John Wayne "Next Gen" Flight Paths Discussed

SO MANY MEETINGS, SO LITTLE TIME
'Twas a busy evening at A Bubbling Cauldron last night.  First, we attended the briefing provided to the public at Newport Beach's Oasis Senior Center in Corona del Mar regarding the changes being made by the Federal Aviation Administration in the airspace over the United States.  This briefing focused on the impact of the changes on John Wayne Airport and Long Beach Airport.

FAA BRIEFING ON AIR TRAFFIC CHANGES
The City of Costa Mesa announced this meeting on the City web site HERE, and provided a link, HERE, to the Southern California Metroplex (SoCal METROPLEX) Environmental Assessment Website.  The country has been carved up into several "metroplexes" for the purpose of studying and evaluating the changes thought to be necessary to bring air traffic control into a more modern mode.  This is a very informative site, which also has dozens of other links to Google Earth programs which can show us current and proposed traffic patterns in our area.

NEW SYSTEM NEEDED TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY
According to the handouts provided at the meeting, this metroplex includes 99 new satellite-based procedures, including 41 departure procedures, 37 terminal arrival procedures and 21 runway approach procedures.  Yikes!  These are apparently necessary to reduce the complexity of the airspace in our region that encompasses 21 airports, including six major airports.  In theory, this will improve the safety, efficiency, reliability and availability of air transportation in the United States.  The new procedures replace old, inefficient systems that relied on ground-based navigational aids, which limited available flight paths.  They compared it to replacing old paper maps with GPS systems while driving our cars.

HEADS-UP!
We are told that, once these new procedures are implemented, we may see aircraft flying in areas where none previously flew, due to route changes and the satellite-based procedures. 

IT'S HAPPENING NOW
And, yes, this is a done deal.  After the FAA held 11 public workshops and conducted 79 additional briefings for stakeholders and others it has completed the studies and is moving forward.  According to the handouts, phasing-in of the new procedures has begun and will continue through April.  More information can be found at the project website, HERE.

MINGLING WITH OTHER RESIDENTS
I spent a little over an hour at this casual event and joined hundreds of other interested citizens viewing the screens, trying to decipher the jargon and speaking with the experts wandering around the large room.  Several Costa Mesa residents were in attendance.  I saw Senior Staffer Minoo Ashabi chatting with former councilman and Planning Commission candidate Jay Humphrey and others.  Teresa Drain, community activist and candidate for a Planning Commission seat, also attended and interrogated FAA staff.  I saw Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Genis and activist Beth Refakes investigating some of the interactive screens around the room.

A SLIGHT NOISE DECREASE AT MY HOUSE
In the handouts it encouraged us to contact our local airports if we're concerned about noise infractions.  When I chatted with one of the operators of the screens located around the room she input my home address and showed me that, based on their noise monitoring conducted as part of this project, the noise level at my location would, in theory, slightly decrease.  Of course, that all depends on every pilot following every rule - which doesn't happen today and I have no confidence it will happen in the future, regardless which rules are in place.

COMPRESSING MORE AIRCRAFT INTO THE SAME SPACE!
Based on some conversations I heard, these new procedures will make it possible to compress more flights into the same airspace.  That made me more than a little nervous, especially when you consider that for these new procedures to be FULLY implemented it requires the planes flying in the space to have new, very expensive equipment.  We are told that all the airlines flying into and out of John Wayne Airport are cooperating, but the airport has a very significant population of private aircraft which may NOT be equipped with the necessary new technology.

CHECK IT OUT YOURSELF
So, off we go into the future.  I encourage you to follow the links above and do your own visitation via Google Earth to see how these changes may affect your neighborhood.  It's actually an interesting exercise.

AND, OF COURSE, POLITICIANS MADE AN APPEARANCE
After an hour I made a rapid departure to my next meeting - the Costa Mesa Bikeway and Walkability Committee meeting at OUR Senior Center... more on that in the next entry.  As I departed I noted that Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer had erected a shelter outside the room and was holding court with constituents.  I didn't take the time to eavesdrop on his conversations.

County "COIN" Flipped

COIN ORDINANCE TOSSED BACK
Tonight Jill Cowan, writing in the Daily Pilot, HERE, tells us that the Orange County COIN ordinance - modeled after Steve Mensinger's unproven Costa Mesa ordinance - has been given a punch in the face by the Supervisors, who refused to give it a second reading.

SPITZER - "A FARCE OF TRANSARENCY"
Supervisor Todd Spitzer got off the best line in the story.  Cowan states it thus:
"He said that without a requirement that supposals be made in public in addition to formal proposals, the county's ordinance as written, as well as Costa Mesa's, represent "a farce" of transparency."

MENSINGER HAS A HISSY-FIT
Of course, Mensinger didn't much like that, but the fact is we don't know if this ordinance is going to work at all yet!  There has been no negotiation that has made it through the process, so we have no clue about its effectiveness.  It would seem prudent for any governmental entity considering a similar scheme to wait until Costa Mesa has had at least ONE negotiation make it through the process so the effectiveness can be evaluated.  We sure don't want them to emulate Costa Mesa's  "Ready, Fire, Aim" method of governance, do we?

Singeing Supervisor Candidate's Digits

FEET TO THE FIRE, AGAIN
Last night the four candidates for the Orange County 2nd District Supervisor race met at the Costa Mesa Community Center and were grilled for a fast-paced hour by Barbara Venezia and her merry mob of interrogators - Daily Pilot Editor John Canalis, City Editor Alicia Lopez, Orange County Register columnist Jack Wu and Voice of OC Editor-in-Chief Norberto Santana, Jr.

THE "VICTIMS"
 Board of Equalization Vice Chair Michelle Steel, Coast Community College District Board member Jim Moreno, Assemblyman Allan Mansoor, and Huntington Beach City Councilman Joe Carchio endured this edition of the now-famous Feet To The Fire Forum - the seventh in the series - and all walked away without the need of resuscitation.

BROUGHT HER OWN CROWD
Steel brought with her an enthusiastic crowd of admirers, who were planted front and center fully a half-hour before the event began.  Support for the others seemed sparse and scattered by comparison.

FRENETIC PACE
The "format" - described by some as Jerry Springeresque - was rapid and random, with some candidates being able to fully answer questions and others not so much.  As has been the case in previous events like this one, interrogators talked over each other and candidates and some were left with their hands in the air as the questions moved on without them.

ATTENTIVE CROWD

That being said, at the end of that whirlwind hour I suspect most in the audience of around 100 souls  had a pretty clear idea of each of the candidates.  I notice several other political players in the room, including some of the young cadre of OC GOP up-and-comers.  Supervisor Todd Spitzer was there, but termed-out John Moorlach - who's seat is in play for this election - was not.  And, our matriarch of Orange County politics, former Assemblywoman, State Senator and Secretary of Education Marian Bergeson, attended this one, too.

FORGO PENSION?
Canalis led off the questioning by asking each of the candidates whether, if elected, they would forgo their pensions?  Steel said yes.  Moreno gave a long answer about trying to use it to fund necessary programs.  Mansoor said he "probably would", then danced around the issue, stating that he was not "independently wealthy" - a slam at Steel.  Carchio said he had done so in Huntington Beach and saw no reason to change.

MORE PENSIONS
The question then turned to whether they would support a move to remove Supervisor's pensions.  Only Moreno answered that one, and then only partially, before the conversation got sidetracked into a broader "pension" dialogue.  Santana attempted to get each of them to answer specific questions, but they each dodged them like a ring full of bullfighters.  Moreno said pensions are "a horrendous problem".  Mansoor said he led by example - indicating that he didn't take any pay raises while in Sacramento.  That, of course, didn't answer the question.  Carchio discussed his experiences in Huntington Beach.

CALOPTIMA
The issue of the beleaguered CalOptima program came up.  Several of the candidates didn't seem to have done their homework on it so the discussion sank.

TO MANSOOR - WHY THIS MOVE?

Mansoor was asked why people who supported him just two years ago for his current seat should support him now for this move, speculating that they might worry that he would jump again in another couple years.  He said, "I can respect that", but that he was supporting Huntington Beach councilman Don Hansen for this role, then he chose not to run, so he felt there needed to be someone with strong roots - again alluding to Steel's perceived carpetbagger status.  He indicated that "we need someone who can hit the ground running." - meaning himself.

 SPEAKING OF CARPETBAGGERS
Jack Wu, during that discussion, made an oblique reference to Costa Mesa Mayor Jim Righeimer, talking about how Mansoor appointed him to the Planning Commission only a short time after he moved to Costa Mesa from Fountain Valley.  The discussion was frenetic, but Mansoor was clearly rattled by that one.  He said something curious about Righeimer "being able to walk over from Fountain Valley."

 A LITTLE BACKGROUND
Each managed to include a little personal history, including Carchio.  His verbal resume seemed tailor-made for the job of Supervisor.  He's been on the Huntington Beach City Council, lived in Orange County 35 years, coached baseball and football, is the Chairman of the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), is in the PTA, on the board of the Orange County Waste Management Board, the Vector Control Board, California League of Cities and many others.  I got exhausted just listening to the list.

REALLY?
There was an amusing exchange when Mansoor was asked why he was running when Carchio was running.  He said he "liked Joe, but I don't think he can win."

MORENO
At that point Moreno discussed his background working as a Deputy Supervisor in Los Angeles County for thirteen years - part of his 35 years in that county government.  He also spoke of his time on the Coast Community College District Board for the past 7 years, during which more than 60,000 students received degrees or transferred to other schools.

 SHOW ME THE MONEY...

At one point each candidate was asked to tell the panel how much money they had in their campaign war chests, excluding personal loans to it.  Their answers were:

Carchio - $75,000

Mansoor - $100,000

Moreno - $40,000

Steel - $550,000

GULP!
Yes, that is NOT a typo... Steel has more than a half-million bucks to spend!  Mansoor told the crowd that he's been outspent in every race he'd ever run in and won them all.

A RECORD OF..... ?
When asked about his accomplishments in Sacramento Mansoor was unable to point to any bill of his that had passed - he apparently forgot the one that took the word "retard" out of the official Sacramento lexicon.  Funny, because that was it - his "accomplishment".

SOON ON TV...

And on and on... it was much like watching doubles badminton, with candidates taking giant whacks at the shuttlecock, only to have it drop softly at the feet of the opponent.  Still, it was entertaining and you'll soon be able to watch it on Newport Beach Television and, if they provide a DVD to CMTV, on that station, too.

IMPRESSIONS
I came away with the following impressions:

Michelle Steel is probably a very smart woman and probably really knows her subject matter, but she has a problem communicating it in memorable sound bites.  She has a gigantic war chest and likely will outspend all the other candidates combined.  That doesn't make her the best choice, though.  There's this whole "carpetbagger" perception issue and the almost slobbering embrace by the OC GOP hierarchy that just doesn't seem to square with her actual qualifications.  Early in the race and my mailbox seems to have something from her campaign every day.

Allan Mansoor, a brand new father, seemed very defensive and was clearly the most aggressive candidate on the stage.  His not-too-subtle barbs aimed at Steel demonstrated to me that he thinks she's the one to beat.  He's in the unenviable position of having decided to bail out of his current gig with no apparent fall-back position if he loses to her.  And, virtually all the big name GOP support is going to Steel.  Having watched him in action for more than a decade I can say that Mansoor is, well, Mansoor - an affable, not very smart and ineffective politician who seems very uncomfortable with that role in life.

Jim Moreno has a lifetime of public service, including some very relevant experience working for an LA County Supervisor - whom he did not name, by the way.  His experience on the Coast Community College Board is also impressive.  He was not rattled last night during the verbal food fight we witnessed.  I came away from the evening thinking he was probably a pretty steady hand.

Joe Carchio - a man whom I've never met before - had the best "resume" of the bunch.  His experience seems to perfectly position him for this job - he actually does know Orange County.  He's held several elected and appointed positions simultaneously and, apparently, successfully and he managed the chaos the best last night.  He was unflappable.  I don't know what kind of a council member he has been in Huntington Beach, nor am I familiar with his other contributions as a member of other boards, but I'd like to know more.  If I had to vote today, based only on what I know about the candidates right now,  I'd vote for him.

NEXT UP - COSTA MESA CANDIDATES IN SEPTEMBER
So, another Feet To The Fire Forum in the can.  The next one is way, way out in September, on the 18th, when the Costa Mesa City Council candidates will get their chance to be spindled and toasted on the campus of Orange Coast College - a new, larger venue.  Thanks to Barbara Venezia and her team for another enlightening, entertaining evening.  Again, I found myself wanting more...