Lisa McPherson Says Good-bye

A BAKER'S DOZEN, THEN GOOD-BYE
After thirteen years working for the City of Costa Mesa, Recreation Supervisor Lisa McPherson is moving onward and upward.

MOVING NORTH
Today McPherson announced that she is moving to the City of Dublin, California - up north in that "other" part of the state - where she will hold a management-level position in their Parks and Recreation Department.  If you click on that title you'll find Dublin is about 2/3 the size of Costa Mesa and has about half the population.

A STEADY, PROFESSIONAL
This seems to be an outstanding opportunity for McPherson, who has served Costa Mesa with loyalty, passion and diligence through her tenure, and particularly through the past few years of turmoil and tumult.  With the hiring of Travis Karlen as Recreation Manager last Monday she now has had eight bosses during her tenure with the City.  She, in fact, ran the Recreation Division several times for varying periods of time as managers came and went - most recently when Bob Knapp left.

HIGHLIGHTS
Among the many highlights of her tenure in Costa Mesa - she's a resident, who moved here because she has had such strong affection for the City - she cited the rescue of the R.O.C.K.S. program and helping facilitate the Estancia Adobe becoming a National Historical Site - something that will take place officially soon.  As City Staff liaison to many of the committees, she helped the volunteers craft programs and implement them. 

LOOKING FOR A BETTER PLACE
Clearly, it was time for her to move on to a city that values her credentials and experience and values employees beyond being viewed as just so many widgets to be easily-replaced.  She feels she's found that place in Dublin.

WE WISH HER WELL...
We here at A Bubbling Cauldron wish Lisa McPherson all the best in this latest step in her career.  We will miss her perky demeanor, her professionalism and dedication to the residents of Costa Mesa.  Her final day on the job here will be August 15th.

Commission Stiff-Arms Chairman On Skate Park

VEDDDY INTERESTING...
It was an interesting meeting of the Costa Mesa Parks and Recreation Commission last night, to say the very least.  You can read the entire staff report HERE.

TREE REMOVAL REQUESTS DENIED
The commission voted to deny all three of the tree removal requests presented to them, but not without some serious discussions and a botched vote that had to be re-done.

Item 9a, the tree removal request on Bismark Way, HERE, was rejected unanimously by the commission.

Item 10b, for the removal of a tree on Coolidge, HERE, was first passed on a 3-2 vote, then commissioner Bob Graham - apparently asleep at the switch - requested a re-vote and reversed his vote, which resulted in a denial of the removal request.

Item 10c, a request to remove a tree at the Orange County Model Engineer's facility in Fairview Park, HERE, was quickly denied unanimously.  Nobody from the OCME group was present to argue the case.

VOLCOM SKATE PARK

The hot item on the agenda, the discussion of the Volcom Skate Park, HERE, went about as expected.  The staff report presented three alternatives for the commission to consider and recommended Number 3 as the appropriate move at this time.  Here's what those plans looked like, summarized from the staff report: (click on image to enlarge)

STAFF PRESENTATION
Recreation Supervisor Lisa McPherson led the presentation and outlined each of the alternatives for the commission.  She was aided by Baron Bettenhausen of Jones & Mayer, our contract law firm.

SECURITY CAMERAS COMING

At one point during the discussion mention was made about security cameras being scheduled to be installed at Volcom Skate Park in the near future.  Each successive speaker and commission member thought that was a good idea.  (Those cameras are on the agenda for the City Council meeting on July 1st.)

PARK RANGER HARKEY
Park Ranger Ann Harkey, who is the tip of the enforcement spear for the Skate Park and who has born the brunt of the unpleasant behaviors that are driving this discussion, reported that not much has changed at the Park.  There continue to be a few people who act disruptively, both inside the park proper and around the perimeter.  She described incidents where she attempted to enforce the rules but the offenders scattered and laid low nearby until she left.  Not described last night was an incident where she was actually attacked by a skater.  She described drug use in and around the park and general disregard for the rules about using safety equipment.  She also indicated that many of those who make trouble are from out of town. 

CAMERAS, ALONE, NOT THE ANSWER
Harkey mentioned the security cameras, but indicated that she could not arrest someone just because the camera caught them apparently violating a rule - she had to personally witness it herself.  Mention was made of a recent injury at the park - a young man not wearing a helmet fell backwards onto the floor of the bowl and cracked his skull.  Later it was acknowledged that no claims have been made as a result of incidents at the skate park.

THE LEGEND SPEAKS

Jim Gray, a legend in the local skate world, spoke with passion about the issue. He thought the cameras were a great idea.  At one point he said, "You're not going to get the skaters to follow the rules by bullying them."  I understood what he meant.  The skate culture has a kind of "rebel" persona.  Gray thought less time should be spent making them wear safety equipment and more attention should be given to expanding the park - it's too small for the number of skaters and the mixture of skill levels.

FOLEY ADVOCATES COOPERATION

Newport Mesa Unified School District Trustee, former City Council member and President and founder of the National Interscholastic Skateboard League, Katrina Foley, spoke eloquently about the sport, the culture, the rules and the need for cooperation between the City and outside groups - like hers.  She used as a positive example a young man named Jesus Acevedo - valedictorian at Estancia High School and captain of his school's skate board team.  Because the use of required safety equipment was central to the discussion, she was asked what was the minimum safety equipment she thought skaters should be using.  She answered, "a helmet".  She said elbow and knee pads are hindrances, except in the case of knee pads where sliding down a bowl in the park happens.

OUTSIDERS THE MAIN PROBLEM

Rene' Prospero, a frequent skater at the park, agreed about the cameras.  He also thought the skaters themselves should be doing a better job of policing improper activity.  He did say that you will NOT find any photograph of any professional skater in any magazine wearing safety equipment - not even a helmet.  He thinks those stars are being emulated by younger skaters.  He blamed the problems at the park on a few bad apples who are spoiling it for everyone.

WHAT ARE OTHERS DOING?

Speaker Anna Vrska thought #1 was too expensive, suggested a few people are the problem and wondered what other jurisdictions are doing to solve this problem.

MOTION DIES...
Eventually Chairman Byron de Arakal attempted to cobble together a motion for the commission to consider using Alternate #2 as the foundation.  Take a look at that one up top again.  However, he also added an element of #1 - the need for a waiver to be signed BEFORE any skater could use the facility - a key card to permit entrance to the park would be issued once the waiver is signed.  After painstakingly trying to craft just the right verbiage his motion died for lack of a second.

PEDERSON'S PASSES
Vice Chair Kim Pederson offered another motion - to basically use #3 - the staff recommendation - but to include a proviso for the staff to collaborate with skate groups - like Foleys - to develop more programs for the park and require it to come back for a review in a year.  Commissioner Don Harper seconded, but asked that the review be in six months.  It passed, 4-1, with de Arakal voting No.

LOOMER ON SENIOR CENTER
Next up was Interim Parks and Community Services Manager Penny Loomer, who put on a smiley face and told us all how wonderfully things were going at the Costa Mesa Senior Center since the City Council voted two weeks ago to evict the current operator - the Costa Mesa Senior Corporation - and replace it with city staff members.  According to Loomer, everything is just dandy, with 496 new members signed up.  When asked how many members the Center had she couldn't answer because the Senior Corporation Board will not share the membership list, so the city staff is building a new one from scratch.

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
Loomer used a PowerPoint presentation to tell the commission and all of us in the audience - me - about the progress being made and the plans for the future following the completion of the takeover on September 7th.  I'll provide you with the images of her slide show, which are self-explanatory.  If necessary, I'll inject a comment or two.

Loomer indicated that the first two on this image donated $750.00 each for the July 3rd event.  Here's the flyer about that event.  So far, 140 people have signed up for it and will be served food by members of the Costa Mesa Public Safety organizations.  The hours are 11:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

ADJOURNED IN MEMORY OF KYLE JOHNSON
Chairman de Arakal, choking on a lump in his throat, adjourned the meeting in memory of Kyle Johnson, husband of Costa Mesa High School Cheer Coach Kori Johnson, who died tragically in a car accident almost two weeks ago.  He cited the outpouring of love and support for Kori and her family by the community as a perfect example of what a caring city this is.

Of Trees, Skate Park and Seniors

DE ARAKAL AND PEDERSON BACK AGAIN
The Costa Mesa Parks and Recreation Commission, under the leadership of Chairman Byron de Arakal - re-elected at the last meeting, along with Vice Chair Kim Pederson - will meet Thursday, June 26, 2014 beginning at 6:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers at City Hall.  You can read the entire agenda HERE.

TREE REMOVAL REQUESTS
Old Business 9a, HERE; New Business 10b HERE and 10C HERE all involve tree removal requests and, while important to the individuals involved and to the overall well-being of our urban forest, tend to be just a little bit dry.

VOLCOM SKATE PARK PROPOSALS
However, "dryness" is not a word I would associate with New Business 10a, the Volcom Skate Park Review, HERE.  No, sir... this one promises to produce some lively discussion and may include some very interested parties - skaters and others - to address the issues involved.  The first two of the three options that will be presented by Recreation Supervisor Lisa McPherson will certainly generate some controversy because they potentially tighten-up the management of the park - and cost more money.  If the commission chooses either of them the City Council will be required to consider and approve them.  Please read the staff report for more details.  The third is the Staff Recommendation.

SENIOR CENTER UPDATE
Also, under item #13, Parks and Community Services Manager's Report, I'm told that Interim Manager Penny Loomer may provide the commission with an update on the Costa Mesa Senior Center and the activities that have taken place there since the City Staff inserted itself into the operations following the eviction notice given to the Senior Corporation by the City Council earlier this month.  My understanding is that there has been a very large sign-up for membership and another very large sign-up for participation in the Independence Day celebration on July 3rd.

ATTEND OR WATCH LIVE
I'll attend and report later Thursday night.  You can attend, too, if you wish or watch it live on Costa Mesa TV - Channel 3 on Time Warner Cable or Channel 99 on ATT UVerse - or watch it streamed live on your computer at the City website.

Wisdom Prevails - Flyers Extended 5 Years

A GOOD MOVE...
At the meeting of the Costa Mesa Parks and Recreation Commission Thursday night wisdom prevailed as the commission voted to extend the agreement between the City and the Harbor Soaring Society (HSS) 5 years, not the one-year originally proposed.

SANITY PREVAILS

Following a step-by-step description of the proposed changes in the language of the agreement, HERE, by Parks Project Manager Bart Mejia, and brief presentations by members of the HSS, a discussion was held on the controversial language apparently added to the agreement by the City Attorney that imposed the responsibility on the HSS to enforce rules on ALL flyers at the park, not just their members.  After a short discussion, which included the possibility of bringing the issue back again once the questionable segments were further vetted by the City Attorney, Chairman Byron de Arakal took charge and made a motion to extend the agreement for 5 years and without the controversial language mentioned above.  The motion passed unanimously.  It was nice to see sanity prevail.

FIELD USE
Next up was the new Athletic Field Use and Allocation Policy recommendations, HERE.  Recreation Supervisor Lisa McPherson led the discussion of the changes, which can be seen in an easy-to-understand redline version, Attachment 1, in the staff report.

CHANGES....
As you might have expected, this one took a lot more conversation and presentations and opinions by representatives of several user groups.  Many of the changes were purely cosmetic, updating the titles of departments and positions within the departments, but some were quite controversial and took some serious fleshing out.

WAIT, WHAT?
For example, on page two, under section II, DEFINITION OF TERMS AND FEES, in the section defining Resident Status, there appeared this new sentence:
Special residency status is assigned for Group 1's that have any students attending any school (private or public) within the boundaries of the Newport Mesa Unified School District.

TIGHTENED DEFINITION
After examining that statement, including with user group representatives like Mark Arblaster (shown) it became very clear that it was quite problematic and had the potential to permit a user group with only 1 participant attending ANY school within the NMUSD to qualify as a Group 1 user.  This certainly was not the intent, so - after several discussions with user group representatives - the language will be modified to narrow-down the definition to mean only youth baseball - Little League and Pony League.

LIGHTED FIELDS TO BE EXPANDED
The other VERY significant change that was made during the meeting was the modification of the fields to be potentially lighted.  This has been a HUGE sticking point for de Arakal ever since he took his seat and he and others in the community have been working hard to find fields that could be lighted for youth soccer practice.  AYSO 97 representative Brett Eckles was among those participating in this discussion.  The upshot of the meeting last night was that several schools were added to the roster of fields to potentially be lighted - Woodland Elementary, Lindbergh School, Kaiser School and Back Bay High School.  In addition, Harper School - which has been lighted recently - was removed from the roster.  It is de Arakal's plan to develop some kind of a rotation program for lighted fields - a kind of "share the pain" program, as described by Commissioner Dean Abernathy.

COMPENSATION
You can read the summary in the staff report for the remainder of the issues addressed, including the exclusion from Group 1 status those that compensate local executive staff and/or board members.  Friday Night Lights representative Scott Mahaffey had been the center of that controversy and addressed  it last night.

TREES
The proposal to remove four trees from property adjacent to a Swan Drive home was approved.  The tree request for Princeton Drive was denied.

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP
The Maintenance Services Manager's Report by Bruce Hartley was interesting to the three of us left in the auditorium.  He mentioned that, for the first time in many years, his group is nearly fully staffed.  Five new employees have recently been hired and only one vacancy exists.  This has permitted the organization to move more briskly with projects that had stalled because of staffing issues.  He mentioned completing more than 33 park and facility improvement projects and that the proposed Fiscal Year 2014/2015 budget will include $294,000 for "small" parks/facility projects.

KNAPP REPLACEMENT RECRUITMENT
Interim Parks and Community Services Manager Penny Loomer reported that the recruitment for a permanent replacement for the departed Bob Knapp is moving forward.  Interviews will be conducted on May 14th and it is hoped to have a new person in place by July 1st.

ACKNOWLEDGING LYTTLE
Before closing the meeting de Arakal mentioned that Park Ranger Lorna Lyttle has recently deployed to Afghanistan, and is one of many members of the city staff who also serve in military reserve units.  He praised her citizenship and wished her well during her anticipated 11 month absence.

Why Bob Knapp?

LOBDELL ANNOUNCES KNAPP'S APPOINTMENT
During my holiday hiatus Costa Mesa Communication Director Bill Lobdell issued a press release announcing the hiring of long-time Costa Mesa resident Bob Knapp as Recreation Manager.  You can read the entire press release HERE.

  
WHY KNAPP?
When I heard that Knapp's name was in the hopper several weeks ago my reaction was the same as many folks around town and in City Hall.  We wondered just what made him qualified for this job.  Lobdell's press release attempts to answer that question, but I'm not sure it does.

HE'S A GREAT GUY, BUT...
First, let me state right up front that I've met Bob Knapp and think he's a great guy.  He's a strong family man with a couple boys who are star golfers.  Bob has been involved in youth sports most of his adult life.  He's been a highly successful businessman.  But, to my knowledge, he has never managed a recreation program, much less a municipal recreation program.

MULTIPLE RECRUITMENTS FAILED
The press release indicates that the job has been open more than a year - since Jana Ransom left to run the recreation programs in Irvine.  Recreation Supervisor Lisa McPherson has been trying to hold down the fort since that time.  It is my understanding that the City has run three separate recruitment efforts to fill this job, each one apparently not turning up the appropriate candidate.  That may be one reason they turned to a man with no real qualifications for this job.

"UNIQUELY QUALIFIED"
The press release has this quote: “We are happy to land someone of Bob’s caliber,” said City CEO Tom Hatch. “He’s uniquely qualified, having run a successful business for years managing many employees and being deeply involved in and knowledgeable about sports and school activities in our community. He’ll give us a fresh look at the services we provide and further develop relationships.”  Well, if "uniquely qualified" means no relevant experience, then, yes, he is that.
 
RELATIONSHIPS
Maybe there's more to that "uniqueness".  I think it's important for us all to know that Knapp is the son-in-law of Gordon Bowley, the President of Costa Mesa United - a major fund raising organization in this city.  And, it's also very important to know that appointed councilman Steve Mensinger has been neck-deep in that organization.

HOW IS THAT RELEVANT?
So, how is that relevant to the issue of Knapp's appointment to the position of Costa Mesa Recreation Manager?  Well, personally, I'm suspicious, because Knapp doesn't seem to have the appropriate background for the job and his family is joined at the hip with Mensinger.  It is certainly not beyond reason to assume that Mensinger had a role in Knapp's selection.  Do I think he told Hatch to hire Knapp?  I think that's entirely possible, based on the way Mensinger operates.  Do I like it?  Nope, not one bit.  I think that, if that did happen, its a gross abuse of authority and power.

PAY SEEMS RIGHT
The press release says we're going to be paying Knapp $105,516 in this job.  I have no problem at all with that number.  McPherson earned over $90,000 last year in pay alone, so that number seems about right.

WE'LL SEE...
After all is said and done, we're going to find out pretty darn quick if Knapp is the right person for this job.  We're going to find out if the skills he brings to this assignment - which are very significant - will translate into him being an effective MUNICIPAL manager.  It's a very different world than he's experienced in the past - as both Mensinger and Jim Righeimer have found out, much to their consternation.  He will have to follow rules that may feel constricting to a guy who has run his own business.  We just hope that he chooses to do the job within those rules and not try to bend or break them like his pals have done.  In the meantime, that aroma of cronyism permeates the air.