New Senior Commissioners Sworn-in And Briefed

 NEW COMMISSIONERS TAKE THE OATH
The new (well, mostly new, since Gary Parkin and Lee Ramos were re-appointed after serving on the commission previously) Costa Mesa Senior Commission met this morning just after sunrise - that's how 9:00 a.m. felt to me, anyhow - at the Costa Mesa Senior Center for the first time for this group.

ASHENDORF AND NEFT TO LEAD THE GROUP
Costa Mesa City Clerk Brenda Green was on hand to swear-in the commissioners and to facilitate the selection of a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson.  The human energizer bunny, Charlene Ashendorf, was chosen unanimously by her peers as Chairperson.  Darrell Neft was chosen as Vice Chairman, but not without a little drama.  Gary Parkin nominated Lee Ramos as Vice Chair, but he failed to receive a second from the remaining four members.  Neft was nominated, seconded and was elected unanimously.  The commission is one person short because appointee Olga Reynolds resigned before being sworn-in due to the drama surrounding the selection process.  Recruitment for that position has begun and a new commissioner will be chosen before the next meeting - two months from now.

ALL READY TO GO
So, Ashendorf and Neft will lead commissioners Alexa Merchant, Gary Parkin, Lee Ramos and Barbara Steck as they move forward to provide guidance and oversight for Senior activities in our city.  I wish them the best of luck.

INTRODUCTIONS
While awaiting additional staff information each of the commissioners introduced themselves to their peers and to the small group of attendees - there were nine of us today.

Gary Parkin presented himself as a retired General Motors engineer and volunteer on the previous commission and other committees.

Alexa Merchant is a first-time volunteer, a Registered Nurse who works in geriatrics and is enthusiastically looking forward to bringing her skills to the Senior Commission.

Darrell Neft, a resident since 1966, attended UCI and worked at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard until it closed as an engineer.

Lee Ramos described himself as a long time resident and retiree.  He also is a returnee to the commission and has participated in other city committees.

Barbara Steck has lived in Costa Mesa since 1960 and is looking forward to helping guide senior issues.

Charlene Ashendorf has been active in many city committees for many years and has worked in the private non-profit sector in senior leadership roles - and it showed.

PUBLIC COMMENTS
During Public Comments Lisa Knowles, a volunteer with the CMPD, inquired about the operations of the senior transportation process which operates out of the Senior Center.  She has been unable to use it to be transported from home to her volunteer work at the Police Headquarters due to unreliability of scheduling.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Senior Center Program Administrator Yvette Aguilar provided the commission an overview of the current One, Three and Five Year Goals and Objectives as cobbled together by the previous iteration of this commission over many months.  The following series of slides provides you with a thumbnail of her presentation.

ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT
Following that presentation Aguilar provided the commissioners with her Senior Center Program Administrator's Report, in which she outlined many of the statistics of Senior Center activities.  For example, there are now 1,387 members of the Senior Center.  She spoke about past and upcoming events - the 3rd Annual Knowledge & Health Fair Expo at the Senior Center tomorrow from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. A large turnout is expected for this event.  On Friday there will be a St. Patrick's Day luncheon.

COMMISSIONER COMMENTS
During Commissioner Comments most of the commissioners acknowledged being overwhelmed by the staff presentations.

Ramos expressed an interest in exploring a Senior Day at City Hall and wondered if there is a staff report available regarding how to proceed in the event of a Massive Emergency at the Senior Center.  He also suggested to his peers that they attend the many social events at the Center and move from table to table to meet members and gather their ideas.

Neft wondered if some of the Senior Center programs overlap with those offered at the library and whether there is public WIFI available at the Center.  Yes, there is.  He also wondered if there is volunteer assistance to seniors having electronic problems.  He also wondered about reading old radio program scripts and/or listening to old radio program recordings.  He also suggested a "Senior Commissioner ID Badge", so folks could identify them as they moved around the Center.

Merchant wondered if there is value in delegating a specific topic or segment of activities to an individual commissioners, who would be the focus of questions and become a subject expert and report activities and questions to the other commissioners?  She also wondered about the workload for the part-time social worker who attends to the Senior Center needs.

Parkin thanked the staff for all their hard work.  As he put it, "There's a lot of work being done here."  He wondered if all members must now use their ID cards for entry or sign-in?  The answer was yes.  He also asked if he could arrange for a ride-along with the Meals on Wheels staff.

Steck wondered if the Senior Center communicates via email or just mail.

Ashendorf suggested the commissioners visit the art gallery and enjoy the exhibits.  She also suggested they try to attend meetings of the Senior Advisory Committee to become informed about their activities.  She reminded all of the April 8th Members Social coming up.  She also proudly directed them to the "wrapped" utility boxes around the city, including one near the Center.  She also suggested strengthening the content of The Chronicle to include recent information about Veterans, Elder Abuse and other senior issues.  She also suggested participating in the upcoming Costa Mesa Community Run on April 22nd.  Recreation Manager Justin Martin remarked that last year was the first time members of the Senior Center participated and that the Senior Center will pay the admission for any Seniors wishing to participate this year, either running, walking or whatever...

TRANSPORTATION ISSUES BEING MONITORED
In response to the question about the transportation issues, Aguilar advised that they have a new staffer on board with that responsibility and they are monitoring the program to improve it.  Their first responsibility is to get seniors to and from the center.

NEXT MEETING IN MAY
The meeting wrapped up just after 10:00 a.m.  The next meeting will be Tuesday, May 9, 2017.

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.

A VERY Busy Week Ahead In Costa Mesa

LACE UP YOUR RUNNING SHOES!
OK, listen-up!  Next week, beginning on Saturday, is going to be a very busy time in Costa Mesa.  Here's a brief rundown of official events happening in our fair city.  I'll cover each in detail with individual reports.  Here goes...

SATURDAY, MARCH 11, 2017

 Groundbreaking Ceremony for Fire Station #1
At 10:30 a.m. there will be a groundbreaking ceremony for the re-build of Fire Station #1 at the site at the corner of Royal Palm and Adams Avenue.  Here's the announcement:

*****

MONDAY, MARCH 13, 2017

Planning Commission meets for a regular meeting
The Costa Mesa Planning Commission meets beginning at 6:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers for a meeting that includes three (3) public hearings - all small lot developments.  Read the agenda HERE.

*****

TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2017

New Senior Commission Meets For The First Time
The Costa Mesa Senior Commission meets at 9:00 a.m. at the Costa Mesa Senior Center, 695 W. 19th Street, for the first meeting of this re-constituted group.  The business on the agenda, HERE, is to elect officers of this new group, then apparently have a presentation on the Goals and Objectives.

*****

Special City Council Meeting at the Hilton Hotel

The Costa Mesa City Council will meet in a very special meeting offsite at which they will discuss Goals and Objectives.  This meeting will be held at the Hilton Hotel, 3050 Bristol Street, Costa Mesa in the Bristol Room 1 beginning at 4:00 p.m. and run until an unknown hour.  This is Mayor Katrina Foley's idea - a team-building exercise at which the council members can present their individual ideas for the near and long-term future of the city.  The agenda, such as it is, may be viewed HERE.  Because this is a scheduled meeting, the public is welcome to attend and will be permitted to comment for three (3) minutes, although the actual schedule shows only 10 minutes will be provided to the public to comment.

According to rookie Councilman John Stephens, this event will be facilitated by a consultant who will have already met individually with council members.  According to Stephens, the City will validate parking for residents who attend this meeting.  I'm thinking this will certainly be worth the price of admission and find myself wondering if boxing gloves will be available for council members.

*****

Police and Community Forum - Vanguard University
Costa Mesa Police Chief Rob Sharpnack, in conjunction with Mika Community Development and Vanguard University, invites Costa Mesa residents to attend a Town Hall at which Sharpnack will discuss the state of the police department, Costa Mesa crime statistics and community safety, with a Q&A portion.  This event begins at 6:30 p.m. on the Vanguard University campus, Heath Academic Center (#26 on the above site plan) in Room 109.

*****

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2017

Parks and Recreation Commission Study Session
The new Costa Mesa Parks and Recreation Commission will hold a Study Session, HERE - the first such meeting I can remember for this commission - beginning at 6:00 p.m. in Conference Room 1A at City Hall in which they will discuss the Open Space Master Plan of Parks and Recreation, HERE, and provide direction to staff on updating that 14-year old document.  Public Comments will be taken at the beginning of this meeting, limited to two (2) minutes per speaker.

PHEW!

It's going to be a very busy week, indeed.

Planning Commission Interviews Complete

 Tom Duarte, Tom Hatch, Jim Righeimer, 

John Stephens, Sandra Genis, Katrina Foley

FOURTEEN INTERVIEWED - MATHEWS A NO-SHOW, AGAIN
The Costa Mesa City Council completed their interviews of fourteen (14) candidates for the five (5) Planning Commission vacancies Tuesday night - former Vice Chair Jeff Mathews failed to show up for the process again.

 Katrina Foley and Brenda Green

SELECTION TO OCCUR NEXT WEEK
As mentioned in an earlier post, the actual selection process for the Planning Commission, plus the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Senior Commission, will now occur at the regularly-scheduled council meeting next Tuesday, February 7, 2017.

Council contemplating

MANSOOR ABSENT DUE TO FAMILY EMERGENCY
Council member Allan Mansoor was absent from this meeting, apparently due to a family emergency, but Jim Righeimer - who was absent from the session last Tuesday - did attend the meeting last night.

 Susan Gonzales

PUBLIC COMMENTS
Mayor Katrina Foley moderated this meeting.  It began shortly after the prescribed start time of 5:30 and Foley permitted Public Comments.  The irrepressible Terry Koken jumped up and sang a short ditty.  Anna Vrska stepped up to praise candidates Jay Humphrey and Teresa Drain.

Stephan Andranian

MODIFIED SCHEDULE
The order of interview was changed from the original schedule placing Susan Gonzales first due to a prior commitment for a CERT certification class.  This is the order in which the candidates were screened:

• Susan Gonzales
• Stephan H. Andranian   
• Byron de Arakal    
• Sarah Bortz     
• Robert L. Dickson, Jr..     
• Teresa Callo Drain     
• Jeffrey Harlan    
• Danial Hoffmann     
• Jay Humphrey     
• Isabell Mayer Kerins          
• Jenna Tourje     
• Dan Worthington    
• Jonathan Zich    
• Mark Buchanan 

PROCESS SIMILAR TO LAST WEEK
As was the practice last week with the other two commissions, City Clerk Brenda Green escorted each candidate into the Conference Room - the others were asked to remain outside in fairness to the others - Foley introduced the candidates to the council members and explained the process.  This time around each candidate would be grilled for ten (10) minutes.  Foley led off with two pre-determined questions, followed by one question each by the council members on an alternating rotating basis and a second round of questions could occur if time permitted.  Foley generally asked the same first two questions of each, but not always.  City Clerk Brenda Green kept the time, providing a warning when two minutes remained so questions could be wrapped up and a closing statement could be given if time permitted.  More often than not there was insufficient time.

Byron de Arakal

AN INTERESTING FIRST QUESTION
Foley usually started by asking each candidate what the role of a Planning Commissioner was.  Most came close to answering the question.

Sarah Bortz

SURPRISE RESPONSES

What surprised me the most from that session was how few of the candidates had actually reviewed the recently-updated General Plan - the foundational document for development in the city - and the highly-controversial Residential Overlays for Harbor Boulevard and Newport Boulevard which formed a part of that General Plan update.  And, equally surprising, more than a few had only a vague understanding of Measure Y, passed in November and which has the potential to change development in Costa Mesa dramatically.

Rob Dickson

TOUGH TO HEAR - BUT THE MEETING WAS TAPED

The venue - Conference Room 1A - was not very user-friendly for those of us in the peanut gallery.  It was sometimes difficult to hear the questions being asked and answered because there was no amplified sound in the room.  The meeting, as was the one last week, was taped for future consumption, but nobody seemed to know when it would be available for viewing by the public.  I suspect it will be kept under wraps until after the selection process is complete next week.  If not, I'll let you know when it's available.

 Teresa Callo Drain

Jeffrey Harlan

AN EXCELLENT POOL OF CANDIDATES
Once again, this cadre of candidates - which included two recent  Planning Commissioners, a former Parks and Recreation Chairman, a former Parks and Recreation Commissioner and a former City Council member - brought excellent credentials for the council member's consideration.  As an old recruiter with decades of management team building under my ever-expanding belt, I salivated as I contemplated building a Planning Commission team from this group of candidates.  The combinations of land planning, legal training, community activism and significant leadership experience should make it possible to assemble an extremely effective commission.  We'll see next Tuesday.

 Daniel Hoffman

 Jay Humphrey

OPINIONS DIFFER
Each of us will have different opinions about the right candidates for these five openings.  I've selected mine, which will be my little secret until, perhaps, later.  It contains a mix of skills and experience that should, or could, make for an effective unit.  It was not an easy process for me because there are so many really excellent candidates.

Isabell Mayer Kerins

 Jenna Tourje

THE PROCESS
Here's the process the City Council will theoretically follow next Tuesday in the selection process for the seventeen (17) commissioners - five (5) each for the Planning and Parks and Recreation Commissions and seven (7) for the Senior Commission.  In theory, this process will help eliminate politics in the selection process - a good idea.  The process:

1. The City Council will convene in the Council Chambers. 
2. The Mayor will open the floor for public comments. 
3. Council Member comments 
4. On the nomination forms each Council Member will rank their selected applicants 5-1 (5 being the highest score) for the Planning and Parks & Recreation Commissions, and 7-1 (7 being the highest score) for the Senior Commission. Each Council Member shall submit their nomination forms to the City Clerk. The points for each applicant will be totaled and the total multiplied by the number of Council Members selecting that applicant. Example: Applicant 1 receives votes by three Council Members: 5+1+3 = 9. Multiply 9 by 3 for the total points of 27 for Applicant 1. 
5. The City Council will recess for approximately ten minutes to allow the City Clerk to tabulate the nominations. 
6. The City Clerk shall read all of the nominations into the record by each Council Member, and announce the selections with the highest totals; applicants receiving the most points shall be appointed to the four-year terms, or City Council shall provide direction on term selections. 
7. If the final selection results in a tie vote, Council Members will draw numbers to determine order of nominations. The first Council member in order nominates their preferred applicant, and upon receiving a second shall be voted on by the entire Council 
8. The City Council shall ratify the selections to the Senior Commission with a motion, second, and call for the vote. 
9. The City Council shall ratify the selections to the Parks & Recreation Commission with a motion, second, and call for the vote. 
10.The City Council shall ratify the selections to the Planning Commission with a motion, second, and call for the vote.

Dan Worthington 

A FIRST - AN APOLITICAL PROCESS
In my memory of City events, this is the first time this particular process has been used for selection of commissioners.  In the recent past, during the Jim Righeimer/Steve Mensinger/Gary Monahan era, they held the majority on the council, so most commission seats were determined by their majority vote.  It's instructive to note that the current council majority - Katrina Foley, Sandra Genis and John Stephens - are at least attempting to remove politics and cronyism from the selection of important commission positions.  I'm not sure how this process is actually going to shake out, but kudos to them for attempting to make this a fair process - they didn't have to do it.

Jonathan Zich

A WHOLE NEW TEAM NEXT WEEK
Next week at this time we will have a brand new cadre of commissioners, all ready to serve the residents of this city.  I'm looking forward to watching this process unfold and am confident we will end up with three commissions staffed with seventeen eager, skilled volunteers.

Mark Buchanan

BREAKING NEWS! Commission Appointments Delayed A Week!

APPOINTMENTS DELAYED A WEEK
In a brief, cryptic message sent by the City of Costa Mesa just a couple minutes ago, HERE, it was announced that the planned appointments of seventeen commissioners for three commissions, which had been scheduled for a special meeting tonight beginning at 8:30 or thereabouts, has been cancelled and the appointments will be made at the regular City Council meeting on Tuesday, February 7, 2017.  No further information was made available.  HERE is the amended agenda.

PLANNING COMMISSION INTERVIEWS WILL PROCEED TODAY
The interviewing of Planning Commission candidates will continue as planned, beginning in Conference Room 1A this afternoon at 5:30, following a closed session which begins at 4:00.

ANOTHER WEEK OF WAITING...
So, those of you candidates hoping to get a job tonight will just have to wait another week.

Planning Commission Interviews PLUS The Selections

HERE WE GO AGAIN...
I hope y'all had a great weekend - what a glorious place we live in, right?  OK, back to business.

SPECIAL MEETINGS
Tuesday evening, January 31, 2017, the Costa Mesa City Council will continue with the process of interviewing candidates for the three commissions that are presently completely vacant.  This time it is the Planning Commission candidates that get the attention.  More on that in a minute.

CLOSED SESSION FOR LABOR NEGOTIATIONS AT 4:00 P.M.
Prior to the interviews the City Council will hold a closed session beginning at 4:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers for Public Comments on these items, then moving to Conference Room 5A to discuss labor negotiations with City Manager Tom Hatch.  There are four items on the agenda, HERE, that involve the Costa Mesa City Employee Association (CMDEA); the Costa Mesa Firefighters Association (CMFA); the Costa Mesa Division Managers Association (CMDMA) and the Unrepresented Executive employees.

PLANNING COMMISSION CANDIDATE INTERVIEWS AT 5:30
Following that Closed Session the City Council will move to Conference Room 1A, on the First Floor, to begin the Planning Commission candidates interviews.  This is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m., and Public Comments are permitted in this meeting ONLY on the issue at hand - the interview/process of selecting commissioners.  The agenda for that segment of the meeting may be found HERE, including the schedule of interviews.

CANDIDATE INTERVIEW SCHEDULE
Each candidate will be interviewed for eleven (11) minutes, just as the candidates for the Senior and Parks and Recreation Commissions were last Tuesday.  If they follow the same format as last week, Mayor Katrina Foley will greet each candidate - all the others will be asked to remain out of the room for fairness - then will ask a couple of pre-determined questions.  Following those questions the interrogation will rotate among the council members, one question at a time.  This takes a great deal of time discipline on the part of the council members.  The only exception to time provided that has been made in the past is that candidates being interviewed for two commissions is provided a couple more minutes.  Jeff Mathews gets 15 minutes. That interview schedule is presently as follows: (I noticed an aberration on the schedule - Susan Gonzales is provided with 15 minutes - so this schedule may be adjusted.

5:40 p.m.     Stephan H. Andranian
5:51 p.m.     Byron de Arakal
6:02 p.m.     Sarah Bortz
6:13 p.m.     Robert L. Dickson, Jr.
6:24 p.m.     Teresa Callo Drain
6:35 p.m.     Susan Gonzales
6:50 p.m.     Jeffrey Harlan
7:01 p.m.     Danial Hoffmann
7:12 p.m.     Jay Humphrey
7:23 p.m.     Isabell Mayer Kerins
7:34 p.m.     Jeff R. Mathews (interviewing for Parks and Recreation also)
7:49 p.m.     Jenna Tourje
8:00 p.m.     Dan Worthington
8:11 p.m.     Jonathan Zich
8:22 p.m.     Mark Buchanan (I'm not sure what will happen here, since he was already interviewed.)

OFF TO COUNCIL CHAMBERS FOR APPOINTMENTS
Upon completion of the interview process the City Council will reconvene in the City Council Chambers at approximately 8:30 for the Appointment Process.  As you can see by the agenda notes, this will include an opportunity for Public Comments, too.

READ THE PROCESS FOR YOURSELVES
Then the fun begins.  I'm not going to attempt to explain the process to you.  The agenda item goes on at great length - ten (10) steps for this process - in what certainly appears to be a process that reduces the politics of the appointment process.  I guess we'll see.  I suggest that you go through the exercise yourselves for each commission - try to guess who will nominate whom and run the tallies.  I have... Oh Boy!

RECORDING/TAPING
It is my understanding that the interview segment, as was the case last Tuesday, will be taped for later viewing - so those of you who did not attend can see how the candidates responded to the interrogations.  The Appointment Process is being held in Council Chambers and will be televised and streamed live so those of you only interested in the results can follow the process at home.

SHOULD BE AN ACTION-PACKED EVENING
I suspect that somewhere around 10:00 p.m. we will have three (3) fully staffed and sworn-in commissions and they will be ready to get down to work.  The Planning Commission will likely have a couple meetings in February.  The Parks and Recreation Commission should be able to meet in February, too.  The Senior Commission only meets every other month and their next scheduled meeting will be in March.

ABOUT THAT SENIOR COMMISSION...
As a side note, I suggested that we don't really need a Senior Commission - the City staff does a great job of running that operation.  We certainly don't need seven (7) commissioners.  The previous iteration of the commission had seen very significant turnover and only two of them - Gary Parkin and Lee Ramos (both short term commissioners) - applied this time around.  If the City Council decides to contemplate disbanding that commission they could delay the appointments for that commission and schedule a discussion at their next meeting in February.  If they decide to reduce the number from seven (7) to five (5) they could do the same thing - delay appointments, agendize the issue and still have time to appoint commissioners for their March meeting.  There is NO RUSH.

WILL RIGHEIMER SHOW UP AND WILL MANSOOR STICK AROUND?
I wonder if Jim Righeimer will boycott this meeting as he did the one last Tuesday?  If he does show up, he will certainly test the schedule, since he seems unable to not say every word in his head. I also wonder if Allan Mansoor will bail out early as he did last Tuesday.  Both of those situations were very disrespectful to the process, and to those of you who voted for them.  They may not like this process, but it's part of the job they were elected to do.  If they don't like it they should resign... sounds good to me.

JOIN ME FOR AN EVENING OF FUN...
So, join me in the cheap seats in Conference Room 1A for the interrogations of these highly qualified individuals - the Planning Commission applicants are excellent.  And/or, watch the results beginning around 8:30 Tuesday night.  It should be VERY interesting...