Union Chief Appointed To Fair Board

JUST WHEN I NEEDED A SMILE
Just when you think there's not going to be anything to provide you with a little chuckle, something pops up that puts a BIG smile on your face.




BERARDINO ON THE FAIR BOARD?!
For example, today it was announced that Orange County Employee's Association General Manager Nick Berardino has been appointed to the Board of Directors for the Orange County Fair and Event Center by Governor Jerry Brown.

OH, BOY!
To say that this appointment changes the political demographic on the Fair Board would be the understatement of this new century in Orange County.

FAIR BOARD MEETINGS WILL BE FUN
With a smile on my face, I will say nothing more, except the Fair Board meetings have just become "must attend" events in the future. I also wonder what's going through the mind of Fair Board President David Ellis right about now. More smiles.

Fair Board Meeting Canceled

BOGUS FAIR BOARD MEETING CANCELED
The meeting of the 32 District Agricultural Association Board (the Fair Board) that had been hastily scheduled for 4:30 January 1, 2011 - Saturday - has been canceled. HERE.

THE OLD "QUIT CLAIM SHUFFLE"
This is the meeting that was supposed to see the Fair Board do a Quit Claim Deed transfer for the Fairgrounds to the 32a DAA - basically itself in a different dress. The 32a DAA was established back with the original legislation that authorized the sale of the Fairgrounds many, many months ago as a property transfer entity. Many of us watching this drama assumed that this move by the State was to circumvent the legal stall presently placed on the sale.

NOT SURE EXACTLY WHY
We don't know exactly what pressure was brought on the Board, but I suspect it was the probability of their actions violating the Temporary Restraining Order currently in effect. It is our understanding that there will be a hearing on February 8th at which time the Appellate Court will announce it's decision regarding the legality of the State trying to sell the Fairgrounds to a private entity - in this case, Facilities Management West.

DON'T RELAX...
I'd tell you all to relax for a month or so now, but every single time I start thinking like that something else hits the fan. This whole thing is like Groundhog Day - it just never stops! So, like my meerkat buddy here, stay alert!

Arnold Pulls A Fast One...

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN OVER THE HOLIDAYS?
So, I ask myself, what could possibly happen in this Fairgrounds drama now that there is a firm temporary restraining order in place until at least January 10, 2011? I know that the folks at Facilities Management West are planning to file paperwork with the appellate court, but beyond that I thought we were home free for the holidays. HA! Silly me!

SCHWARZENEGGER APPOINTS A MAJORITY
Today Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed three new members to the 32nd District Agricultural Association AND the 32a DAA and re-appointed two current members. The current members re-appointed are current Chair Dave Ellis and David Dykema. The new folks are Ali Jahangiri, a 35 year-old Republican lawyer from Newport Beach; Douglas La Belle, a 67 year-old retired City Manager (Chino Hills) from Costa Mesa (also a Republican) and Alexander Vellandi a 40 year-old Republican attorney and real estate broker and business owner from Ladera Ranch. You can read about their backgrounds and the others Schwarzenegger appointed at the last minutes of his reign HERE.

STATE DEMANDS A QUIT CLAIM TITLE TRANSFER!
Virtually simultaneously, the State and Consumer Services Agency directed the Fair Board to meet to consider a quit claim deed transferring the Orange County Fair and Event Center from the 32 DAA to the 32a DAA, which was formed with the original legislation authorizing the sale of the Fairgrounds when this whole basket of snakes was created. That meeting is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. January 1, 2011! That's right, New Year's Day! How do you guarantee limited opposition at a meeting? Why, hold it on a holiday when folks will be immersed in watching football games and replays of the Rose Parade, that's how!

ARNOLD STACKED THE DECK
Clearly, the governor is trying to circumvent the legal process and has stacked the Fair Board deck with new folks who, along with known kindred spirits, will form a majority to follow his wishes. He may, however, have overstepped himself and violated the current temporary restraining order. That's for the lawyers to sort out.

WILL THEY HAVE A QUORUM?
There appear to be even more complications in this farce. It seems that at least a couple of board members are out of town, vacationing. I suppose it's possible that there will be no quorum at the meeting on the 1st, but I can't imagine that kind of a gaffe being made - even by this Fair Board. Nope, I suspect we'll see the new guys plus Ellis and maybe one more which will form a quorum. Then it will probably only take 4 of the 5 to vote for the quit claim transfer and the State will have a clear path to sell the property.

LOOKS LIKE A MUGGING TO ME
Seems to me that this validates the questionable status of the title to the Fairgrounds - a point that has been made frequently over the past few months not only by Fairgrounds sale opponents, but the Fairgrounds management, too. Apparently the State doesn't really own the Fairgrounds, so it can't sell it, which may make the whole process being conducted by the Department of General Services illegal. However, if this maneuver goes through - holding a gun to the heads of the Fair Board members and ordering them to hand over the property - then it's clear sailing for The State and Facilities Management West to consummate their deal once the TRO is released.

WHICH LAWS HAVE BEEN VIOLATED?
I find myself wondering just how ticked-off the appeals court must be right about now... I know how angry opponents to the sale are tonight. I wonder if the court has any recourse in this process, or will they be left with their collective jaws on the floor like the rest of us.


I WARNED YOU...
I've cautioned you in the past to never relax when contemplating this Fairgrounds Sale issue. This is why... There is so much money at stake here - hundreds of millions of dollars - that nothing at all will surprise me as this mess moves forward. Merry Christmas!

Second Hand Fair Board Update

NO, I DIDN'T ATTEND, BUT...
I did not attend the Fair Board meeting today at which the emergency resolution was addressed. However, I do have a report for you, gleaned from information provided by those who attended.

FULL BOARD MET AND DELIBERATED
According to a couple sources, including CEO Steve Beazley, the full board met and heard a discussion of the documents uncovered by their lawyers as discussed in my earlier posts. They also heard public comments from a couple interested parties, including Sandra Genis - President of the Orange County Fairgrounds Preservation Society - and Costa Mesa activist Greg Ridge, who has been a persistent and vocal critic of all the plans to sell the Fairgrounds.

BOARD TO SEND LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR
According to Beazley, following direction given to him by the Board via a rare 7-0 vote, he will draft a letter to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger from the Board which will be submitted within the next couple days. This letter will transmit the legal summary from the Fair Board lawyers - although I suspect many folks in Sacramento have that document clutched to their breasts already today. The letter will also present the Fair Board's request to "revisit" their recent profit sharing proposal. This is in light of the new information about the actual owner of the Fairgrounds - the Fair Board.

INFORMATIONAL, NOT CONFRONTATIONAL
Beazley emphasized that the purpose of today's meeting was informational, not confrontational. They felt it was important to get this new information to the public - and in particular to potential bidders for the property - as quickly as possible.

STAKEHOLDERS PACKED THE HOUSE
Many interested parties were in the nearly packed house today, including Costa Mesa City Manager Allan Roeder and representatives from the city's potential partner in the Fairgrounds deal, Facilities Management West. When I contacted Roeder this afternoon he indicated that my take on the meeting was correct and offered the following comment: "The questions posed in the legal analysis merit a response from the State. That holds whether the sale involves the City or a sale through the current bid process. As legal counsel to the OCF stated this morning, these are questions at this point – not statements of fact. The Purchase & Sales Agreement proposed by the City and tentatively accepted by the State requires that they provide clear title to the property."

SOLORIO AND CORREA ALSO IN ATTENDANCE
Assemblyman Jose Solorio - sponsor of the enabling legislation for the Costa Mesa sale that is hung up in Sacramento - was also at the meeting, as was State Senator Lou Correa, who recently came out against the sale.




DGS ON FURLOUGH - NO OFFICIAL COMMENT YET
I contacted the State Department of General Services this afternoon to get their take on this new information. Unfortunately, nobody was available for official contact - they're on furlough! I did speak with a representative at his home who told me they were aware of the legal summary presented to the Fair Board - he read it on my blog - but no official opinion had yet been crafted by the DGS. He also confirmed that no bids have been received in Sacramento yet in response to the new RFP.

STILL SLIM HOPE FOR OUR DEAL
Since the only chance the City's deal has to be completed involves passage of the enabling legislation, and since the governor has called the legislature back to hammer out a budget - hopefully, this weekend - there is always a chance that the necessary bill will be attached to the budget. Personally, I'm not holding my breath because this new revelation by the Fair Board significantly complicates things. The whisper of a lawsuit keeps floating around in my head, regardless which "sale" process might go forward.

MORE FUN COMING
So, dear readers, stay tuned. This is better than any soap opera you can find on television. If this past week is any indication, next week will REALLY be fun.

A Busy Day Ahead

Today promises to be a very interesting day.

FOLEY AND ROEDER TO SACTO - AGAIN
First off the bat, Costa Mesa City Manager Allan Roeder and Councilwoman Katrina Foley are winging off to the state capitol again to meet with State officials regarding the sale of the Orange County Fair and Event Center.


FAIR BOARD MEETS AT 10 A.M.
And, as that meeting is commencing, almost 500 miles south the Fair Board will be holding it's meeting at the Fairgrounds in which it's "revenue sharing" scheme will be discussed and voted upon.

NATIVES ARE RESTLESS
As one might expect, ever since the agenda report for the Fair Board meeting was published this past weekend the natives have been restless. Emails flew and Facebook almost overheated with comments and speculation about the plan.

GENIS IN THE REGISTER
Unrelated to that agenda item, but perfectly timed, former Costa Mesa mayor and present President of the Orange County Fair Preservation Society, Sandra Genis, published a lengthy essay in the Orange County Register, which you can read HERE. As you'll see, Genis is against the sale of the Fairgrounds to anyone, and specifically dislikes the current agreement with Facilities Management West. You can find the Fair Preservation Society web site HERE.

WHAT ARE THEY UP TO?
I'm not exactly sure what to expect from the events today, but I hope Foley and Roeder get some insight into exactly what the Fair Board hopes to accomplish with this end run. Although it's not published as part of the agenda, I suspect this shenanigan will get a lot of discussion in the closed session segment of the City Council meeting Tuesday. We'll see..

Parks & Rec. Leadership, Fair Board Lack Thereof & Journalism

BRUMBAUGH, SHAW LEAD PARKS & REC. COMMISSION
Last night the Costa Mesa Parks and Recreation Commission elected new leaders. Vice Chair Mike Brumbaugh was elected Chairman and long time resident and activist, Terry Shaw, was elected Vice Chairman. Commissioner Jeff Mathews was nominated for Vice Chairman by Kurt Galitski but no second was put forth. It will be very interesting to see what impact this new leadership has on the activities of the commission, which meets only every other month now.

FAIR BOARD OK's BEAZLEY SECURITY SYSTEM
At it's meeting today the 32 Agriculture District Board (Fair Board) the five members in attendance voted unanimously to spend $3,000 for a security system at CEO Steve Beazley's Costa Mesa residence. According to Mona Shadia's Daily Pilot report on the meeting, HERE, the expenditure was authorized even though no testimony either in the staff report or otherwise, made a link to the vandalism and harassment experienced by Beazley and his family to his position at the Fairgrounds.

DODGE AND ELLIS ABSENT
An interesting sidebar to this story - neither Board Chairwoman Kristina Dodge nor the Vice Chair, Dave Ellis, attended the meeting today. That's more than a little curious, since Dodge was scheduled to pitch the need for Beazley's security to the Board. I guess they didn't want to be personally associated with this controversial subject. That's "leadership" for you.

OPEN MEETING RULES WILL NOW APPLY
According to Shadia's article, some good news finally came out of a Fair Board meeting. Today, on a vote of 4-1, the board agreed that sub-committees should be at least three members, which requires them to be subject to open meeting laws. Previously only two members were required in sub-committees. Hopefully, this will lead to more open discussion of important issues before the Fair Board.

ANOTHER JAW-DROPPING ADMISSION! (10:20 p.m.)
Well, now, this issue got much more interesting with the publication of Tom Johnson's column in the Daily Voice, HERE. Seems that, during the meeting at which the Fair Board agreed to follow the open meeting laws, several of them admitted to a major violation in the case of the Beazley Security System issue! According to Johnson, one Board member, Gary Hayakawa, sent an email to ALL the other Board members about this subject - a clear violation of the Bagley-Keene act. Even more astounding is the quotation by Johnson of a comment attributed to Dale Dykema, who acted as moderator of the meeting due to the absence of the Chair and Vice Chair. Once he finally admitted it was a violation of the "Brown Act" (it's really the Bagley-Keene Act), Dykema said, "but, in this case, this is different - this is a human thing." Good grief! These people really are clueless! I sure did get it right with the title of this post! Just put that on the list with all the other reasons this Fair Board should go - regardless what happens to the Fairgrounds!

CORONA DEL MAR TODAY ON THE JOB
An observation: It's hard to understand how some local stories simply don't seem to reach publication by the "real" media until well after the date of occurrence - if ever. For example, Amy Senk over at the Corona del Mar Today blog reported the failure of a structural beam above the council chambers at Newport Beach City Hall, including photos of the failure that will deem the chambers unusable for some time while it is repaired. You can read Amy's report HERE. I have yet to see any mention of this situation mentioned by the Daily Pilot nor the Orange County Register.

THE CAULDRON WILL BE ON SIMMER
I'm turning the old cauldron down to simmer for a few days while I take a little breather. Comments might be delayed as I try to find my way to a computer to approve them, but they will eventually be posted. We'll be back at full steam before the next council meeting, returning with our heads full of March Madness. In the meantime, you might wish to re-visit a little piece I wrote on March 22, 2006 to keep your juices flowing. Just click HERE and fasten your seat belt.

Passes, Punts, Losses and Trick Plays

PLANNING COMMISSION PASSES ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY ON...
At it's meeting tonight the Costa Mesa Planning Commission gave cursory review of the General Plan and approved the latest step in the development of an assisted living facility on the Westside. They also batted around plans for fencing at Cal Trans entry ways into the city, batting around Cal Trans in the process.

FAIR BOARD PUNTS - AGAIN!
The Fair Board pushed it's meeting scheduled for Tuesday, February 9th off to February 25th. Once again, this is apparently due to it's inability to establish a quorum. This is second time this has happened in a week and makes one curious about just what's going on with the Fair Board. Did some of them not make it back from their junket to the Barrett-Jackson Auction in Arizona? Where the heck are they? The Register's Orange Punch blog speculated that the meeting, which they referred to as an "emergency meeting" was being called to vote on a proposal to oppose the sale of the Fairgrounds. If so, that would be quite a reversal from their original position in which they urged the State to sell the Fairgrounds - to them!

BUDGET REVIEW BLEAK
At it's Study Session tomorrow the City Council will hear Budget and Research Officer Bobby Young tell them that, despite some very significant savings in areas of the 10-point plan approved last year, the city still is in deep guano from a budget standpoint. Among the numbers he will lay on them is the fact that we will be using double the amount of Fund Balance dollars to balance the remainder of this year's budget than was anticipated - $9.3 million vs. $4.6 million.

MORE RETIREES, FEWER REPLACEMENTS
On the positive side, the attrition savings from the implementation of the enhanced retirement program resulted in an anticipated $3.6 million this fiscal year instead of the planned $3.5 million for the next calendar year. According to the staff report, as of the closure of the window of opportunity for this plan, 12/31/09, 54 employees took advantage of the incentive and the management staff has determined that 40 positions can remain vacant. Originally, it was estimated that 50 people might retire under this program and that 25 positions might remain unfilled. This difference basically doubles the savings. What it does to service levels remains to be seen.

REVENUE DOWN
Based on the fact that all revenue sources are in decline, the staff is recommending reducing projected estimates for all revenue sources by $7.1 million. Sales Tax revenue decreased by 7.1% and the Transient Occupancy Tax dropped by 15.9%, for example. It will be interesting to see just what the council has in the way of direction for staff when this issue is formally presented to them at a scheduled meeting in the near future.

CLOSED SESSION - LEASE/PURCHASE PLAN?
Although we don't exactly know what will be discussed about the sale of the Fairgrounds in their closed session tomorrow, it's probably a safe assumption that the end run - lease/purchase plan Gary Monahan spilled the beans about on radio recently - will be part of that chat. This issue is a gift that just keeps on taking...

Fair Board Has Ears Bent By Critics

MELODRAMA ON THE FARM
In the ongoing drama that is the Orange County Fair and Events Center, today the Board met and were greeted by a packed house of angry visitors.

"GOVERNOR, KILL THE SALE!"
According to my sources in the audience, many people stood to suggest the Board now "get on board" with the idea of quashing the sale and asked them to communicate with their boss, the governor, to ask him to kill the sale.

THE CROONER'S REPORT
Our pal, Vern Nelson, provides us with his account of the meeting over at the Orange Juice Blog, HERE.

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY...
The board busied itself with planning to attend the Barrett-Jackson Auction and giving CEO Steve Beazley a nice raise for all his good work, I guess.

ASK THE GOVERNOR...
I think it's time for the Fair Board to do as was suggested. Since this whole mess was their doing, I think it's time for them to step up and request the governor to recognize the mistake they made and kill the sale. I doubt we'll see that happen, though.

FOLEY BACK IN SACTO AGAIN
Councilwoman Katrina Foley was in Sacramento again today to speak before the Appropriations Committee of the Assembly on behalf of Jose Solorio's AB 1590. As noble a cause as this bill is, unless the governor signs it there is no chance that it will pass.

AND ON, AND ON, AND ON...
So, the beat continues.

Water Rates, Secret Meetings and Tiger...

WATER RATE INCREASE?
It's late Tuesday night and I find myself wondering if the Mesa Consolidated Water District passed the new water rates at it's meeting tonight. No word on the local media yet, but there really is no reason to expect they wouldn't pass what amounts to a 25% rate increase over the next 5 years.

SECRET FAIR BOARD MEETING?
Also, a friend asked if I knew if the Orange County Fair Board was holding a meeting on Wednesday, tomorrow, at the Fairgrounds. Seems the Daily Voice makes mention of it, but the Fair web site has absolutely nothing on it's pages to indicate a meeting will be held and, if so, what the agenda will be. Sadly, this is precisely why so many activists have come to distrust this Fair Board. I'll post an entry if I hear anything about the meeting, which is theoretically to be held from 10-12 Wednesday in the Administration Building on the Fairgrounds. UPDATE! After spending much of last night trying to track down the source of the info regarding a possible OC Fair Board meeting today, finally this morning late I was advised that the information previously provided was in error. So, I called the Fair staff and was told that, indeed, the Board will not meet this month in their regularly scheduled meeting and will meet on January 21, 2010.

TIGER!
Oh, yes - Tiger Woods. There, now I'm no longer the only blogger who has failed to mention Tiger Woods.. 'nuff said, except that I'm certainly going to pull MY sponsorship dollars from him! :-)

MORE JOY TO ENJOY
More Christmas videos for you again tonight. Tonight I'm going to juxtapose two tunes, both in the Christmas spirit, but are somewhat of a paradox. In any event, enjoy...

OLIVIA NEWTON JOHN - SILENT NIGHT

FAITH HILL - LITTLE DRUMMER BOY

Three Fair Foundation Board Members Bail Out!

RATS AND SINKING SHIPS
Orange County Register investigative reporters Jennifer Muir and Tony Saavedra reported late today, HERE, that three members of the 32nd District Agricultural Association board (Fair Board) who helped form the non-profit organization with the intent of buying the Fairgrounds have resigned from the non-profit board. Those members are Dale Dykema, Joyce Tucker and Gary Hayakawa. Their resignations leave only three members left on the board.

DYKEMA PLACES BLAME
Board member Dykema, in his comments to the Register, blames what he calls "special interests" for affecting the sale. He was referring to supporters of the Equestrian Center and the Orange County Marketplace.

NO SURPRISE
With all the heat turned up over the past few days on this issue, it doesn't surprise me at all that Fair Board members are bailing out of the non-profit. The Register story has some fascinating twists and turns. I'll let you read them for yourselves at the link above.

NO WORD ON SACTO TRIP YET
We still have no word about the results of the trip Wendy Leece, Katrina Foley and Allan Roeder made to snowy Sacramento on Monday. They hoped to meet with State officials to discuss quashing the sale of the Fairgrounds.

COMING APART AT THE SEAMS
It sure looks like this whole ill-advised scheme to sell the Fairgrounds to, theoretically, help balance the state budget is coming apart at the seams. I can almost hear the cheering around the Fairgrounds as I type this.

Stay tuned... this isn't over yet.

Fairgrounds, Huscroft House, Skosh and God

DERAIL THE SALE!
Here's my question for the day... Is there any resident of Orange County who actually wants the Fairgrounds to be sold? Other than the current Fair Board, that is... Based on the recent public meetings held in Costa Mesa, I'd say the answer is a resounding NO!

FOLEY AND LEECE LEAD THE WAY
Last night the Costa Mesa City Council, following an outstanding presentation by Councilwoman Katrina Foley and Mayor Pro Tem Wendy Leece, heard dozens of residents and other stakeholders present their individual views on this subject. Heck, they were even serenaded by blogger Vern Nelson, who appeared in a red, hooded cape, and sang "Tainted Sale" to the music of "Tainted Love", which brought down the house. Even Mayor Allan Mansoor cheered him when he finished.

HISTORY AND PLANS OUTLINED
Foley and Leece outlined the history of this sale scheme and gave the audience the time line that we face if the sale is to be stopped. They also presented the steps the City is taking to slam the door on potential buyers. It was announced that, during their closed session meeting, the council had agreed to proceed with plans to make a bid outright for the Fairgrounds and authorized spending $250,000 dollars of staff time toward that planning.

THREE-PRONGED ACTION
The upshot of the meeting was a three-pronged motion presented by Foley. To quote Foley, "The first part is to prepare a letter to all Orange County legislators and Speaker of the Assembly requesting that they put forth legislation to cancel the sale. The second part to prepare a letter signed by all of the city council members to demand that the governor terminate the sale. And, thirdly, to authorize member Leece and myself to personally communicate our city's position to the governor, state elected and local officials and representatives to work with the City Manager in making it our top priority to stop the sale." The motion passed unanimously. Now the hard work begins because the time constraints and holidays will severely tax a staff thinned by budget constraints.

FAIR BOARD TO BE INVESTIGATED?
One interesting issue was broached by one speaker - that of the possible illegality on the part of the Fair Board and their hired representative in the sale of the Fair. As mentioned in an earlier post, R. Scott Moxley at the OC Weekly, HERE, indicated that the county attorney was pursuing legal action. The Orange County Register, HERE, further reported today that the State Attorney General declined to investigate because he is the legal counsel for the Fair Board. The buck has been passed back to the county, where District Attorney Tony Rackauckas will be asked to investigate this allegation. It was also suggested that Federal authorities take part in this investigation.

WHERE WAS RIGGY?
Another question arose as I watched the proceedings on television tonight - where's Riggy? Costa Mesa Planning Commission Chairman Jim Righeimer has been omnipresent at every other meeting on this subject and had begun his own effort to place the subject on the ballot. He's been taking a lot of flack over the past week or so for his censoring of comments on his Save The Fair web site and, reports have it, that he's had at least one toe-to-toe heated discussion with a member of the public who questioned his motives.

HE'S STILL A CARPETBAGGER...
My opinion of Riggy has not changed over the past couple years. I've referred to him as a carpetbagging political opportunist, who used his GOP connections to get himself appointed to the Planning Commission after helping get Mansoor re-elected two years ago after having resided in Costa Mesa for only a few months. I don't like his heavy-handed approach on the Planning Commission, which is now made all the more onerous because he's been joined by Steve Mensinger and Colin McCarthy - all three have strong developer ties. To me, that's like asking the fox to be housemother in the chicken coop.

A NEW LOWER PROFILE?
I was suspicious of his motivation with his Save The Fair scheme and the passage of time has done nothing to change my opinion. Hopefully, the council action last night will eliminate any need for him to insert himself into this process.

A GIFT THAT KEEPS ON TAKING...
A sidebar at the meeting was the concern expressed by several residents about the evolving sale of the Huscroft House on Bernard Street. After the city bent over backwards helping the buyer of that derelict building in the form of financial incentives and relaxation of zoning issues, it seems the owner has sold the place to an outfit that plans to use if for a recovery home! Actually, it sounds like it's a series of recovery homes, to stay within the 6-person-per-house rule.

NEIGHBORS APPREHENSIVE
This has created much angst among residents along that street, several of whom have purchased homes in an adjacent development assuming the Huscroft House would remain an owner-occupied dwelling and be an anchor of a revitalized section of the Westside of town.

THANK YOU, LINDA DIXON
This whole deal was bad from the beginning, but then-councilwoman Linda Dixon carried the torch for that ramshackle building and the council at the time got snookered. When will we learn? The City Attorney will investigate to see what, if anything, can be done. They shouldn't hold their breath, as our friends down in Newport Beach can tell you.


MONAHAN WAS CITED AND FINED
On the subject of councilman Gary Monahan's illegal banner on his pub, city officials tell me he was issued a citation late last week and has 30 days in which to pay the $75.00 fine and remove the banner. If he fails to do so he will be cited again, this time with a $200.00 fine and another 30 days to take the banner down. If he continues to thumb his nose at the city he will be cited a third time and fined $500.00. If he doesn't remove the banner after that citation the issue will be turned over to the city prosecutor for disposition. We all remember what a bang-up job he did with the Benito Acosta criminal trial, don't we? He dropped the ball and the case was dismissed.

ABUSE OF POWER
I expect Monahan will continue to rack up the fines and write them off as a cost of doing business. The time line above will take him through the football season. However, I fully expect to see another similar illegal banner in March, advertising March Madness, and the process will begin all over again. As I've said before, Monahan seems more than willing to abuse his position on the council for his own personal gain and ignore any rules he doesn't like. Thanks to all of you who voted him back into office after a dozen years of these kinds of shenanigans.

IT'S OFFICIAL - "IN GOD WE TRUST"
Oh, yes... at the end of the council meeting, after many impassioned speakers on both sides of the issue, the council agreed with Wendy Leece and voted, 5-0, to hang the motto, "In God We Trust", in bold brass letters on the wall behind the speaker's dais. Of the many excellent presentations we heard on this issue, Byron de Arakal's suggestion struck me as the best compromise. He thought, if we really had to have a patriotic phrase hanging behind the council, it should be the first three words of the Constitution- "We, the people"... I agree.


A WORD OF CAUTION
I encourage the city staff to use great care when placing that motto on the wall behind the Mayor's chair. We sure don't want Mayor Mansoor to look like the motto is running through his head - even though it would likely find no obstruction to impede it.