A Late Start, Early End And Surprises, Too

LAST NIGHT'S COUNCIL MEETING
The Costa Mesa City Council meeting Tuesday night began a little late due to the protracted Closed Session, but ended early plus had a few surprises along the way.

NO REPORT FROM THE CLOSED SESSION
The evening began with Contract City Attorney Tom Duarte having nothing to report from the Closed Session - a meeting that had on the agenda four separate litigation items.

HONORING KAREN MCGLINN

Then Karen McGlinn, CEO of Share Our Selves (SOS), was presented with the Mayor's Award for all the good works she and the organization do in our city.  I thought this was ironic, since Mayor Steve Mensinger has referred to organizations like hers as "attractants" - organizations which attract less-than-desirable individuals to our city.  It turns out that Mensinger and McGlinn's son are old schoolmates and chums.

RANT FROM THE FAR RIGHT

Leading off the Public Comment segment was Tea Party Tom Pollitt,  who spent the early part of his presentation smooching the fannies of the council majority on the subject of group homes.  He then waded right into the issue of the new tests being administered to children in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and around the country.  He claimed that the tests were psychological profiling and offered many other critical comments.  He then said the police officers had received an 8% raise over the last two years and they said they were asking for a similar raise this time.    Fortunately, his time expired.  Did I mention that he was a failed candidate for a seat on the Orange County Board of Education last year... Uh, huh...

HEROIN PROBLEM - AND NOBODY CARED

Ann Parker proclaimed Pollitt to be wrong, then spoke about a meeting in Newport Beach she attended last week which addressed the rampant drug use in our area, including heroin.   Interestingly, nobody on the council said a word about it.  I thought that was very peculiar, since it apparently is a big police problem in these parts.

MEETINGS AND COMMITMENTS
Jay Humphrey reminded us of two important meetings next week.  On Monday, April 27th, Orange Coast College is holding a meeting to discuss development plans beginning at 6:00 p.m. and the next day, Tuesday, the 28th, the Orange County Fairboard will have a meeting beginning at 6:30 to discuss current events, including noise, parking, etc.  He then reminded Mensinger and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer of their promise to "pull out all the stops" to bring Costa Mesa Police Department staffing up to the authorized strength.

PRAISE AND CRITICISM

Chuck Perry praised the emergency responders from Costa Mesa and Newport Beach who aided his daughter recently and said he opposes the plan to swap the Neighborhood Community Center with the Library.

WHAT DID SHE SAY?
Former Mesa Water Director Trudy Hall gave a rambling, incomprehensible comment on desal.

UNFAIRLY TREATED?
Scott Mahaffy complained about uneven treatment by the Parks and Recreation Commission.

HOMELESS CHILDREN

Mary Spadoni told the council there are 32,000 homeless kids in Orange County and more than 200 in Costa Mesa.  She mentioned an organization that is making a difference - Project Hope Alliance.

RIGHEIMER
During Council Member Comments Righeimer told us - again - that he had resigned from the board of Mercy House, so NOW he could do something about homelessness in Costa Mesa.  So far we've seen no action on his part.  He then raved about the Group Home Ordinance and told us that the staff went to Sacramento last week (he stayed back here and participated telephonically), trying to meet with state officials on the issue.  He then told us CEO Tom Hatch had recently been named Executive of the Year by the Association of California Cities.

MENSINGER

Mensinger praised Hatch by patting himself on the back because he had managed a couple hundred people so he said he knew how hard Hatch's job was.  He asked Hatch to look into the complaint that homeless folks are increasingly inhabiting Wilson Park and being fed there.  He mentioned the Mayor's Celebration on May 14th and suggested that the Water District make a presentation on conservation at a council meeting.

FOLEY

Katrina Foley praised Muriel Ullman for her good work with homelessness in our city and also supported Project Hope Alliance.  She then took strong exception to the things Pollitt had said about the testing in local schools, and gave very specific reasons why.  She also mentioned Costa Mesa is in crisis because of the large numbers of probationers and parolees.  She said she'd recently met with Interim Chief Ron Lowenberg and was impressed with some of his plans.  She also complained about the staffing levels in the CMPD and said that should be our #1 priority.

GENIS

Sandra Genis asked for a review of how we charge for police services for the Orange County Fairgrounds and mentioned that the Emergency Operations organization (dispatchers) were severely understaffed, which is probably resulting in a delay in responding to calls.  She then speculated on the utilization of "saved salary dollars" from unfilled positions was a result of poor management of the hiring process, and that it was a manipulation of the system where positions went unfilled for years - or months - intentionally, with those jobs being done by expensive consultants.  She also discussed desal, and the real costs of that kind of effort.  She then went into an instructional/preaching mode and reminded us we cannot treat people differently - referring to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

MONAHAN

Once again, Gary Monahan actually had something to say.  This is getting to be a habit.  He mentioned the need to be proactive if the Fairview Developmental Center property becomes available.  He mentioned Chamber of Commerce Director Ed Fawcett's retirement luncheon on April 29th and a fundraiser at his bar for two local schools.  He agreed with Righeimer's homeless housing plan and told us we only have three (3) kinds of homeless in Costa Mesa.  1)  Those on drugs or alcohol; 2) Those who are mentally challenged and 3)  Those who are just down on their luck.  He encourage everyone to call City Hall if they know of a homeless person who needed help.

HATCH
During his segment Hatch mentioned hiring Terre Duensing, a former County of Orange Emergency Operations Manager to help "move our program forward".  He mentioned the grants received for a bike trail at the end of 19th Street.  He mentioned that the Senior Center now had 1,500 new members and a new pool table.  He then turned it over to Public Services Director Ernesto Munoz, who talked about a new bicycle safety program recently conducted at California Elementary School that will be expanded to all elementary schools in the city.

3 CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS PULLED
The Consent Calendar was then addressed and items #3, the Warrant and numbers 6 and 7 were pulled by members of the pubic for discussion

APPEAL DENIED

Public Hearing #1, an appeal of a Planning Commission ruling about a convenience store at the 76 gasoline station at Newport Blvd, and Fairview Drive.  Foley was angry that the appellant didn't show up to present his case.  The council voted, 5-0, to uphold the Planning Commission's decision.

SMALL LOT ORDINANCE CHANGE PASSED, BARELY
Old Business #1, the second reading of the modifications to the Small Lot Ordinance, passed, but only by a 3-2 vote, with both Genis and Foley voting no.

PRINT SHOP CONVERSION SQUEAKS THROUGH

New Business #1, the re-purposing of the old Print Shop on the first floor of City Hall into a meeting room, plus improvement of the Employee Lounge and creation of an outside meeting area came next.  Hatch led off the discussion with an explanation that, if approved, it would be funded by savings from unfilled positions in this fiscal year.  He told us that they expected to have $2.4 million in savings from not filling non-sworn positions.  He also said one of the motivations for this plan was to keep the Emergency Operations Center just that - and not use it for meetings.

RUDE RIGHEIMER
At that point Righeimer rudely interrupted Hatch because, as we all know, ANYTHING he has to say is much more important than anything anyone else might have to say.  He said he couldn't support having the EOC sit dormant - "mothballed" was his term -  waiting for an earthquake.  Hatch tried to back peddle by stating that it might be used for computer training.

FEATURES AND COSTS
Dane Bora and architect Betsy Dougherty then presented their views on the issue, showed us images of how the change might look and explained the $1.2 million in costs, and why doing it in concert with the renovations of council chambers and the audio/visual infrastructure is a good idea.  Both projects would total just about $3 million.

CLOSE VOTE
After more discussion Monahan moved the item and Foley seconded.  Genis complained that it seemed ill-timed - that we still needed to re-build our reserves and Mensinger said the timing was not right - but gave no reason for his view.  When the vote was taken, it passed, 3-2, with Genis and Mensinger voting no.

CONSENT ITEMS
Items pulled from the Consent Calendar were then heard.  Cindy Brenneman asked for explanations for several items on the Warrant, #3.  Ann Parker addressed #6, the turning over of a slice of property by the city to a property owner and Jay Humphrey and Brenneman took on #7, the request for "resident only" parking in a Westside neighborhood, indicating that it was just a symptom of rampant development throughout the city.  That got him chided by Mensinger, telling him from the dais that "Jay is off base" criticizing development in the city.  Yes, sir... that's one way to discourage public participation in the discussion of important issues - openly criticize them from the dais.

EARLY NIGHT
And that was it... we were out of there before 8:30 and I actually got home before my wife went to bed for a change.  Next up for me... the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting Thursday night.  More on that later.

Another Interesting Council Meeting On Tuesday

CLOSED SESSION FIRST - 4 LITIGATION ITEMS
The Costa Mesa City Council will meet for its final regular meeting on Tuesday, April 21, 2014, beginning at 5:45 in City Council Chambers at City Hall.  It will be preceded by a Closed Session at 5:00 which will cover four (4) bits of existing litigation, so a forty-five minute closed session may be optimistic.  You can read the agenda HERE.

HONORING KAREN MCGLINN
(Photo Courtesy of OC Register)
Follow the Costa Mesa Minute there will be a presentation of the Mayor's Award to Karen McGlinn, CEO of Share Our Selves (SOS).  Her husband, John, was recently appointed to the new Senior Commission.  There is no question about the good works SOS does in our community, but some view it as an "attractant" - that's the mayor's own word - and a source of the presence of "undesirables" in our community.  For example, when the agenda was posted, The Mouth From Mesa North went out of his way to post a very critical mini-essay about these kinds of businesses in town.

PUBLIC COMMENTS - ALWAYS AN ADVENTURE
We never know what the Public Comments segment will bring for the council's consideration.  The mayor had imposed restrictions on the number of folks to be heard early in the meeting, but he's been loosening his grip on this recently, to his credit.  We'll see how it goes this time.

THE WARRANT - LOTS OF BUCKS
The Consent Calendar has a couple interesting items among the eight (8) on the agenda.  As has been my practice in the recent past, I'll start by providing you with a few examples of entries listed on Item #3, Warrant 2534, HERE.  I've listed items I found to be of interest.  They are shown in the order they appear on the long list:

• Civil Source - $44,480.00 - Temp Support, various
• David Taussig & Associates, Inc. - $17,580.00 - Park Impact Fees, 2/28/15
• Johnson Favaro LLP - $40,925.50 - Library/NCC Architect Planning
• CSG Consultants, Inc - $1,870.10 - Bldg Plan Check/Inspect. 2/15
• City of Huntington Beach - $12,390.00 - Helicopter Svcs, 2/15
• FTOG, Inc. - $1,957.50 - Interim Buyer, 3/16-3/27/15
• Glenn Lukos & Associates, Inc - $6,932.44 - Fairview Park Biological Svcs, 1/10-2/20/15
• Government Staffing Services, Inc. - $7,689.70 - Temp Svcs, Various
• Keyser Marston Associates, Inc. - $5,530.00 - Consulting, Various
• Meyers Nave - $1,047.40 - Legal, Fairview Park
• Mobile Home Improvement - $11,335.00 - SFHR-1845 MonroviaSp82
• Stradling Yocca  Carlson & Rauth - $12,231.90 - Legal Svcs, Various and Many
• United Industries - $4,309.20 - Warehouse Stock - Latex Gloves
• Jones & Mayer - $24,708.49 - Legal (Dadey, Solid Landings BH)
• Government Staffing Services - $12,120.00 - Temp Svcs, Various
• Jones Day - $7,246.25 - Legal, CMCEA, 12/14
• Waxie Sanitary Supply - $4,391.88 - For Warehouse Floor Stock

CONSULTANTS, LEGAL FEES AND MORE
Now, that is by no means a complete list, but represent a few items of note because I think they are important - or because they amused me.  For example, we're still spending a load of money each month on temporary services, in the same positions, month after month.  We're still spending money on helicopter services to Huntington Beach.  We're still spending a load of dough on legal services in addition to Jones and Mayer.  On this Warrant alone there's well over $40,000.00 shown.  And, I chuckled when I saw more than $4,000 for latex gloves and another similar amount to Waxie for sanitary supplies.  Yikes!

JUGGLING JERRY, AND WHY?
Item #8 on the Consent Calendar, HERE, is a professional services agreement with Tri Planning Group.  This one is REALLY interesting, because it involves shifting the cost for Jerry Guarrancino (shown here receiving a proclamation from the Planning Commission in September) - who has been a consultant in various capacities for 16 months through Lilley Planning Group, but now this request is to retain his services through Tri Planning Group (TPG) - a company in which he has an ownership interest.  This contract is for $100,000, to cover 6 months!  And, buried down in the staff report is this comment, "Funds for this agreement will come from City-wide salary savings. During this time, the City Council will review and consider adding a full-time position to ensure that the needs of the community are met regarding group home oversight."  So, specifically WHICH salary savings pays for Jerry?  Hold that thought until later.  And, NOW we are finally going to consider hiring a full-time person to do this work - after all these months of very expensive consultant costs?  Oh, wait... new employee means more greedy pension costs.  Sorry, I forgot.

NO BOOZE FOR YOUZE...
The only Public Hearing on the agenda is an appeal of a conditional use permit for a convenience store at 2281 Newport Blvd. (Union 76).  The original item was approved, with conditions, by the Planning Commission earlier this year.  The applicant apparently doesn't like the fact that, despite the fact that one of the conditions denies the ability to sell alcoholic beverages, he disputes another condition that requires a buyer's notice to be recorded notifying any potential future buyer of that first restriction.  This is a so-called "de novo" hearing - which means the council can start from scratch and re-hear the entire project.  Ugh!  This one should be very interesting.

CORRECTING A PARKING MISTAKE
Old Business #1, HERE, is the second reading (again) of amendments to the city's Small Lot Ordinance.  The last time, earlier this month, language about parking was amended, so we're back to hear this one - again.  Read the staff report - it's short, but very enlightening about the impact of this ordinance on our city.

CONVERTING PRINT SHOP INTO A MEETING ROOM
Finally, New Business #1, HERE,  is the delayed presentation of a request for authorization of construction of a community meeting room and outdoor meeting space and remodel of the employee lounge on the first floor of City Hall.  This proposal converts the old Print Shop - presently being used as an elephant graveyard for surplus furniture - into much-needed meeting space in the building.  I've had a chance to take a peek at this space and it looks like it might be segmentable - able to be carved into several smaller meeting spots - instead of just being used permanently as one big space.  It is 1,625 square feet.  Plans include the capability of broadcasting from that venue, too.

NICER MEETING SPACES
The plans also include an outside sitting/meeting area and renovation of the employee lounge - a miserable little space behind council chambers than now doesn't even have vending machines in it!

DO THIS ONE FIRST!
This is a good idea.  In my view, since the major renovation of Council Chambers is supposed to begin kind of contiguously with this project, it would be a good idea to do THIS project first, then use this space to hold council meetings while the chambers renovation is being completed.  Otherwise, the City will be scrambling for adequate meeting space for council meetings - and likely would NOT be able to televise live from any other venue around town.  The availability of this new space solves that problem.  The space available could likely hold more than 100 people, making it usable for all but the most action-packed council meetings.  Most council meetings have well short of 100 attendees, including staff members.

EXACTLY WHICH "SALARY SAVINGS" PAYS FOR THIS?
The cost for the several elements involved in this project comes to $1.2 million and the recommendation is that those costs come from FY 2014-2015 salary savings.  Remember up top when I told you to hold that thought?  Well, I'd like to know just EXACTLY where these presumed salary savings are coming from!  Is this a result of poor budgeting, slow recruiting, bad management or all of the above?

NO MAS, NOW... SEE YOU TUESDAY
So, that's it for this entry.  See you at the council meeting Tuesday.  There's a lot more happening around town next week.  More on that later.