Kinder, Gentler - But Still Long - Council Meeting

ONE DOWN AND STILL SMILIN'...

Well, the first Costa Mesa city council meeting of the new year proved to, indeed, be a kinder, gentler event than many in the recent past.  New Mayor Jim Righeimer ran the meeting crisply, with almost the perfect mix of business and humor.  He enlisted the help of his fellow council members and the public to keep things moving briskly.  I don't want to heap too much praise on him or he might get a big head... oh, wait... too late.

OFFICER SMITH PRESENTS A FLAG

The evening began with three VERY special presentations.  Costa Mesa Police Officer Jon Smith - who had been honored on the lawn of the Police Headquarters earlier in the day when the yellow ribbon that had wrapped the trunk of a large ficus tree on the lawn was removed after Smith safely returned from a year-long deployment in Afghanistan - presented Righeimer with an American Flag that had flown over Afghanistan.

LOCAL HEROES HONORED

Then Righeimer honored two young maintenance workers from the South Point Apartments who saved the lives of two women who had been trapped in a burning apartment building.  Arturo Hernandez and Gerald Rodriquez broke in a door and literally carried the two women to safety.

BELL WINNERS
And then Righiemer and Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger presented awards to members and coaches of the Estancia High School Eagle football team for their victory in the annual Battle Of The Bell - the cross-town rivalry with the Costa Mesa High School Mustangs.  Coach Mike Bargas spoke briefly about his team and their accomplishments.


PUBLIC COMMENTS
Fewer than a dozen folks rose to speak during Public Comments on issues as diverse as improving an entrance to Fairview Park; the successful Snoopy House event; the concern of residents of Bethel Towers about the pending renovations; the proposed new Fairview Park parking lot; the pending recall of Mayor Righeimer and the new, more civil attitude, which was punctuated by a word - or maybe it's two words - left hanging in the air by former mayor Eric Bever having to do with bovine excrement.  Apparently some things will never change.

HATCH PRESENTATION

During his segment CEO Tom Hatch brought a full bag of tricks that had accumulated for a month, since the last meeting.  He updated us on the progress of the consultant for the city General Plan update.  He told us that they plan to provide even more specific information on the Warrants that presently appear as part of the Consent Calendar.  He also mentioned that in the special study session on January 29th two important issues will be discussed - the unfunded liability issue and the 2.5@55 benefit enhancement, and invited the public to attend.  I'll remind you.  He then invited Chief Tom Gazsi to make a short presentation on the status of our School Resource Officer (SRO) program.

CHIEF GAZSI ON SRO PROGRAM
Gazsi told us that the CMPD aggressively trains for protection of probable targets - schools, shopping centers, athletic events, etc.  He told us that recently retired SRO Jess Gilman returned on a part-time basis in a reserve officer role.  He also told us that on Monday he hired four (4) new police officers - the first hired since 2008 - and that four more will be hired this month.  He's working closely with Dr. Fred Navarro, Superintendent of Schools for the Newport Mesa Unified School District on SRO plans.

CONSENT CALENDAR

Then, after a little pep talk by Righeimer about what items on the Consent Calendar are supposed to be, members of the council promptly pulled half of the items for separate discussion.  During a discussion of the Warrants Mensinger said, paraphrasing him, that when he requested the Warrants be included in the Consent Calendar he didn't expect them to be pulled for separate discussion.  Gee, I guess that means we want transparency, just don't dare ask any questions about little things like how much we're spending on legal fees.  He mentioned those specifically.  Too late, Steve - you opened that particular Pandora's Box and you're just going to have to live with the consequences.

AGENDA JUGGLING

By the time we finished the Consent Calendar it was 7:55 p.m., nearly an hour after we should have been discussing Public Hearing #1, the item for which most of the remaining crowd was patiently waiting.  But, instead, he jumped to New Business #2, the discussion of the SR-55 Improvement Study - apparently so the half dozen OCTA folks in attendance could get on their way.

SR-55 IMPROVEMENT
Transportation Services Manager Raja Sethuraman made a brief presentation of the history of this project, then turned it over to a representative from OCTA, who explained the remaining process.  From this point forward a detailed technical analysis will be performed, then the process will return to the city to arrive at the "preferred local alternative".  Cost estimates for the four remaining options ranged from $9-14 million for Alternative #2, the Transportation System Management option that included signal synchronization and adding a couple partial lanes to $9-25 million for option #3, Vertical Terminal Enhancement and a whopping $306 - 373 million for the Cut and Cover choice.  And, of all the options, that final one would have the greatest business impact by far.

FINALLY, THE ANCHOR TRAILER PORT CLOSURE IMPACT REPORT!

After a nearly 20 minute break at 8:35 we finally got to the Public Hearing on the proposed closure of the Anchor Trailer Port.  It is proposed to remove the existing mobile homes and trailers and build 40 live/work units ranging is size from 1952 to 2000 square feet.  Representatives of the proposed new owner were present to present their plan for the relocation of the existing residents, more than half of whom showed up for the meeting.  Nineteen (19) people stood to express their concern about the process and their apprehension - distrust, actually - of the plans being proposed.

DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN!

Many of us who have been observing council activities for more than a short time remembered back nearly a decade ago when two trailer parks - El Nido and Snug Harbor - were closed by the owner to build a medical office building.  That process was long, late and rancorus over many months.  The presentation by the proposed owners and by Celeste Brady representing The City in this matter as a member of the law firm of Stradling, Yocca Carlson & Rauth was thorough.  Brady made it very clear early on that the council has NO discretion in this matter.  They can only find that the applicant did or did not follow the state law in this matter - which she told us they did and even exceeded the requirements, too.  In fact, they were working with the 24th version of the Closure Impact Report (CIR), each of which were prepared after input by residents and city staff.

REALLY, STEVE?

Still, the conversation went on and on and on and was finally passed after the council squeezed concessions out of the applicant and Mensinger wondered what the penalty would be if they DID NOT pass the action.  I could see Brady flinch when he asked the question.  Well, gee, Steve - I guess that would get us saddled with yet another law suit because of a boneheaded council action!  The guy really is obtuse.  And, as it turns out, he has a friend who is a resident of the trailer park who he apparently is now moved to "help" - whatever that means.  The applicant will offer significant financial incentives and assistance to the residents, including relocation counseling.  The council finally took their vote - 5-0 - at just before 11 p.m., then took a short break while all the interested parties filed out.  The meeting commenced at 11:05.

FAIRVIEW PARK BOARDWALKS

Now we were on New Business #1, the Fairview Park Wetlands Boardwalk Project.  In a nutshell, we have just about finished creating a wetlands area of Fairview Park but most of it would not be visible to visitors from the trails around the perimeter.  So, the staff wants authorization to move forward to plan a series of boardwalks that will enable visitors to walk above the wetlands and safely see the wildlife and plants included therein.  The cost for the planning and design phases is $100,000 and the total project may cost $1 million.  The seven remaining residents in the chambers heard the council approve moving forward with the plan.

SECURITY CAMERAS AT CITY HALL AND LIONS PARK

Finally, at 11:25, the final item on the agenda, New Business #3, Council Authorization for the Implementation of Security Camera System Upgrade and Expansion For City Hall and Lion's Park, was heard.  Among the questions asked were just who the "authorized staff members" are that will be permitted to view these video recordings.  Apparently, in the case of the Lions Park tapes, that would be police personnel.  Some conversation suggested that members of "city management" will be permitted to view the City Hall tapes.  We were assured that none of the cameras will be trained on working areas, only common areas like hallways, parking lots and entrances to the building. 

ALMOST MIDNIGHT - AGAIN!
Finally, at 11:47 p.m., we were done.  So, despite his best efforts, Righeimer was still not able to get us on the road home early last night.

NEXT MEETING NEXT WEEK
The next meeting will be next Tuesday, January 15th.  That's going to be a tough one for the staff, since it only gives them a couple days in which to prepare the necessary staff reports.  Such is life in the new, kinder, gentler City of Costa Mesa.

Officer Jon Smith Honored

WELCOME BACK, JON...
Yesterday afternoon Costa Mesa Police Officer Jon Smith was honored by his compatriots in arms for his safe return from a year-long deployment with the United States Army Reserve in Afghanistan.

GAZSI AND CHERVONY
Chief Tom Gazsi stood in front of a massed crowd of city staffers - police, fire and others - and made a brief presentation on the lawn in front of Police Headquarters.  Then Community Services Specialist Jeanette Chervony, who had spear-headed the effort to send Smith "care packages" throughout his deployment, removed the yellow ribbon that wrapped a large ficus tree in front of the building, awaiting Smith's safe arrival home.

LOCAL MEDIA COVERAGE
Local media covered the event and Brad Long of CMTV was present to capture it for future viewing.

FLAG PRESENTATION
Later, during the city council meeting, Smith presented a flag that had flown over Afghanistan to Mayor Jim Righeimer.

THANKS FROM A GRATEFUL COMMUNITY
Congratulations and thanks to Officer Smith for his service to this country and to his community.

Events This Week

THE BIG GAME!

First, of course, is tonight at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN - the National Championship Football game between the University of Alabama and the University of Notre Dame.  Notre Dame by 10!  Go Irish!!!

JON SMITH CELEBRATION

Tomorrow, Tuesday, January 8, 2013 has a couple interesting events for your consideration.  First, at 4:00 in front of the Costa Mesa Police Headquarters at 99 Fair Drive Chief Tom Gazsi will host a "yellow ribbon-cutting" ceremony to officially welcome back offier Jon Smith from his year-long tour in Afghanistan.  I wrote about it HERE.

FIRST COUNCIL MEETING OF THE YEAR

Later that evening the first city council meeting of the year - the kinder, gentler era - will be held in council chambers at City Hall.  The closed session begins at 5:00 and the regular meeting begins at 6:00.  I wrote about it HERE.

60TH ANNIVERSARY COMMITTEE 

On Thursday, January 10, 2013 the Costa Mesa 60th Anniversary Committee will meet again to flesh out sub-committee assignments and get started with the heavy lifting of planning the celebrations.  Long time activist Mike Scheafer and volunteer Melinda Lowery will lead this group of nearly three dozen volunteers.  I wrote about his election HERE.  The meeting, which is open to the public, begins at 5:30 in the Emergency Operations Center, adjacent to Police Headquarters.

Officer Jon Smith "Welcome Home" Ceremony

MORE GOOD NEWS
On the heels of the news that SRO Jess Gilman is returning to Costa Mesa on Monday, there is more good "returning officer" news tonight.

OFFICER JON SMITH TO BE WELCOMED HOME
In a press release today the Costa Mesa Police Department announced a "yellow ribbon-cutting" ceremony at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, January 8, 2013 at which Officer Jon Smith will be officially welcomed home from his recent year-long tour of military duty in Afghanistan, during which he was involved in assessing the capabilities of schools, hospitals and police departments.  The event will take place in front of the Police Headquarters at 99 Fair Drive.

CHIEF GAZSI TO HOST
Police Chief Tom Gazsi will host the event and will be joined by Community Service Specialist Jeanette Chervony who was instrumental in providing Smith strong support by gathering, organizing and shipping special care packages to him while he served abroad.