Sharpnack Claim Morphs Into A Lawsuit

WAIT!  WHAT'S THIS?
Those of us who pay attention to City Council meetings got a little surprise Tuesday afternoon as the agenda for the Closed Session was read into the record by City Clerk Brenda Green before the council adjourned to a remote conference room to consider the seven items listed.   City Attorney Kimberly Hall Barlow asked the council to add another item to the agenda for discussion that afternoon - the lawsuit filed by former Police Chief Rob Sharpnack against The City of Costa Mesa - which Barlow had just become aware of shortly before the meeting!

BRAND NEW LAWSUIT
The 38 page lawsuit was dated February 12, 2020 and it's unclear whether the lawsuit had actually been served on The City by Tuesday night when Barlow brought it up.  You can read it HERE, if you wish.

NOPE... NOTHING TO REPORT
The City Council approved adding the lawsuit to the Closed Session agenda and they adjourned to deliberate.  When they returned a couple hours later for the regular session Barlow had nothing to report out of the Closed Session - on that or any of the other seven items on the agenda.

SPADONI SPRINGS THE PAPERWORK
In an interesting sidebar - early in the regular meeting, during Public Comments, resident (and former police officer) Mary Spadoni trundled up to the speaker's podium and proceeded to waive the text of the lawsuit at the council.  Apparently she managed to obtain a copy of it via a public records request and posted the link to it on the Facebook page Costa Mesa Sandbox.  By the time Public Comments had ended two people had contacted me about the lawsuit and had retrieved the text from that Facebook page.  One of them shared it with me since I have been blocked from participating on that site.

TRYING TO RIGHT A PERCEIVED WRONG
Some might recall that Spadoni frequently spoke and wrote about information that was eventually included in the initial Claim Sharpnack made against The City.  Much of that is included in the lawsuit.  Clearly, she is an insider in this process and makes no bones about doing her best to defame those she feels are responsible for Sharpnack's situation, including Mayor Katrina Foley, Mayor Pro Tem John Stephens, current City Manager Lori Ann Farrell Harrison, former Acting City Manager Tammy Letourneau and former Acting Assistant City Manager Justin Martin.  The last two now hold positions at the City of Laguna Niguel.

THE TIMING IS CURIOUS
The timing of this lawsuit is very interesting - just two weeks before the Primary Election in which Foley is running for a chance to gain a seat in the State Senate against incumbent John Moorlach and another Democrat challenger, David Min.  Any mud that can be tossed Foley's way will probably go a long way to assuaging the animus felt about her by Spadoni and her pals, particularly if it affects her chances in the upcoming election.

MY SPECIAL INTEREST?
Why am I writing about this?  Well, in his original claim Sharpnack named me as a "witness" - the only non-current or former employee of The City on the list.  It's curious, since I have no first-hand knowledge of any of the circumstances.  Yes, I've written about CMPD issues, including observing about the many, many former police chiefs who have served my city over the past five decades.  This, of course, includes Rob Sharpnack.  I have no idea if I will end up being a part of his lawsuit - I hope not, but we shall see.

HAVE I MENTIONED THAT I HATE POLITICS?
In the meantime, the hit pieces about Foley continue to land in mailboxes all over the the 37th Assembly District and I doubt if it's over with two weeks to go before the election.  And the beat goes on.

An Honor That Requires Comment

I WASN'T REALLY KIDDING...
Remember a couple months ago when I posted what I told you was, after more than 3,400 entries,  my final blog post?  You know, the one where I told you that retirement and health issues had required me to reconsider my lifestyle, and that it would seldom, if ever, include more posts here?  Well, today something happened that requires me to return - if only for today.  Besides, I really do miss y'all...

FOOD?  DID YOU SAY FOOD?
Today my sweet and very patient wife and I were hosted by a dozen or so employees of the City of Costa Mesa - members of the Costa Mesa Police Association, the Costa Mesa Fire Association and the Costa Mesa City Employees Association - at a lovely lunch at The Newport Rib Company -  one of our favorite restaurants in town.  Thanks to John Ursini and the staff for a very special event.  As an aside, the photo below was BEFORE the BBQ was served and, yes, those men in white shirts managed to keep the sauce off their clothes.

CAUGHT ME OFFGUARD...
The purpose of this lunch was for them to say thank you to me for my support over all these years and, I must tell you, that was very strange, because it really should have been ME saying thanks, again, to them.

A HIGHLIGHT OF MY LIFE!
I was overwhelmed by this wonderful event.  It is truly one of the highlights of my life!  I will be forever grateful to those who attended this lunch today, and to those they were representing.  It's hard to see the screen on my computer right now - there's some mist on my eyes - just as there was when this beautiful plaque was presented to me today.

 I'M AN ADMIRER
As most of you know who have been reading this blog over the past dozen years, I am a great admirer of the Costa Mesa employees - those folks who have had to endure so much for the past more than a decade - every since Jim Righeimer dragged his carpetbagging rear-end across the border from Fountain Valley and began to systematically destroy one of the finest city government organizations in the county.  I wrote about him HERE. Together we've watched the decimation of complete organizations, we've seen the impact of the toxic workplace created by the Righeimer-led majority, with senior, experienced employees leaving much earlier than they anticipated.  But, we've seen those employees who endured become stronger and more resilient and even more dedicated to our city.  For that I, for one, will be eternally grateful.

BETTER, BUT A WAYS TO GO...
Things are better now, but far from perfect.

• We have a Police Department with a staffing level that is at least 20% below the numbers necessary to properly provide law enforcement coverage of our city, particularly with the impact of sober living homes and the homeless folks wandering our streets.   Chief Rob Sharpnack has said repeatedly in the recent past that it will take at least until the end of 2018 to be fully staffed - and he based that on the current authorized number, not the number we actually need.   Although we're doing a good job of recruiting and capturing the cream of the crop, we can't hire faster and couldn't train them if we had them.  
• Under the guidance of Chief Dan Stefano we have a Fire Department that, while permitted to finally hire sufficient staff to man our stations and equipment, still suffers from the lack of a new contract for five years and no pay increases for a decade.  This is unconscionable!  
• The CMCEA group finally has a new contract, so there's a chance to get staffed-up in critical areas like Planning and Engineering and related areas and cease relying on contract employees.  And, the anti-employee bias on the dais has been muted since the last election.  We certainly hope that continues in the next one in 2018, but the whole "district-voting with directly-elected mayor" scheme that Righeimer imposed on us makes that problematic and will require very significant citizen attention and participation.                                                                                                     

THANKS TO ALL
So, today, I want to fully express my gratitude to Detective David Sevilla and all the others  responsible for this wonderful recognition, and to encourage the employees of this fine city to continue to work hard and keep the faith that things will continue to improve.  Many of you have become my friends over these many years - something for which I'm very grateful.  You have solid leaders in place in most areas that should be getting much more support - and less micromanaging - from the elected leaders.

GRATEFULLY
Until next time... Thanks... that hardly seems enough, so...

Crime Close To Home

BELATED HAPPY EASTER TO YOU ALL
We hope you all had a great Easter weekend, filled with family fun and lots of candy.  Here's a story about how we spent part of our weekend.

CONCERNS ABOUT CRIME
Many Costa Mesans have been concerned about the increase in the crime rate in our city for the past few years.  Those of us who follow municipal issues understand some of the reasons for this increase, a few of which date back six years when the new Council majority arbitrarily chose to slash the Police Department staffing levels - ignoring the recommendations of the consultants who just completed a study of the CMPD - then refused to permit then-Chief Tom Gazsi recruit to fill vacancies created by the toxic workplace the council had created.  We're still digging out of that hole.

NEW LAWS EXACERBATE THE PROBLEM
And then there is the legislative triple-whammy laid on us by the State - AB 109, Prop. 47 and Prop. 57 - which mandated actions which placed criminals back on our streets.

HOMELESSNESS
And then there's the homelessness issue, which  - while some progress has been made - seems very much like we're bailing out a sinking boat with a teaspoon.

SOBER LIVING HOMES
And then there's the Sober Living Home issue - Costa Mesa has more than 80 of the 108 state-licensed facilities in Orange County and at least 200 more unlicensed sober living homes.  Many of those homes just toss failed clients out onto our streets with no means of support, adding to our homelessness problem, and some of those resort to crime to survive.

CRIME IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD
Which brings me to the real subject of this entry - a crime that occurred in my neighborhood the end of last week...

NEIGHBOR ROBBED
We have a neighbor, a very successful single woman with a job that requires some travel, who has lived in our neighborhood a couple years.  Late last Thursday night, while she was in the Far East on business, two hooded hooligans broke into her home and robbed her, taking mostly jewelry.  And, a frustrating element of this event was that she actually watched this happening while on a layover  through the technology she had installed, but couldn't do anything about it from half-way around the world.

CMPD ON THE CASE
We got involved when her boyfriend called us Friday morning while we were discovering the nature delights of the Bolsa Chica Nature Preserve to tell us of the robbery.  By the time we got home a couple hours later and investigated we found that, indeed, our neighbor's home had been burgled.  We called the Costa Mesa Police Department and two of our finest - officers Kris Cover and Dana Potts - promptly arrived, assessed the situation and began their investigation.  It took them more than 3 hours to examine the crime scene and dust for prints - they got some good ones.  Our neighbor arrived home from her trip about the time they had finished that investigation, so she was interviewed.  Officer Cover has returned at least once more to continue the investigation.

ALARM SYSTEM DISABLED
My neighbor's house had an alarm system - which was triggered by the robbers after they had already grabbed the jewelry - plus some motion sensor cameras.  The alarm was not audible outside the home, but they ripped the keypad off the wall and found the site of the alarm and tried to rip that off the wall, too, but failed.  What they did accomplish was disabling the system that would have alerted the alarm company and resulted in an immediate contact with the police.

SMASHED WINDOW
The crooks entered her home by smashing out a plate glass window beside a French Door in her den.  Glass shards were everywhere.  They immediately ransacked her bedroom and closet and found the jewelry and also appeared to be looking for drugs.  They apparently didn't take anything large - like a computer, for example.  They exited through the front door sometime around midnight.

SHE DID WHAT SHE COULD
Our neighbor did what she could to secure her house - she had a lock system on the side gate, and she had a security system from a reliable company.  It's unclear how the crooks knew she was gone, but apparently they did.  We presume they had cased the neighborhood, which makes all of us here more than a little nervous.

MORE SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR
And, Thursday morning another neighbor saw someone on a bike wearing a hoodie cruising around our neighborhood and confronted him.  He was told by the guy on the bike that he was waiting for a friend on an adjacent street.  Our neighbor followed him and he rode out of our neighborhood, not to the street he spoke of earlier.

AND MORE
The night after the robbery another neighbor discovered a guy pounding on the front door of his next door neighbor - an elderly gentleman - at 10:30 p.m. and confronted him and that guy skidaddled, too.

NO CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATORS?  WHAT?!
As Officers Cover and Potts began their investigation I asked when the Crime Scene Investigators (CSI) would arrive and was told, much to my chagrin and surprise, that we don't have any CSIs!  Nope, we do have a supervisor, but no actual investigators - apparently those positions are vacant, but some candidates are in background check now.

WELL BELOW STAFFING LEVELS
Some will recall that Costa Mesa Police Chief Rob Sharpnack recently told us we probably won't be fully staffed in the CMPD until the end of 2018.  This staffing short fall manifests itself in situations like this, where patrol officers must take their valuable time to perform the investigation function.  It's  my understanding that we have finally dropped the vacancy level in sworn officers below 20, but the overall vacancy rate in the CMPD still hovers just below 40, including three vacancies for CSIs.

WE NEED MORE COPS!
We live in a safe neighborhood, but such incidents are becoming much more frequent, just as they are throughout the city.  Despite what Jim Righeimer says, more cops on the street WILL mean less crime in our city.  He is personally responsible for our current situation, so you can expect him to take that position.... and he's wrong.

STAY ALERT!  IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING!
So, my message to you is to stay alert.  As the folks at the CMPD tell us - If you see something, say something!  Be alert for cars that don't seem to belong in your neighborhood.  Watch for folks on bikes cruising your streets.  Lock your cars and keep valuables out of sight on the street or in your driveways. When in doubt, call 911 - the cops want to know!  Until we get fully staffed we ALL are going to have to be more alert.  Learn from my neighbor's situation and don't become a victim of crime.  Click HERE, for a list of Home Security tips provided by the CMPD.

 "THANK" RIGHEIMER - IT'S HIS FAULT
And, you may wish to thank Righeimer for this situation the next time you see him.  And, keep the pressure on our City Council to do what it takes to get the CMPD back up to proper staffing levels quickly so they can protect us.

CMPD Chief Sharpnack Holds A Town Hall

PUBLIC SAFETY DISCUSSED
Last night Costa Mesa Police Chief Rob Sharpnack held a Town Hall at Vanguard University, co-hosted by the university, MIKA Community Development and the CMPD.

A SMALL CROWD
Approximately forty (40) members of the community met with Sharpnack as he outlined the current status of the Costa Mesa Police Department and the challenges facing our city and many others due to legislation and other influences.

JOINTLY-HOSTED
MIKA Community Development Executive Director Keturah Kennedy introduced Chief Sharpnack and community activist Walter, the interpreter that would provide Spanish/English interpretation for most of the evening.  Approximately half of the audience appeared to be Spanish-speakers.  I was later told the effort for this meeting was specifically directed to the Latino community.

NEW PUBLIC OUTREACH
Sharpnack was assisted by the new Public Affairs Manager for the CMPD, Roxi Fyad, who also made a presentation demonstrating her recent efforts in community outreach - videos, social media, press releases, etc.  She also mentioned that the CMPD will be resurrecting the Neighborhood Watch Program.  Information about how to apply for the program can be found HERE.

STAFFING
Sharpnack told us the CMPD current authorized staffing level for sworn officers is 136.  Currently they are staffed at 115, but three of those are out injured.  Three (3) new officers will graduate from the academy this month.  Three (3) more just began the academy so it will be around 3 months before they graduate.  He expects to have 5 or 6 more candidates in the next academy class.  When asked how long he thought it would take to get staffed-up, he said that - presuming no departures between now and then, by the end of 2018.  He also told us they have no planned retirements in 2017 and 2018.

LEGISLATION
He spoke about the impact of legislation - AB 109 and Props 47 and 57 - on the community.  These combined to effectively put more criminals back on the streets of our communities.  He told us that since the passage of Prop. 47 in 2014 crime is up 34%.  He did tell us, though, that Part 1 Crimes in Costa Mesa have dipped this year.  In January they were down 5% and in February they were down 7.13%.  You can view the Crime Stats from the City web site HERE.  If you wish to view the Crime Map, go HERE.  Go HERE to the main CMPD site on the City site, which will provide you other links to important pages.  He spoke about the monthly meetings he and his command staff have to analyze crime statistics and plan for staff deployment to "hot" areas.

CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATOR
Regarding AB109, he suggested community members speak to their legislators to try to get that bill amended.

SOBER LIVING HOMES
He also spoke of the impact of Sober Living Homes, which contribute to our growing Homelessness problem, and also in the incidences of crimes of opportunity - car break-ins, burglaries, etc.  He expressed concern about the dropouts who end up on our streets, basically homeless and with addiction problems.

MORE COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
He stressed the need for community involvement, expressing the viewpoint that it's critical for the CMPD to build trust within the community.  He asked for the community to be alert to the areas around them.  If you see a crime, or suspect a crime, report it!  "If you see it, say it!"

WHAT ABOUT IMMIGRATION/DEPORTATION?
Sharpnack took many questions from attendees.  One, from a Latina woman, wondered about the Costa Mesa Police Department's policies regarding immigration, citing the current national discussion about immigration/deportation.  He told her that nothing has changed with the CMPD - nobody will be stopped for an immigration question.  Only stops will be made if a crime is suspected.  I wondered if that question would come up because Allan Mansoor is back on the dais now and, during his last tour, the Latino community was terrorized by the specter of ICE raids and Mansoor's placement of an ICE agent in the Jail.

LOCAL CRIMES
A couple community members cited recent crimes involving them or their neighborhoods.

SPECIALITY UNITS
Sharpnack spoke of his goal to re-staff the specialty units that are so vital to the effective policing of our city.  Those will typically be filled as new officers are hired and more senior officers are promoted.  Those units were decimated when the staffing level was cut and officers left in droves for early retirement and other jurisdictions.  These units are Traffic (special events, Fair, etc.); Community Policing (2); School Resource Officers (2); South Coast Plaza (3); Bike Patrol; Gang Unit; Special Investigations Unit; Detective Bureau (currently fully staffed).  He also hopes to staff a K-9 Unit and somehow find a way to get more social worker time with his officers to help with his PERT program - the so-called 5150 stops - mental health issues.  Right now he has the services of one person part time a couple days a week.

STREET CLOSURES
A question was asked about street closures and Sharpnack responded with the story of Shalimar Street, which was closed at one end to stop the drive-by activities.  He said that neighborhood was in peril, but it has changed significantly now.

HOMELESSNESS
He was asked about Homelessness in the city and spoke about being part of the original Homeless Task Force a couple years ago.  He briefly explained some of the efforts of that group - visiting other cities to monitor best practices.  He spoke about the need for transitional housing and praised Assistant City Manager Rick Francis and Muriel Ullman for their work getting homeless folks in contact with family and assisted returning home - wherever that happens to be.

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH
He also spoke about the Neighborhood Watch program and told us he wants his department to be proactive, not reactive

AIR SUPPORT
Questions were asked about air support.  He explained that since the dissolution of the ABLE program we contract with Huntington Beach to use their helicopter on an on-call basis.  I chimed in that we're spending around $20,000 a month for that service.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Sharpnack addressed Human Trafficking, citing that it is the #2 crime in the world.  He trains his officers to be alert for the signs of that problem and resolve them.

PROP. 64 - MARIJUANA
He mentioned the difficulty with Prop. 64, the legalization of Marijuana in the state.  He spoke of the increase of drug DUI cases and the potency of the so-called "edibles" - brownies, cookies, candies.

DIANE HILL
He acknowledged the contribution of Diane Hill and her United Neighbors newsletters that spread the news about current issues, including crime-related issues, throughout the city.  Here she is shown passing communications from concerned Halecrest neighbors to Sharpnack.

CITIZEN'S VOLUNTEER PATROL
He told us he's going to resurrect the Citizen's Volunteer Patrol program, where civilians are placed in vehicles to do things like vacation checks, etc.

WORTHWHILE
The meeting was worthwhile, although I think the sponsors expected a larger crowd.  The room would have easily held 100 people comfortably.  Well, kind of comfortably... I discovered that the fold up writing desk will not accommodate my expanded girth.  Ah, to be young and a student again!

 THANKS.. KEEP THEM COMING!
When Sharpnack spoke of returning the CMPD to the days when he was first hired - the best police department in Orange County - many in the crowd applauded.  Thanks to Chief Sharpnack, Roxi Fyad, MIKA Community Development and Vanguard University for providing this opportunity to learn more about the public safety issues in our city.  More such events are planned in the near future.

Lots Happening In Costa Mesa Tomorrow

ANOTHER BUSY DAY
Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 14, 2017, will be marked by lots of official activity in The City.

SENIOR COMMISSION SWEARING-IN CEREMONY
First, the brand new Senior Commission - 6 of 7 at least - will be sworn in by City Clerk Brenda Green at the meeting which begins at 9:00 a.m. at the Costa Mesa Senior Center, 695 W. 19th Street, HERE.   Following the swearing-in ceremony the commission will select a Chairperson and a Vice Chairperson.  The only business on the agenda is a review of Goals & Objectives.

CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING AT THE HILTON HOTEL
Then, beginning at 4:00 p.m., the Costa Mesa City Council will meet in a Special Meeting offsite - at the Hilton Hotel, 3050 Bristol Street, Bristol Room 1, HERE,  for a quasi-team building exercise at which Goals and Objectives will theoretically be discussed.  We have no idea how long this meeting will last, but rookie Councilman John Stephens tells us the City will validate parking for attendees.

CMPD PUBLIC SAFETY TOWN HALL AT VANGUARD UNIVERSITY
Finally, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Costa Mesa Police Chief Rob Sharpnack will host a Town Hall meeting on the campus of Vanguard University, 55 Fair Drive (next door to City Hall) in the Heath Academic Center, Room 109 (#26 on this map).  Sharpnack will brief the public on the current status of the Police Department, Crime Stats and have plenty of time for Questions and Answers.

WILL ATTEND AND REPORT
It's going to be a long day, but your humble correspondent plans to attend all these meetings and report back to you.  Hope to see you at one or more of them along the way tomorrow.