Meetings, Meetings, Meetings

WORKING TO EXHAUSTION
In an apparent never-ending quest to completely exhaust the City staff and those of us who actually try to pay attention to what's going on in our town, below I'll list the meetings currently scheduled this week.  These are in addition to the two meetings scheduled for Tuesday, June 18th.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19TH

The Pension Oversight Committee will hold it's most recent meeting beginning at 4:30 p.m. in Conference Room 1A at City Hall.  You can read the agenda HERE.  Member Rick Kapko will apparently provide a legal review of municipal bankruptcies.  This seems like a curious subject, since there appears to be NO CHANCE Costa Mesa will have to consider that option any time in the near future - at least, based on what we've been told.  As an aside, one wonders just what these folks are doing at these meetings - one every week!  I don't much care if the members of the committee spin their wheels, but every meeting takes up valuable staff time from an already over-worked staff.

Next up on Wednesday is the General Plan Visioning Workshop, from 6:00-8:00 in the Emergency Operations Center adjacent to the Police Headquarters.  You can read that agenda HERE.  It is hoped that many residents will attend this meeting to provide input to the General Plan Update.

THURSDAY, JUNE 20TH

On this date there will be an unusual meeting - the meeting of the Oversight Board of the Successor Agency To the Costa Mesa Redevelopment Agency, HERE,  - beginning at 2:00 in Conference Room 1A at City Hall.  When you read the agenda, HERE, you'll probably get just as angry as I did when you read about how the bandits in Sacramento reached into our municipal pockets to steal nearly $2.5 million from us last month.  And, just in case you're wondering, it wouldn't have made any difference if we were a Charter City - they'd have still robbed the city.

SATURDAY, JUNE 22ND
Sorry, I forgot the special meeting of the Fairview Park Citizens Advisory Committee to be held as a walkabout through the park on Saturday, June 22nd.  HERE is the link to that event.  As you can see, this event begins at 8:00 a.m. at the location shown on the map.  This could be a VERY informative meeting.  Nothing will be voted upon - it's just an informational meeting for the committee members and any members of the public who wish to attend.

JUST WAIT UNTIL NEXT WEEK!

If you think this week was busy, just wait until NEXT week, where we'll see meetings scheduled right up to the point where the City Hall parking lot will be restricted to prepare for the 60th Anniversary celebration beginning on the 28th.

Sacramento Bandits To Be Sued For "Theft"

STATE DEMANDS MONEY!
The City of Costa Mesa announced today that plans legal action against The State of California following a demand that The City hand over $2.5 million in loan payments it received the past two fiscal years from the former Costa Mesa Redevelopment Agency.  See the press release HERE.

HATCH IS TICKED-OFF!
Perhaps the most interesting part of this press release is the quotation from City CEO Tom Hatch, who said, "This is outright theft by the state, and it's an outrage to Costa Mesa taxpayers."  I agree.


MAY LOSE THE ENTIRE DEBT
The worst part of this - besides staring at more $500 per hour legal fees - is the fact that it might mean that The City will be screwed out of the remainder of the original loan made to the Redevelopment Agency more than 40 year ago - $9.8 million!




CHARTER YAPPERS WILL START AGAIN
And, a byproduct of this event may be the caterwauling we'll hear from proponents of converting to a Charter City - who may yap that "This never would have happened if we were a Charter City.", which is a bunch of manure.  It would have had NO effect at all.

LAWYER'S RETIREMENT FUND GROWS
So, the litigious life in Costa Mesa moves forward - what would it be without a lawsuit or two?  It's a heck of a way to run a city.

RDA Grab Worse Than Previously Thought (Updated)

SHORTEST MEETING LATELY
The Special City Council meeting on this subject may be one of the shortest such meetings on record.  It began promptly at 2:00 with all council members present except Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer, who crept in about 3 minutes late.  After short, brief comments by three members of the public, the council adjourned to Closed Session.  At that time the journalists in the audience outnumbered residents.

BARLOW IN THE LEAD POSITION
Ten minutes later the council returned to the Council Chambers and former City Attorney, now special counsel, Kimberly Hall Barlow, led the discussion of this issue, supported by Finance and Information Technology Director Bobby Young.

COUNTY GOT IT WRONG!
In a nutshell, Barlow and Young had spent many hours since the demand for payment was received at end of the business day Monday, July 9th reviewing the county calculations.  They determined that the Orange County Auditor-Controller had miscalculated the debt in question and that the City didn't owe the County anything at this time.

PAY UNDER PROTEST
However, because the penalties are so severe - see letter below - they recommended that the council authorize payment as demanded UNDER PROTEST and forward an explanatory letter to the Auditor-Controller along with their worksheet showing the discrepancy.

DRACONIAN PENALTIES AFFIRMED
During her comments to the council Barlow confirmed my suspicions that, if we failed to make the payment today, the penalties would be beyond severe.  Yes, they could shut off future Sales Tax revenues to the City.  And, yes, they could penalize BOTH the City AND the Successor Agency (the City in another dress) equally as described on pages 2 and 3 of the letter below.

CUT THE CHECK AND DELIVER IT TODAY
So, the council voted 5-0 to cut the check for $1,392,470 out of the Successor Agency funds - leaving around $100,000 in that account - and authorized Barlow to proceed with negotiations with the Auditor-Controller's office to resolve the disputed amounts.  The check will be hand-delivered to the Auditor-Controller this afternoon.

LITIGATION STILL A POSSIBILITY
If you read the letter below you understand why this was the wisest choice the council could make.  The penalties that could be imposed are so onerous - which I'm sure was the intent by The State - that non-compliance was never an issue.  However, the door was left open for the possibility of - you guessed it - litigation against the County if we are not able to resolve the dispute.

*****

CLARIFICATION
In my previous post I outlined what I thought were the facts of the reason for the Emergency City Council Meeting scheduled for today at 2:00 in Council Chambers.  Part of that effort was to contact the County Auditor-Controller's office for clarification.  I presented to you what I was told.  Unfortunately, that information was not complete nor accurate.  The reason for that was that he did not yet have access to the letter I'm presenting to you, below.  Click on each page separately to enlarge for easier viewing.

BIG RUSH!
You will note that the letter is dated July 11, 2012 but requires the County Auditor-Controller to perform actions on July 9th!  That's a clue as to how messed up this whole process has become.

NEW "FACTS"
Here's the facts as I now understand them.  Read the letter and interpret it as you wish.

1) The City is being required to pay the Auditor-Controller TODAY an amount just under $1.4 million.  See the calculation sheet on my previous post for the actual numbers.

2) If we fail to submit those dollars TODAY the Auditor-Controller tells the State on Friday the 13th and they may withhold our Sales Tax revenue.  It is unclear whether they will withhold ALL of our revenue each month until it's paid or just the amount of the outstanding debt.  If they withhold ALL of it that might be in the range of $1.7 - $2 million each month!

3) By not paying TODAY the City is subject to a 10% penalty PLUS 1.5% each month until it's paid.

4) It appears, if you read the bullet points that begin at the bottom of page 2 and go on to page 3, that BOTH the City AND the Successor Agency (the city in a different dress) could EACH be subject to the penalties!  Yikes!

4) The Successor Agency DOES have enough cash on hand to make this payment TODAY.

5) This letter seems clear enough until you try to drill down, then you realize that it is full of ambiguities.  One thing is clear... if we don't pay TODAY it's going to cost us a lot of money downstream.
 

I'LL ATTEND AND REPORT BACK
I'm attending the meeting and will report back afterward.

Uh-Oh, Here Comes The State Again! (Updated)***

 STAND AND DELIVER!
Costa Mesa Communication Director Bill Lobdell sent out the following brief, but cryptic, press release a few minutes ago:

The State of California is demanding that Costa Mesa pay an additional $1.4 million in property taxes generated from its redevelopment areas by Thursday or face a 10% penalty and the taking of $1.4 million in sales tax. The City disputes it owes the money. The City Council will hold a special meeting Thursday at 2 p.m. to vote on the matter.

 ANTICIPATING BAD NEWS
His message included an agenda for the meeting, which will be a Closed Session event, but the results will likely be "reported out" at the end of the meeting.  We have NO idea how long this meeting might last, but hope to attend to hear how the city plans to handle this very important issue.
WHAT TO DO?
This appears to be highway robbery on the part of the state, so I'm going to be VERY interested to see how our council handles this.  This very well could mean even MORE legal fees!  Geez!

 ***AN EXPLANATION

A commentor asked a very good question - is this a State or County demand?  Here's the scoop on that.

THE COUNTY COLLECTS...

I called the county Auditor-Controller's office and spoke with one of the men listed on the letter.  He tells me that the county - his office - is required by State law (quoted in the letter below) to calculate and demand payment of the debt.  The city is required to pay them by tomorrow, 7/12/12!  As far as I know, and as far as he knows, there is NO grace period.  It's tomorrow, or else!

...OR THE STATE PUNISHES
That "or else" is the State withholding the $1.4 million due from our Sales Tax revenues due to be paid to us on 7/17/12 PLUS a 10% penalty!  Here's an irony for you superstitious folks - the county will notify the State of our non-payment on Friday, the 13th!

THE MONEY WOULD STAY HERE FOR RE-DISTRIBUTION
If we make the payment that money DOES NOT go to Sacramento, it stays in Orange County and is placed in a trust fund and will subsequently be re-distributed to various agencies within our old Redevelopment Agency area.  That would be The City, the NMUSD, the Costa Mesa Sanitary District, the Mesa Consolidated Water District and any other special district in the old RDA area.   By not making the payment we, The City, suffer big time.  We would NOT be receiving just over $1.5 million in Sales Tax revenues (including the penalty).  Plus, all those other agencies will also suffer.  Sounds like it will be a short meeting tomorrow.

THE CORRESPONDENCE
The following images are 1) the demand letter and 2) the calculation of the purported debt by the Auditor-Controller.  Click on each image to enlarge for easier reading.

Long-Service Awards Tonight

MAY BE A SHORT ONE
One of the highlights of what may be a short and relatively benign Costa Mesa City Council meeting tonight will be the recognition of those employees who have reached major milestones in their respective careers with The City.



LOYAL LONG-SERVICE EMPLOYEES
While all employees who reach 5-year increment milestones will be recognized in a ceremony on February 29th, tonight those folks who have reached 25 and 30 years levels will receive special recognition. Among those being recognized tonight will be Helen Nenadal and Billy Folsom, two dedicated employees who have been the tip of the spear in the battle against the dismantling of our city structure through the bogus outsourcing scheme conjured up by Mayor Gary Monahan and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer in their private meetings last year.

KUDOS
Thanks to Helen and Billy - and all the rest of the loyal, hard-working city employees who have kept their collective noses to the grindstone during the past twelve months - for their unwavering service to the residents of this city in very, very troubling times. They deserve our gratitude for soldiering-on even though many were asked to create documents (RFPs) that may be used to cost them their jobs. Kudos to them all as they consistently go above and beyond the call of duty while being demonized, vilified and chided by some of the elected leaders of our city.

CROSS-DRESSING FRENZY AGAIN
The meeting, which begins at 6:00, will be preceded by a Closed Session at 5:00 in which The City and the recently created Housing Authority will go through a cross-dressing exercise of some sort to discuss trying to salvage the Redevelopment Agency dollars. Then they will also convene in open session and go through a similar exercise to pass a resolution dealing with the Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule (TOPS) of the former Redevelopment Agency, which was dissolved as of February 1st. We're trying to keep as much of the money owed by the RDA as possible.

EARLY OR LATE, WE'LL BE THERE
As always, at the end of the meeting council members will have their opportunity to make comments and recommendations. It is at this part of the meeting - when most observers have departed - that interesting things historically happen. So, regardless whether the meeting ends at a 8:00 or 1:00 a.m., we'll be there to observe and report.

OMG! Home Before Midnight Again!

FINISHED ON TUESDAY!
Well, the Costa Mesa City Council is on a roll! For the second meeting in as many weeks they managed to complete their business without turning over the calendar first! They wrapped things up at 10:55 Tuesday - nearly an hour earlier than their meeting on the 10th.

RIGHEIMER AND MONAHAN TARDY FOR CLOSED SESSION
In an evening which saw the preliminary Closed Session start 35 minutes late because Mayor Gary Monahan and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer were tardy, I had apprehensions that this was going to be another Tuesday/Wednesday meeting, especially when that delayed start was carried forward to the Council Meeting, which began at 6:45.

COME AGAIN?
One thing happened that I've never seen before. At the very beginning of the meeting City Clerk Julie Folcik announced that "At this time I'd like to make an announcement. We are convening a meeting of the City Council. There will also be a meeting of the Costa Mesa Redevelopment Agency and the council members will be getting paid an additional compensation because of the RDA meeting." Now, I've been attending and watching these meetings for several years and I've never seen that announcement made before. In fact, I was under the impression that the City Council received NO additional compensation when they convened as the Redevelopment Agency. This begs the question about what additional compensation they might be making as the Costa Mesa Housing Authority. More on that later.

BEVER'S BATTING 2 FOR 3
Before we get too far afield I'd like to report to you that part-time, part-time councilman Eric Bever was present tonight, and, unlike Monahan, he stayed to the bitter end of the meeting. Good for Bever! He's now batting .666, having managed to make it to two of the three meetings so far this month. He's got a couple weeks to rest up before the Study Session scheduled for January 31st.

"BRIEF" PUBLIC COMMENTS
Public Comments "only" lasted 40 minutes, with several speakers addressing the Charter, the 19th Street Bridge and courtesy from the dais. On that latter matter, resident Tamar Goldmann earlier had passed out a sheet to the audience outlining her mistreatment at the hands of our house bully, Steve Mensinger, at the previous meeting. Her subsequent comments, and those of others, apparently fell on deaf ears - or else Mensinger was involved in texting or emailing when they were being made - because he also used his position of power to chide Mrs. Goldmann again. Funny, you'd think a man who just turned 50 would have learned common courtesy by now... guess not.

THE HATCH REPORT
CEO Tom Hatch provided reports to the council on a large group of issues. One speaker complained about a gap in the video of the previous meeting - supposedly the official record of proceedings. Hatch said that must have been a technical malfunction and would investigate. He told the audience that the 19th Street Bridge issue is scheduled for discussion at the February 7th council meeting. In response to a speaker inquiry, he indicated staff would be investigating how to budget for the City's 60th Anniversary next year. Following several complaints by speakers about changes to the Draft Charter approved last week not being included in the current version, he asked contract City Attorney Tom Duarte, who told us that a couple of the issues, including the Code of Conduct and Ethics, were being investigated and he'll report later.

BANNING RANCH MEETINGS
Hatch also reported that Newport Beach's Planning Commission is holding a series of meetings on the Banning Ranch project. He rapidly gave the schedule - too fast for me to copy - but told us it would be on the city web site. The first meeting is this Thursday, January 19th.


RICK FRANCIS RECEPTION ON 1/23/12
He also announced that new Assistant CEO Rick Francis will be on board as of January 23, 2012 and that a "meet and greet" opportunity will be held that afternoon from 3 - 5 p.m. in Conference Room 1A for those in the community to meet Francis.

OUTSOURCING
Hatch gave us a summary of the current status of the outsourcing plans and told us the schedule on the city web site is current as of Tuesday. He also used the Jail RFP as an example of how much money might be saved by telling us that the one bidder who responded showed numbers that might save $400,000 - $600,000 annually. What he DID NOT tell us was the status of the lawsuit and the injunction imposed on The City that forbids contracting with ANY private company to provided outsourcing services for any function or unit until after the trial, which begins early in April. Hatch wrapped up his report at 8:00.

CONSENT CALENDAR
After a discussion of items on the Consent Calendar, where legal fees (Over $368,000 this month), the Harbor Soaring Society agreement renewal and the Payroll Audit were pulled for discussion, the council began it's "hat juggling" act.

TWISTS AND TURNS
Guided by Costa Mesa Redevelopment Agency counsel Celeste Brady, the council navigated through a complicated series of "meetings" apparently designed to salvage as many of the assets of the Redevelopment Agency as possible before it disappears on February 1st. This involved convening a joint meeting of the City Council and Redevelopment Agency and discussion the financial condition in light of potential legislative action that's working it's way through the State Senate now.

$19 MILLION PAPER TRAIL
One distressing part of that conversation was the uncertainty of the paper trail of the original seed money loaned to the RDA by The City back in the early 1970s. Apparently the staff, so far, has been unable to complete the trail that authenticates the City's claim on more than $19 million!

FIRST TWO OF SEVEN VOTES
In any event, the joint session produced a vote to accept the amended list of Enforceable Obligations and the amended Initial Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule, then another vote for The City to accept the assets as listed on the attachments. That meeting was adjourned. both votes were 5-0.

CREATING THE COSTA MESA HOUSING AUTHORITY
Then, changing hats, a joint meeting of the City Council and Costa Mesa Housing Authority was convened and the first order of business was to actually vote to create the Housing Authority, which was a 4-1 vote with Bever, inexplicably, voting NO. It was another of those "what was he thinking? moments we've seen far too often from him. Then a vote was taken on a resolution of the Housing Authority adopting Personnel Rules and Regulations and a Conflict of Interest Code and providing for the time and place of holding regular meetings of the Housing Authority. It passed 5-0. They also voted on a resolution adopting Bylaws for the Housing Authority, 5-0. I looked over the documents and didn't see anything about compensation for the Housing Authority members....

SHIFTING ASSETS
Then they voted as the City Council to decline assuming the assets of the RDA and confirming the Housing Authority as the successor agency to the RDA, 5-0. Then, as the Housing Authority, they voted to accept the assets and functions of the RDA, 4-1, with Bever again choosing to vote NO. He's one strange dude! Whew! Did you get all that? It was as confusing as it seems here, believe me!

WITHDRAWN
Public Hearing #1, a discussion of the holiday hours for the Target Store, had been withdrawn.

RECEIVED AND FILED
Public Hearing #2, the hearing of the issue involving improvements to an existing Mesa Verde apartment complex - an issue that really didn't have to be before the council - received a "Receive and File" vote, 5-0, but not before several speakers stepped up to either compliment the staff and property owner for helping resolve the problem or complain that not enough was done. And, Mensinger took the opportunity to try to micro manage yet another project. I guess he just can't help himself. Somebody should find him a job...

MORELLI'S REFUND
We got around to resident Al Morelli's request for a refund of his appeal fees for the Target Store hours issue at 10:00 p.m. After a short discussion it was passed, 5-0.

MAYOR'S CHARITY DINNER
That took us to the discussion of the proposed "Mayor's Charity Dinner" - a feel-good event being proposed by the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce among others. The discussion by speakers and proponents was very enlightening. Most speakers had no problem with this concept - except that it didn't seem to be benefiting any charities. At one point someone suggested changing the name to the Mayor's Ball. I heard several stifled chuckles around the auditorium... Eventually, at Bever's suggestion, a vote was taken to simply toss the ball into the laps of the organizations who brought it up and encourage them to move forward with it on their own, 5-0. Personally, I have no problem with this concept, which would honor past mayors and civic leaders. I do agree that this event should NOT be held during the campaign season - it would be to politicized. And, I'm sorry, but I just couldn't help visualizing Mayor Monahan in his wee kilt during this discussion.

MONAHAN BAILS OUT EARLY
Following that vote Monahan bailed out - he didn't look to good, so maybe he was ill. Anyhow, after comments and the usual sniping back and forth between Wendy Leece and Mensinger, the meeting was finally adjourned at 10:55!

NEXT STOP - HOMELESS TASK FORCE MEETING
Next up, what may be the final meeting of the Costa Mesa Homeless Task Force Wednesday (today!) at 5:30 in the Police Department Emergency Operations Center.