...."A Date Which Will Live In Infamy"...

TODAY MARKS THAT DATE
And thus began the American involvement in World War II.  Seventy-three years ago today the Empire of Japan attacked the American Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing thousands of Americans caught unaware.

THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS...
Here's how President Franklin Delano Roosevelt portrayed that event the next day, when he asked Congress to declare it an act of war.
MILLIONS DIED IN THAT WAR
From that date until August 14, 1945, when Japan officially surrendered the United States of America joined allies fighting World War II on two fronts - Europe and Asia - to defeat the axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan.  For more details go HERE.  I've written about this war a few times, HERE, and HERE, for example.

SACRIFICE

Today, as the men and women who actually fought in this historic war - Tom Brokaw's "Greatest Generation" - continue to die, taking with them the first-person experiences from this horrendous war, please take a minute to pause and consider the sacrifice they all made to keep our country free and protect our way of life.  A look at the timeline for World War II, HERE, HERE, and HERE, will be helpful for you to understand what transpired in world politics that led to this strife from 1922 until the end of the war in September, 1945.

JOE AND GEORGE - PATRIOTS
I had three uncles who served proudly in the armed services during World War II.  They saw their duty and responded to the need of the nation.  Over the past couple years two local men - who served in the Pacific Theater as aviators and became my close friends - passed away.  Author, teacher and Daily Pilot columnist Joseph N. Bell - about as liberal man as I have ever known - and George Grupe - a local businessman and patriot and about as a conservative man as I have ever met - both served during World War II as flyers.  Both had their college educations interrupted by the war and both were proud of their service and shared stories with those who asked.  Grupe, in particular, gave patriotic presentations to any organization interested in hearing about the war.  He spoke to school groups, business organizations, church groups, for dozens of years, trying to provide perspective to the history books.  I'm proud to have known them and and glad they shared their lives with me.

SPARKS...

Several times a month my path crosses with that of Sparks McClellan, a retired local businessman with family roots in Costa Mesa that go back to 1926.  We had mutual friends and have become friends over the past few years.  Sparks is a quiet man, who proudly wears a cap and jacket that commemorate his service as a distinguished Naval Aviator flying Hellcats during World War II.  He and I will chat about his service from time to time.  The memories, now fading with the passage of time, still remain.

FORMER MAYOR

Former Mayor Jack Hammett is a Pearl Harbor survivor.  He was there that day, serving as a Naval corpsman, when more than 2,000 of his comrades died in that sneak attack.  He, too, proudly wears the regalia commemorating his service time.

THANK THEM... 

There are still a few survivors of my parent's generation - the one that fought this war - so find time to seek them out and thank them for their service to our nation.  We owe them everything...

REMEMBER...
And, remember what this day represents.  Remember that our nation remains free as long as men and women like those who stepped up during World War II continue to do so.

NEVER FORGET!

Council Meeting Wrap Up

IN GENERAL
Last night the Costa Mesa greeted Australian exchange students, approved the 2013-2021 General Plan Housing Element, heard plans for 89 dwelling units on the Westside of town, approved a fee for Excessive Use Of Resources and approved the addition to a dozen new employees to a critically depleted staff.  Read Jill Cowan's Daily Pilot article HERE.

MADE A CHOICE...
I attended the first hour of the meeting before departing for a memorial service for my dear friend, former Daily Pilot columnist Joe Bell.  By the time it ended the council meeting was over, so I'm gleaning my observations from the replay available online, HERE.

60TH ANNIVERSARY COSTS
Before I left, during Public Comments resident Sue Lester stepped to the speaker's podium and asked, actually demanded, that the city release the information dealing with the 60th Anniversary celebration, which had been promised by January 15th.  In response, CEO Tom Hatch said they hope to release the information by Friday, but then did a serious tap-dance, indicating that if they missed that date they would provide regular updates.  What?!  That sounds very much like he expects to miss the date, and not by a little bit.  I agree with Mayor Jim Righeimer's comment - it's time to get this overwith and behind us.  I don't agree that we should rush release the documents IF they are still part of an ongoing investigation.  Getting to the bottom of this mess is more important than early release of documents.

FINES FOR USE OF RESOURCES CODIFIED
The Excessive Use of Resources fine of $360 per call over the pre-determined number by the formula the staff created was approved on a 3-1 vote -  voted no.  It was amusing to watch Genis try to get specifics on just HOW this fee was reached.  Righeimer sparred with her on the dais - a completely inappropriate action on his part.  Her discussion was directed at Assistant CEO Rick Francis, but Righeimer hijacked the discussion.  One motel owner - a Costa Mesa resident and long-time operator - decried the fee and predicted a diminished number of calls for service by motel operators.  He feared a very serious event as a result.

ADDING A DOZEN STAFFERS
Around 8:30 CEO Hatch presented the request for a dozen additional staff members.  He told us that four years ago we had 611 authorized positions.  The current budget included 466 authorized slots, twelve of which were eliminated by the Fire Department redeployment model.  He indicated that technology and other efficiencies will allow a cut of another six slots, taking the total today to 454 authorized positions.  He indicated that we are currently at a bare minimum of staff to provide good services.  Also in his preamble on this item he said, "We're going to continue as we move forward to look at each position as it comes open to see whether or not we absolutely need to fill it.  We're going to look at restructuring at times if necessary.  And we're going to look at contracting, and using temporary help and consultant whenever needed help to fill in the gaps."  He also indicated that they'll be coming back to the council for more possible additions in Development Services.  He wants $600,000 in General Funds to meet the need for the 12 positions in this fiscal year.  In response to a question by Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger, concerned about getting back to the 611, Hatch told him that, with the approval of these 12 slots, we would still be 145 positions short of the 611 with a similar mission.

FISHING
Mensinger threw Hatch a couple curve balls when he asked about specific populations in specific police department slots - Park Rangers and Community Services Specialists.  Hatch dove into his budget book and gave him partial answers, which the impatient Mensinger seemed satisfied with... strange.

SCHMOOZING WITH THE CHIEF
Righeimer alluded to a conversations he has recently had with Chief Tom Gazsi - one of which apparently took more than 3 hours over breakfast one morning - to resolve issues.  Seems peculiar, since Gazsi works for Hatch, not the mayor.  Anyhow, the council passed the issue with very little discussion of other positions or the new department being proposed, 4-0.  It will be interesting to see who fills that brand new Assistant CEO/Administrative Services Director slot.

ASLEEP AT THE SWITCH?
By the way, sources tell me that the Buyer position is a critical addition.  Apparently, we ran with nobody at the wheel in Purchasing for a couple years except a well-intentioned and over-worked part time clerk.  I find myself wondering if that may have contributed to whatever problems there may have been with the 60th Anniversary Celebration costs - no oversight!  I wonder what the investigation will reveal on that subject?

CHARTER COMMITTEE MEETING TONIGHT
So, off we go to the Charter Committee meeting this evening at the Emergency Operations Center at 6:00 to hear, among other things, what Pension Oversight Committee Chairman Jeff Arthur has to say about possible solutions to our alleged pension crisis.  More on that later.

My Friend, Joe Bell, Died Yesterday

JOE BELL PASSED AWAY ON THANKSGIVING
As some of you already know from having read Hannah Fry's article from the Daily Pilot online today, HERE, my friend and former Daily Pilot columnist, Joseph N. Bell died on Thanksgiving Day at the age of 92 from the ravages of age, including the recent onset of Parkinson's Disease.


 
HE RETIRED ALMOST TWO YEARS AGO
Joe Bell was a columnist for the Daily Pilot, and the Los Angeles Times before that, for more than two decades.  When he retired from the regular rotation of columnists at the Pilot almost two years ago Mike Reicher wrote about him HERE.  I wrote about his retirement HERE.  Bill Lobdell, currently the Communications Director for the City of Costa Mesa, former editor of the Daily Pilot and, at that time, a columnist, wrote about Joe's influence on his life, HERE, and a couple of his very close friends also wrote short notes in the Mailbag, HERE.

DEPTH AND BREADTH
Joe was a fascinating man.  He and I couldn't have been farther apart politically, but I grew to know him well and admire his skills as a writer and his values as a man. During his career, as mentioned in Fry's article, he wrote extensively for many national magazines and, locally, for the Los Angeles Times and the Daily Pilot.  He interviewed and wrote about stars like Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, John Wayne, Julie Andrews, Shirley Maclaine, Jimmy Stewart, Jack Lemmon, Bob Hope, Mary Tyler Moore, Liza Minnelli, Debbie Reynolds and many others.  He interviewed Norma McCorvy - the "Jane Roe" of Roe v. Wade fame - and wrote about her at the beginning of that dramatic time in her life and, three decades later, when she disavowed abortion and began speaking out about it.   Before he retired a few months before his 90th birthday he was still pumping out pithy prose, skewering the rascals around us and doing it with such flare that those of us who pretend to write can only smile in awe-struck admiration.

THE STORY THAT DIDN'T MAKE PRINT
Perhaps the most fascinating element of his long, illustrious career included a piece that he wrote that DID NOT get published.  During the Patty Hearst kidnapping , HERE, Bell was on assignment for the Hearst Corporation's "Good Housekeeping", at the Hearst family home in Hillsborough, CA when her parents learned that Patty may have been killed during a police raid on a house in South-Central Los Angeles.  Five Symbionese Liberation Army revolutionaries who had kidnapped her died in the raid, but it turned out she was not on the scene.  Bell wrote the story of her kidnapping, but Randolph Hearst killed it because it contained some information he did not want to make public.

MY LINKS TO JOE
As I've written before, I have a couple links that drew me to Joe.  He was a great friend of my ex-boss, former Newport Beach councilman Don Strauss.  I met Joe on a tennis court where he and Strauss had been soundly thumped during the Adoption Guild Tournament by a couple of whippersnappers.  He was an unhappy, but gracious loser.  And, Jill Angel - sister of his second wife, Sherry, was a dear friend of my best friend, Larry Moore.  She was a CHP officer and competitor in his "Toughest Cop Alive" competition before she moved up the ranks at the CHP.  You will also remember Jill as a traffic reporter for radio station KNX-1070.

SEVEN INTO SPACE
I didn't know Joe at the time, but when we lived in Houston we journeyed to the Johnson Space Center and, along with other souvenirs, we purchased a book called, "Seven Into Space" - which was written by Joseph N. Bell!  We've still got it somewhere in our library.  That was Joe's account of the seven original Mercury astronauts and is still highly-sought as a seminal reference piece about the early stages of the United States Space Program.

POKING POLITICIANS
Joe and I became friends as I wrote to him about columns he had written about local politicians and other issues.  His body of work includes hundreds of columns in which he took on the likes of John Moorlach, HERE; Allan Mansoor, HERE; politicians in general, HERE and HERE; and the then-new Costa Mesa City Council, HERE.

PATRIOTIC, MIDWESTERN VALUES
A patriotic guy, Joe Bell was born on July 4, 1921 and enjoyed celebrating his birthday along with that of his country every year.  He wrote about those celebrations frequently, HERE, for example.  A member of the "Greatest Generation", he shared many of the simple values of his peers and wrote about them, HERE.  A Midwesterner, he loved basketball and baseball.  He wrote about the former HERE and the latter HERE - and many more times, too.  He reveled in the exploits of the University of California - Irvine Anteater basketball program.  He taught at that school for two decades.  He agonized when his beloved Angels failed, year after year, but never gave up hope.


ENJOYING THE SUCCESS OF OTHERS
Joe loved his family and friends and wrote often about their successes in life.  He wrote a very nice piece acknowledging the publication of Bill Lobdell's book, "Losing My Religion", HERE and of his visit to the theater to see his step-son, Erik Patterson's first play performed, HERE.

AND TRANSITIONS
Joe also wrote about transitions - the passing of dear friends and the dogs that filled his life with joy.  However, a column he wrote about the passing of his first wife, Janet Hartman Bell, HERE, truly shows you the depth of feeling this man had for those around him.

SHARING THE LOVE
On July 3, 2011, my wife and I were invited to join a large group of Joe's family and friends to mark his 90th birthday.  That photo at the top of the page was taken at that event, showing him "in the spirit of the day".  We heard his daughters tell stories of growing up with their Dad - of the road trips and the special times in their lives.  We heard very close friends talk about the Joe they knew and loved.  There was no small amount of teasing going on that day and it was joyous to watch the love flow.

(Joe Bell and close friend, Betsy Flynn, enjoying strawberry shortcake)

REST IN PEACE, MY FRIEND
It was sad to see my friend decline over these past many months.  The debilitating ailments that he had to confront gradually won the battle with his body, but his mind never gave up.  He remained sharp and concerned about events that affect us all.  I will miss him - his wisdom, wit and friendship - but I won't forget him.  According to his family, Joe will be buried in his home town of Decatur, Indiana soon and a Memorial Service will be planned locally early next year.  In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Donald A. Strauss Scholarship Foundation, 4931 Birch Street, Suite 2, Newport Beach, CA 92660.

BACK HOME AGAIN...

Adios, Joe...

JOE BELL HANGS UP HIS SPURS
Well, tonight I'm bummed out. I just read the online issue of the Daily Pilot for Thursday and find that my old friend, Joe Bell, is retiring. Thursday's column will be his last after two decades of pumping out some really great stuff.

READ HIS LAST COLUMN
You can read Joe's final column HERE and Mike Reicher's accompanying article HERE. I won't attempt to paraphrase either of them - you can read the accounts for yourselves.

I'VE LONG ADMIRED HIS WORK
I have long admired the work Joe Bell has done, both during his time as a columnist for the Daily Pilot when he began presenting his views on local issues nearly twenty years ago and before that, too. Somewhere in our library I have a copy of his book written about the original Mercury astronauts, Seven Into Space, that I purchased while living in Houston, Texas a long, long time ago and well before I came to know him.

WE SHARE A FRIENDSHIP, BUT NOT OUR POLITICS
Joe and I view the world from very different vantage points. He, a lifelong liberal who proudly wears that label like epaulets on his shoulders, is confounded by positions on issues displayed by my fellow conservatives. Over the years I've chuckled at the reaction to many of Joe's columns by the local Republican hierarchy, as he would poke and prod them with skill, vigor and joy. His final column continues that tradition.

AMAZING DURABILITY
I've admired his ability - after a career as a journalist that has stretched six decades and as he turns the corner to his 90th birthday on July 4th - to continue to pump out such prescient prose for us all to consider. In recent years, when one of his columns struck a particular chord with me, I'd just pick up the telephone and chat with him about it.

REMEMBRANCES
Some of Joe's most memorable columns dealt with the loss of friends and pets, which might be redundant. I think there were as many columns that brought a lump to my throat as those that plastered a grin on my face. The word-pictures he painted for us about his friendships helped make me value my friendships even more.

HE COVERED THEM ALL
Over his long journalist career Joe has interviewed and written about the famous and the tragic. He wrote about every man's dream girl, Marilyn Monroe, during his days covering Hollywood. Among his many impressive journalistic accomplishments is the fact that he interviewed and wrote about Norma McCorvy - the "Jane Roe" in Roe v. Wade - during the whole chaotic situation that swirled around her and produced abortion reform back in the 1970s, and thirty years later when she renounced her pro-abortion stance and began actively campaigning for the repeal of Roe v. Wade.

A PATRIOT...
He's a member of Tom Brokaw's Greatest Generation who, as a Navy flier, did his part to defend our liberty in World War II. Those of you who are among his regular readers already know that.


A MENTOR...
While an instructor at UCI he hatched and nurtured a generation of excellent journalists, many of whom have passed through the pages of the Daily Pilot and other local publications. Among them is Bill Lobdell, current columnist and former editor of the Daily Pilot and reporter for the Los Angeles Times.

A FRIEND...
As an example of just what a small world this is, Joe and I also share a couple of other links in our lives. He was the best friend of one of my bosses - former Newport Beach councilman Don Strauss. And, his sister-in-law, Jill Angel (you may remember Jill as a CHP officer who did traffic reports on KNX 1070 radio a few years ago before being promoted to Sacramento), was a very dear friend of my best friend, Larry Moore. You regular readers recognize that name. Through those links and my admiration for his writing skills, Joe and I have become friends.

HE'S NOT DONE YET
I'm going to miss Joe's weekly column, but he's promised (threatened?) to avail himself of the Forum page when the spirit moves him. I hope that happens often. Recent local political events tell us that there will be plenty of ripe targets for his consideration.

FINISH THAT DARN BOOK!
So, as my friend, Joe Bell, closes the door on this part of his life, I hope he finishes the book he has talked about for a decade and that he finds other ways to continue to display his exceptional literary skills.

ADIOS, MY FRIEND...
Adios, Joe... I'll look for the glow in the sky as they fire up the candles on your birthday cake on July 4th. It's just a darn good thing there's a fire station a couple blocks from your home.

Contemplating The New Leadership

STILL REELING A DAY LATER
It's been 24 hours since the new leadership of our city was decided and the telephone calls and emails have been melting the wires. The comment thread on my last post kind of set the tone for the day. One commenter, Keith T., said "at least Righeimer has a plan.". Well, a bad plan is worse than no plan and, at a time when we're running 17 police officers light, his plan adds new staff and additional bureaucracy. You'd think Righeimer was a Democrat, for goodness sake!

JOE BELL'S VIEW
Daily Pilot columnist Joseph N. Bell - one of my favorite writers - signed in on the election in his column that will appear in print Thursday. You can read it HERE now.

A SAD CHAPTER FOR OUR CITY
Last night was full of disappointment for me. In the couple hours it took to get Gary Monahan and Jim Righeimer elected it became crystal clear that Righeimer's election was far from a mandate of the people. I don't ever recall the election of a Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem being greeted with boos and jeers before. I was disappointed that this campaign has led to that kind of incivility in our city.

WILL GARY HAVE THE TIME?
As I said in my last post, I don't really have a problem with Gary Monahan being elected Mayor. He's been there before - many times - and understands how to navigate through an agenda. I am concerned, one that was shared by at least one speaker last night, that he may not have the time to actually do those things normally associated with being mayor of our city. His gin mill is still struggling to recover from the economic downturn and there are rumors that he may be trying to launch another place in south county, which will certainly drain his time.

THE WORST IS YET TO COME
For me, the worst part of last night was the realization that in January, when Katrina Foley's replacement is sworn in, it is very likely that the result will be at least four people on the dais with the same agenda. 4/5ths is a "super-majority", with which they can do just about anything they want.

STREAMING VIDEO AVAILABLE
The streaming video of the meeting - all 5 hours + of it - is up and available for viewing. You can view it HERE. Some folks questioned whether Righeimer's nomination of Monahan actually was seconded. No one near me in the auditorium heard a second from where we were sitting. I watched my tape of that segment of the meeting over and over today. Finally a friend who also shared my concern, told me that Eric Bever did, in fact, second Righeimer's nomination. He did so at the precise moment Julie Folcik was asking if there was a second. Watching the tape closely it is possible to see his little turn toward Righeimer when he actually said "second". Folcik confirmed that observation today.

LISA REEDY SPOKE FOR MANY OF US
Perhaps the best moments of the evening for me was the frustrated presentation made by Mesa del Mar resident - and former City Council candidate - Lisa Reedy when she practically sprinted to the speaker's podium while comments were being taken on the Mayor Pro Tem nominations. Her comments, which start about 1:58:00 into the streaming video, said with great articulation what many of us were thinking at that time - and continue to think today. I'll let her speak for herself and close this entry with that little video clip for your viewing pleasure.

"RIGHEIMER, LIGHTEN UP!"

MEMORIAL DAY - 2008

MEMORIAL DAY - WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
For many Americans the Memorial Day holiday means the official launch of summer. That extra day we tack onto the weekend today means that, under normal circumstances, tens of millions of Americans drive somewhere to enjoy the holiday. Few really take the time to contemplate what this holiday is all about.

JOE BELL'S COLUMN TODAY
This morning my friend and Daily Pilot columnist, Joe Bell, presents us with his take on Memorial Day, HERE. As usual, Joe does a great job of describing his recollections of "his war" and the reluctance of many who fought during WWII to tell their stories.

HEARING THE STORIES
Joe is right. The generation that fought and won WWII - Tom Brokaw's "Greatest Generation" - are leaving us at the rate of around 1,000 per day. The pool of human spirit that locked arms and fought to defend our country, and later built it into the dominant industrial and economic power in the world, will soon be gone and with them may go many untold stories of heroism, valor and sacrifice that the rest of us really do need to hear.

"MY WAR"
The same can be said for those who fought in "my war" - the Viet Nam Conflict. That war - yes, it was a war - cost us more than 58,000 young Americans and tore at the very fabric of our country for more than a decade. Unlike WWII, where most Americans pulled together to defeat the common enemy and later build our country, "Viet Nam" became a metaphor for derision and anger. The societal wounds opened by that war continue to fester to this day, more than thirty years following the end of hostilities.

PAINFUL MEMORIES
My peers who fought in that war have also been reluctant to talk about their experiences. The combination of the pure horror of war and the fact that the Viet Nam war was so unpopular have kept many of them mute over all these years.

MY COUSIN'S UNTOLD STORY
I have a cousin who is a couple years younger than me. He came to California from his home in the Midwest to attend school while I was in the Army in the mid-1960s. When my tour of service ended I returned home and, when the semester ended, he went back home to continue his education at Kent State University. As fate would have it, he was drafted and became an infantry soldier in Viet Nam. He survived his tour of service and went on with his life. Despite being part of a very supportive family, with three younger brothers and a sister, he never discussed his experiences in the war with anyone - not even his wife.

LETTING IT ALL OUT
Then, a few years ago, we traveled to his home for the marriage of his daughter. After all the turmoil that surrounds such an event was over and the kids were on their honeymoon my cousin and I sat at his kitchen table late one night, just kind of unwinding from the event, when he began taking about Viet Nam. Once he started talking it all just kind of poured out.

THREE PURPLE HEARTS
He spoke of the three purple hearts he received for wounds sustained in battle. He spoke of the near-misses he'd experienced beyond those three injuries. For example, as he and his platoon woke one morning to head out on patrol, one of his mates accidentally stepped on my cousin's glasses, which he had placed carefully beside the leg of his bunk. Although my cousin was willing to go on patrol without his glasses, his platoon sergeant refused to permit him to join them and he remained behind until a replacement pair could be sent from Saigon. That morning two dozen men left on patrol. None returned. They were caught in an ambush and slaughtered along a dark jungle trail.

DEADLY MISTAKES
In another incident my cousin was on patrol when one of his compatriots discovered an unexploded LAWS rocket. That's a projectile fired from a disposable, light-weight launcher that some American and South Vietnamese troops carried. His sergeant was furious about finding an unexploded round, blamed it on improper use of the weapon and told my cousin to pick it up and take it back with them to their camp where there would be a class about how to properly use it. My cousin refused because it was a "live" round and could explode any time. After a short argument the sergeant had another man bring it back with them.

LESSONS LEARNED THE HARD WAY
The next day one of my cousins mates came to fetch him for the class, which was to be held in a bunker within the compound. My cousin told his friend that he wasn't going anywhere near that thing because it was still a live round. As he said those words they heard an explosion. The round blew up and killed or severely wounded 17 soldiers, including the sergeant and their platoon leader.

THE HORROR OF WAR
Listening to his stories that late night at his kitchen table I realized that my cousin's experience in Viet Nam was very similar to that of the character Charlie Sheen portrayed in the movie, "Platoon".

STORIES YET TO BE TOLD
Those men, who served our country in an unpopular war, deserve our respect for their service, too. They deserve to have their stories heard. The young men and women who volunteer to serve this country today in distant venues, like Afghanistan and Iraq, also deserve respect for their service and sacrifice. They, too, have stories to tell. We need to listen to them and thank them for their service to our country.

A GRATEFUL NATION SAYS THANKS
Today, Memorial Day, 2008, would be a good time to begin that process.