A Small Crowd Remembers Huy Pham's Death

REMEMBERING HUY PHAM
Friday night, on the 6th anniversary of Huy Pham's tragic death at City Hall, a small group of friends, co-workers and activists met on the east side of of the building near the employee entrance where Pham died to spend a couple hours remembering that young man whose life was cut short.

FEW MANAGERS ATTENDED
Fire Chief Dan Stefano and Public Services Director Raja Sethuraman were among the city management team in attendance.

GENIS WAS THERE
Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Genis attended and mingled with the small crowd, sharing stories of the event and other events since that day.

NAGHAVI ATTENDED
Former Public Services Director and Deputy Chief Executive Officer Peter Naghavi also remembered this day and attended, bringing flowers and lighting a candle in Pham's memory.

EGANS AND LEFFLER
Others included former Planning Commissioner and member of the city legal team, Eleanor Egan, and her husband, Tom - a former member of the Newport Mesa Unified School District Board of Trustees.  Robin Leffler, President of Costa Mesan's For Responsible Government, the group that helped sponsor this event, also attended.

HELEN NENADAL
Former Maintenance Supervisor Helen Nenadal, who spent the past few years as an employee as the President of the Costa Mesa City Employees Association (CMCEA) before retiring the end of 2013, attended and shared wonderful memories of her time working with the City and of Huy Pham.  You can read what I wrote about her retirement HERE.  She's shown here with Naghavi and others.

VISITING THE TREE
At one point several of the attendees walked around to the west side of the building to visit the tree that was planted in the lawn there in Pham's memory a year after his death.  Some wondered why no plaque has been placed to memorialize his passing.  Seems like a very good question.

FEW STAFFERS TOOK THE TIME
By the time I left just before 6:00 p.m. the crowd had thinned.  It was interesting to note that, with the exception of those mentioned and shown in the photos, few staffers nor managers even slowed as they passed the makeshift memorial site.  Of course, so few of the existing staff were onboard at that time that I suppose this lack of interest is understandable.  It was sad that not a single member of the City Manager's staff made an appearance by the time I left.

A WATERSHED MOMENT RECALLED
It's a shame that more folks didn't make it to this small remembrance.  Huy Pham's tragic leap to his death on that date was, in my opinion, a watershed moment in Costa Mesa's history.  It marked the downhill slide orchestrated by Jim Righeimer, Steve Mensinger and with a willing accomplice in Gary Monahan - who likely spent last night the same way he spent St. Patrick's Day six years ago - pouring beer for celebrants in his gin mill.

WE WILL BE BACK...
Because of the importance of this sad event, there will be more than a few of us who will NOT let the City forget it.  We'll be back...

Huy Pham Remembrance At City Hall Monday

 A SMALL, RESPECTFUL CROWD 

Five dozen or so people - employees and residents alike - gathered at the employee entrance on the east side of the Costa Mesa City Hall Monday afternoon for an unscripted memorial remembrance for Huy Pham, the young maintenance worker who leaped to his death at that very spot three years ago.  They gathered around the small memorial collage created at the site to quietly share stories about their departed friend.

SOME DEPARTMENT HEADS
Council members Sandra Genis and Wendy Leece, Police Chief Tom Gazsi, Fire Chief Dan Stefano and Director of Public Services Ernesto Munoz were in attendance.  Former Director of Development and Deputy CEO Peter Naghavi also attended.

OTHER STAFFERS, TOO
I saw employees from Human Resources, Public Services, Finance, Police, Fire and other departments at the gathering.  I saw no representatives from the Executive Offices, although Assistant CEO Rick Francis did walk through the thinning crowd as it began to disburse.

RETIRED EMPLOYEE LEADERS
Several retired employees, including Helen Nenadal and Billy Folsom - both active in the Costa Mesa City Employees Association during their tenure as employees - chose to come honor Pham's memory.

RESIDENTS SPOKE
Activists Cindy Brenneman, Sue Lester, Robin Leffler and Harold Weitzberg were among those who spoke briefly after Chief Gazsi led the assembled group in silent prayer. 

JUST ME...
I saw no members of the media present.

A DATE TO CONTEMPLATE

This was a sad day - marking the third anniversary of an event that certainly will not soon be forgotten.  Pham's death was the exclamation point to a day that saw more than 200 layoff notices delivered to employees and marked the beginning of a long, bitter legal battle that to this day remains unresolved.

The Losses Continue To Mount Up...

HELEN NENADAL RETIRED
A week ago I attended the retirement party for Maintenance Supervisor Helen Nenadal, who also spent the last few years as the President of the Costa Mesa City Employees Association (CMCEA).  Helen retired after proudly serving the city in a variety of roles for thirty-two years.

ONE OF THE TROOPS...
Over the past couple of years I've gotten to know Helen as she became the face of the CMCEA in its strained relationship with the management of the city.  Not a trained negotiator nor a highly educated person, she has been "one of the troops" - a peer they elected to look out for their interests.  She stepped up and addressed the City Council to present their case time after time.  She did that job well.  Her story is a classic "up from the ranks" journey - she began as a part-time recreation staffer and moved on up as opportunities presented themselves.

ROEDER, HAYMAN AND PERKINS
Her party was attended by several dozen people - current employees, former employees, retirees from all levels of the organization and members of the community and her family.  Former City Manager Allan Roeder attended, as did his former Assistant City Manager, Steve Hayman and former Human Resources head Howard Perkins.

FRANCIS, GAZSI AND GENIS
Assistant CEO Rick Francis was there, along with Police Chief Tom Gazsi - many of the CMCEA employees work for him -  and counclwoman Sandra Genis.

BERARDINO, TOO
I also saw Orange County Employee Association General Manager Nick Berardino at the party to wish Helen well in her retirement.

A LABOR OF LOVE
When Helen spoke about her career with the city she was clearly describing a labor of love - one that has been more difficult to manage over the past three years, when the attitude about employees changed at the highest levels of city management.  The current council majority has, for the most part, treated employees like boxes of nails that could be easily replaced by simply calling the closest hardware store.

SHE WAS NOT ALONE...
As I listened to Helen and others speak, praising her, I looked around the patio and realized that she was not the only person to retire within the past few days.  Three other people in the group also retired that day and more were to follow this week.  These are just the most recent to decide to bail out, leaving a tremendous vacuum of talent and institutional knowledge to be filled.  And, every resident of the city will suffer because of this loss.

MORE UNANTICIPATED TEMPS AND CONSULTANTS
I expect we'll be seeing a request for a huge budget adjustment to permit the Public Services Department to fill these vacancies with temporary employees and consultants within the next few weeks.  We've already seen projects slip because there is insufficient staff available to perform them.  We see even more overtime being required of the staff to complete what would have been normal assignments in better times.  And the acrimonious atmosphere continues to fester as the lawsuit between the City and the CMCEA and the suit filed by Mayor Jim Righeimer and Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger against the members of the Costa Mesa Police Department continue unresolved.

 PAY ATTENTION
As we approach the brand new year I hope more of you will begin to pay attention to what's happening to our city.  We all should be concerned when our top elected officials consider litigation just another line item in the budget - a cost of doing business - even when it involves city employees.  We should be concerned when the toxic atmosphere they've created causes folks to retire earlier than might have otherwise been the case and still others to seek lateral moves to other cities.  This is just plain bad for the city and most of it could have - and should have - been avoided.

UNDERSTAND THE REASON...
So, when calls for service - whether for police, fire, building inspections, pothole filling, graffiti removal or almost every other service provided by the city - begin to be delayed due to staff shortages, please remember who is responsible for this.  You elected them and you can certainly show them the door starting in November.

City/CMCEA $600,000 Apart

GETTING CLOSER
In a very brief "report out" as a result of an approximately 90-minute Special Closed Session this evening, city negotiator Richard Kreisler reported to the public that the Costa Mesa City Employees Association and The City are still approximately $600,000 apart in the "cost" of the proposed labor contract.  Only Mayor Jim Righeimer, Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger and Councilwoman Wendy Leece were in attendance for this very short meeting.  I don't know if Gary Monahan and Sandy Genis attended the closed session.

THE OTHER SHOE...
Kreisler referred to the November 21, 2013 "meet and confer" meeting, which he said would be posted online today.  He also made a cryptic remark that this included only the dollar difference in the contract and did not include "language issues" that are part of the ongoing meet and confer process.

MORE WAITING
So, we know we don't have a contract yet, but once we get a peek at the notes from that November 21st meeting we may have an idea of how far the sides are apart ideologically.  When we know I'll report it to you.

THE PRESIDENT TO RETIRE
Separately, Helen Nenadal - President of the CMCEA - who has proudly served this city for more than three decades has decided to call it a career.  She will retire near the end of this year.  Helen has been a steady hand, a hard-working, dependable employee and an excellent leader of the association.  Her upbeat presence will be sorely missed.

Chip Espinosa's "Listening Report"

TARDY OBSERVATION
One of the interesting facets of taking a long vacation when you normally spend most of your waking hours following city activities and reporting on them, is that all kinds of stuff happens when you are away that, for a variety of reasons, you just cannot respond to until you return.  Such is the case of the much-delayed Chip Espinosa "Listening Report".  So, here's my take on it...

MASSAGED REPORT FINALLY DISTRIBUTED
A couple minutes before the close of business on Wednesday, October 9th,  - about the time my wife and I found ourselves finally extricated from the blizzard that killed more than 100,000 cows, closed over 300 miles of Interstate Highway and knocked power out over a multi-state area for much of a week - City CEO Tom Hatch transmitted the final report to the entire city staff via an email transmittal.  You can read the text of the document HERE. 

HATCH'S TRANSMITTAL
In his transmittal email Hatch acknowledged that most of what is in that report - which apparently gathered dust on his desk for four months while it received a little massaging -  will not be news to most city employees and council members, but he says it identifies areas where "we can improve".  He also says he would be forming a team of "managers and employees to discuss the next steps we need to take as an organization to build on this report".

UNREALISTIC RESULTS EXPECTED
He acknowledged that "not every concern that was raised can be accommodated or addressed specifically to everyone's satisfaction".  Near the end of his transmittal he wrote this paragraph:
"My hope is that this process will serve to promote a better sense of unity in our organization.  I strongly encourage those who read this report to challenge themselves to use the report to improve upon our current circumstances and move forward and focus on our legacy of top notch public service we have embodied for generations. This will mean, as Mr. Espinoza pointed out, that we lay aside self-protecting behaviors and embrace self-giving behaviors that consider varying points of view, encourage vulnerability and promote accountability.  I also want to highlight what Mr. Espinoza stated on page one of the report – 'The report’s power will be severely compromised if turned into a tool for creating discord or greater polarization.'"  That emphasis is mine.

The Daily Pilot reported on this publication HERE.

EMPLOYEES NOT HAPPY

As you might expect, the reaction from employees was less than enthusiastic.  The Costa Mesa City Employee Association (OMCEA) published entry in their "Costa Mesa Works" web site on the Listening Report, HERE, and CMCEA President Helen Nenadal published a commentary in the Daily Pilot this weekend, HERE.


BEEN THERE, DONE THAT...

I must say that this is familiar territory for me.  During my working life I've participated in more than a few of these exercises, both as an employee and manager.  Based on my personal experience on both sides of the equation, these kinds of programs can be very valuable tools, but should not be undertaken lightly.  In every case, when one of these exercises is undertaken it creates an anticipation - and expectation - in the minds of the employees that something positive is going to come from it... that their working lives will become substantially better as a result.  Unfortunately, that's not always the case.  I fear that this will be the case with the City of Costa Mesa.

CHANGE POSSIBLE?  PROBABLY NOT...
In order for their things to get "better" there needs to be "buy in" at every level - management, employees and at the executive level - in our case, the City Council.  Based on recent past history with this council, I just don't see that happening.  Read that sentence above I highlighted in red.  Do you see this council participating in that part of the exercise?  Nah, neither do I, particularly since I understand that one of them didn't bother to take part in the exercise at all.

WHY?
Why do I say that?  Well, this exercise was completed before the council presented its offensive contract offer to the CMCEA - certainly not a conciliatory move on its part, for sure.  Neither was their rejection of the CMCEA offer to partner with The City in new processes to help make things work better.  I fear that the toxic, divisive nature of the relationship between the employees and the City Council majority is so pervasive that significant change is not possible without a change in the council make-up.  When it comes to employee relations, the council majority - in just about three years - has done almost everything wrong.  They violated their own rules when they issued layoff notices to more than 200 employees, forcing them to sue The City to protect their rights.  Two of them have actually sued all the men and women of the Costa Mesa Police Department, for goodness sake!

HOPING I'M WRONG...
I hope I'm very wrong about this.  The City certainly needs some healing to take place, but it's a two-way street.  Nothing good will happen if this council majority continues to run roughshod over their own rules and make unreasonable demands of the employees.  I just don't see a couple of them "laying aside self-protecting behaviors and embracing self-giving behaviors", do you?  It won't take long for us to find out.  Hatch will form his committee, they will meet and we'll see.


 

Costa Mesa Employee Group Makes Offer

 OFFER MADE BY EMPLOYEES
Today the Costa Mesa City Employees Association (CMCEA), met with officials from the City of Costa Mesa and made its initial proposal to the City.  CMCEA President, Helen Nenadal, is quoted as saying,

“The City’s employees have made a proposal that conveys our desire to work collaboratively with the City.  Our proposal focuses on partnering to help make Costa Mesa work better, work more efficiently, and deliver the best service possible to the community. It also includes some common-sense reforms aimed at improving accountability and transparency for the public. We truly hope the City will consider our proposal in the same spirit of collaboration.”

The proposal actually consists of eleven (11) separate elements, which I'll summarize here.
1 - A two-year term, commencing 9/1/13.

2 - Establish a Citywide LEAN program to improve methods in City government.

3 - A wage increase each year tied to General Fund Revenue.

4 - Significant modification of Sick Leave program.

5 - Increase employee contributions to CalPERS pension.

6 - Establish employer/employee working group to develop and implement a Costa Mesa Employee Wellness Initiative.
 
7 - Modification of work schedules where feasible.

8 - Partner on Transparency, Disclosure and Accountability, with new language proposed for the MOU.

9  - Formalize Christmas/New Year's closure.

10 - Continuity of Service - No Layoffs except in the case of "catastrophic fiscal emergency".

11 - Delete Article 1.9 of the MOU which contains acknowledgment that the parties have complied with all term and conditions of prior MOUs.  CMCEA is unwilling to acknowledge such compliance by the City and proposed deleting the Article.

The complete text of the proposal can be found HERE.

HOPING FOR THE BEST, EXPECTING THE WORST

While I continue to hope the association and City will find common ground in this very critical negotiation, nothing in the recent past encourages me that this will happen, particularly in light of the initial offer by the City.  The elected leadership of this city has given clear indications over the past two plus years that they do not consider the cmployees - any of them - as partners nor collaborators.  They obviously consider them as adversaries, to be vanquished and punished.  I do not expect this negotiation to go well, but hope I'm very wrong.