A Few Surprises At Planning Commission Meeting

LATE NIGHT WITH CURVEBALLS
When the Costa Mesa Planning Commission met last night we knew it was going to be a long meeting.  We didn't, however, anticipate some of the curveballs thrown during the proceedings.

BERATING RESIDENTS
For example, the Public Comments segment began with Eastside resident Scott Morlan stepping to the podium to criticize Chairman Jim Fitzpatrick for a YouTube link he posted in a thread on NextDoor - the neighborhood conversation site that both he and I participate on.  I had not seen that particular comment - there are so many of them! - but went back after the meeting and did find it HERE.  As you can see, this is the old video put together by Righeimer sycophant Kent Mora using his "professional name" - Art Vandelay - in which he ridicules members of Costa Mesans For Responsible Government (CM4RG).  Fitzpatrick attempts to use the NextDoor platform to spew his party line and pretend he actually knows something.  It's all so very sad...  He did not respond to Morlan's criticism.

NO SWEAT CONSENT CALENDAR
The Consent Calendar passed, 5-0, without any separate comments.

GARAGE REJECTED - REHAB HOME FEARS
The first Public Hearing, dealing with a proposed 845 square foot garage plus game room above on Placentia Avenue was denied by the Planning Commission after much debate and many speakers - most of whom raised the specter that the extra room might be separately rented and/or the whole home would be turned into a rehab home.  During the discussion of the project all the commissioners tiptoed around that issue, instead because it was not "harmonious and compatible" with the surrounding neighborhood.  Their decision was a surprise.

TOWING CONTINUED
The second Public Hearing - the towing service on Logan Avenue - was continued until the next Planning Commission meeting.

37 UNIT CONDOS MOVE FORWARD
The third Public Hearing - the planned 37-unit condominium development on Victoria Street - was presented by former Development Services Director and Deputy City Manager Don Lamm, who makes a living these days representing development clients.  His poised, professional presentation dazzled several members of the audience.  Near the end of the discussions Vice Chairman Rob Dickson said, "This is exactly what the Urban Plans calls for!"  However, Fitzpatrick pulled an "Allan Mansoor" when he said he'd like to have some more dialogue on this project, so voted against it.  He didn't say what kind of dialogue and didn't perpetuate the discussion.  It was very strange.  Mansoor used to do that all the time.  The project passed, 4-1.

DISPLACED FAMILIES ATTENDED

A sidebar to this particular item.  More than a dozen Latino residents sat patiently in the audience as the discussion took place.  At one point a very polite young man and his mother stepped to the speaker's podium to ask, basically, what will happen to us - pointing to the members of the audience.  This project will involve tearing down 27 run-down rental dwelling units and replacing them with 37 new ownership units.  Clearly, all those folks in the audience will be out of a home when that happens.  When pressed for some kind of a timeline on the project, Lamm indicated that he didn't think construction would begin until early next spring - providing plenty of time for those folks to relocate elsewhere. 

Of course, Costa Mesa has very, very little affordable housing, so that nice, articulate Estancia High School student and his family and friends will have a tough time finding new housing in our city.  Come to think of it, my "Mansoor" reference seems appropriate now, since some thought from the very beginning that the Urban Plans were simply disguised methods of expelling the Latinos from our city. The economic downturn of the past decade delayed it.

KICKING THE CAN...
Next up was the "Smoking Lounge" ordinance, which really seemed directed at hookah and e-vape lounges and not the only cigar store in town.  The commission went around and around on this one, trying very hard to differentiate between hookah, e-vape and the cigar store.  Eventually it was decided to toss it back to the staff for more work on the ordinance.  It will be brought back at a future date.

INDEPENDENT RESEARCH ON THE DAIS
By the way, we had another example of folks on the dais using electronic tools - phones, in this case, to do independent research during a meeting.  Dickson told us that, during the discussion, he "Yelped" the subject of e-vapes in Costa Mesa and came up with over 20 - the staff report said there were only a few.  In my view, this is a very slippery slope.  Commissioners and Council Members should NOT be doing independent research and basing decisions on it unless and until the professional staff has had a chance to vet the information - and for that information to be made available to the other members.

ANNEXING AN ISLAND OF THE COUNTY
That brought us to Public Hearing #5, the discussion of the annexation of the so-called Colleen-Santa Ana Annexation Area.  A few members of the affected area - an island of Orange County that is surrounded by Costa Mesa and Newport Beach - expressed concerns about being able to retain the lifestyle that they presently enjoy - large lots, deep setbacks - as part of Orange County.  It would be zoned R-1, which has a minimum lot size of 6,000 square feet.  Presently the homes on the 14 acre parcel are also zoned county R-1, but the minimum lot size is 7,200 square feet with 25 foot setbacks on the rear property line - more than double the city code requirement.  Eventually, led by the verbiage of Colin McCarthy, the commission approved the staff requests and the process moves forward.  Here are a couple slides that show some of the data on this project.

 TWO LISTS?
We finally got to New Business #1, the Planning Commission goals, but it was tough to follow along.  It seems that the staff report that both of us remaining in the audience at 9:45 had didn't include a second list of proposed goals given to the staff earlier by Fitzpatrick.

GROUP HOMES FITZPATRICK'S #1 PRIORITY
He did tell us his number one priority was group homes, and complained that the city says we presently have 118 group homes but some neighbors think there are more than twice that many.  He wanted a reconciliation of the two numbers.

FITZPATRICK - BLEND CODE ENFORCEMENT UNITS
Fitzpatrick surprised me when he did something I've talked about for months when he called for the two code enforcement entities presently operating in City Hall - one out of the second floor and one operating as a private enforcement arm of the Executive Offices on the 5th - to be merged under one common command structure.

CODE ENFORCEMENT WRITING PARKING TICKETS?
By the way, did you know that the code enforcement officers are now going to be authorized to write parking tickets?  Yep, plans are underway to train them so they can simply write a ticket instead of having to call the police when they see cars illegally parked during one of their sweeps through the neighborhood.  I find myself wondering if we will next see them armed?

MORE GRIPES
Fitzpatrick criticized the processes in the city that - according to him - kept information from being shared effectively.  Dickson chimed in with the same complaint - he wants access to all the police department information so the Planning Commission can make "proper land use decisions".  Hmmm - really?

A LONG EVENING
The meeting finally ended at 10:25 p.m.  The next Planning Commission meeting will fall on TUESDAY, May 27th because Monday, the 26th is Memorial Day.

A Bittersweet Morning At City Hall

PASSING THE BADGE
This morning more than 100 family, co-workers and friends (that may be redundant) gathered in the City Council Chambers at City Hall for the "passing of the badge" ceremony for retiring legendary School Resource Officer, Jess Gilman.  I'm sure the event turned out to be everything Jess hoped for and more.

GAZSI AS MC
Police Chief Tom Gazsi, shown here with former Chief Dave Snowden, was the master of ceremonies and recounted Jess' long and illustrious career.  He became a police officer in Baldwin Park - hired by then-chief Snowden.  When Snowden moved to Costa Mesa Jess followed him to our city, where he served in a variety of policing roles.  His biggest impact, though, has been the last thirteen years as a School Resource Officer.

 CURRENT HONCHOS
In addition to Gazsi honoring Gilman, City CEO Tom Hatch, Newport Mesa Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Fred Navarro, Estancia High School Principal Kirk Bauermeister and the aforementioned Snowden also spoke in glowing terms about Jess' impact on our community.

 SLIDE SHOW WAS A HOOT
In addition to the speakers a short, very funny, slide show was presented to the audience that covered his career from beginning to the end.

FAMILIAR FACES
I'm sure I'll miss someone, but among the dignitaries attending the ceremony were retired City Manager, Allan Roeder - looking like retirement agrees with him - School District Trustees Katrina Foley, Dave Brooks and Walt Davenport, Chamber of Commerce honcho Ed Fawcett and many of Jess' Costa Mesa Police Department co-workers.  I also met several people who had worked with Jess before his tour in Costa Mesa.  Clearly, he's a man with many friends.

POLICE FAMILIES SUFFER
As the speakers and Jess recounted stories I noticed many in the audience dabbing their eyes with tissue... it was a very emotional morning.  For me, the most moving part was when Jess - near the end of his speech - looked down at his children sitting in the front row and apologized to them for not being with them as much as he and they would have liked as they were growing up.  I know the toll being a police officer can take on families, so his remarks really hit home for me.  I hope Jess finds a way to make up for that lost time now.

GOOD-BYE AND GOOD LUCK
So, congratulations to my friend, Jess Gilman, on his retirement and thanks to him for his service to our community.  We at A Bubbling Cauldron wish him and his family all the best in the future.  Due to staffing constraints - the current City Council still refuses to permit Chief Gazsi to fill vacancies - there are no plans to replace Gilman as a School Resource Officer.  The impact of THAT decision will be felt for at least a decade if not remedied soon.

*****

MEAN-SPIRITED GLOAT-FEST
In an unfortunate and mean-spirited usurpation of the Gilman ceremony, Jim Fitzpatrick - unemployed president of the Costa Mesa Taxpayers Association, the OC GOP shill organization - held a press conference only a few yards away from council chambers at the same time.  I did not attend his gloat-fest, so I don't know first-hand what he said to the one or two members of the press who attended.  We must assume he chose to, once again, identify the person caught on tape damaging campaign signs last weekend.

 VIOLATING THE RULES - AGAIN
I do know, however, that he flagrantly violated the rules by displaying campaign signs on city property - again.  And, once again, he had to be chastised for it.  This time Hatch did a wind-sprint from his office on the 5th floor of City Hall to Fitzpatrick's location to remind him of the prohibition.  I watched from the Council Chambers porch as he begrudgingly removed the signs - and I smiled.

 SAD IRONY
In an unfortunate bit of irony, members of the Costa Mesa Police Department - including Jess Gilman -  were forced to walk directly past Fitzpatrick and his new lackey, Kent Mora - the temporarily presumed plagiarist - who joined Fitzpatrick at his farce/press conference.  I can only imagine the thoughts going through their minds as they passed that location.  I suspect they might not be suitable for publication here. 

Not Plagiarism After All - Just Two Gaffes

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
OK team, earlier this week I wrote an entry, HERE, addressing the fact that councilman (and council candidate) Gary Monahan and somebody named Kent Mora submitted virtually identical commentaries to the Daily Pilot several weeks apart - and the Daily Pilot missed the similarities and published both of them.  I wondered whether this represented an overt act of plagiarism or what?
 
TESTY COMMENTS
Simultaneously, Mora and I engaged in a comment thread on my recent commentary in the Daily Pilot, HERE, in which, after awhile, I invited him to contact me privately to set the record straight.  Eventually he did, but only after I reminded him that, without a proper explanation, he would be saddled with the reputation as an unrepentant plagiarist and folks would certainly be less willing to listen to his position on issues as a result.  Plus, Monahan would probably be viewed as a co-conspirator. 


CONFIRMATION NECESSARY
Once Mora provided me with an explanation I needed to confirm it with Monahan because he was a party in this little drama.  He and I are not on the best of terms these days - big surprise there - so getting him to reply to my inquiry took the intervention of others.  Eventually, after swapping a couple emails, he did confirm Mora's version of events.  So, here's what apparently happened.

A LITTLE HELP FROM HIS FRIEND
Mora assisted Monahan with the composition of the original commentary submitted to the Daily Pilot, HERE.  This is no big deal - many people, especially politicians, get help from others crafting messages they wish to send to the populace.  Mora apparently then left town and Monahan submitted the item for publication.

THE FIRST MISTAKE
Mora tells me that upon his return, not knowing that Monahan had already submitted the item and it had been published under his byline, pulled up his copy of the essay, tinkered around with it a little, then sent it to the Daily Pilot for publication under HIS byline.  That one is HERE.

THE SECOND "MISTAKE"
Unfortunately - especially during a busy election season when the old Mailbag is jammed with submissions as is the case at the Daily Pilot these days - such submissions are reviewed by any one of a number of different editors depending on when they are received, so the person who reviewed Mora's submission had probably not seen Monahan's earlier commentary and just processed it normally.  As the saying goes - stuff happens.  Once the editors became aware of the duplication they did immediately include the following correction notice on Mora's submission:

***
FOR THE RECORD:
This commentary features multiple passages that originally appeared in a Sept. 19 commentary written by Costa Mesa Councilman Gary Monahan. The similarities between the two commentaries were not detected during the editing process.
***

TWO WRONGS...
So, apparently what we have here is NOT an act of overt plagiarism.  Mora is off the hook in that regard.  Nor was it a conspiratorial plot to publish the same message twice by Monahan and Mora. It was a breakdown in communication - twice.  The first mistake was between Monahan and Mora.  Without that one the second mistake - in the process within the Daily Pilot - wouldn't have occurred.  In this case, two wrongs made... TWO WRONGS!

DUPLICATES LINGER
The end result is that Monahan's campaign message in the form of that commentary now lingers in the archives under two separate authors.  According to folks at the Daily Pilot, both will remain in the archives.  I'm OK with that because, quite frankly, neither version was very persuasive.

THANKS, BUT NO VOTE FOR YOU, GARY
Will this change the way I feel about Monahan's candidacy?  Nope.  Even though he eventually gave me enough information to correct the record, I still will NOT support his candidacy for city council.  While I'm grateful to him for his public service - more time on the city council than anyone else in my memory - he has stayed too long at the dance.  He seems to be just too busy elsewhere to give proper attention to the responsibilities of the office, which he acknowledged when he stepped down as Mayor earlier this year.  He's got a large family that, understandably, requires a lot of attention and a business that has seen better times.  Heck, he even stayed at his bar to pour beer for patrons on St. Patrick's Day, 2011 when the tragedy at City Hall required his presence.  Those of us who pay attention to council activities have seen a very distracted Gary Monahan over the past couple years.  It's time to make a change.  Thanks for your service, Gary, but you won't be getting my vote this time.

Plagiarism Published?

Plagiarism - "An act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author."  Source - Dictionary.com

MORA'S WORDS
Tonight the Daily Pilot published online a commentary by a person named Kent Mora, who says he lives in Costa Mesa.  The title of that piece is, "Charter would reduce Sacramento's hold" and begins with the following sentence - "Can you remember the last time Sacramento passed a law that made our city better off?  Neither can I."

DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN
When I read that opening line I had a feeling of deja vu - I knew I'd read the same line somewhere else recently, so I investigated.

MONAHAN'S WORDS
On September 18, 2012 Costa Mesa councilman and candidate for re-election Gary Monahan had a commentary published in the Daily Pilot titled, "Charter would free Costa Mesa from state control." and his opening sentence read this way - "Can you remember the last time Sacramento passed a law that made our city better off?  Neither can I."

WHO'S THE PLAGIARIST?
You can see what's coming here, can't you?  Yep, somebody is a plagiarist.

SIDE BY SIDE COMPARISON
So, I went back to the Daily Pilot archives and found Monahan's commentary, HERE.  I then copied and pasted (that's an old Jim Righeimer move) the text into a Microsoft Word document so I could use the word counter feature.  I then did the same thing with Mora's current commentary, HERE, and compared them side-by-side.  With the exception that Mora's commentary has about fifteen more words than Monahan's, they are identical!

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?
So, neighbors, what are we to take from this act of plagiarism?  Do we assume that Monahan and his pals - Kent Mora has recently become a strong, strident advocate for the "3 M" position on municipal governance as measured by his comments posted on Facebook and elsewhere - have simply run out of ideas and are having to resort to regurgitating them?  Do they have a publicity machine geared up to produce commentaries and they simply forgot they'd already used this one?


INTENTIONAL AND/OR STUPID?
Whether this gaffe is intentional or simply a mistake, it certainly makes both Monahan and Mora - and their cronies by association - look pretty darn stupid.  And what does this say about the integrity of those folks who are so feverishly supporting the 3Ms in this council race?  You decide...