"The Current" Launches Mon-Fri Print Product

DAY ONE FOR THE 5-DAY A WEEK CURRENT

The Current, the local edition that has been included with the Orange County Register on Fridays for subscribers in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, has now begun print publication five days a week - Monday through Friday - and today was the launch.  Unfortunately for me, my Register didn't include The Current today!  Arrgghh!  However, after one telephone call a copy magically appeared on my porch.  Now, that's customer service!  In the meantime, I'd snagged a copy from a local newspaper rack - an idea you should consider for this issue alone.

SUBSCRIBE!
As many of you know, because The Register now requires subscription to their online editions, some of you cannot see articles that I might link to here on this blog.  I encourage you to find a way to subscribe because new owner Aaron Kushner has spent a ton of money to revitalize his publication to the point that its really giving the Los Angeles Times a run for its money in Orange County.

COMPETITION FOR THE DAILY PILOT

 The Current, which will directly compete with The Daily Pilot in this market, has been gaining strength recently.  I suspect this is mainly due to the leadership of Editor Roger Bloom and his growing team.  The reporters who cover Costa Mesa and Newport Beach also work a broader geographical area and are doing a great job.

CURRY AND RIGHEIMER FACE OFF
Today The Current features a couple of commentaries by Costa Mesa Mayor Jim Righeimer and Newport Beach Mayor Keith Curry.  If you're an online subscriber you can find it on page 7 of the E-version of The Current,  HERE.  The question asked of them was, "What can your city learn from your neighbor?".  The answers are telegraphed by the great image provided to The Register by artist Chris Morris, above.

CURRY
Curry uses his space to honestly compliment Costa Mesa for its shopping, diversity and arts venues.  He mentions that the two cities have exchanged some excellent employees, mentioning that Newport's community development director (Kim Brandt) came to them from Costa Mesa and that Costa Mesa's Police Chief (Tom Gazsi) and Interim Fire Chief (Tom Arnold) are both Newport Beach retirees.

He discusses Costa Mesas "financial mess" and Assemblyman Allan Mansoor's part in it, both during and following his tour as mayor in Costa Mesa.  He closes his message with the following paragraph:
"Both Newport Beach and Costa Mesa are blessed with active, involved and passionate citizens.  In the end, it is the people who make each city unique and special. We learn the best lessons when we listen to them."

RIGHEIMER
Righeimer, for his part, uses the space provided to demonstrate his envy of Newport Beach and to, once again, use it as a platform to hype his plan for Costa Mesa to become a Charter City.

He opens his piece by telling us that as long as he's mayor of Costa Mesa he will never vote to raise dock fees or remove fire rings from the beach - clearly a backhand at our neighbors.  So much for a conciliatory message.

And, as a parting shot, his final paragraph reads as follows:
"Oh, and one more lesson learned from Newport Beach: I appreciate now, more than ever, our debt-free half-century-old City Hall."  Again, a backhand at Newport Beach for the dedication of their new Civic Center and Park.  Ah, our mayor - ever the class act.

GOOD LUCK TO THE CURRENT

So, welcome to The Current five days a week.  It's going to be very interesting to see how this move will impact The Daily Pilot - our newspaper of record for more than a century.  I think the competition will be great for both of them, and for the readers, too.

Trela To Lead The Newport Beach Independent

TRELA REPLACES BLOOM
In case you missed it, Christopher Trela has been named editor of the Newport Beach Independent, replacing Roger Bloom, who moved to the Orange County Register this week as editor of several local editions, including The Current, that serves Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.

MORE INFO
You can read the announcement of Trela's appointment in the "Indy" HERE, and you can read a little more about Trela HERE.

Feet To The Fire Charter Debate

LIVED UP TO THE HYPE
Well, in my opinion, the Feet To The Fire charter debate between Katrina Foley and Jim Righeimer last night lived up to the hype that preceded it.  And, also in my opinion, just as has been the case since Righeimer proposed this scheme eleven months ago, it's going to boil down to who you choose to believe.

 A PACKED HOUSE
The room provided at the Costa Mesa Neighborhood Community Center was packed.  Most folks paying attention estimated more than 500 people were in the room and it seemed to be fairly evenly split between supporters of Jim Righeimer's Charter and those who oppose it.  Both sides were VERY vocal.

 ARMED TO THE TEETH
For the most part, Foley and Righeimer were cordial to each other - even though they each accused the other of not presenting accurate statements throughout the evening.  Both came armed with study guides.  In fact, Righeimer brought a half-dozen binders with information, including the entire Costa Mesa Municipal Code - which he used as an exercise device from time to time.

 STREAMING VIDEO AVAILABLE NOW
This event lasted only an hour and may be viewed on hostess Barbara Venezia's web site, www.feet2thefireforum.com.  I must tell you, though, the quality of the streaming video leaves much to be desired.  The video is sub-par and the audio breaks up or fades away from time to time.  AND, annoying commercials pop up much too frequently.  My choice will be to wait for the Costa Mesa Television crew's professionally prepared version that will be available shortly on the City web site and will be placed in the rotation on CMTV.  

 HERE'S MY TAKE...
Until you have a chance to watch the event for yourself and form your own opinions I'll give you some of my impressions and observations, acknowledging right up front that I strongly oppose Jim Righeimer's Charter.  Nothing that occurred last night changed my mind on any issue.

RIGHEIMER BLAMED "THE UNIONS"
Righeimer used the party line - he blamed "the unions" for all the ills of the city.  He said he needs the charter so he will have the tools to resolve our financial crisis.  Although asked many times, he never really did answer the question - "What will the Charter allow you to do that you can't do now?".  When Foley posed the question, "Beyond the outsourcing and prevailing wage, name ten other things that you would do under the charter that you can't do now because they are illegal."  Righeimer said "None."

ELIMINATES COMPETITIVE BIDDING
Foley, for her part, harped on the fact that Jim Righeimer's Charter eliminates competitive bidding.  She and Righeimer went round and round on the issue.  It was the old, "It doesn't", "It does, too", "No, it doesn't", "Yes, it does!" routine.

RIGHEIMER PERPETUATES THE "BIG LIE"
Venezia expressed the view that she said many have expressed to her that Jim Righeimer's Charter happened too quickly and asked Righeimer his views.  He responded that the unions want to drag it out.  He then said, "We had six meetings.  We had hundreds of different things that came in.  We made hundreds of changes to the charter from the beginning to the end.  And that's the process we did."  Well, ANYONE who followed this "process" knows that's just not true.  Even with the very short time available, residents submitted a couple hundred suggestions for improvements and modifications to his charter, but almost all were rejected out of hand.  This is all part of the BIG LIE Righeimer and his pals are foisting off on the voters.

...BECAUSE WE KNOW BEST!
During the discussion Venezia asked Righeimer why he didn't form a committee of concerned residents to help with the creation of the Charter he responded thus.  "You could do a bunch of committees.  You could go ahead and put a bunch of frosting on it and make it look different.  In the end, the council's going to vote on what they're going to put in."  There you have it!  They didn't need to consider input from residents because they already had their minds made up.

TRUST AND COOPERATION
Discussing the outsourcing disaster Foley said, "What was required was trust and cooperation.  That's what happened in the prior outsourcing and that's not what happened now.  I just think the Newport Beach charter is a very critical charter that, if you were going to copy and paste from any charter, you would have looked to Newport Beach because it has very strong protections for the residents.  It's all about local control.  Many sections of the Newport Beach charter require voters of the electorate to vote on them... not three members of the city council."  Of course, she is correct.  If Righeimer and his pals on the council had simply followed the existing rules about outsourcing, most of what they want to accomplish would have been done by now.  Instead, they jumped the gun, violated their rules and the result is a very costly law suit.  Earlier she had told Righeimer, "You could have probably copied and pasted from Newport Beach and we probably wouldn't be sitting here."

WHAT FOLEY "FEARS"
Orange County Register columnist Frank Mickadeit, who seemed bored to be there, asked Foley early on what she feared about the charter as proposed.  She gave examples of exorbitant fines - like the fine for trash cans being left out over night proposed by Righeimer when he was on the Planning Commission.  She feared the unbridled power  - a coup by three council members.  She feared the loss of personal freedoms and used this line to emphasize her point, "If you want to keep your boat, express it with your vote."  She expressed concerns about the possible privatization of our municipal parks - acknowledging that council member and candidate for election Steve Mensinger wanted to use Fairview Park for sports fields.

CLOSING SOUND BITES
Venezia gave each of them a chance for one last sound bite to express their views on the charter.  Foley said, "It's not about local control by the residents, it's about control by a coup of three people."  Righeimer said, "Don't be afraid of the monster under the bed.  It gives you local control and it saves money for the parks and the roads and the facilities we need in this city."  Foley is correct.  Righeimer is basically saying, condescendingly, "Just trust me.  I know what's best."  He affirmed that attitude when he referred to our form of government being a representative Republic, where we, the voters, elect folks to make decisions for us.  That's true, but it doesn't mean that the elected officials have no limits on what they can do.

PLEASE WATCH THE TAPE...
I encourage you to watch the tape of this event and judge for yourselves who the "winner" might have been.  I'll provide the replay schedule when it becomes available.

WHAT DID I THINK?
So, after all that, what did I think of the evening?  I think Foley remained calm and composed, even when the interrogation seemed to be stacked against her.  I think Righeimer dodged too many questions and that he still doesn't bat an eye at giving an answer that is untrue.  I think that a person attending the forum with no prior knowledge of this charter controversy would leave feeling unfulfilled.  I think that too many questions were left unanswered and the format permitted too many interruptions by both of the participants and those grilling them.  Still, it had value and I found myself wondering what the three dozen bright young people from Michele Lee's Newport Harbor High School Advance Placement Government class who attended thought about the event.  I'd love to hear from some of them...

NONE OF THE FAITHFUL CHANGED THEIR MINDS
One thing is sure - no minds were changed among the faithful on each side of the issue.  Those who support Righeimer's scheme were very vocal from the back of the room and those who support Foley were equally vociferous.  It was close, just like this race will probably be.  Now, off to the final candidate forum on Thursday, same time, same place.

Feet To The Fire Charter Debate Monday

THEY'RE BAACK!
Yep, that's right - that rowdy crew of journalists led by Orange County Register columnist Barbara Venezia and Daily Pilot Editor John Canalis, will convene again on Monday, October 15th at the Costa Mesa Neighborhood Community Center, 1845 Park Avenue (Lions Park) for their latest edition of fun and enlightenment.  Doors open at 6:30, with the formal event scheduled for an hour, 7-8 p.m.

BABS AND HER MERRY MEN
Venezia and Canalis will be joined by Newport Beach Independent Editor Roger Bloom, Voice of OC Managing Editor Norberto Santana, Jr., Daily Pilot columnist Jack Wu and Register columnist Frank Mickadeit as they fire fastballs at Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer and Newport Mesa Unified School District Trustee Katrina Foley in a debate of Jim Righeimer's Charter.

DUCK!  
It's not entirely clear what the format will be.  With six interrogators on the stage with two victims, er, experts, it's unlikely that a standard debate format will be followed.  Based on past performance, I expect something akin to a fast-paced version of dodgeball.  And, of course, this is a highly-charged issue, debated by two people who won't soon be seen in an embrace, so it might be very interesting.

 LOOKING FOR ENLIGHTENMENT
What I, personally, hope happens next Monday is that, by the end of the evening, we voters will have a much clearer idea of the details of Jim Righeimer's Charter.  I hope that both Righeimer and Foley come prepared, answer the questions clearly and crisply and without any ambiguity.  I guess we'll see.

  STREAMING AND TAPED FOR LATER VIEWING, TOO
Venezia and her crew have created a new Feet To The Fire website, HERE.  It provides you with a little history of the previous forums, including video clips of them.  This event will be streamed live to that web site for those who cannot, or prefer not to, make it to the event itself.  In addition, the good folks from Costa Mesa Television, Channel 24 (Time Warner Cable) and Channel 99 (ATT U-verse) will tape the event for later viewing both on streaming video and on television. 

ANIMAL HOUSE-ESQUE
This event, only an hour, should be a good one.  I suspect it might turn out to be a combination of dodgeball, mentioned above, and a food fight.  It certainly will be good theater.  See you Monday...

Feet To The Fire Fun

THE NIGHT WAS LIVELY...  
Now THAT was fun!  Last night more than 300 of your friends and neighbors were treated to a very special event.  Just enough tough questions, pressed for answers by the interrogators, to make it memorable.  A leash just long enough to demonstrate which candidates found it necessary to disrupt the flow of the proceedings by inserting defensive comments out of turn.  Plenty of audience interaction to let the candidates know, in real time, that some were simply not buying what they were selling.  I don't recall any forum in recent years when candidates were actually boo'd by the audience, but that happened several times last night.  And the interrogators had their feet held to the fire, too.  As Jack Wu attempted to make a long, rambling statement one frustrated woman near me shouted out, "Just ask the question!"  Yes, it was fun last night.

GOOD JOB!
Barbara Venezia and her journalist cohorts, John Canalis, Roger Bloom, Jack Wu and Frank Mickadeit, did a terrific job - some better than others - of interrogating six Costa Mesa City Council Candidates last night.  Venezia, decked out in brand new flaming leathers, picked up some of the slack created by the absence of panelist Norberto Santana, Jr., and expanded her moderatrix role to that of an interrogator, too.  She frequently pressed her questions, not letting candidates slip off the hook.  I had to smile as Bloom, normally a pretty easy-going guy, pressed candidates for answers.  At one point he reminded Mensinger that he wasn't running for school board when his answer drifted too far.  After his first question Mickadeit basically became an observer.  Wu wore the mantle of pit bull last night, aiming his questions at the so-called challengers.  Canalis warmed up slowly, then asked some tough questions as the event moved forward.  As I said, it was fun.

GOOD QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
In the 90 minute program that just flew past candidates Sandy Genis, John Stephens, Harold Weitzberg, Colin McCarthy, Steve Mensinger and Gary Monahan all had their "squirm" moments and most of them handled them well.


UH-OH!
At the beginning I thought that, as I had feared, this event was going to take a very decidedly "pro-3M" tilt when their drinking buddy, Mickadeit,  started things off with a question directed at the three "challengers" - I guess Mickadeit is so close to our politics that he considers McCarthy an incumbent.   Of course, he's not.  Anyhow, he asked each whether they want to see Costa Mesa as a "Contract City" or a "Full Service City"?  He wanted to know if they oppose all forms of contracting or just some.

MEASURED RESPONSES BY SOME
Weitzberg responded that we needed to be careful.  Genis said before contracting out quantifiable and measurable studies should be conducted.  She spoke of her previous tour on the city council from 1988 - 1996 and, referring to the current council's haste in their outsourcing scheme, said, "Before you jump off the high board be sure there's water in the pool."

MONAHAN DEFENSIVELY INTERRUPTS
Before Stephens could provide his answer Monahan butted in and referred to the alleged savings of $700,000 with the proposed Jail outsourcing to a private company and the alleged savings of $1.4 million by outsourcing Park Maintenance to a private company - both of which have been approved but await the resolution of the lawsuit.  He also mentioned Payroll.  Stephens finally had his chance to answer and said he would NOT outsource public safety and referred to selling off the assets - primarily fire fighting equipment - as trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube.

GENERALLY SPEAKING...
In broad brush strokes, here's my reaction to each of the candidates last night, presented in the order in which they sat on the stage last night.

Harold Weitzberg
He may have been the strongest, most articulate speaker last night.  He answered the questions crisply and with confidence.  He did not attempt to dodge the question that some voters will have about him - his wife's medical marijuana dispensary.  He explained the background - her own personal pain and inability to find relief from it with traditional pharmaceuticals - that caused her to begin using medical marijuana for relief, then establish a safe, clean dispensary to help others in her situation.  He supports a small, tightly-regulated medical marijuana industry in Costa Mesa.  His explanation gave perspective to the broader discussion of the issue later.

Colin McCarthy
If body language tells you anything, his slouching and smirking told me that he was peeved at actually having to answer the questions.  He frequently interrupted the proceedings with condescending comments.  Based on the crowd reaction, I suspect he didn't gain many voters last night.  Sorry, I didn't have a usable photo of Colin from last night... he slouched down so far that I couldn't see him.

Steve Mensinger
As a few people commented to me after the event, Mensinger finally heard how many people beyond his own small circle of acquaintances feel about him.  His answers were the "most boo'd" last night.  He took it in stride and continued to flex his ego at every opportunity.  He, once again, mentioned that he didn't like the criticism because "his kids watch"... It seems to me that he is much too thin-skinned for public office.  He's more suited - as he indicated when he was sworn in eighteen months ago - to coaching youth football.  That's a place where being a dictator is acceptable behavior.

Sandra Genis
She clearly was comfortable on the stage.  She answered the questions with facts and waited courteously to be recognized to respond to questions and statements of others.  Her answers were authoritative, based on her previous eight years on the council and her professional background as a land use consultant and she appeared to keep her humor all evening.

Gary Monahan
Based on his performance last night, Monahan is in trouble.  He was defensive most of the evening.  When Venezia asked him directly about his ability to commit time to the job if re-elected, his answer was a classic tap-dance.  We all recall that he stepped away from the mayor's position earlier this year, citing family and business demands.  When Venezia pressed him he said he had time to be a council member, but didn't have time for "all that glad-handing" that being the mayor involved.  Since he's recently missed all or big parts of recent meetings it's becoming increasingly clear that it's time for Gary to spend time where HE feels it's needed - with his family and business.  This began on St. Patrick's Day, 2011, when he chose to stay at his bar, pulling beer taps on what he told a member of the media was "the biggest day of my life" rather than fulfill his responsibilities as mayor on the worst day in the City's history - the day of the 213 layoff notices and Huy Pham jumping off the roof.  It's time for Gary to step away... the electorate should help him with that decision in November.

John Stephens
He may have been the best-prepared person on the stage last night.  His responses to questions about Jim Righeimer's Charter were clear and carefully documented.  He has actually recently read the charters for EVERY Orange County Charter City to put the proposed charter in perspective.  He had chapter and verse down pat.  He deftly deflected Mensinger's attempt to portray him as uninterested in Costa Mesa schools because his children have attended catholic schools by reiterating his heavy involvement in youth sports in town.

OTHER TOPICS
In addition to a discussion of Jim Righeimer's Charter - Righeimer was perched on a chair in the front of the room - the candidates fielded questions about the Banning Ranch traffic agreement, medical marijuana dispensaries, civility at council meetings and the obvious lack of involvement by Latinos in city government - something we here have mentioned several times over the years.

MENSINGER A BULLY?
When asked by Venezia why some folks consider him a bully, Mensinger answered, in part, "People who call you a bully usually don't like your decisions."  As the audience groaned I found myself thinking, "No, Steve, it's because they don't like your actions!"  Geez, is he obtuse!

 

DAMAGING THE COSTA MESA "BRAND"
A lively discussion ensued on the subject of Righeimer's recent unpleasant encounter with the CMPD.  Weitzberg and Stephens criticized him for blowing it up into a national issue.  Stephens said that by going on John and Ken (radio show) and being in the media non-stop for days that Righeimer damaged the "Costa Mesa Brand".

CANALIS ON THE CHARTER
When Canalis asked the Charter supporters why they did so, McCarthy said the city should have been a Charter City 59 years ago, and that we could save millions, following the Righeimer party line.  Stephens rebutted with facts - pointing out that most of the California cities currently facing serious financial difficulties - bankruptcy, in many cases - were Charter cities.  He went on to point out specific areas in Jim Righeimer's Charter that are problematic, specifically the one dealing with no-bid contracts and the deletion of a requirement for annual audits.  Weitzberg pointed out that it does not enumerate council powers and, as a result, may be in violation of state laws passed to prohibit "Bell" situations.

BLOOM ON BANNING RANCH
Bloom brought up the Banning Ranch traffic mitigation agreement, pointing out that Newport Beach negotiated a deal with the developer that was ten-times more lucrative than Costa Mesa's. He asked why no hard-ball negotiations took place.  Monahan attempted to explain that it was a good deal, better than we could have expected to receive legally because the project was not in Costa Mesa.  Genis corrected him, pointing out the deals made in Irwindale, Walnut and Diamond Bar when a football stadium was planned for that area.  She clearly demonstrated that it's helpful to be smart and have actual knowledge of facts.
 

40% WITHOUT A VOICE?
Bloom pushed the "Latino" question, asserting that the nearly 40% of the population of the city were under-represented and suggested that electing council members by districts - as is done in Newport Beach - might change that.  In a quick "yes or no" poll posed by Bloom, only Weitzberg said he would support electing council members by district.  McCarthy, Mensinger and Monahan said "no" and Genis and Stephens hedged their bets.  As the discussion played out Mensinger, who has been heavily involved in Estancia High School sports, touted that school as a GREAT school - it may well be.  He said "they" don't want to be considered "Latinos", "they" want to be considered Americans.  All of that may be true, but it didn't answer the question - how to involve a huge segment of the population in the governance process.  McCarthy pointed out that the Westside - where many Latinos reside - is presently represented by two council members.  That would be Wendy Leece and Eric Bever.  In the case of Bever, our part-time, part-time lame duck mayor, the thought of him "representing" the Latinos in his part of town makes me chuckle.

HERE'S AN IDEA...
Last night the only Estancia students in attendance were staffing the campaign tables for McCarthy, Mensinger and Monahan in the rear of the room.  On the other hand, Newport Harbor High School government teacher Michele Lee had most of her class at the forum, taking notes and learning how government works.  Her students have been frequent visitors to city council meetings over the past few years.  Maybe that's where increased Latino involvement should begin...

 ANOTHER VIEW...
You can read Mike Reicher's take on the event in his Daily Pilot article, HERE, and you can reade Elysse James coverage from the Orange County Register HERE.

CMTV PLAY SCHEDULE
You REALLY need to watch this event for yourselves to get the flavor of the evening.  Dane Bora and Brad Long from CMTV filmed the proceedings for later replay.  Here's that schedule for your viewing pleasure.  You can also view it on streaming video at the City web site once it's uploaded later today.  Venezia also arranged to have it live-streamed last night.  Early reports from views indicate spotty coverage.

COSTA MESA UNITED FORUM UP NEXT
The next candidate forum is on Thursday, September 20th at the same venue.  Our friends at Costa Mesa United will host an event that will include all the council candidates plus the three members of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District who retained their seats without being on the ballot because they were un-challenged.  The issues to be discussed at that forum are related to athletics, academics and activities.  More on that one later.