The Case Of The Shrinking Agenda

REMAINING TWO SOBER LIVING ISSUES CONTINUED!

You will recall that I mentioned that the Planning Commission meeting Monday had an even smaller agenda than originally planned.  Well, it got shorter before the meeting actually began when the two remaining Sober Living Home appeals were snatched from the agenda, by the applicant minutes before the meeting began.  Seems he figured out that he needed legal representation at the meeting, even though he had been notified of the schedule on October 6th.  Chairman Rob Dickson announced the request for extension and asked the applicant, Richard Perlin, to explain the reasons.  The commission agreed to continue the hearing to a date certain - November 14th - and Perlin jumped up AFTER the vote was taken to opine that his attorney might not be available on that date.  Commissioner Stephan Andranian expressed what appeared to be the opinion of the other commissioners when he said the applicant had plenty of time to acquire legal representation and he was not willing to consider re-voting to extend this process further.  The November 14th date stood.

440 FAIR DRIVE CONFUSION
And, the meeting took an even weirder turn when several members of the public showed up hoping to address the proposed development at 440 Fair Drive even though that item was NEVER on the published agenda!  Seems the plan was to include it when the deadline for notification of neighbors approached, so notices were sent out, but the issue never made onto the agenda.  This resulted in several members of the public even angrier than they already were about this project.

GANAHL LUMBER EXTENSION
That left only one item on the agenda - Public Hearing #1, the request from Ganahl Lumber for a retroactive extension on the plan to move their business next door to a site next door.  That one was dealt with quickly as consultant Peter Naghavi explained the process and the delays with several layers of bureaucracy.  He said they will be ready to go before the end of the year.  The commission passed the extension, 5-0.

PUBLIC COMMENTS
Earlier, during Public Comments, a half-dozen members of the public stepped up to the podium.

Beth Refakes told the commission that the recent candy drive for the children of the 1/5 Marines was very successful and thanked the public for the support.

Steven Chan addressed the commission on the issue of the noise coming from the recently-opened night club, Holiday, near his home.  He called for the resignation of Chairman Rob Dickson for what he perceived as his unwillingness to follow state law when approving the project.

Then up stepped defrocked Planning Commission Jim Fitzpatrick, to thank the commission for all their hard work.  He told them he took time out of his busy day (twice) to express his gratitude for their efforts.  He also expressed disappointment in the residents who dared to criticize the commissions actions, which he described as having lack of emotional control.  Funny, he should re-read some of his recent Facebook posts if he's looking for lack of emotional control.  Fitzpatrick is one pathetic individual - a chronic underachiever.

Tamar Goldmann told the commission she and her neighbors were very disappointed and angry about the way the 440 Fair Drive project is being handled, particularly in the confusion about the noticing.

Richard Russell, a supporter of the current council majority, praised the commission and told them to stick to their guns in the sober living appeals.

An unidentified person also addressed the sober living issue, observing that there seems to be a concerted effort to make life difficult for the small practitioners - like the ones originally scheduled for this meeting.  She referred to what appeared to be preferential treatment given to a local realtor and campaign contributor in a similar situation not long ago.

COMMISSIONER COMMENTS
During Commissioner Comments Andranian inquired about the noticing procedures with 440 Fair Drive.

Tim Sesler, who apparently removed the marbles from his mouth for this meeting, whined about the criticism leveled at the commission by speakers.  He said it was unethical and immoral.  He said it showed a lack of stability and professionalism.  Yes, sir... little Timmy, making friends whenever he opens his mouth.

Colin McCarthy also addressed the noticing issue.  He said, "We've come a long way."  Maybe, but there's clearly much room for improvement.  He then praised Sesler for his recent commentary in the Daily Pilot on the pension issue.  Of course, Sesler was wrong in so many ways that it's almost not worth the time to comment.

Dickson addressed Chan's concerns and said he's not going to resign.  He also addressed the overwhelming workload in the Planning Department and thanked the staff for their efforts.  He encouraged folks to call the Planning Department front desk at the number shown on this image.

Interim Development Services Director Jay Trevino addressed the noticing issue, indicating that the staff is working hard on improving the situation.

The meeting lasted exactly 54 minutes, finishing before 7:00 p.m.  Easy to do when 75% of your agenda gets tossed out!

Planning Commission Gets The First Sober Living Home Appeals

COULD BE A SHORT MEETING
The Costa Mesa Planning Commission meets again on Monday, October 24, 2016 beginning at 6:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers at City Hall.  You can read the full agenda HERE.

EXTENDING GANAHL'S PERMIT
First up is the request for a retroactive one-year time extension for a planning application for the proposed new site of Ganahl Lumber at 1100 Bristol Street, right next door to their current location.  This request, HERE, asks the commission to approve a one year extension of a project they approved on February 23, 2015 and the City Council upheld on March 17, 2015.  If approved the time extension would be valid retroactively until March 17, 2017.  This shouldn't take long for the commission to deal with.

SOBER LIVING HOME APPEALS
Then the fun begins.  Up next are three (3) appeals of the denial of a special use permit for group homes at the following locations:

Public Hearing #2, HERE, at 2152 Raleigh Avenue

Public Hearing #3, HERE, at 653 Joann Street

Public Hearing #4, HERE, at 647 Joann Street

HERE THEY COME!
The staff recommends upholding the denial on all three of these.  This is the first of a wave of similar requests that are heading for the Planning Commission.  It is my understanding that the next bunch of these will hit the commission in December.  The conversation on these should be very interesting.

An Evening Of Remembrance And Surprises

HUY PHAM REMEMBERED
An hour before the Costa Mesa City Council meeting was scheduled to convene a small group of friends and former co-workers of Huy Pham gathered adjacent to the employee entrance on the East side of City Hall to pay their respects to the memory of that young city maintenance worker who took his life by leaping from the roof of City Hall at that very location four years ago Tuesday - St. Patrick's Day, 2011.

A MEMORIAL CREATED
Candles were lighted by residents and his friends.  Peter Naghavi, retired Development Services Director and Pham's boss at the time, brought flowers.  Quiet conversations took place as those assembled recalled their friend, and how his death was the beginning of such tragic times for the City.  Mayor Steve Mensinger, arriving for the council meeting, took note of the small memorial.

 *****

MONAHAN AWOL.... AGAIN
The meeting itself started promptly at 5:45, and without the presence of Councilman Gary Monahan, who, although nobody confirmed it, was very likely at his gin mill, pouring green beer, attired in his kilt, and having a rousing good time.  It also ended early... we were out of there by 9:30.  In between, though, there were some memorable events.

A FUN PRESENTATION
First, Werner Escher of South Coast Plaza, made a presentation of a symbolic check for $17 million - the sales tax revenue the City received from South Coast Plaza last year.  Escher, a long-time friend of the mayor, thoroughly enjoyed the event, which wrapped up by the crowd in the audience singing Happy Birthday to him - his 82nd birthday is on the 19th.  An amusing sidebar... before the meeting began the audience was barely settled and Escher was walking across the front, chatting with folks and he looked up at Mensinger on the dais and, hands cupped, said "All Rise"... Instantly, everyone in the audience stood up and began looking around.  It was quite comical and set the tone for the presentation.

PUBLIC COMMENTS
Public Comments, which usually brings up some interesting issues, didn't let us down this time.  Flo Martin asked about reducing the speed limit on Fair Drive from Fairview to Harbor Blvd. because the traffic has become quite dangerous.  Joy Thomas gave us a brief video presentation about "Ability First", a program for developmentally disabled youth.  John Goddard thanked the council for their recent actions with the Senior Center, then praised Wendy Leece for her involvement and suggested she be considered for one of the two open positions on the Senior Commission.  Leece was next, thanked Goddard, then gave a short primer on the Ralph M. Brown Act and called for greater transparency.

SOBER LIVING
Barrie Fisher presented information regarding State-licensed sober living homes. (see the chart)  She felt there must be something that can be done about the fact that Costa Mesa has such a disproportionate ratio of such facilities.  Ann Parker followed her and echoed her comments and suggested City officials needed to do more working with the state.

KIDS ISSUES
Jonathon Asperia, a UCI student and intern with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District behaviorally challenged kids and observed that California ranks 42nd in critical assessments of our education process.  Beth Refakes reminded us that the Military Affairs Team is still gathering plastic eggs and candy and toys that can be placed in them for the children of our adopted Marine battalion, the 1/5 at Camp Pendleton.

A CONTROVERSIAL FIGURE RE-SURFACES
Then up stepped 21-year resident Steve Chan with a story that got the attention of more than a few activists in the audience.  He thanked the council for getting rid of Garcia Recycling near his home, but was at the meeting last night to complain about a business called The Lions Den, which backs up to his home.  He told us he had contacted then-Planning Commission Chairman Jim Fitzpatrick because he had seen a notice about a liquor license transfer on the door.  Fitzpatrick never got back to him, then he saw construction beginning.  The short version is that he spoke with the owner/operator of the club, one ROLAND BARRERA, who told him the facility was being converted into a LIVE NATION venue, with well-known bands being brought in to perform - adjacent to the residential neighborhood.  Mr. Chan investigated and found there are no permits for this establishment.

SHADY 60TH FIGURE
If the name Roland Barrera sounds familiar to you, it should.  He was one of the several controversial figures involved in the 60th Anniversary debacle - he provided the entertainment and was paid well over $70,000 based on a review of bills over the past several months. AND, he was also accused in a Ponzi Scheme about the same time, as you can read HERE.  Development Services Director Gary Armstrong will be in contact with Chan on this issue.

MORE LATERAL COPS?
Jay Humphrey, again, asked Mensinger and Righeimer what they are doing to enhance police hiring, specifically, of lateral hires from other venues.  Crickets...

OCC EXPANSION, COPS PENSIONS AND BASKETBALL
Eileen Lewis was concerned about the planned growth at Orange Coast College, including the dormatories and the hotel she's heard about.  Tea Party Tom Pollitt suggested we should require the police officers to pay more of their pension and Jonathon Maulk (sp?) reminded us of the Mika Community Development C3 basketball tournament coming up at the Downtown Athletic Center.

GENIS
During her time Sandra Genis addressed the OCC issue, and expressed disappointment in the aggressive growth planned by the college.  She also addressed the need to stop using the Emergency Operations Center like a conference room.  She observed that it was designed for a very specific purpose and it should be used as such.  She also observed that we do not have a Hazardous Materials Mitigation Plan.  She addressed the rumor of the City acquiring Talbert Park and observed that we are highly vulnerable to mishaps should that happen.  And, she addressed the anniversary of Huy Pham's death and hoped that we could find ways to resolve issues that continue to percolate since that date.

RIGHEIMER
Righeimer said he was in touch with new Assemblyman Matt Harper about legislation on so-called Group Homes and that he would be traveling to Sacramento on April 9th to meet with state officials in the Department of Health Services.  He also mentioned our ordinance, which he said was the only one of it's type in the Country.  He spoke about the OCC expansion and the proposed 4-story parking structure on the Fairgrounds site across Fairview from the campus and the traffic snarl that is guaranteed to occur.

MENSINGER
Mensinger talked about group homes - "We have several in our neighborhood".  He mentioned that he'd recently had a call from the CEO of a large company in the surfboard industry who met with Mensinger to discuss opportunities to relocate his headquarters to Costa Mesa.  Mensinger said the man was interested in Costa Mesa because "the buzz on the street is that Costa Mesa is a cool place".

FOLEY
Katrina Foley spoke about the speed limit on Fair Drive, wished everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day; told us about meeting with representatives of the City Attorney's office, including Tom Duarte and a senior partner, for a "productive" meeting.  She also spoke of meeting with Assistant CEO Tammy Letourneau on issues involving the 60th Anniversary situation, indicating that they made a lot of progress.

HATCH
CEO Tom Hatch gave a brief report on the trip he and Mensinger made to the National League Of Cities Conference in Washington, D.C. earlier in the month, including some mini-reports from some of the meetings.  Apparently President Obama gummed up the works by deciding to attend this conference.  He mentioned meeting with Representative Dana Rohrabacher's Chief of Staff on Medical Marijuana and Group Homes.  He also addressed the OCC expansion plans and suggested residents be in contact with OCC directly.

TWO ITEMS PULLED
Items 5 and 11were pulled from the Consent Calendar for later discussion.  The remainder was approved on a 4-0 vote.

CMPMA SIDE LETTER
Public Hearing #1, the second reading of the extension of the side letter with the Costa Mesa Police Management Association took less than 2 minutes of discussion and was quickly approved, 4-0.

GANAHL LUMBER MOVE APPEAL
At 7:10 Public Hearing #2, the appeal of the Planning Commission approval of the relocation of the current Ganahl Lumber facility on Bristol Street to a venue adjacent to it by business owners across the street from the site.  The presentation before the Planning Commission took more than two hours.  This one was shorter.  The appellant's attorney made his case for why the City had screwed up with this process, criticizing the staff and Planning Commission.  The council seemed unimpressed.  Eventually, Peter Ganahl - CEO of Ganahl Lumber - stepped up and explained why they wanted to make this move and had secured a lease for more than 60 years on the site.  Eight members of the public spoke on the issue before the council made a couple minor changes to the conditions of approval before denying the appeal on a 4-0 vote.

OPEN SPACE MASTER PLAN OF PARKS AND RECREATION
The final item on the agenda was the Professional Services Agreement with RJM Design Group of San Juan Capistrano to update the Open Space Master Plan of Parks and Recreation, which was last updated in 2003.  Public Services Director Ernesto Munoz presented the staff report and Project Manager Zachary Mueting of RJM Design Group answered questions.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH
The biggest points of conversation were the need for community outreach.  A telephone survey is being planned and it's not clear whether the council was fully satisfied when they asked how folks who have only cell phones would participate.  The interest was to give those folks - a growing number of residents don't have landlines - an opportunity to be heard.  And, three workshops are being planned, and limitation of numbers of participants were part of the proposal.  That was shot down, since Costa Mesa has a large number of concerned residents.  More workshops will be included, including some to cover both the east and west sides of town.

FAIRVIEW PARK CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE?
The question of the Fairview Park Citizens Advisory Committee was part of the staff report.  The staff was looking for direction about the future of that committee.  Much discussion took place about their role in this process and the 20 months of work they've done already.  Eventually, it was decided that the April 1, 2015 meeting would take place and that the committee would hear the staff reports that have been prepared for them and discuss the controversial potential options for playing fields on the Southeast Quadrant.  However, no further action would take place until after the Master Plan update process is complete.  The work done by the committee will be considered in that process, but nothing more will be done until that process is complete because it will include the long-sought-after needs assessment.  The update process will take 10-12 months, so the committee will likely be on hiatus for a year following their April 1st meeting.

"MINUTES" BACKLOG!
The items pulled from the Consent Calendar were discussed.  Item #5, the minutes five meetings dating back as far as July 25, 2012 were approved.  Apparently the City Clerk's office is almost caught up with the minutes preparation after having a backlog of 5 years in some cases!  That's hard to understand, isn't it?

RIGHEIMER PEEVED
Item #11, the enhancement of Brentwood Park, was pulled by Righeimer.  The actual staff recommendation was to reject all bids and re-advertise the project.  Righeimer griped about the neighbors complaining in the past when active uses were planned, so they ended up getting a very expensive green belt.  The upshot of the discussion was that all bids will be rejected and WILL NOT be advertised.  Munoz will attempt to find a way to utilize the nearly $300,000 in grant funds obtained for this project on some other project.  It's very possible that we will lose those funds now.  So, Righeimer thumbs his nose at the Brentwood Park neighbors and we'll likely lose some park improvement funds.  The word "vindictive" comes to mind.

EXPANSION PLANS DELAYED
Oh, yes... the final item originally on the agenda - the expansion and re-purposing of the old Print Shop on the first floor of City Hall into a meeting room and some other ancillary changes was abruptly yanked from the agenda without explanation.  I later learned that there was some fine-tuning of the proposal necessary to complete the file, so back to the old drawing board and it will be heard later.  There was some muttering around City Hall that it was actually yanked because there was a chance it would have been rejected on a 2-2 vote since Monahan was absent.  Another example of the impact of Monahan just sleepwalking through his job on the Council.

NEXT MEETING IN APRIL...
The next meeting is April 7, 2015, but there are a couple study sessions coming up between now and then.  We were out of there by 9:30 p.m.

Employee Contracts, City Hall Expansion And More

BUSY MEETING NEXT WEEK
The Costa Mesa City Council will meet Tuesday, March 17, 2015 at its regularly-scheduled meeting beginning at 5:45 in City Council Chambers - preceded by a short Closed Session in Conference Room 5A.  The agenda for the meeting may be read HERE.

SPENDING YOUR MONEY
There's a lot of interesting stuff happening at this meeting, but I'll begin with a little summary of the Consent Calendar, and, more specifically, Item #3, Warrant 2532, HERE.  I will list some of the items we have already spend money on - things that catch my eye or are otherwise of interest.
FTOG, Inc - $2,205.00 - Interim Buyer, 2/2-2/13/15
G4S Secure Solutions, Inc - $60,779.40 - Jail Services, 12/29/14 - 1/26/15
Jones & Mayer - $156,143.96 - Legal Services (45 line items)
City of Mission Viejo - $6,240.00 - IT Staffing Svcs, January, 2015
Jones Day - $11,756.25 - Legal Services, CMCEA, Nov. 2014
Liebert Cassidy Whitmore - $11,738.81 - Legal, various Negot. etc.
National Data & Surveying Services - $5,370.00 - Data Collection Services
Orange County Conservation Corps - $2,016.00 - Tumbleweed Removal, etc.
Scientia Consulting Group, Inc. - $12,706.50 - IT Consultant, Dec and January
State of California Dept. of Justice - $11,901.00 - Fingerprint apps
City of Huntington Beach - $18,200.00 - Helicopter Svcs, 1/15
Lilly Planning Group - $26,050.00 - Planning Consultant Services 1/15
Enterprise Counsel Group - $1,259.15 - Legal, Succ. Agncy, Nov & Dec.
FTOG Inc - $2,160.00 - Interim Buyer, 2/16-2/27/15
Government Staffing Services, Inc. - $8,185.50 - Temp svcs, various
Keyser Marston Assoc. - $7,670.00 - Consulting Svcs
Leibert Cassidy Whitmore - $9,492.50 - Legal, Personnel Matter
Scientia Consulting Group, Inc. - $6,385.50 - IT Consultant, 1/25-2/7/15
Westminster Press, Inc. - $2,230.00 - I405 Mailer/Printing

THE BUCKS JUST KEEP ON FLOWING OUT
So, on THIS Warrant we paid one outfit more than $4,400 for an Interim Buyer; more than $190,000 for legal services; more than $25,000 for IT consulting and more than $60,000 to run the jail.  Thought you should know.

NEGOTIATORS
Also on the Consent Calendar - Item #13 of 14, HERE, is the appointment of City Negotiators for the Meet and Confer process with the Costa Mesa City Employees Association (CMCEA) for the process that begins in June.  The staff recommends that Assistant CEO Tamara Letourneau and Lawyer Laura Kalty be appointed.  It will be interesting to see just how much more blood they can squeeze from the turnip - the contract the CMCEA approved took them back to the dark ages.  Just FYI.

DING!  ROUND TWO!
Public Hearing #1, HERE, is the second public hearing on the side letter with the Costa Mesa Police Management Association (CMPMA).  You will recall at the first reading two weeks ago Gary Monahan violated the Brown Act by letting the cat out of the bag regarding the CMPOA negotiations, which caused a shouting match between Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer and Councilwoman Katrina Foley and a heated discussion (kindest way to put it) between Foley and contract City Attorney Tom Duarte during a hastily-called break.  I suspect this will go smoothly this time.  As a sidebar, in the wake of Monahan's gaffe, the CMPOA has released details of the negotiations of their contract.

APPEALING GANAHL MOVE
Public Hearing #2, HERE,  is the appeal of the Planning Commission approval of the application by Ganahl Lumber to move their operations to a site adjacent to their current store on Bristol Street.  The appellants are Joseph E. Miller (shown here) and Alison Miller and their complaint is listed in the staff report.  This presentation took a couple hours before the Planning Commission.  I have NO idea how long this appeal take, but it could be even longer!  Ugh!

A SURVEY IS BURIED IN THERE SOMEWHERE
New Business #1, HERE, is the Professional Services Agreement with RJM Design Group for the update of the Open Space Master Plan of Parks and Recreation.  It is of interest that this item also includes a request from staff for direction from the City Council as to the activities of the Fairview Park Citizens Advisory Committee, which is scheduled to hear the final items on their task list on April 1st and make recommendations to the Parks and Recreation Commission shortly thereafter.  The way I read the staff report, it looks like they want to put the committee on hiatus until this project is completed.  That makes NO sense to me.  This group was tasked more than 20 months ago to do what they've been doing... assessing the existing uses of Fairview Park in a calm, methodical manner and have almost completed that assignment.  There was NO requirement for a community-wide survey - which will be included with the consultants task - so the two, while related, are not intertwined.  The FPCAC should be permitted to complete it's task, write it's recommendations to the Parks and Recreation Commission, who can then choose to do something with it, or wait until the consultant's task is finished, then blend the results.

USING CITY HALL SPACE BETTER
The final item on the agenda, New Business #2, HERE, is the request for authorization for the construction of a community room and outdoor meeting space and remodel of the employee lounge in City Hall.  This project, which asks for over $1 million to complete ( the $992,000 ratchet's up to $1.2 million) would convert the old  almost 1700 square foot print shop adjacent to Conference Room 1A into a community room, complete with full audio-visual and broadcast capabilities.  Right now 1A can record meetings, but cannot broadcast from there.  It would also enhance the existing "lounge" - that cramped, dated break room nearby.  It also includes plans for an outdoor meeting area - a patio where grass now exists - with seating for meetings and/or lunch spaces for employees.

NEED MORE FLEXIBILITY
I'm told that the new "community room" will not be divisible, like rooms at the Neighborhood Community Center.  That's too bad, since that feature makes the NCC much more usable for smaller groups.  With 1675 square feet to work with, having flexibility in the configuration of this new facility would make it much more usable - particularly since plans for the NCC/Library project will shut down that facility for months - probably a year - during which groups will be scrambling for meeting space.

3 MILLION BUCKS, GIVE OR TAKE!
When the dust settles, so to speak, the three projects PLUS the previously-approved upgrade of the City Council Chambers and the current audio-visual/broadcast infrastructure (for $1.6 million) would come to right at $3 million!  That's OK, though... all these improvements are necessary and long, long, long overdue. Our award-winning team of Dane Bora and Brad Long have been pulling rabbits out of the hat for far too long with the crappy infrastructure.

OK!
In my view, this project should be approved.  They plan to fund the three projects with 2014/2015 salary savings of $1,202,000 - which very likely comes directly from the Police Department budgeted numbers, since we've been unable to fill slots as fast as the current budget anticipated. 

 TWO STAGES...
And, this project should be done in two stages.  The first - this project, which results in a new meeting room and enhanced Conference Room 1A plus the new "lounge" and outside space, can be accomplished without disturbing meetings and other activities in the council chambers.  Once it is finished and operational, the large council chambers project can be tackled, with meetings shifted to the new meeting room temporarily instead of having to locate facilities elsewhere around town for City Council, Planning Commission and Parks and Recreation Commission meetings .

GUESSIN' 11 P.M....
The end of the meeting will include overflow public commenters and items pulled from the Consent Calendar... I'm thinking we're out of there before 11 p.m.