A Little Fun Watching Our Neighbors...

NEWPORT CANDIDATES GET WARM FEET
Wednesday night four candidates for the Newport Beach City Council attended the most recent - the 10th iteration - of the Feet To The Fire Forum series, hosted by the effervescent Barbara Venezia, who shared the moderator duties with former Daily Pilot publisher and current President of the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce, Tom Johnson.  They made a good team.

 HANNAH FRY DID ALL THE HEAVY LIFTING
I had planned to give you a blow-by-blow of this event, but Daily Pilot reporter Hannah Fry beat me to it!  She hot-footed it out of the Robert B. Moore Theater as soon as the forum ended and met her deadline.  Ah, the exuberance (and skill) of youth!  Not only was she quick, but she captured the essence of the event accurately.  You can read her excellent coverage of the event HERE.

A LITTLE SCHMOOZING AT 6:00
I arrived early and joined the schmooze-fest on the patio outside the entrance to the theater.  I found a small crowd gathered, including a few Costa Mesa residents offering lovely chilled water, cookies and some food for thought.

SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES
I was introduced to three candidates for the Newport Unified School District Board of Trustees, Amy Peters, Michael Scharzmann and Leslie Bubb, shown here listening to my friend, Newport Beach resident and renowned architect, Gordon Glass.

BARBARA KICKED IT OFF
When the meeting began shortly after 7:00 p.m., Venezia made the opening comments to the small crowd - Fry estimated around 50 and that's probably pretty close - and introduced the participants, Jeff Herdman, Mike Glenn, Phil Greer and Fred Ameri.  As Fry mentioned, none of the Dave Ellis team showed up for this event.

MUTUAL RESPECT OBVIOUS
I'm not going to attempt to echo Fry's coverage, except to observe that the forum ran quite smoothly and all the candidates present seemed to actually respect and enjoy each other.  Venezia and Johnson had good chemistry between them, so the questions had a good flow to them.  And, each candidate was given plenty of time to answer.  Even though Herdman and Glenn are opposing each other for the District 5 seat and Greer and Ameri are opponents for the District 7 seat there seemed to be no rancor between them.  It was very refreshing.

THE ELLIS INFLUENCE
One thing not covered by Fry was the the discussion of consultant and political king-maker Dave Ellis' influence on local politics.  That thread popped up throughout the forum and it was clear that the candidates up on the stage were not happy at all with the influence he has had on Newport Beach politics, particularly following the last election where four of his candidates - "Team Newport" -  successfully captured seats on the council.

RECORDED FOR PLAYBACK LATER
This event was recorded by Newport Beach TV and will be broadcast within a week.  Radio Station KOCI-FM , 101.5 on your FM dial, will also include the audio of this event in its rotation soon.

LOOKING FORWARD TO THURSDAY'S EVENT
I came away from this meeting primed for the Costa Mesa Feet To The Fire Forum on Thursday night.  I expect the discussions might be a little more lively and, perhaps, a teeny bit less cordial, particularly if everyone who was invited shows up.  I do know that Lee Ramos was in the auditorium for this event, as was Councilwoman Katrina Foley.

SEE YOU THURSDAY
So, see you there Thursday evening.  Meet and greet the candidates beginning at 6:00 and the actual event begins promptly at 7:15.  The Newport Beach event ran long - a full 90 minutes - and it seemed about right.  Thanks to the Daily Pilot for underwriting this event, and to Doug Bennett and the OCC team for hosting it.  The venue was comfortable and will certainly accommodate a much larger crowd Thursday.  There's plenty of parking immediately adjacent to the theater at the Arlington Drive entrance to the OCC Campus.  I parked in Lot C, the lower right corner of the map below. 

OCC's Scaled-back "Modernization" Plan Unveiled

A STANDING-ROOM-ONLY CROWD
Wednesday evening officials from Orange Coast College unveiled their scaled-back "modernization" plans to a standing-room-only room full of residents and students in the library building on campus.  My best guess is that about 50 people attended the meeting - fewer than previous meetings and, interestingly, not a single City of Costa Mesa senior staffer was present.

BENNETT THE MC
Doug Bennett, Executive Director of College Advancement for OCC explained the format of the meeting, then introduced Dr. Dennis Harkins, President of OCC.

DR. HARKINS EXPLAINS THE CHANGES
Dr. Harkins spoke very briefly about the new plan - he made a point to be sure we understood that this was a brand new plan, with a new Environmental Impact Report.  He also made sure we understood this was a "modernization plan",  NOT a "growth plan", since OCC presently is well below the high point of enrollment a few decades ago.  This plan presumes a student population of 28,000 by 2020.

(Click on Image to enlarge)

Issues being presented at this meeting were Traffic, Student Housing and Health issues.

• The parking structure - that would have accommodated 2,000 cars - has been moved on-campus.  There is no funding for it yet - Dr. Harkins told it is several years off.
• The gymnasium will be relocated closer to the football field.
• There will be some solar panels covering part of the parking lot.
• The Recycle Center will be enhanced, with more parking available.
• The Planetarium is ready to be built.
• The controversial College Village - which had included a hotel - is on hold and will require a separate CEQA report.
• Some of the historic buildings will be retained, including some of them by renowned architect Richard Neutra.  However, some of those will be removed.

PAGEL EXPLAINS THE FORMAT
Rich Pagel, Vice President of Administrative Services, expanded on the current plans and told the audience that there will be tables around the perimeter of the room at which experts in each of the fields being discussed that night were available to answer all questions.  However, there would be NO public comments before the group - a "recorder" was available to take questions/comments to become part of the permanent record of the meeting.

PART OF THE MEETING HIJACKED
With that announcement the audience was unleashed to wander around, talking to experts.  However, not everyone was happy about that.  A local architect named John Linnert sprung to his feet with an associate, whipped out a chart showing an alternative plan and hijacked the meeting - at least, in part.  He held court for nearly an hour - he was still going on and on and on when I left - preaching to an amorphous, but attentive group of mostly students.  There was no attempt to stop him, which seemed like the right decision.

INPUT WILL BE COLLECTED AND COLLATED
So, the information provided at this meeting will be consolidated and become part of the report and will impact how the college will move forward with this project.  Most of the things that caused nearby neighbors heartburn - the hotel and parking structure, for example - have been put on hold.  Progress is being made.

THE NEW RECYCLING CENTER
OCC's Environmental Sustainability Coordinator, Mike Carey, explains his new Recycling Center to an interested visitor.

IF YOU REALLY WANT TO....
If you wish to read the full documents, the brief overview (11 pages) can be found HERE.
The Full Revised Master Plan (550 pages) can be found HERE.
And, for you diehards, the full technical information (4,754 pages) can be found HERE.

The PDF does not provide a table of contents but I have listed the Appendices and there starting and ending pages which are as Follows:

Appendix A – NOP/Initial Study (page 1 – 91) and Comment Letters (pages 97-126)

Appendix B – Air Quality and GHG Emissions Calculations (pages 127 – 1378)

Appendix C – Biological Resources Letter Report (pages 1379 – 1434)

Appendix D – Cultural Reports – Part 1 (pages 1435 – 1580)

Dudek letter on:  Negative Phase I Findings for the CCCD Vision 2020 Plan, Orange Coast College Project, Orange County, CA (Pages 1437 – 1446)

Historic Resources Technical Report – Jan Ostashay, Principal, Ostashay & Associates Consulting, Long Beach, CA (Pages 1447 – 1555)

Paleontological Resource Survey – Paleo Solutions, Monrovia, CA (Pages 1557 – 1580)

Appendix D – Cultural Reports Part 2 (pages 1581 – 3457)

            Historic Resource Report – Page & Turnbull, Los Angeles, CA (pages 1583 – 3457)

Appendix E – Hazards Assessment – (pages 3459 – 4180)

Appendix F – Noise Calculations – (pages 4181 – 4188)

Appendix G – Traffic Impact Analysis, Linscott, Law & Greenspan, Irvine, CA – (pages 4189 – 4754)

OCC Trims Expansion Plans

FOURTH IN A SERIES
In the fourth and not the final such meeting, last night officials from Orange Coast College provided insight into the current status of their optimistic planning for their Vision 2020 Master Plan.  Unlike some of the previous meetings, this was not a public hearing with all the formality that entails.  Rather, it was a chance for the college officials to provide feedback to the community and acknowledge their concerns, suggestions, observations and recommendations made at previous meetings.

BENNETT KICKED OFF
Doug Bennett, Executive Director, College Advancement, kicked the meeting off, introduced the various OCC staff members and consultants present, then promptly tossed the ball to President Dennis Harkins, who took us through a slide presentation, shown below, assisted by Vice President Rich Pagel.

STRATEGIC GOALS

THE PLANNING PROCESS

 THEY LISTENED AND CONTROVERSIAL ELEMENTS REMOVED
Perhaps the biggest surprise to most in attendance last night was the fact that OCC has made a major shift in their plans and have removed two major elements - those that seemed to be the most controversial and troublesome to community members at previous meetings.  After going through a prioritizing exercise they decided to REMOVE the OCC Village (including the hotel) and the Parking Structure on the grounds of the Orange County Fair and Event Center from their plans.

They also decided to recirculate the New Environmental Impact Report this summer; review and recommend alternatives for repurpose of Student Services and Administration and to continue to engage the Campus Community.

 There are a couple "shovel-ready" projects ready to go - the Planetarium and the Recycling Center.

 PLANETARIUM

 RECYCLING CENTER

 LARGE TURNOUT OF INQUISITIVE INDIVIDUALS

More than five dozen people showed up for this meeting, including City of Costa Mesa Staffers Gary Armstrong - Director of Economic and Development Services and Deputy CEO - and Ernesto Munoz - Director of Public Services.  Councilwoman Sandra Genis was also present, as were representatives from the Orange County Fair Board.

FIELDING QUESTIONS
For nearly an hour Harkins and Pagel fielded questions regarding a wide variety of issues, including Measure M funding; campus housing; enrollment projections; the recycling center improvements; the EIR and the timing for review of that document.  Residents wanted to know if OCC will become a 4-year school; whether the proposed on-campus housing would increase or diminish vehicular traffic; whether "bikeability and walkability" were included in their plans and whether the expansion plans and presumed additional traffic might increase pressure from Orange County officials to re-examine the issue of bridges across the Santa Ana River at Gisler and 19th Streets.

PRIVATELY-OPERATED HOUSING
We learned, among other things, that the proposed student housing would be operated by a private contractor with experience in that kind of business.  We learned that one of the goals was to provide an affordable "on-campus experience" for students.

UNHAPPY CAMPERS
Other residents expressed frustration about noise spilling off campus and the traffic new housing may bring.

DOCUMENT AVAILABILITY?
The revised Environmental Impact Report will be circulated early this summer and all who filled out their contact information last night or previously will be notified.  When asked how it could be reviewed we were told it would be available in the campus library - viewed by most as an unsatisfactory solution.  Several people requested (demanded) that it be made available in an electronic format to help avoid public records requests.  The answer to that question was vague, unfortunately.

WHAT'S NEXT?
There will be at least one more of these meetings - sometime during the summer.  You can read the schedule below.

COSTA MESA BRIEF ON THE SCENE
Oops... almost forgot to mention.  In addition to Bradley Zint from the Daily Pilot and Jordan Graham from the Orange County Register, Barry Friedland was on hand to make a video record of this meeting which will probably appear on his Costa Mesa Brief YouTube Channel within a few days.  Thanks to Barry for continuing to provide the community with important coverage of events.