Parks And Recreation Commission Meeting Thursday

ANOTHER PARKS COMMISSION MEETING
The Costa Mesa Park and Recreation Commission, chaired with confidence and intensity by former Daily Pilot columnist Byron de Arakal, meets on Thursday, July 25, 2013 at 6:00 in City Council Chambers at City Hall.  Read the agenda HERE.

 MESA VERDE PARTNERS UNDER SCRUTINY
In addition to a few tree removal requests, this meeting has one item on the agenda that is sure to generate some interest - Costa Mesa Country Club - Performance Audit Report.  You can read that staff report for the background and presumed need for such an audit, as well as the progress toward that goal, HERE.  Basically, certain members of the city council are looking for ways to maximize city assets and seem dissatisfied with the current operators of the municipal facility - Mesa Verde Partners.

ANOTHER COMMITTEE
Plans are for a committee to review respondents to a recent Request for Proposals to perform an audit - they have two organizations to consider - then recommend their choice to the city council, who will make the decision on a firm to perform the audit, that may take a year or longer to perform.

DIGGING FOR HISTORICAL GEMS
Mesa Verde Partners became the concessionaire for the facility back in 1992, just about the time I actually began paying attention to municipal affairs.  I vaguely recalled how rancorous that process was, so I dug back into the archives of the Daily Pilot - our local newspaper of record - for some background.


LOS ANGELES TIMES ARTICLES

For your edification, here's a list of articles written by Los Angeles Times staffers at the time.  Just click on the title to be taken to the archived article.

6/15/92 - Bids to be studied on Golf Operations

6/17/92 - City Chooses Firm To Run Golf Course

8/3/92 -  Council To Consider Golf Pact Tonight

8/20/92 - Concessionaire's Offer Turned Down

9/2/92 -  City Preparing To Evict Concessionaire

9/5/92 -  City Sues Former Concession Operator

9/24/92 - Golf Concessionaire Accepts Settlement

2/4/93 -  Seniors to Keep Golf Discounts

5/29/97 - Model Trains Derail Golf Course Plans

DEFILING FAIRVIEW PARK?
You may notice the last item I listed jumps to 1997.  It's written by current Daily Pilot Editor, John Canalis, and covers Mesa Verde Partners attempt to use a big chunk of Fairview Park for yet another golf course.  Considering that the use of Fairview Park is being evaluated currently, and that there are at least a couple members of the committee formed to do that evaluation who would apparently love to see most of the park paved over for softball, baseball, football, soccer and any number of other less-than-passive uses, I thought dredging up Canalis' piece was timely.


 ANXIOUS MOMENTS...
I'm thinking that the folks at Mesa Verde Partners are probably getting just a little nervous about now.  The last concessionaire had the job for about 20 years and had to be sued to vacate.  Mesa Verde Partners has run the show for just over that time... We'll see how this shakes out downstream. 


JUST WONDERING...
I find myself wondering whether anybody on the City Council has buddies in, or would like to be in, the golf course management business?  Seems like a good question...