Homeless Funds, Grumpy Geezers and Red Light Cameras

HPRP FUNDING APPROVED
As anticipated, the Costa Mesa City Council, when confronted with facts, came to it's senses and passed unanimously the request for HPRP funds at their meeting tonight. Once the lationphobes on the council received sufficient assurances that none of those dreaded illegal immigrants would see one single penny in the federal dollars they voted to move forward. I thought for awhile that they were going to require the vendors to sign in blood...

"THE MOUTH" IS "SCROOGE"
This, of course, is good for all residents of Costa Mesa because it helps those among us who are less fortunate. And, also as anticipated, The Mouth From Mesa North stood before the council and recommended rejecting the federal dollars. His solution was to just tell those among us who are homeless or about to become so to just hit the road and find somewhere else to live - somewhere they can afford. He suggested Santa Ana. I guess we all now know what Scrooge does in the off season.

RED LIGHT CAMERAS REVISITED
Another interesting event occurred tonight, as well. The issue of red light cameras was again presented to the council. Answers were provided to questions some council members had at an earlier meeting and it was announced that the vendor, Nestor Systems, had been purchased by another outfit - the deal closed on Tuesday. The other group apparently has successful contracts for red light systems in 170 cities around the country and, according to their representative, have no problems anywhere. He asked for a chance to present his pitch to the staff before a decision was made regarding Nestor. The council could have chosen to simply cancel the contract tonight.

MANSOOR VS. THE FACTS
When it came time to vote Mayor Allan Mansoor demonstrated, once again, that he's not a guy who will let facts cloud his opinion. He made a motion - read from a prepared script that could only have been made BEFORE the meeting - recommending the cancellation of the contract. Gary Monahan seconded it. Katrina Foley offered a substitute motion recommending the issue be postponed for 30 days, during which the staff could meet with the successor vendor to hear their pitch and make recommendations to the council. Eric Bever and Wendy Leece tied offering the second to Foley's motion. That motion passed, 3-2, so the issue of red light cameras in our city is not yet dead.

GRUMPY FEENEY'S STRIKE AGAIN
And, once again, the perpetually irritating Ernie Feeney stood before the council with her gripe du jour about the Senior Center Management. I think she needs to find a physician to surgically remove that burr from her behind. Once again she attempted to influence the council with half-truths about Senior Center issues. In recent months her unfounded, but adamantly-expressed, complaints and insinuations about the Senior Center and it's management have generated way, way too much staff time trying to sort facts from her fiction. Yes, she has every right to express her opinions, but she needs to realize that before too long they will be falling on deaf ears because they are proving to be consistently baseless. In any event, she and her loud-mouthed husband need to find another hobby... perhaps they can help the aforementioned Scrooge fill his bag with lumps of coal for Christmas Eve.

FISLER HONORED AT MONDAY'S PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
On a happier note, I forgot to mention the very nice proclamation that was presented to former Planning Commissioner Jim Fisler Monday night at the commission meeting. Chairman Jim Righeimer read the plaque to Fisler, who resigned last month to become a member of the Mesa Consolidated Water District Board, and his former peers all expressed their appreciation for his service to the city during his time on the Planning Commission. Fisler acknowledged those who had influenced him and mentored him on the commission, including Bruce Garlich, Eleanor Egan and Donn Hall. Even though I've teased Fisler over the years, no one can refute his work ethic while on the commission. It should serve him well on the Mesa Consolidated Water District Board. Good luck, Jim...

Costa Mesa Council To Reconsider HPRP Funds

RECONSIDERATION OF A SENSITIVE ISSUE
This evening the Costa Mesa City Council will, once again, consider the question of whether or not to formally accept more than $560,000 federal dollars designed to provide temporary relief to some Costa Mesa residents currently without housing or soon to be without housing. These folks, punched in the gut by the current economic crisis, may be living on the street, in their cars, in homeless shelters, in motels or temporarily with friends or relatives.

THROW OUT THE BABY WITH THE BATH WATER
The funds, identified as Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program (HPRP) funds, were authorized by the federal government for use in our city based on our successful application earlier this year, but were on the verge of being rejected at the previous council meeting on September 1st. Mayor Allan Mansoor and Mayor Pro Tem Wendy Leece expressed great displeasure at the possibility that some of the funds might find their way into the hands of illegal immigrants. As was mentioned in a recent Daily Pilot article, they seemed willing to throw the baby out with the bath water.

MONAHAN SAVED THE DAY
Councilman Gary Monahan stalled the rejection by suggesting that the item be continued until the meeting tonight, at which they may have a full council to consider the issue - Eric Bever was absent again on the September 1st meeting. Monahan implied that perhaps additional clarification could be found on the subject of just who may or may not get these funds in the interim.

ILLEGALS WILL BE SCREENED OUT
After reading the current staff report it is clear that a solution is at hand - one that will insure to Mansoor, Leece and any other latinophobes in our city - that no illegal immigrants will receive any of the funds. The two contractors selected by the city to manage this process for us have apparently agreed to use a screening tool provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that will exclude any applicants who are in this country illegally.

GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS
In my view, this is one of those "good news/bad news" situations. The good news is that some members of our community who are in dire straits financially will be provided temporary assistance to acquire a roof over their heads until they can get established and become self-sufficient. The bad news is that Mansoor and Leece's reaction to this issue demonstrates to the world, once again, that Costa Mesa is a community in which some elected leaders are intolerant of a demographic group in our city that makes up approximately one-third of the population.

ANTICIPATED AUDIENCE REACTION IS NOW MOOT
I expect that there will be more than a few folks in the audience tonight to make their views known on this subject. While some may express their displeasure with Mansoor and Leece, it looks like that issue - like the long gone buggy whip - is now irrelevant. I can see no reason why this program will be rejected this evening.

IGNORANCE AND INTOLERANCE
What is quite disturbing about this whole drama was the willingness of Mansoor and Leece to simply reject this program without asking probing questions. Had it not been for Monahan's quick intervention these dollars would have been rejected by the council two weeks ago, turned over to the state and homeless residents would continue in their downward economic spiral. I can only chalk up their actions to a combination of ignorance, an inability to grasp even slightly complex issues and deep-seated intolerance of Latinos in our city. This kind of narrow-minded approach to governance should not be forgotten at future elections.