Oops! Costa Mesa Council Takes A Mulligan

UH-OH!

Perhaps anticipating the Costa Mesa Classic Golf Tournament on Monday, the Costa Mesa City Council will, effectively, "take a Mulligan" after it inadvertently voted last Tuesday evening to appoint current Planning Commission Chairman Colin McCarthy to the vacancy created the day before by the abrupt resignation by commissioner Ed Salcedo.

BAD ADVICE

Following the meeting Interim City Clerk Brenda Green further researched the California Government Code - specifically section 54974 (a), which you can read HERE -  and found that, despite contract City Attorney Tom Duarte's assurance to the council that it was appropriate to select a replacement for Salcedo last Tuesday night, the code requires at least 10 days between the official notice by the clerk and the appointment.  You can read the City press release on this issue HERE.

APPLICATION PERIOD EXTENDED

So, even though very few people I've spoken with think McCarthy will not be re-appointed, the application period for persons interested in filling Salcedo's remaining two years on the Planning Commission will be extended until 5:00 p.m Thursday, January 24th.  The council will then select from the applicant pool - all the previous candidates plus those who throw their hats in the ring by Thursday evening - at their next regular council meeting on February 5th.  They will also fill the four open slots on the Parks and Recreation Commission that evening, too.

DON'T BLINK!
Just when you think things can't get any more bizarre.... don't blink!

Salcedo Resigns From Planning Commission!

I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER...
So, I figured I'd stay home tonight and not travel over to City Hall to watch the Planning Commission meeting.  I figured most of what they were going to deal with would be pretty mundane and I could always watch it on my tape.  Silly me!

SALCEDO BAILS OUT
Planning Commissioner Edward Salcedo announced at the beginning of the meeting that he was resigning for personal reasons and that the meeting tonight would be his last.  He leaves his position on the commission after serving only half of his term, which expires in February, 2015.

SEVEN SLOTS TO FILL TOMORROW
This now means that the City Council will have seven (7) positions to fill Tuesday night instead of six - three (3) on the Planning Commission and four (4) on the Parks and Recreation Commission.

ALL BUT A DONE DEAL
If there was any doubt that Jim Fitzpatrick was going to have a warm seat waiting for him tomorrow night, that is gone now.

CLARK - IN OR OUT?
In an interesting sidebar, Vice Chair Sam Clark ran the meeting instead of Chairman Colin McCarthy.  I'm trying to decide whether that was an audition or a swan song.  I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

Planning Commission To Appoint Fitzpatrick Replacement?

REALLY?
Early in the Costa Mesa Planning Commission meeting tonight Chairman Colin McCarthy informed the public that, following several discussions he had with Mayor Eric Bever, the commission will fill the vacancy created by the recent resignation of Jim Fitzpatrick at the July 9 Planning Commission meeting.

MAINTAINING THE "STAGGER"
According to McCarthy, the staff will initiate a recruitment effort immediately and the four remaining commissioners will screen the applicants and individually interview those in whom they have an interest.  According to McCarthy, the appointment will NOT be for the remainder of Fitzpatrick's term, which expires in January, 2015, but only through the General Election in November.  Effectively, that means the NEW council will appoint a replacement for Fitzpatrick as well as consider replacements for McCarthy and Vice Chairman Sam Clark, whose appointments expire January 31, 2013.

TERM UNCLEAR
It is unclear whether that means the Fitzpatrick replacement would be for a four-year term, even though there will only be two years on Fitzpatrick's term remaining.  The objective is to have staggered terms, so the new council could appoint three persons to four year terms in January and retain that "stagger".  Commissioners Ed Salcedo and Rob Dickson are scheduled to serve until January 31st, 2015.

LOOKING FOR THE AUTHORITY
It is also unclear where the authority for the commission to appoint a member, even though it is short-term.  I searched the Municipal Code and the California Government Code for the authority for the Planning Commission to fill the vacancy.  I was unsuccessful.  The authority MAY be there and I simply overlooked it.  It has been my understanding that the authority to appoint a commissioner resides only with the City Council.  I wrote to the City CEO and City Attorney on this issue, looking for the reference to the authority implied.  I'll report back here when I receive a reply to my inquiry

 SMOOCH!
Earlier the commission gave Fitzpatrick a big wet kiss in the form of a proclamation honoring his service to the city as a planning commissioner.  A couple of them referred to him as "Director Fitzpatrick", a reference to his position as a Director on the Costa Mesa Sanitary District Board.  We await the results of the legal action to see how much longer he holds that position.

Homeless Task Force Launched

I DID NOT ATTEND
I confess... I did not attend the first meeting of the Costa Mesa Homeless Task Force held Wednesday evening at City Hall. I chose, instead, to stay home and tend to my sweet wife, who is under the weather. However, some reliable sources did attend and have reported some of the nuts and bolts of the meeting.

Warning: Second-hand knowledge coming at you...

NEARLY A FULL HOUSE
It's my understanding that Conference Room 1A was near capacity this evening - a good thing. No one mentioned whether any actual homeless folks were in attendance or not. You may recall that at a council meeting not too long ago when this whole idea was launched there was, in fact, a homeless fellow who spoke about what a wonderful place Costa Mesa is for the homeless - plenty of services, nice parks, etc. In fact, he told us he intentionally moved from Lake Elsinore to Costa Mesa for all the benefits.

SMITH AND BERRY LEAD THE EFFORT
I'm not privy to the actual flow of the agenda for this meeting, but I'm told that PR flack and Daily Pilot columnist (and nanny to us all for so many years) Steve Smith was elected Chairman of the Task Force and the irrepressible Judi Berry is Vice Chair. Among the "city" representatives present were Chief Executive Officer of the City, Tom Hatch, councilwoman Wendy Leece, Planning Commission Chairman Colin McCarthy, commissioner Ed Salcedo and our housing maven, Neighborhood Improvement Manager Muriel Ullman. Sorry if I missed others - my reports are sketchy.

SERVICE PROVIDERS IN ATTENDANCE
I also understand that several of the organizations who provide support for our homeless provided representation in the meeting, including Saddleback Church.

"SPIRITED" DISCUSSIONS
The meeting lasted a couple hours and included spirited discussions - no surprise there. If this issue was an easy one to resolve it would have been done a long, long time ago.

NEXT MEETING APRIL 20TH
It's my understanding that future meetings - which are open to the public - will be held at the Neighborhood Community Center at Lions Park on the third Wednesday of each month. Actually, that's a perfect venue because many of the folks we're trying to "solve" with this task force will be right outside the door, sleeping on the grass or, perhaps, using the restrooms in the Center for bathing in the sinks, or dozing in the library.

PLEASE EXPAND MY COVERAGE IF YOU WERE THERE
If you were in attendance and wish to expand or correct my report, please just fire away in the comments section. I want to hear from you.

6-MONTH "OUTSOURCING" NOTICES TO BE DELIVERED TODAY
In closing, I wonder if anyone else sees the terrible irony in the fact that in less than 24 hours after launching the Costa Mesa Homeless Task Force the city will issue 6-month "outsourcing" notices to 213 city employees. By the end of the day today all such notices will have been delivered. For some of those folks receiving the notices it is possible they may be viewing the "homeless" issue from a much more up-close-and-personal perspective before year's end. It's a very sad commentary on the elected leadership of this city that they put the cart before the horse on this issue and made their decision before ANY analysis had been done. They keep talking about running the city like a business, but if they'd pulled this kind of a stunt in a company their boss would have fired them for incompetence.