The Real Cost Of The CMCEA Contract

EXPECT HOOPLA TONIGHT
Tonight the Costa Mesa City Council will, during their short meeting, consider the new labor agreement between The City and the Costa Mesa City Employees Association (CMCEA).  It is CERTAIN that there will be much hoopla about this being the first agreement consummated using Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger's bastard offspring - the Civic Openness In Negotiations (COIN) ordinance.  Expect to see dislocated shoulders as Mayor Jim Righeimer, Mensinger and perhaps others as they pat themselves on the back and tout what a wonderful, money-saving tool this has proven to be.

THE "REAL COSTS"...
Well, besides the fact that this agreement - in which the employees had to give up so much -  will almost certainly make it extremely difficult to recruit employees now, your crowing elected "leaders" will certainly omit some important facts that are very relevant to this issue.... some of the REAL costs involved.

KREISLER, THE SAVIOR...
Let's begin with the much-ballyhoo'd hiring of Richard Kreisler of the law firm Liebert Cassidy Whitmore to be The City's labor negotiator.  At the time Righeimer and Mensinger presumed that previous negotiators - the City Manager, Allan Roeder, and the Human Resources staff - were more than willing to give away the store and the future of The City to those "hard-nosed" CMCEA negotiators - folks like our favorite Jiffy Lube Guy, Billy Folsom.  You remember him - the guy who dedicated more than three decades to the city to keep our public safety equipment running so the police and fire folks could respond to your emergencies.  He's now happily retired.

...BUT AT WHAT COST?
The high-powered Mr. Kreisler - who, by all reports, is a competent lawyer and negotiator and a good guy - was hired by our contract City Attorney, Jones and  Mayer, back in April of 2012 - you can read the staff report about that transaction HERE.   Included is a list of fees, which tops out at $300 per hour - or segment thereof - for certain staff positions.  Then, if you peruse the reports available on The City website, you can see just what that cost has been.
Legal Expenses, FY 2011/2012 -   $41,316.00
Legal Expenses, FY 2012/2013 -   $66,560.00
Legal Expenses, FY 2013/2014 - $222,418.00
                                                                    $312,294.00

DEFENDING STUPIDITY
However, that's not all.  Back in September, 2011, HERE, The City retained the uber-powerful law firm of Jones Day - At $495 per hour -  to represent The City in the lawsuit filed by the CMCEA against the city as a result of the bogus, illegal attempt by Righeimer and his pals to layoff more than 200 CMCEA employees - a move that demoralized most of the city staff and resulted in young maintenance worker Huy Pham leaping from the City Hall roof.  Since that time their legal fee meter has been spinning like a slot machine in Las Vegas.  Referring back to those same reports, you will find that Jones Day and Jones & Mayer have been charging large numbers to that litigation:
                                                         Jones Day             Jones and Mayer
Legal Expenses, FY 2011/2012       $999,112                  $16,344
Legal Expenses, FY 2012/2013       $475,469                  $10,849
Legal Expenses, FY 2013/2014       $296,929                  $0.00*
                                                                       $1,771,510               $27,193
These numbers do NOT reflect any charges for FY 2014/2015.  *No specific numbers broken out for this litigation from General Litigation.

EVEN MORE THAN THE MONEY...
So, when the crowing begins this evening, remember that the actual costs of this process are more than they will be telling you.  The tangible ones are reflected above.  However, the intangible costs - in morale of the employees and the diminishing of service to the residents and visitors to this city are not quite as easy to quantify.  We continue to see highly-skilled employees depart for perceived greener pastures and/or retire much earlier than anticipated, taking with them years of expertise and institutional knowledge.  Many of those vacancies have been filled by expensive consultants who, while perhaps well-intentioned, have NO real loyalty to The City and those it serves.

REMEMBER...
These are facts that should be remembered in November....

First Costa Mesa City Council Meeting Of The Year Tuesday

COULD BE A QUICK ONE - OR NOT
OK, let's get right to it...  I have absolutely no clue how long the Costa Mesa City Council meeting on Tuesday, January 7, 2014, is going to run.  The closed session starts at 5:00 p.m. and the regular meeting is scheduled to commence at 6:00 in council chambers.  But, if they blast through all the consent calendar items in one vote - highly unlikely - we could be out of there before 8 p.m.!  Or, it could be another late night if folks get contentious on items on the short agenda, HERE.

WHOPPING CONSENT CALENDAR!
The Consent Calendar has Seventeen (17) items listed!  Most of them will probably be handled in one vote, but a few may generate enough interest that they will be pulled from the agenda by a council member, staff member or member of the public for separate discussion.  That means - under the new, dictatorial edict by Mayor Jim Righeimer - they will be trailed to the end of the meeting for discussion and vote.  Here are a few tidbits that might get yanked:

 Item #3, Warrant 2502, HERE.

• I note that we paid the City of Huntington Beach $19,285 for Helicopter Services in September.  
• We also paid our contract law firm, Jones & Mayer, $136,194.65 for a laundry list of services, including something for the "Acosta Appeal".  
• We paid law firm Liebert Cassidy Whitmore $7,326.60.

Item #4, Warrant 2503, HERE.  We paid law firm Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth $23,083.37.  

Item #5, Warrant 2504, HERE.

• We wrote a check to the Costa Mesa Conference and Visitors Bureau for $191,044.75.  
• We paid law firm Jones Day - they handle the lawsuit between the City and the Costa Mesa City Employees Association (CMCEA) - $44,673.75 for September.  
• We paid legal firm Enterprise Counsel Group $7,686.34 for Legal Svcs and Litigation in September.  We paid LSA Associates, Inc., $4,865.00 for Biological Survey of Fairview Park.  
• Again we paid Liebert Cassidy Whitmore $11,351.40.  
• Once again we paid Management Partners, Inc. $5,642.00 for "Interim Mgmt Assist" for the first two weeks of November.  
• We paid law firm Woodruff Spardlin & Smart $9.337.94 for legal services on Benito Acosta v City and CM Conf. & Visitor Bureau.  How much longer are we going to be paying legal fees for former Mayor Mansoor's screw-up?

Item #6, Warrant 2505, HERE.

• Once again we find charges for Jones Day for $41,827.50 for work on the CMCEA case for October and November.  
• We paid Endemic Enviornmental Services, Inc., $4,590.00 for Misc Exp Wetland Maint.  This is the outfit doing the decomposed granite removal from the illegal paths in Fairview Park.  
• Once again we paid Enterprise Counsel Group $13,806.08 for litigation in October.  
• We paid Filarsky & Watt LLP $2,973.00 for Legal Svcs in October.  
• Once again we see charges for Liebert Cassidy Whitmore for $8,166.75 for Legal services for CMCEA Labor Negotiations and CMPD Labor Negotiations.  
• We paid Management Partners, Inc. $11,004.00 for CM Senior Center Organization Review and "Interim Mgmt Assist" for November.

Item #7, Warrant 2506, HERE.

• I note with interest that we paid Costa Mesa United $48,900.00 for Costa Mesa High School/Estancia Athletic Facility Improvement.  
• And, we paid our contract City Attorney, Jones & Mayer, $137,267.04 for another laundry list of items.  
• I also noticed with a smile that we paid Larry's Building Materials $1,508.87 for "Decomposed Granite, Sand for Sand Bags and Topsoil".  
• And, we paid Liebert Cassidy Whitmore $2,271.00 for legal services. 

In case you were not keeping track, on those five warrants we spend over $445,000 on legal services alone.

TWO ITEMS REFLECT STAFFING SHORTAGES
There's a bunch of other stuff on the Consent Calendar - final tract maps, etc. - but of the remainder, two items caught my interest.   #13, Harbor Blvd/Adams Avenue Intersection Project, HERE.  The short version is that we don't have the manpower on staff to manage this $2.7 million project, so the council is being asked to authorize a contract for $192,400 to manage it for us.

Similarly, Item #14 is a request for extension of existing professional services agreements for the Interim IT Director and IT Consultant for an additional cost of $110,000.  Recruitment is underway for a permanent Information Technology Director - the position was vacated when Bobby Young resigned for a job in the private sector.  These extensions are to insure continuity of the many projects underway now until we get a permanent IT Director on board.

THE HOME STRETCH... MAYBE

Once we get past the Consent Calendar there are "only" two items left to consider - except for any public comments that had been trailed to the end of the meeting and the Consent Calendar items that might have been pulled.

SIGNAGE AT METRO POINT

Public Hearing #1 is an amendment to the planned sign programs for Metro Point, HERE, which may generate some significant community comments.  Councilwoman Sandra Genis appealed the decision of the Planning Commissions approval, citing agreement with the minority view on the commission that glare will likely be a problem and the amount of signage along the freeway.  It's likely that Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger will not be permitted to participate in this process because of his ties to the property owner, Arnel Property Development.

EXCESSIVE USE OF RESOURCES ORDINANCE

Old Business #1, the Second Reading of the Excessive Use Of Resources Ordinance, HERE, is the final official item on the agenda.  This, as you will recall, is the club Righeimer intends to use to flog owners of "problem motels" into submission/departure.  In the past he's stated flat-out from the dais that he intended to cause the owners to "re-value" their properties by flailing them with so much discomfort in the form of law enforcement visits and code enforcement fines that they would price their properties in a more reasonable range for those developers who might want to purchase them and throw up high density housing units.  Did I mention that Righeimer is a developer?  I suspect we might find one or two motel owners on hand to speak to this issue.  Could be interesting.

MORE LATER AFTER THE MEETING

So, if you cannot attend or watch the proceedings on CMTV or via live streaming video, I'll be there and will give you my take on the meeting later.  It's going to be an interesting year...

Of Spending, Not Saving

POTHOLES AND SURPLUS DOLLARS
The SECOND study session of the afternoon yesterday, Tuesday, was also held in Conference Room 1A, but played to a much smaller crowd than the earlier training session.  Funny, because this one had some very important issues to be discussed by the 60% of the council present - Mayor Jim Righeimer and councilman Gary Monahan were also absent from this one.  Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger chaired this meeting and, although it began at 4:55 p.m. instead of 4:30 as scheduled, he observed that "we're right on time" - and he wasn't kidding.  Geez!

REPORTS
In my earlier report on this meeting I provided links to the staff report, HERE, and three attachments to it.   
Fiscal Year 2012/2013 Surplus Analysis HERE 
Recommended Uses of the FY 2012/13 Surplus HERE 
Unfunded Priority List for Capital Improvement Projects HERE  
Appendix A, the Fiscal Year Capital Improvement Program Budget HERE.

CALPERS REP. COMING TO TOWN

During Public Comments Jeff Arthur, Chairman of the Pension Oversight Committee, spoke to advise the council and other participants and observers that a representative from CalPERS will be speaking to his group at their meeting on Wednesday, November 20th.  These meetings are usually held in Conference Room 1A, too.  That meeting begins early - at 2:00 - an hour that almost guarantees a small turnout of those who might otherwise be able to make it.  I'll be there.

SPENDING AND SAVING
The purpose of this particular meeting was to discuss the current Capital Improvement Program and also to get a sense of how to manage the $7.1 million budget surplus carried over from the last fiscal year.

PENSION LIABILITY FUNDS
CEO Tom Hatch led off this meeting by mentioning that there is $500,000 in the budget surplus earmarked to pay toward Unfunded Pension Liabilities, plus $50,000 available for Unfunded Medical Liabilities AND similar amounts earmarked in the 2013/2014 approved budget.  Wendy Leece wondered why these funds had not been disbursed, since the council approved the budget.  Mention was made that the Pension Oversight Committee was to report to the council on this issue.  We all remember that the mayor, in one of his little rants from the dais, said he's not going to send one extra dollar to Sacramento, period!

BANKRUPTCY TO BUST THE EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATIONS
As I've said before, if that is true, and IF it is also true that our Unfunded Pension Liability is so large as to cause the city serious financial distress, perhaps that's exactly what Righeimer wants - for the city to be placed in the position to declare bankruptcy so he can bust the associations.  And, perhaps that's why he continues to throw money at so-called hard assets instead of providing adequate staffing for public safety and, now, in other areas that are in need of more staff time to provide expected services on a timely basis.

UNUSUAL MEETING
Hatch spoke of the Capital Improvement Budget and mentioned how unusual it is for a meeting of this type to occur at this time of the year.  In years past similar presentations were held during the Mid-Year Budget Review in January or February.

STAFFING LEVELS IN THE TANK
Speaking of staffing levels, Hatch told us that the city has gone from 611 employees in the recent past to only 410 on the payroll today.  The current authorized staffing level is 450, with 40 approved vacancies.  At a recent council meeting he reminded the council that, in order to meet their demands it would be necessary to fill positions in many areas across the board.

CODIFYING CIP AND RESERVES
Hatch told us he would be recommending that, beginning with the next budget cycle, the council earmark 5% of the budget for capital improvements and 1% to begin replenishing our reserves, which he told us were at around $70 million before the economy tanked and we began tapping them to stay in business.  Hatch told us that the reserves are now down to around $33 million. Mensinger indicated that number included our "$16 million emergency fund", which I believe is actually $14.125 million, but what's almost $2 million between friends, right?

CMPD STAFFING LEVELS PRECARIOUS
As a sidebar here, although it was not discussed at this meeting, It's my understanding that the Costa Mesa Police Department staffing level of sworn personnel now hovers at 105, well short of the meager authorized level of 125 and far, far from the levels recommended by consultants two years ago.  It is also my understanding that, if retirements occur as anticipated and considering the officers currently out due to on-the-job injuries, it is VERY likely that we will soon - maybe as early as January - fewer than 100 officers available for duty.  On Veterans Day there were only five (5) officers on patrol for our city of over 110,000 souls.

EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE SLIPS
In recent months I've seen what appears to be a drop off in response times by some city departments.  This certainly is due to the demands made upon them by the council and the public and press, as well.  With demands for public records taxing many departments and investigations ongoing, it doesn't surprise me at all if performance slips.  You can thank your council majority for creating such a toxic work environment that employees leave and we continue to have problems attracting replacements.

LITIGATION - A "COST OF DOING BUSINESS"
It's going to be a very interesting remainder of this fiscal year.  Expect legal fees to continue to spin the meter as the men in charge treat operating this city like they would operate a business - where litigation is just another cost of doing business.  It's disgusting!  And, did we mention that Jones Day, our nearly $500 per hour lawyers, is the firm navigating the City of Detroit into bankruptcy?

Brief Council Meeting And Vegas Boondoggle

ALMOST LIKE A VACATION!
After this past week, with meeting after meeting after meeting at Costa Mesa City Hall, next week looks like a piece of cake!

HOMELESS HOUSING ISSUE
Tuesday the remaining three members (more on that later) of the city council will hold what looks like a very short meeting beginning at 6:00 in Council Chambers.  Wendy Leece has been designated to run this meeting.  There is only one item on the agenda, HERE, beyond the Consent Calendar items and that's the issue titled "Community Housing Development Organization Predevelopment Loan And Commitment Of Home Program Funds Agreement".  The council needs to approve this item so the City can move forward with a plan for permanent supportive housing to serve the Costa Mesa homeless population.  I suspect that this is the only reason the meeting was not canceled, since it has a short fuse on the process.  You can read the staff report on that one HERE to help you understand what's at stake.

STATE BANDITS!
However, we don't want to overlook the Warrants on the Consent Calendar because they have some interesting numbers this time around.  The biggie, on Warrant #2472, HERE, is a check we wrote to the Orange County Auditor Controller for $2,492,747.00!  That, of course, was the disputed money being sucked out of our coffers by the State of California as a result of the dissolution of the Costa Mesa Redevelopment Agency.  This is the money we will apparently be suing the State to get back.

LEGAL COSTS...

Also on that Warrant are entries for legal fees to Jones and Mayer for $129,713.66 for a whole mish-mash of work they did for us.  Also, Liebert Cassidy Whitmore was paid $8,627.60 for legal work related to labor negotiations.

... AND MORE LEGAL COSTS
On Warrant #2473, HERE, Jones Day was paid $37,867.50, Liebert Cassidy Whitmore another $4,,845 and Woodruff Spradlin & Smart a whopping #332.50 for work on the Benito Acosta affair.

COULD BE AN EARLY NIGHT!
Unless somebody decides to pull a bunch of stuff from the Consent Calendar, we could be out of the meeting by 6:30.

DESERT BOONDOGGLE
Also, the reason we will have only three council members present Tuesday night is because Mayor Jim Righeimer, Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger, CEO Tom Hatch, Public Affairs Manager Dan Joyce, Management Analyst Dan Baker and Executive Assistant Kelly Shelton will all traipse off to a boondoggle in Las Vegas for what is billed as an "Economic Development" trip.  I guess they want to entice more fast food places to set up shop in Costa Mesa.  Barbara Venezia, the effervescent columnist for the Orange County Register and The Current, wrote a piece on this excursion, HERE, that will give you more information.  That link is to her own web site, since some of you won't be able to access the Register site because you don't subscribe.  Barbara solved that problem for us.  I hope this time the entourage will actually report some positive results from this effort.  We'll see.

Righeimer And Mensinger To Lead City

SAME OLD, SAME OLD...
Well, folks, the "new era" is looking very much like the old era in Costa Mesa - unfortunately.  You can read Bradley Zint's account in the Daily Pilot, HERE

RIGHEIMER AND MENSINGER
Last night, in a council meeting that will surely be remembered for unfulfilled expectations, to the surprise of nobody in the auditorium Jim Righeimer was elected Mayor and his pal, Steve Mensinger, was elected Mayor Pro Tem - but not without some interesting discussion.

A SLOW START
The council chambers was nearly packed by well-wishers, family, fans and other interested folks.  After nearly an hour of Public Comments and Council Member Comments, the meeting finally turned to the certification of the election and then the election of Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem at just after 7:00.  Two hours later we finally had two officers elected and the meeting went into a 45 minute recess so attendees could enjoy some fellowship and food with the new council on the City Hall patio.  Here's how we got that far.


 EIGHTY MINUTES LATER IT'S RIGHEIMER

At 7:20 Gary Monahan nominated Jim Righeimer for Mayor, with Steve Mensinger seconding the motion.  Then Sandy Genis nominated Wendy Leece and Wendy seconded the motion.  We then launched into Public Comments on this issue and, in a perfect example of just how split this city remains - one speaker reminded us that only 125 votes separated the cumulative "3M" vote and those garnered by the "Top 3" in the recent election - thirty-eight (38) people rose to speak in favor of one or the other.  Twenty (20) spoke in favor of Leece and eighteen (18) spoke in favor of Righeimer, including the final speaker - former mayor Eric Bever.  It seems he will never get over the need to have the last word.  At 8:40 the vote was taken.  The vote was 3-2 in favor of Righeimer.  Genis and Leece voted No.  A meaningless vote on Leece's nomination was the inverse - 2-3.

A TWO MINUTE JOB TOOK TWENTY

Then, in what should have been a slam dunk, nominees were made for Mayor Pro Tem.  Mensinger was nominated, as was Leece.  Another fifteen (15) people rose to speak, six (6) in favor of Mensinger - including Righeimer's wife, shown here -  and nine (9) in favor of Leece.  When the votes were taken, the first one was 2-3 against Leece.  The second was 4-1 in favor of Mensinger, with Genis seeing the handwriting on the wall.  Then there was the break at just after 9:00 p.m. and we all knew we were in for another marathon meeting

THE "NEW" COUNCIL
After snacks and schmoozing, at 9:45 we finally got down to business.  The new council was seated in the order you see above.  I'm not going to try to read anything into the seating arrangement except to observe that the women were shoved off to the side.  With Sandy Genis seated next to Jim Righeimer it's going to be a very interesting tour.

JANUARY 8TH

The council voted to move the next meeting from January 1st to January 8th.  Good idea.
They then "continued" the Public Hearing on the closure of the Anchor Trailer Park until January 8th at the request of the potential buyer.  I thought at that time that maybe we might make it out of there before 11 p.m.  I was disappointed.

HALF THE CONSENT CALENDAR "PULLED"

Members of the council "pulled" for separate discussion more than half the items on the Consent Calendar, so we didn't finish that part of the agenda until 11:10 p.m!  Leece pulled the Warrant that contained a payment to Jones Day for over $69,000 and asked contract City Attorney Tom Duarte about it, since it was a May bill.  He told her, and us, that it had been returned for adjustment before payment and that the January Warrants would see several more payments to Jones Day through the October billing.  We've now spent well over $1 million on that firm for their work on the OCEA lawsuit.  The three items that generated the most discussion, items #9, #10 and #12, all dealt with insurance issues and all were "continued" to January 8th.  By now it was pretty late, but an amusing sidebar was Mensinger getting lost in the agenda.  You'd think, after two years on the dais, he'd figure out how to follow along, wouldn't you? They did approve the creation of the new Deputy City Clerk position.

RESCINDING THE LAYOFF NOTICES

Finally, at 11:20 p.m., we got around to the big issue of the evening - New Business #2 - the rescinding of the remaining layoff notices and related subjects on that agenda.  You can read it HERE.  It passed on a 5-0 vote, but not without some long, sometimes rancorous, discussion.  For example, Genis wanted to know why we were spending any time planning to negotiate with the employee association on outsourcing specific units when the recent court decision seemed to forbid that move.  One of the lawyers from $495-per-hour Jones Day rose from his seat beside me - he spent 3 hours perched there reading emails and texting while the meter was spinning - and tried to answer questions he stated would best be addressed in closed session.  However, Genis was persistent, but never really did get an answer to her question.  Following the vote Hatch was directed to move forward with discussions with the association.  It was pretty bizarre, to say the least.

OFF TO A BAD START

When they adjourned to closed session it was a couple minutes past midnight, so this council continues down the path the previous one had blazed of long, frustrating meetings.

SAME OLD SONG, SECOND STANZA
A couple things were very clear last night.  First, despite issuing an apology for his tactics the past two years and his stated willingness to turn over a new leaf and deal more collaboratively with the employee units, Righeimer's  actions showed us that he's not really serious.  I thought it might take two meetings for this to become evident and was wrong.  It only took part of one.  There were many in attendance last night who were keeping their fingers crossed that he actually meant what he'd said the previous meeting and early in this one.  We all left very disappointed.  It's clear to me that the only thing that has changed on the dais is the seating positions.

RIGHEIMER AND THE RULES
The other thing is that we're going to have to watch Righeimer like a hawk because he tends to play fast and loose with the rules and, now that he's Mayor, he's going to be emboldened to stretch them - or ignore them - even more.  It's as though he thinks "Mayor" is the same as "monarch".  Whatever the reasons, keep your eye on him.  It's going to be a very long two more years.

SAME OLD STEVE...

And, Steve Mensinger demonstrated that he has not changed a lick.  A couple times he tried to pull one of his "in your face" moves on Genis.  Early on, during Council Member Comments, while discussing the recent campaign and the vandalism to campaign signs he said "I don't forget things" - clearly an indicator that he holds, and will continue to hold, a grudge about the loss and damage to many of his signs.  And, he continues to use the troubling technique of saying, "I like so-and-so, he or she is a great person" or words similar to those, then goes on to slam that person.  And then there's his annoying habit of asking a question of someone other than a staff member making a presentation to them, not understanding the answer so he asks it again, more forcefully. He's one strange guy
 

HANG ON!
So, we have a month until the next council meeting.  I suggest we all rest up, enjoy the holidays and get ready for the next stanza of the "Jim Righeimer Era" in Costa Mesa.  I have a feeling that it's going to be a bumpy, very expensive ride for us all.

First Council Meeting For New Group Tuesday

HERE WE GO WITH A NEW COUNCIL
The agenda for the first City Council meeting of the new era has been published and has some very interesting items on it.

CLOSED SESSION MOVED TO THE END
This meeting will apparently have the closed session at the tail end of the regular meeting to allow new council member Sandra Genis to fully participate in the deliberations.  I'm led to believe this is a one-time change.

THE SWEARING-IN

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:00 in council chambers at City Hall.  You can read the entire agenda HERE.  It will begin with Public Comments, Council Members Reports, Comments and Suggestions then will address the resolution validating the recent General Election.  You can read that staff report HERE.  The council members elected - Sandra Genis, Steve Mensinger and Gary Monahan - will be sworn in and seated.  Somewhere along the line the new mayor and mayor pro tem will be elected and a break will be taken to juggle the chairs on the dais and have a short reception for the winners in the election.  I don't expect the scheduled items on the agenda to begin until around 7:00, and then it will likely be the Public Hearing item, below.

HATCH, THEN CONSENT CALENDAR
Following the report from Tom Hatch, City Chief Executive Officer, the council will consider the Consent Calendar - a long one this time around.  There are seventeen (17) individual items on the agenda, several of which will likely be pulled for separate discussion.

JONES DAY CHARGES
For example, Warrant #2449, HERE,  might get pulled for a discussion of the charge from Jones Day - the expensive law firm handling the OCEA lawsuit - for over $69,000.  So far they've been paid well over $1 million on that bogus lawsuit, and that doesn't include charges from our contract law firm, Jones and Mayer, for their part in the suit.

19TH STREET BRIDGE DELETION

Item #6, the deletion of the 19th Street Bridge, may generate some discussion.  The staff recommendation is to receive and file - no action is required.  The staff report is HERE.

DONATED SENIOR TRANSPORTATION BUS
Item #8 is the proposed acceptance of a donated bus to be used for Senior transportation, HERE.

REHABING RED HILL
Item #11 deals with the acquisition of $922,000 in funding to rehabilitate Red Hill Avenue, widely considered the arterial roadway in the worst condition within the city.  The staff report is HERE.

SPIFFING UP HARBOR BLVD. AND 17TH STREET
Item #13 deals with $1 million in grant funding to beautify Harbor Blvd. and enhance the streetscape on 17th Street.  That staff report is HERE.

STORM DRAINS
Item #14 is for engineering services of $69,745 for work on Industrial Way and Storm Drain Improvements, HERE.

DESIGNING FAIRVIEW PARK TRAILS
Item #15 is an engineering contract for #160,387 for design of Fairview Park Multipurpose Trails, HERE.

BRENTWOOD PARK
Item #16 is design services for Brentwood Park in the amount of $95,605, HERE.

DEPUTY CITY CLERK
Item #17, the final item on the Consent Calendar, is a request for the authorization of a new position, Deputy City Clerk, HERE, to formalize the position that Christine Cordon had been doing before her recent promotion to a position in Public Affairs.

SUCCESSOR AGENCY
The council will then change dresses and become the Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency and consider one item, the independent accounts report, HERE.

CLOSURE OF ANCHOR TRAILER PARK REPORT

Next on the agenda is one Public Hearing, which I suspect might be moved to the head of the line since council policy calls for public hearings to begin at 7:00 or as close to that hour as is possible.  This item, if approved, will require the owner of  Anchor Trailer Port Mobilehome Park to implement a "Closure Impact Report".  You can read most of the staff report HERE, but several pages are missing.  Hopefully, that will be remedied on Monday so we can actually read and understand the report.

JANUARY 1, 2013 COUNCIL MEETING

There is no Old Business scheduled, but there are a couple VERY interesting items under New Business.  The first is a discussion of rescheduling or canceling the City Council meeting that would normally fall on Tuesday, January1, 2013.  Options presented are to move it to January 8th or cancel it altogether.


RESCINDING LAYOFF NOTICES
The second New Business item is the recision of layoff notices and rejection of all remaining bids for services.  You can read that staff report HERE.  The recommendation to the council by staff at the beginning of the staff report reads as follows:

1. Authorize the CEO to rescind the remaining lay off notices; 

2. In lieu of outsourcing not providing extensive relief on City pension challenges, direct
the CEO to prepare and present a plan to address the underfunded pension and
retiree medical liabilities at the mid year budget review in February 2013. 

3. Authorize the CEO to enter into negotiations with representatives of the Costa Mesa City Employees’ Association (CMCEA) to discuss innovative methods and techniques that will both ensure continued quality services to the public and produce long term financial savings to the City;

4. Authorize the CEO to initially focus the discussions with CMCEA on Jail Services, Street Sweeping Services, Parks and Landscape Maintenance Services, Graphic Design Services and Payroll Services with the CEO administratively implementing the changes without any layoffs to full-time personnel; and

5. Reject all bids for the remaining outsourcing services where the City Council has yet to provide direction.

Personally, I'm going to be VERY interested to see how the discussion of this particular item goes.  It will come at the end of the meeting and we all know that most councils don't do their best work late in the evening.

CITY ATTORNEY AND CLOSED SESSION
At that point we will hear a report from the City Attorney, then the council will adjourn to Closed Session to consider two items involving anticipated or present litigation.