairs, but the majority of the folks at this meeting were unfamiliar faces - just plain, old normal folks interested in this issue - you know, the kind of folks Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer wants to see at these events.  They ranged in age from very senior to children and every age group in between.  It was a good mix no matter how you sliced it.

MONITORING
Assistant CEO Rick Francis and City Clerk Brenda Green were also in the room, monitoring the proceedings, just as they have at other meetings.

APPROVAL PROCESS
On July 5th the first of two public hearings will be held during the regularly scheduled council meeting at City Hall in City Council Chambers beginning at 5:45 p.m.  Ely will present at least one map for the council members to consider placing on the November ballot for the voters to consider.  The second meeting will be early in August, when the final decision will be made.

THE TRANSITION
The transition from all at-large members to election by districts will take place over two election cycles, presuming the voters approve the choice presented to them.  Two seats will be open in 2018 and the remaining seats will open up in 2020.  The details of how this will work will likely wait until after the election.  And, complicating things, there will be a new census taken in 2020, which means our voting districts will almost certainly have to be re-assessed following the availability of those numbers.

TERM LIMITS?
The question was asked about term limits for a directly-elected mayor should that option be selected.  Ely opined that since our term limits rules were in place before there was a directly elected mayor they would likely not apply to that position, unless the ballot measure includes language defining term limits for the directly-elected mayor.

NEXT MEETING ON SATURDAY
The next meeting - the final one in this part of the process - will be held on Saturday, June 18, 2016 at the Balearic Center, 1975 Balearic Drive from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.  The format will be the same and the consultants are hoping for another well-attended event.  Hope to see you there.