Mensinger, You Dolt! Shut Up!

AN ARTICLE CAUGHT MY EYE
I was heading to bed after a long day of contemplating my navel and our city, not necessarily in that order, when a "Watchdog" article by the Orange County Register's outstanding reporter, Teri Sforza, caught my eye.  It's titled, "Evening The Score On Disclosure", HERE, and addresses Senate Bill 331, recently signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown.  I've written about it before.  It's known as the Civic Reporting Openness in Negotiations Efficiency - CRONE or CRONEY, depending on who's writing about it.  Sforza's piece is actually very good, as usual. 

THEN SHE QUOTED THE MAYOR
As I began reading this piece I thought to myself, "Well, this is old news.", but kept on reading and that's when I found this paragraph, in which she quotes Costa Mesa's mayor, Steve Mensinger.

"The unions are using the Legislature to spank us," said Costa Mesa Mayor Stephen Mensinger, who birthed the original Civic Openness in Negotiations ordinance that the unions hate, and that the county adapted and adopted.  "They're saying, 'you've been bad, and anyone else who wants to leave the plantation will be punished.'"

YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!
"Leave the plantation"?  How is it possible for an elected leader of a city of more than 100,000 souls, well into the 21st Century, to blurt out such a racially-charged, insensitive, stupid comment like that?

CUT HIM SOME SLACK... I DON'T THINK SO!
Now, some of you will say, "Geez, West, just give it a rest.  After all - as his wife told us in his original swearing-in ceremony - 'That's just Steve being Steve'".  Well, if this was an isolated incident maybe, just maybe, I could cut the guy some slack - but it isn't.  He continues to spout malaprops and just plain dumb stuff in public forums.  He continues to chide and vilify speakers and fellow councilmembers.  And worse, he's unleashed his inner-dumbbell on social media sites, apparently thinking that anybody seeing that stuff will just smile and agree with him and think, "Well, that's just Steve being Steve".  Guess again, Steve-o.  We see it... we don't like it...  and we archive it.

HERE'S MY REQUEST...
So, using my 2,800th post on this site, here's my request to my mayor.  "Mr. Mayor, you're the top elected official in Costa Mesa.  You represent us, the residents, when you make public pronouncements.  So, when you get the urge to comment on something - DON'T!  When you get the urge to spit back some kind of epithet at a critic - DON'T!  In fact, to be on the safe side, whenever you get the urge to open your mouth on any subject - DON'T!  And, when you sit down at your keyboard or phone to type something you think is a clever comment or retort on a social media site - DON'T!  Not only do you demonstrate your stupidity, but you embarrass us as residents and probably embarrass your friends and family, too, but they won't tell you.  Well, I'm telling you - SHUT UP!"

Special District Pay Under Scrutiny

REGISTER INVESTIGATIVE WORK
The Orange County Register, which protects its work product with a pay wall, continues to provide some excellent investigative reporting.  The OC Watchdog group has done some serious digging into many important Orange County issues over the past several years.

SPECIAL DISTRICT COMPENSATION
Last weekend Teri Sforza, a tenacious and thorough reporter, provided us with a couple interesting articles on Orange County Special District pay and benefits.  The first, for those of you who subscribe to the Register, is titled, "Special Districts: For most, pay tops $70,000", can be found HERE.

OC FIRE AUTORITY TOPS THE LIST
Sforza tells us that, of the 30 Orange County Special Districts, the Orange County Fire Authority has the highest average compensation at nearly $148,000.  She then goes on to tell us that there was much consternation in her newsroom when she pointed out that the second-highest was the Orange County Sanitation District, at $126,000.

MESA WATER IS THIRD!
What she didn't specifically mention, but certainly caught my eye, was the fact that third on the list was little old Mesa Water at just over $110,000.  This is especially interesting when you consider that Mesa Water has recently decided to raise our rates again!  The other special district that serves much of our area, the Costa Mesa Sanitary District,  is well down the list at number nineteen.

A FASCINATING CHART...
As part of the article Sforza provided us with the following chart.  Click on the image to enlarge it for easier reading.  Interesting numbers, no?

Local Media Hot Topics

REGISTER AND PILOT ARTICLES OF INTEREST
It was an interesting few days in the local print media.  Both the Orange County Register and the Daily Pilot produced articles and columns that cry out for broader distribution.  With that in mind, and knowing that some of you out there only read one or the other, but not both, here are some things for you to review and ponder.

THE FIRST OF SEVERAL...
Daily Pilot reporters Mike Reicher and Joe Serna have produced the first of what we are told is a series of articles about the current conditions in Costa Mesa.  This first installment covered about 75% of the front page Sunday, plus an entire page inside and another dozen column-inches beyond that.  You can read it HERE.
 
MORE COMING SOON
This piece sets the tone for what we are led to believe will be a few more provocative installments to come over the next week or so.  I know this first one set the hook in my cheek, so I'm REALLY looking forward to what's coming. 

HARLAN HITS IT OUT OF THE PARK!
Columnist Jeffrey Harlan produced another excellent attempt to enlighten the populace with his views of the current political climate in Costa Mesa.  You can read it HERE.  I believe that, regardless which side of the political arguments you're on, you will find his "SHARP" column useful.  I smiled when I read his phrase, "city council union".

MORE WU FOR YOU
Conservative columnist Jack Wu, a Newport Beach resident and unapologetic rabid conservative, kept his promise and provided us with his view of Costa Mesa City Council candidates Harold Weitzberg and John Stephens, HERE.  Now, I like Jack and understand that, no matter how hard he might try, he is what he is - a young, enthusiastic Republican who has had more than a few sips from the Kool-Aid pitcher.  In his column he tries to hold Weitzberg responsible for not knowing a piece of municipal minutiae that, I venture to say, not one of the current council members could answer accurately.  Still, the column is worth reading.

WATCHDOG RANTS
The Orange County Register, through their Watchdog series, tossed some red meat into the cage with a couple provocative pieces this past weekend.  The first one, by reporter Teri Sforza, is titled "Who has O.C.'s most well-compensated police?"  You can read it HERE.  Unfortunately, it lists Costa Mesa as having the highest paid police in the county.  Equally unfortunate is the fact that her information is factually incorrect. The City is responding to her now and will expect a retraction/clarification soon.
 
DISABILITY ABUSE
The second one, written by Tony Saavedra, is titled "Public Safety disability system 'ripe for abuse'" paints a bleak picture of police and fire "abuses" of the system in Orange County.  You can read that one HERE.  Certainly, this is a difficult issue to ponder.  If you view the companion graphics, HERE, you'll see that Costa Mesa is way, way down the list for both police and fire.

Those articles/columns should keep your juices flowing until the council meeting tomorrow night.  Enjoy.

Firefighters Return Fire

AND THE BEAT GOES ON, AND ON...
The apparently never-ending drama that was ignited by Orange County Register Watchdog reporter, Teri Sforza, last week concerning firefighter salaries in which Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer took exception to some of his quotes and caused her to change at least one of her articles continues today.


FIREFIGHTERS FIGHT BACK
In a new article published today, Costa Mesa Firefighters Association President Tim Vasin corrects the record. You can read the entire article HERE, unless Sforza decided to change this one, too.

PLACING BLAME
Righeimer continues to blame the city employees for every evil known to man when, in fact, it is the actions of this City Council that has created the problems. I'm not going to try to paraphrase Vasin's comments - he states the issues very clearly.


EMASCULATION CREATES EXASPERATION
The core fact at issue here is that Righeimer campaigned as a pension reformer - fabricating crises at every turn - only to find his efforts emasculated by the duration of the current employee contracts. As a result, he continues to make things up and twist facts to suit his personal political agenda.

PUBLIC SAFETY IN JEOPARDY
In my view, nobody in the city is well-served by the volleys of vitriol being shot back and forth on this, and many other issues. In better times members of City management and the leadership of the employee organizations would simply sit down and discuss the common problems and work together to find a solution that worked for both sides. Those days seem to be over. One side - the Righeimer-led City Council - has its heels dug in because of personal philosophies and political priorities, while the other side - the firefighters - simply doesn't trust them to negotiate honestly. It appears that Jim Righeimer is willing to let public safety in our city be in jeopardy as he tries to wait-out the associations until their contracts expire - then clean house and privatize the whole shebang. Nobody can win this way, least of all the residents, businesses and visitors to Costa Mesa. That's a real shame.

Correcting An Error And A New Mayor

REALLY...
OK, I know that title may be redundant, but that's not what I meant. Well, maybe it is...

REMEMBER THIS ONE?
You will certainly recall my recent post about Register Watchdog Teri Sforza's "revelations" about Costa Mesa Firefighter's pay and Jim Righeimer's reaction to it, HERE.

MY ORIGINAL QUOTES
In that piece I quoted Sforza quoting Righeimer stating that, "They could do the job with six people per shift, but they want to do it with 18 or 19 people because that's what their contract says." He goes on to say, "That contract is a political document. It basically says, 'We don't care how many people you actually need to do the job - you have to hire more.'" Well, when the print edition came out today, Tuesday, March 13th, that quotation was deleted from the article. It's gone from the online version, too.

BRIEF AND LAME EXPLANATION
So, I wrote to Teri Sforza for an explanation. Her reply was short and not-so sweet. She said, "Mr. R. was misquoted. I always prefer number discussions to take place by email so that doesn't happen--but this time it did." That was it.

HE'S NOT REALLY "THAT" STUPID, AFTER ALL
So, I amended my entry with a short explanation and am posting this, as well, to try to correct the record. Apparently Righeimer isn't so stupid to think fire coverage in our city could be made with only six people. I apologize for misjudging his level of intellectual acuity based on a bogus report from what we assumed was a reliable source.


THERE'S A NEW SHERIFF, ER, MAYOR IN TOWN
And, just a reminder - today shortly after 4:30 at City Hall a new mayor will be elected by our City Council. Gary Monahan has decided family and business issues preclude him from fulfilling the demands of that office, so he will step down, but remain on the council. A cynic might wonder about the proximity of St. Patrick's Day to his decision. After all, last St. Patrick's Day was, to quote him, "The biggest day of my life".

WHO GETS THE THRONE?
Speculation runs rampant around the city today on just who might be elected mayor. Of course, my money is on Righeimer, but you just never know. Some folks are speculating that it will be Eric Bever again. You may recall that Bever stepped down from that job a few years ago so Allan Mansoor could run as an incumbent mayor. If Bever IS elected mayor that means he might actually show up for most of the meetings and events.

STEVE IN THE BIG CHAIR?
Others speculate that non-elected councilman Steve Mensinger might be elected mayor so he can run for election (not "re-election") as mayor.

TESTING MY GAG REFLEX
Still, from where I sit it looks like Righeimer as mayor and his buddy, Steve, as Mayor Pro Tem.

THE RIGHT THING...
Of course, the right thing to do would be to elect Wendy Leece mayor, but I just checked the weather report in Hades and there's no snow reported down there today.

Another Reason You Can't Trust Jim Righeimer *(Amended)

SFORZA POKES THE HORNET'S NEST - THREE TIMES
Last Thursday Orange County Register Watchdog reporter Teri Sforza published a column entitled "City posts shocker pay data", HERE, which emphasized the overtime pay racked up by members of the Costa Mesa Fire Department. Later that day she amended the article with a new title: "City posts shocker pay data: Transparent, or incendiary?" HERE. That subsequent article mentioned quotes from Orange County Employee Association Communication Director, Jennifer Muir.

COMPENSATION NUMBERS
In both articles Sforza, appropriately, made a big to-do about the fact that the City of Costa Mesa has made total compensation information - including pension costs - for ALL employees available online. In fact, that has happened for both the 2010 and 2011 calendar years.

NUMBERS EASY TO TWIST
Because that information is readily available, and because it's easy to misinterpret without some explanation, members of the City Council and some of their sycophants - like councilman wannabe Colin McCarthy, President of the council shill organization Costa Mesa Taxpayer's Association - have taken the raw data and twisted it to suit their personal agendas.

OVERTIME NECESSARY FOR PUBLIC SAFETY
Sforza points out that two members of the CMFD had TOTAL compensation in excess of $300,000 and one battalion chief racked up over $109,000 in overtime. Certainly, those numbers will rock you back, but they need to be taken in context. That overtime was necessary because the City Council has refused to permit new firefighters to be hired unless a change is made to their pension plan - a second tier. Only two firefighters were hired in 2011 according to Costa Mesa Firefighters Association President, Tim Vasin. As a result, in order to provide even minimal coverage with staffing levels well below the authorized strength, overtime has been essential.

THE REASON FOR THE NUMBERS...
And, according to Vasin from Sforza's article, the City refused to permit the overtime hours to be shown on their spreadsheet, HERE. According to the article, Vasin says the annual average is 3,300 hours on duty - 63.5 hours per week per firefighter. Those are big numbers - around 50% more hours worked than you would expect with full staffing.

THIRD ARTICLE...
Then, on Saturday, March 10th, Sforza wrote ANOTHER article on this subject, titled, "Righeimer: Huge O.T. bill is firefighters' fault", HERE. It was peppered with inflammatory comments by Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer.

OH, REALLY?
In that article Righeimer - still fuming because the contracts with each employee association don't expire until the end of his term - gripes that the firefighter's overtime is entirely due to the contract requirement for minimum staffing levels. He went on to say, "They could do the job with six people per shift, but they want to do it with 18 or 19 people because that's what their contract says." He goes on to say, "That contract is a political document. It basically says, 'We don't care how many people you actually need to do the job - you have to hire more.'"
*NOTE: When the print version of this article came out on 3/13/12 the "six people" comment by Righeimer had been deleted. It's gone from the online version, as well. According to Teri Sforza, in response to my inquiry, "Mr. R. was misquoted." That's it.

YOU PICK THE DESCRIPTION...
And there you have it. Righeimer is either stupid, ignorant, an angry, frustrated political opportunist who will do or say ANYTHING to get his way on issues - or, maybe he's just a liar. Some might say all of the above. This man - a carpetbagger who saw Costa Mesa as ripe pickin's for his personal political agenda - slithered into town almost six years ago and has been the focus of controversy, turmoil and distrust ever since. The fact that he might actually think that the residents, businesses and visitors to Costa Mesa would be properly served by six firefighters per shift - that would be one firefighter per fire station per shift - tells you how little he actually understands or cares about public safety.

GUTTED THE CMPD
Of course, he demonstrated that ignorance last year when he demanded - and got - the Costa Mesa Police Department staffing reduced to 126 plus 5 temporary officers instead of meeting the barest of minimum staffing recommended by both the expensive consultant the city hired and Interim Chief Steve Staveley. We are down from 164 two years ago.

FABRICATED NUMBERS
During a recent study session he plucked millions of dollars out of the air and plugged them into a 5-Year Plan spreadsheet without giving any indication of how he arrived at those numbers. Undoubtedly, come budget time those fabricated numbers will become part of the budget process and the city management team will have to figure out how to cover those fabrications. The answer will be few people - that's where the money is. And, oh, yes - that spread sheet is STILL not available on the city web site for public viewing.

YOU JUST CAN'T TRUST HIM
It is that kind of arrogant, ignorant, capricious behavior that should make every voter in this city question the motives behind Jim Righeimer's Charter scheme. If he ever gets the power available to him in that Charter, like General Sherman marching through Georgia during the Civil War, he and his cronies will destroy this fine city, then move on and never look back. You just can't trust him, period.

More Red Meat For Pension Reformers

THE REGISTER'S BURIED PENSION TREASURE
Sunday's Orange County Register was a treasure trove for those among us who believe drastic action must be taken to reform pensions in California.


GREENHUT ON BROWN'S PENSION PROPOSALS
Steven Greenhut, editor of www.calwatchdog.com, presents us with a commentary on the editorial pages titled "Odds against Jerry on pensions", HERE, that addresses Governor Jerry Brown's recently announced pension reform proposal. While I'm not going to try to steal his thunder - you can read his words at the link above - suffice it to say that he doesn't think Brown's proposals have chance of passing. This paragraph probably says it all, "But the plan probably is dead on arrival in the union-dominated Legislature. One might even argue that Brown is being cynical here - offering reasonably tough reform proposals that he knows will go nowhere. Then he can claim that he has tried to fix the problem but could not surmount the insurmountable." Enjoy your read.

OC WATCHDOG HITS US AGAIN
Then, OC Watchdog columnist Teri Sforza presents us with her most recent update on the "$100,000 Dollar Club" - those Californians currently raking in $100,000 or more in pensions. Her column, "$100,000 pension club explodes", HERE, is designed to startle you - it will. For example, she tells us that, between 2005 and 2011 the number of people receiving CalPERS pensions in California rose by 10,358 - a 563% increase!

STARTLING NUMBERS
And, although she provides us with the "top ten" - those folks receiving almost unbelievable pensions - Sforza also tells us that the average CalPERS pensioner receives $27,564 and that those in the "$100,000 Club", 12,199 pensioners, represent only 2.3% of the total 536,234 retirees. Still, the numbers rock you back.

MORE RED MEAT
So, I suspect Tuesday's Costa Mesa City Council closed session meeting - which will discuss labor negotiations - will likely include some of these numbers. And, if I were a betting guy, I suspect that they will be presented out of context.

PENSIONS ARE A PROBLEM
Let me be clear about one thing. I've heard all the public presentations by "pension experts" and I've heard the self-serving comments by members of the Costa Mesa City Council over the past couple years. I've had conversations and correspondence with members of the employee organizations on the subject and have heard scores of speakers address this issue before the City Council. There is NO doubt in my mind that our current pensions situation has our city in a tough spot. The word "unsustainable" keeps being tossed around and, much as I'd like to throw it right back in the faces of those who use it as an oratorical cudgel, I can't. I believe that something MUST be done to address the ongoing costs of our public employee pensions and that "something" is likely a two-tier system, combined with an increased participation in the costs by employees.

TWO-TIER NOT A QUICK FIX
However, those "pension experts" all agree that if we started tomorrow to offer a reduced pension benefit to new hires, it will not significantly affect our pension costs for years - probably decades. And thereby lies the problem we face. We have folks on our City Council - Jim Righeimer in particular - who campaigned as a "pension reformer", but finds himself in a boat without a paddle. He can't do anything about the pensions because the legally consummated contracts will be in effect until after his term of office expires - unless he gets recalled even sooner.

HEAVY-HANDEDNESS LED TO LAWSUIT
Righeimer's solution - ratified by the majority on the City Council - is to get rid of the employees who are earning those pensions and the "tool" being used is the now-infamous "outsourcing" scheme. And, in their haste to impose this draconian measure, the council forgot the rules, which has resulted in a law suit filed by employees to protect their rights. In response to this situation the City has hired an expensive mercenary - renowned labor lawyer Richard Kreisler, who has a track record of "dealing" with these kinds of issues - to bring some horsepower to the negotiations. He will bill the City $300 per hour - with no cap - to "deal" with this lawsuit.

PAST CORDIAL RELATIONSHIPS GONE
In years past the relationship between the management of the City and the employee bargaining units has been cordial, right up to and including the most recent difficult years 2008-2010, when the individual units stepped up when asked and tried to find ways to help the City over the dire financial problems it faced. Nobody held a gun to anyone's head - both parties agreed on the contracts and side letters signed at the time. Today, it is my impression that the bargaining units have so little trust in the folks currently running the City that they are very apprehensive about opening discussions at all. We KNOW the City Council doesn't trust the employees because CEO Tom Hatch told them that at a meeting earlier this year with members of the police department staff.

DON'T SEE ANY LIGHT YET
I'd like to find some light at the end of this very, very dark tunnel, but I'm not sure where it will come from. As long as this City Council perpetuates the adversarial relationship - until trust is restored on both sides - I just don't see how the employees can feel safe attempting to try to work things out. Maybe I'm wrong - I hope so. I hope wisdom and trust will prevail - and soon.