Foley Asks For City Attorney Investigation

MENSINGER/RIGHEIMER ON FIRE STATION #6
At the very tail end of the recent Costa Mesa City Council meeting - the one that began Tuesday night and ended at 1:20 Wednesday morning - Councilwoman Katrina Foley interrupted Mayor Steve Mensinger as he was about to adjourn the meeting to make a request of contract City Attorney Thomas Duarte to analyze the issue of whether Mensinger and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer should be recused from discussions and votes dealing with the closure or operations of Fire Station #6 since they wrote - or at least a commentary appeared in the Daily Pilot over their signatures - opining that Station #6 should not be closed.  She referred to the "Woody's Wharf" case.  You can watch her question to Duarte on the video clip of the meeting, HERE.  Just scroll down to "City Attorney Report" at the very end and listen to her inquiry.

REGISTER COVERED IT
For those unfamiliar with that case - I remembered it, but didn't recall the details that would make it relevant to this issue - HERE is a link to an Orange County Register article that does a good job of summarizing it.

READ TO THE END...
What makes it relevant is way down at the end of the article.  The Appellate Court determined that then-councilman Mike Henn had addressed his opposition openly and tried to influence his fellow council members to deny the approval previously given by Newport Beach's Planning Commission.

RECUSAL SEEMS OBVIOUS
It's easy to see the relevance to this issue.  Mensinger and Righeimer have already "voted" on this issue by publishing that commentary.  Whether it influenced other members of the city council is an unknown, but recent history shows us that Gary Monahan would likely just nod his head in acquiescence and vote with them.  Of course, it is against the law to do that kind of stuff.

WAITING FOR DUARTE...
So, it will be interesting to see what Duarte comes back with.  It would appear that this will be an easy call for him based on the  circumstances of the Woody's Wharf case.  Then, again, he does have a job to protect, so we'll see.

*****

A REMINDER - THE FIRST OF MANY
From time to time we're going to remind you of what former Interim Police Chief Steve Staveley said in his departure letter to his troops in June, 2011.  His lengthy letter covered the circumstances of his departure in great detail, but one of the more memorable comments he made was aimed directly at the City Council majority at the time.  He said:

"They are, in my opinion, incompetent, unskilled and unethical."  

In the more than four years since he made that comment his words have proven to be precisely accurate.  The council male majority has demonstrated each of those elements over and over again.  Something to ponder as we move forward.  We will mention it from time to time.