Sunday With The Mayor A Success - Kind Of

A SEMI-SUCCESS
Based on reports from the scene and my little peek into the action last Sunday, Rookie Mayor Steve Mensinger's Sunday meeting with residents was a success.  Well, not a complete success, but a good start, anyhow.

A BAKER'S DOZEN SHOWED UP
According to City sources, thirteen (13) people showed up beginning at 2 p.m. to chat with the mayor on issues important to them.  The last person left around 4:15 - a few minutes longer than anticipated.

NOT MUCH "PRIVATE TIME"
From reports I've received, the event was not exactly what some of the individuals had hoped for.  Many expected to have some private time with Mensinger during which they would present their question/issue to him for a personal discussion.  That's not how it played out.

MORE LIKE A GROUP HUG
According to sources, after the first person arrived and had a few minutes alone with Mensinger in the 5th floor conference room, another group arrived and joined in.  Then, a few minutes later, another group appeared.  It turned out that eight (8) people were chatting with the mayor on a variety of issues - kind of like a mini-town hall.  Sources tell me that those eight folks filtered out by around 3:15 or so.  Although I don't have any first person knowledge of the last hour of the confab, I'll presume the remaining five people  had a similar experience.

SECOND INSTALLMENT PLANNED
I'm told that there will, in fact, be a second installment of this event on February 8th, although I don't know if there will be any fine-tuning of the format.  It seems to me that if people take time out of the middle of their Sunday to chat with the mayor on something they think is important, then they should have his undivided attention for whatever period is allowed and not share that time with others.  That would also mean that he'd have to leave his cell phone off, but I'm not sure he could manage that kind of deprivation, even for a short time.

FINE-TUNING THE FORMAT
That, of course, would require some "scheduling", but that's not a problem. Sharon Rodelius was ready, willing and able to do that scheduling earlier in the week.  For example, if I felt the need to present an issue to the mayor privately that I thought might take fifteen minutes, I could request that amount of time with him on Sunday.  Others could do the same.

HOPE THE ROOKIE REPORTS
I hope the mayor will present his views on how this first event went from his perspective at the next council meeting next week.  I also hope they will do some tweaking of the process to provide private time with The Rookie.

EXPECTING TRUTH... DISAPPOINTED
Oh, yes, a reminder that one Julie Mercurio - if that's really her name - lied on Facebook about my presence at City Hall last Sunday, portraying my two-minute chat with Sharon Rodelius on the City Hall steps as "lurking" and said I had a camera with me - I didn't.  No lurking, no camera - only lies from Mercurio.  That's certainly something to remember when you read her posts on the Costa Mesa Public Square Facebook site - truth seems not to be important to her.

Deception On The March In Mesa North

HEAR THE DRUMS?
The drumbeat of deception continues from the north part of town. As will almost certainly be the same with every entry, The Mesa North Mouth continues to tout his chosen slate of candidates and goes to great lengths to denigrate Katrina Foley and the other candidates running against his preferences.

ACTIONS AND WORDS
Those of us who have watched him in action and have read his tripe over the years find his current attacks to be absolutely no surprise. For years he has tried, with some success, to manipulate council candidates and members to make life miserable for the Latinos in our community. His hatred of anyone not white is obvious and is reflected by numerous essays he writes on far, far right wing web sites, like the New Nation News. If you doubt my characterization, click HERE and go the link to his most recent essay entitled, "Jump Out Of The Melting Pot Or Die".
CONVINCING LIAR
This guy knows no bounds when it comes to fabricating falsehoods and flat-out lying about candidates that don't meet his requirements. It's a sad commentary on this city that more than a few folks in our town buy into his crap and assume forcing Latinos from our city will solve all our problems. What a crock!
DO YOUR OWN ANALYSIS
So, dear neighbors, start paying attention to what's actually happening in our city. Don't take my word for it, and for sure don't take his. Do you own investigation and analysis. Make up your own minds.

"PASSIVE PARKS" TO BE DISCUSSED
Tomorrow night at the City Council meeting our elected leaders will address the issue of turning all but a couple of our nearly 30 public parks into "passive parks" - places where groups of children will be forbidden to play games. This draconian recommendation is the direct result of The Mouth From Mesa North fabricating lies about Paularino Park to keep Latino men from the apartments across the street from kicking a soccer ball around after work. He painted the specter of marauding "soccer gangs", terrorizing the local residents (like across the street isn't "local") - none of which was verified and validated. It's the perfect example of a very smart guy yapping into the ears of some latent bigots who take his word as gospel.

EASTSIDERS TO HOLD FORUM
On a more positive note, at least two more candidate forums are in the works, with two more rumored. On Thursday, October 9th, the fledgling Eastside CM Neighbors Group is sponsoring a candidate forum at the Neighborhood Community Center from 6-9 p.m. More information to follow when plans are solidified.

PILOT AND CHAMBER TO HOST FORUM
Then, the following week, the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce and The Daily Pilot will host a candidate forum at the City Council Chambers at City Hall. This event will be televised live and then shown on delayed tape, too, until the election on November 4th. I'm not sure of the starting time, but will advise you when I know.

WATCH, HEAR, ASSESS
Take advantage of these opportunities to watch, hear and assess the future leaders of our city. Don't listen to the spin put on the comments - hear them for yourselves. Make an informed decision when you enter the voting booth.

Budget Approved and "Tank Commander" Surfaces

BUDGET PASSED
Last night the Costa Mesa City Council - on a 4-0 vote with Mayor Bever absent again - approved the proposed budget, thereby authorizing the expenditure of $145,000,000 of your tax dollars during the 2008-2009 fiscal year. The approval was not unexpected - the staff had done their usual excellent job of preparing the budget based on the guidance provided by the council earlier this year.

CART RETRIEVAL UPHEAVAL
Mayor Pro Tem Allan Mansoor - running the meeting in Bever's absence - made a feeble attempt to derail the renewal of the $48,000 shopping cart retrieval cost, but didn't get support. His limited grey matter apparently caused him to forget that the contract as negotiated is subject to cancellation with short notice.

CAL TRANS PUSHING
The council rejected the hastily prepared request to spend $300,000 for monument markers along the 55 Freeway - a good move, in my view. The city was being pressured by Cal Trans to fund the creation of the markers this year after nearly three years of delays from the original request by the city.

ENTER THE "TANK COMMANDER"
One speaker before the council last night expressed much displeasure because the council was unwilling to follow his instructions to buy what he describes as "barracks-style" apartments, raze them and turn them into parks. He suggested using eminent domain and just "banking" the land for a greater use. He described these "offending" buildings as being similar to the barracks during his days as a Marine. He subsequently told us he had been a "Marine Tank Commander" - visions of Michael Dukakis in the tank immediately popped into my mind.

ROEDER SETS HIM STRAIGHT
Fortunately, City Manager Allan Roeder - prompted by Katrina Foley - set the record straight on what can and cannot be done with land purchased by the city. Of course, the Tank Commander had been lying through his teeth, but Roeder cleared that up. The Tank Commander posted the same lies on his blog this morning - never letting facts deter him from his goal of expunging the Latinos from our midst.

AS DOES RON SMITH
During another rant about graffiti in the city he fabricated other "facts". Again, Foley requested clarification from Costa Mesa Police Captain Ron Smith, who cleared up that bit of misinformation.

THE LIAR "TANKS"
I've throttled back my comments about the Tank Commander recently, but such overt manipulation cannot pass without being addressed. He stands before the council, criticizing and pontificating and manufacturing issues and "facts" as he goes. Fortunately, there is at least one person on the council smart enough to see through his bluster and willing to call him out. Good for Katrina Foley.

WHO WILL HE SUPPORT?
It will be very interesting to see where he throws his support this campaign season. He's undoubtedly unhappy with what he feels is the ignorance of the current council. You can define that as their unwillingness to follow his mantra like zombies. I suspect he will support more malleable candidates - those willing to follow his lead on issues. We'll see...