Fish Fry Fun In The Sun

ANOTHER GOOD YEAR!
I don't have any final attendance numbers for the 66th annual Costa Mesa Newport Harbor Lions Club Fish Fry yet, but informed sources tell me that it looked pretty darn good again this year.  Reports are that they hoped to raise somewhere in the area of $30,000 for local organizations again this year.

KIDS LEARNING TO SAVE LIVES
My lovely and patient wife and I stopped by Fairview Park Saturday afternoon and, while the crowd was sparse at that time, I understand attendance really picked up in the evening.  She wanted to learn the "Hands Only CPR" technique, so we found Fire Protection Specialist Brenda Emrick of the Costa Mesa Fire Department instructing two young ladies on the procedure.

AND OLDER FOLKS, TOO...
Then she taught my wife the procedure in about a minute.  Everyone should learn about this and, as I mentioned in an earlier post, Diane Hill will be at the City Council meeting Tuesday to make a presentation In Honor Of Paul and will also have a table outside council chambers for interested parties to learn about this life-saving CPR method.

S.W.A.T. TRAINING
Of course, now that she knows how to save lives, my wife immediately skipped over to the Costa Mesa Police Department Swat booth and had a chance to fondle an AR-15.  She seemed to be having way too much fun with that assault weapon!

HAIL TO THE CHIEF
Lions Club President Mike Scheafer seemed to be everywhere Saturday afternoon.  We caught up with him here, near the fish frying venue, looking very dapper in his Fish Fry t-shirt and his hat.  I think he was telling us that the fish dinners cost ten bucks...

FRYING UP SOME LOVELY GRUB
Lions Club stalwarts were tending to the job at hand.

 

KIRK AND SANDY SERVING, AS USUAL 

And were joined by Councilwoman Sandra Genis and Estancia High School Principal Kirk Bauermeister.

THEY'LL LET ANYONE BEHIND THAT TABLE! 

Volunteer Bruce Krochman was also seen behind that table, although I'm not quite sure what his job was - maybe performing magic tricks, because he was hiding something behind his back.  Or, maybe he was guarding that bucket.  Thanks to him and all the volunteers for a job well-done.

60TH CELEBRATION BOOTH 

There were lots of booths operated by many organizations this year again.  Here is one being tended by folks promoting the 60th Anniversary Celebration, which is coming up the last weekend of June.  More on that in the coming weeks.

 

HOPING FOR A LONG TRIP DOWN UNDER 

And here's a booth peddling cookies and other sweet stuff by the bright young Estancia High School kids who are hoping to make a trip to Australia later this year.

SOMEHOW APPROPRIATE 

I saw uber-booster Greg Ridge "supervising" the corn-on-the-cob roasting, too.  He was watching while that young woman did the roasting.

CONVENIENT PLACEMENT 

And, of course, there were many folks penned-up in the Beer Garden, sitting and sipping in the shade and enjoying the day.  I did notice the convenient location of the portable outhouses - good planning.

STAYING IN TOUCH 

I'm not sure what these three fellas were up to, but they sure were focused... a sign of the changing times, I guess.

CMTV ON THE SCENE 

Brad Long (behind the camera) and Dane Bora (with the mic) from Costa Mesa Television are shown here interviewing another volunteer fish server, former Mayor and current Costa Mesa Sanitary District Director, Arlene Schafer.  Bora and Long were omnipresent during the day, capturing the fun all over the venue for later viewing.

MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC... 

One of the great bands that played throughout the day and evening, keeping toes tapping and people smiling and singing along.

STAND-UP AND PRIZES, TOO 

Just before we left President Mike jumped up on the stage - well, maybe "jumped" is a generous term -  and held a drawing for some pretty darn cool prizes.  He did a great job, but is going to have to work on his repertoire of jokes.. don't quit that day job, Mike.

IN MEMORY OF ROLLO... 

Before I close, please note that this edition of the Fish Fry was dedicated to the memory of long, long time Lions Club member Rollo McClellan, who passed away not too long ago.  For more than six decades the members of the Costa Mesa Newport Harbor Lions Club have served our community and Rollo was a big part of that effort -  manning the fry tanks and doing whatever was needed to make the Fish Fry a success.  He set the bar high for all those hard-working volunteers who have followed him.  Thanks to them all...

Are You Ready?

HERE WE GO AGAIN...
Happy New Year to you all. Now it's time to take a big breath and get ready for 2012 because, as I've mentioned before, this year's going to be another doozy!



KUDOS, PILOTEERS
Kudos to our friends at the Daily Pilot for beginning the year (or ending it, depending on when you read these articles) by publishing in print this morning (online last night) two very provocative commentaries. These pearls of wisdom took up an entire page for what was a great start to the new year.

EXCELLENT COMBINATION
On the top of the page was non-elected councilman and self-anointed godfather of youth football in our city, Steve Mensinger's epistle titled, "Costa Mesa made many changes for the good", HERE, followed by activist Greg Ridge's contribution to community enlightenment, "Council majority wants to pull wool over our eyes", HERE. In my opinion, it was an excellent journalistic decision to place these to pieces in close proximity to each other.

VILIFY, DON'T NEGOTIATE
Mensinger begins by vilifying what he calls "out of town union leaders" - I guess he means folks like Helen Nenadal, president of the Costa Mesa City Employee Association, Tim Vasin, president of the Costa Mesa Firefighters Association and Jason Chamness, president of the Costa Mesa Police Officers Association - for spending "hundreds of thousands of dollars in propaganda". That is a crock - and typical of Mensinger and his ilk. He and the other members of the OC GOP-sponsored blitzkrieg who have attempted to takeover and re-make this city in a few short months have consistently prophesied financial ruin if we didn't follow their lead. Recent pronouncements by The City regarding our current fiscal situation proves they were - and are - just trying to cause a panic among those few folks who actually pay attention to what's going on in this town.

SPENDING LEGAL FEES LIKE DRUNKEN SAILORS
He beats his chest about balancing the budget without the use of reserves and putting "away nearly $1 million in a contingency fund", but conveniently forgets to mention that this council is also spending money on legal fees like a pack of proverbial drunken sailors on leave. They budgeted $800,000 (averaging $68,000 per month) for legal fees this fiscal year and, based on the amounts on the warrants to be considered Tuesday evening, are actually spending at a rate four times that amount! In previous months they've authorized spending no less than double their budgeted rate. Their fiscal irresponsibility can best be demonstrated by the open-ended agreement with one of the highest priced law firms in the country, Jones Day. Despite repeated warnings by resident Eleanor Egan, a lawyer herself and long-time employee in Costa Mesa's legal department, that this was a bad management practice, the council majority went ahead with the contract. The Jones Day bill for December was over $133,000! Of course, I'm not surprised with his attitude since he is responsible for the City spending over $300 to retrieve his cell phone from the City elevator shaft recently.

RESIDENCE FIRST PRIORITY?
Mensinger crows about hiring "leaders with strong ties to Costa Mesa", as if NOT living in our city is a bad thing. I have no reason to criticize those folks he mentions, but, as a guy who made a VERY good living as a recruiter for decades, I can tell you that if you limit the geographical area from which you can choose candidates, the chances of actually finding the best person available diminishes significantly. Personally I like each of those men he mentioned, including Police Chief Tom Gazsi, pictured here, but it's a faulty management practice that makes living in the city the first priority.

A "VOW" IS AN "ACCOMPLISHMENT"?
He amusingly lists as an "accomplishment" of this council majority a "vow" to pay down unfunded liabilities. I guess that's how it works in his world - a vow is as good as an actual accomplishment. Give me a break! Any of us can make vows, but the proof is in the doing. They've already demonstrated many times this year that they can't execute their plans - at least, not legally.

FISCAL PLANS UNWORKABLE
Mensinger says they've "begun restoration of our emergency fund", but the plans they have in the works that will be discussed at Tuesday's meeting are so draconian and unrealistic that the only way to accomplish them will be to drastically reduce city staff. With those reductions will come severe cuts in service levels - there's no way around it.

GET IT RIGHT, STEVE!
He says his mob has "been transparent in negotiations with our employee unions". First of all, we have no "unions", we have employee associations, none of whom, for example, have the right to strike. There is no question that the issue of employee pensions needs to be addressed, but Mensinger and his cronies have refused to sit down with the associations to discuss what kind of changes might be made. They're angry that the terms of the current agreements extend past their terms in office, so are doing their very best to vilify the employees instead of simply sitting down to talk with them. Mayor Gary Monahan, in a commentary last month, HERE, misrepresented that situation and Vasin set the record straight in a recent commentary of his own, HERE.

TAKING UNDUE CREDIT
Mensinger takes credit for street and road repairs that were already part of the established schedule - this council had NOTHING to do with the repairs - except that some of them happened in neighborhoods where they live, so they could beat their chests and woof about it.

"TRANSPARENCY" VS SECRET COMMUNICATIONS
He also crows about "transparency", claiming that Costa Mesa is the most transparent city in Orange County. He may be right about the amount of information available to folks on the city web site, but he doesn't address his penchant for texting and emailing from the dais during meetings or the bogus 2-person "working groups" behind closed doors, like the one composed of Monahan and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer that, in the comfy confines of Monahan's gin mill, managed to come up with the bogus "outsourcing" scheme that now has the City embroiled in a major lawsuit because they violated their own rules as they rushed to implement it. So much for transparency.

ONE-SIDED "TRANSPARENCY"
Another example of this lack of transparency is in his paragraph about Righeimer's scheme to convert Costa Mesa to a Charter city. He says, "We are now working on a city charter...", but conveniently forgets to mention that the "we" is actually one man - Righeimer. He cobbled together the draft Charter to suit his own personal agenda and will soon attempt to convince the populace it's for their good. He, Righeimer and Colin McCarthy - president of the Costa Mesa Taxpayer's Association (a front group for the takeover of the city) - tell us they're hosting a "panel discussion" on January 19th on the Charter. The only problem with that meeting is that there will only be one side of the issue discussed - theirs.

"SAVING CHRISTMAS"? REALLY?
Finally he yaps about "saving Christmas" in the form of the Snoopy House. Well, as you know, I'm all for the salvaging of the Snoopy House and am glad it was done. I think it did much for community morale. However, he's very misguided if he thinks that year-end event can distract folks from the year's worth of damage he and his pals have done to this city! Each time I visited the Snoopy House - during the planning and construction, the grand opening and during the evenings when Santa, was present I couldn't help but think that this lovely display was only a few yards from the spot where poor Huy Pham leaped to his death after learning that he would be among the more than 200 employees receiving layoff notices last March. As I watched Monahan perform during the grand opening I couldn't help recall his dereliction of his duties as mayor on St. Patrick's Day, when he chose to stay at his bar in his leprechaun outfit and poor beers for his customers on what he described as "the biggest day of my life" instead of going to City Hall to oversee the horrible event and console the staff.

READ RIDGE'S COMMENTARY FOR PERSPECTIVE
Take a few minutes to read Mensinger's commentary, then just keep on reading - visit Greg Ridge's excellent piece that was placed on the page below it. He lays out many good reasons why the residents of this city should be cautious about the snake oil being peddled by the current council majority.

BUSY WEEK AHEAD
This week is going to be a very busy time in our city. I've already given you the schedule of events for the various meetings already scheduled. I'll write more about them individually later. It's time to start paying attention...

OCEA Picnic

"SOLIDARITY" PICNIC
Saturday I attended a picnic hosted by the Orange County Employees Association (OCEA) at Wakeham Park in the north part of Costa Mesa that I would describe as a "solidarity" event. Wakeham Park is a lovely park, with virtually NO parking.

BERARDINO LED THE PROCEEDINGS
OCEA General Manager Nick Berardino was the master of ceremonies for this event, which was attended by 50-60 people, including OCEA staffers and other union leaders. Hot dogs and cold drinks were provided to all in attendance.

SAD DATE
This gathering fell on September 17th - six months from the date that more than 200 layoff notices were delivered to Costa Mesa employees and young Huy Pham leaped to his death from the roof of City Hall. Berardino made mention of that fact and asked for a moment of silence in remembrance of Pham.

GIBSON
Other speakers included Bob Gibson, President of the OCEA - the fellow who has given the go-ahead to continuing the fight against the city's plan for capriciously outsourcing city jobs.

LEECE STEPPED UP
Councilwoman Wendy Leece showed up to provide support to the employees and encourage them to stay strong. She spoke about her role in doing what she felt was best for the city when she voted to approve contracts during an earlier term, and how she still feels it was the right thing to do. She also spoke about being vilified by her Republican compatriots for her stand - doing what was right for the city at the time.

GENIS AND RIDGE
Both former mayor Sandra Genis and Westside activist Greg Ridge spoke to the crowd, offered perspective and encouragement to stay the course.

HELEN...
Helen Nenadal, President of the Costa Mesa City Employees Association (CMCEA) who was introduced by Berardino as the most courageous leader he's ever seen, spoke with determination. She said she's in this for the long haul and encouraged her membership present to do the same. I later spoke with her and she expressed her resolve, but is very disappointed by the treatment she and other speakers receive from some members of the city council. She's disappointed that elected leaders use their position on the dais to chide, harass and vilify those who dare to criticize them.

NO LESSENING OF THEIR RESOLVE
I would describe the atmosphere at this gathering as subdued. As I looked around at the small crowd, in addition to the employees present, I saw many residents who had spoken frequently before the City Council in recent months - and were subjected to verbal abuse and snide remarks for their trouble. I saw employees who, for six months, have been waiting for the other shoe to drop - the actual loss of their jobs. The mental strain on them was apparent. However, at no time did I detect a slackening of their resolve to continue this fight. They have jobs to protect, families to support and careers to maintain, all of which has been threatened by a couple men on the council aimed at personal political gain.

GIVING LAW FIRMS A BLANK CHECK
Those men are so determined to be victorious that they've given a virtual blank check to one of the most expensive law firms in the country to try to defeat the employees in court. Those law firms - Jones Day at $495 per hour for even the lowliest first year associate, Hansen Bridgett at $325 per hour and our outsourced contract City Attorney who bills us at $175 per hour to oversee the work of the other two firms end up costing us nearly $1,000 per hour to defeat the employees. Staggering!

EMPLOYEES SHOULD MAKE AN OFFER
In my opinion, the bargaining units should have presented proposals to the council for its consideration, if for no other reason than to test their sincerity. We'd find out very quickly if this council is honestly trying to do what's best for the city or trying to impose a philosophy from outside sources to break the bargaining units and the pensions that are attached to the employees.

RFP PROCESS CONTINUES
In the meantime, the RFP process for outsourcing continues and the first of them will be discussed at the City Council meeting Tuesday evening. More on that in another post.

Decorum Takes A Vacation

BLURRY FIRST PASS
A week ago today, while nursing the infirmities guaranteed by my most recent birthday and recovering from a little surgical procedure, I tried to watch my tape of the Costa Mesa City Council meeting from Tuesday, September 6th. The combination of needing to apply ice to my wound and the anesthetic getting flushed out of my system caused me to take twelve hours over two days to watch what was already an eight-hour marathon session.

WRONG!
I blamed my impatience on my general discomfort as I watched that session, figuring I was seeing it through a drug-induced stupor. But, I've viewed it all again and changed my mind. I think I was impatient because this meeting may have been one of the most distasteful and frustrating I've observed in the past decade.

SHOUTING MATCH
I watched as decorum on the dais took a vacation, the low-light of which was non-elected council member Steve Mensinger getting into a shouting match with speaker Greg Ridge. Ridge criticized Mensinger for voting, in a previous meeting, to give Costa Mesa Pop Warner Football $10,000 to pay a debt it incurred all on its own while Mensinger's wife, Robin, is an officer of the Pop Warner Board and responsible for fund raising. Steve Mensinger took exception to Ridge's comments, saying his wife WAS NOT involved in fund raising for Pop Warner. I captured that segment below.

YET, HERE SHE IS...
However, you can read two links that refute that argument. The link HERE, shows her named as a member of the Executive Board.

HERE, TOO...
The link HERE, identifies her as "Fundraising/Sponsorship Coordinator". These images were captured from the Costa Mesa Pop Warner Football web site yesterday, Tuesday.
BULLY IN ACTION
Clearly, Mensinger was peeved at being criticized for his part in the discussion of that $10,000. In my view, in that previous council meeting he should not have been involved in the discussion AT ALL, much less taking the lead in the request/demand for the money. He presented his version of the circumstances and there was nobody left on the city staff to refute them - all the other parties have either retired or moved on to greener, less hostile, pastures. He bullied the council into paying a debt for which the city had no legal responsibility.

WENDY CALLS THEM OUT
I watched as Wendy Leece called-out Mensinger and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer for texting on the dais during the meeting. You can hear Mensinger file a "cross complaint" for criticizing him. Have I mentioned that he doesn't like criticism? You can watch that short segment below.



STEVE ON "WALKABOUT"
Following that incident, which occurred early in the proceedings, I watched Mensinger go on frequent "walkabouts", wandering out of the chambers - maybe to make his phone calls and send his text messages - throughout the evening. It was so bad that at one point outsourced City Attorney Tom Duarte had to briefly call a halt to the proceedings because there was no quorum - another member had also wandered away!

PUSHING GAZSI INTO A CORNER
Later, during the discussion of the report from the Homeless Task Force, Mensinger pushed brand new Police Chief Tom Gazsi - on the job for about six hours - into a corner by demanding that he either provide a Park Ranger or a Security Guard at Lions Park immediately. Eventually, Gazsi guaranteed there would be a presence there "in a month". You can see that exchange below.



FLEXING HIS MUSCLE
Later in the evening Mensinger hailed Costa Mesa City Employees Association President Helen Nenadal, who was sitting in the audience near the back of the auditorium, and TOLD her to get the air-conditioning fixed in Hatch's office because he was too hot in there recently. That request should have been directed to Hatch, and probably not in open session. Mensinger was just flexing his muscles, trying to show Nenadal who's boss - which he is NOT.

OVERSTEPS HIS AUTHORITY
The point here is that Mensinger constantly oversteps his authority on the council. As clearly stated in this extract from the Municipal Code, any direction to the staff MUST come through the City Manager/CEO - that's Tom Hatch. Some members of this council, especially Mensinger, have just elbowed Hatch aside and are providing specific direction to staff on a variety of issues. This needs to stop - immediately.

HERE'S THE RULE
The Costa Mesa Municipal code is quite specific about the lines of authority. Here's the entry from the Municipal Code that addresses this:

Sec. 2-106. - Interference by council in administrative affairs.

The city council and its members shall deal with the administrative services of the city only through the city manager, except for the purpose of inquiry, and neither the city council nor any member thereof shall give orders to any subordinates of the city manager; provided, however, that the manager and the council may vary the provisions of this section by the establishment of contrary policies.

THEY JUST DON'T GET IT
And hereby lies the problem. Mensinger, and to a similar extent, Righeimer, just don't get it. There are rules of decorum, lines of authority and established policies and procedures in place to protect the rights of the residents of our city. Those rules are designed to provide the framework for municipal actions. They both act like they can just make up new rules as they go along. Mensinger, in particular, is - in my view - temperamentally unsuited for the role of a public servant. I think it's that "servant" part that is the problem. He's used to having them, not being one.

HE NEEDS TO LISTEN AND LEARN
Look, I think Steve Mensinger is probably a really great guy. Clearly, he played a huge role in resurrecting youth football in our city - I've said that before. But municipal governance is an entirely different ballgame - pun intended. Yes, we need his business acumen and energy. Yes, we need his deep roots in the community. But, most importantly, we need him to understand that you can't just flail around like a bull in a china shop in City Hall, making unilateral decisions and causing damage to the very fiber of this city. He needs to quit spitting back at speakers trying to provide a opinion to him and the other council members. He needs to just calmly sit there and listen to the residents of this city. He didn't get 12,997 votes like Righeimer or 10,846 that young Chris McEvoy received last year. Mensinger got 3, one each from the three other men on the council. Perhaps if he'd had to walk precincts, gathering votes one at a time, instead of simply being appointed, he'd have a greater appreciation for the opinions of the voters. If he is to be an effective leader of this city he needs to learn to negotiate, not dictate. That learning process has started and we hope he's smart enough to understand it.