A Surreal Election - Trump And A Costa Mesa Power Shift

Updated as of 1:30 a.m, Wednesday, November 9, 2016

WHAT?  HE WHAT?  OMG!
My head is still spinning following the concession by Hillary Clinton and listening to Donald Trump's speech.  I worry about the state of our union, but am willing to move forward with my fingers tightly crossed that we don't end up in WWIII.  I'm going to plan a trip to the border to watch the wall being built and I'm probably going to plan a trip to the Canadian border to watch half of Hollywood as they emigrate.

Back to good old Costa Mesa...

A VERY INTERESTING EVENING
I followed the election results from 8 p.m. on and reported the results on my Facebook page as they were updated by the Registrar of Voters.  Here are some screen grabs of the latest results - those available at the last report for this night at 1:30 a.m.  According to the schedule, there will be no further reports until 5:00 p.m today, Wednesday.

COSTA MESA CITY COUNCIL
Now, THIS is very interesting.  Although we still have some votes remaining to be counted, if the relationships shown below don't change it looks like Mayor Steve Mensinger is out finishing a distant fourth behind Councilwoman Sandra Genis, Lawyer John Stephens and former mayor Allan Mansoor.  Jay Humphrey gave it a good run, but looks like he will finish a close 5th to Mensinger.  Lee Ramos finished a distant 6th and Al Melone is dead last although he sucked up more than 3,000 votes.

LIFE IN OUR CITY WILL CHANGE
There is no way to properly estimate the changes this may mean to Costa Mesa governance.  Certainly, the balance of power will shift and leave Mansoor and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer on the minority side.  I actually expect there to be a more collegial atmosphere on the dais and won't be surprised at all if we see Study Sessions resurrected so issues can now be fully vetted in a public setting.  I must say I'm encouraged by this result - if it holds.

GROWTH ISSUES
Again, assuming these numbers hold, Measure Y, the citizen-generated so-called Smart Growth Initiative, will pass overwhelmingly and send a clear message to the new City Council that enough is enough.  The counter measure, Measure Z, which was placed on the ballot to confuse the voters, will not receive enough votes to accomplish that goal, even though it looks like it will pass.

FAIRVIEW PARK
Presuming these numbers hold up, once again the citizens prevail.  Measure AA, the citizen-generated initiative designed to protect Costa Mesa's Jewel, has passed resoundingly and the city counter measure, BB, appears to be failing.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA
This is very interesting.  It looks like both citizen-generated measures, V and W, are going down to defeat by significant numbers.  The City measure, X, looks like it might pass.  I expect legal challenges if it does, since it specifically forbids retail sales of marijuana.  More lawyers to feed.

VOTE-BY-DISTRICTS
Mesasure EE, the hijacked measure placed on the ballot by Righeimer, looks like it's going to pass.  Sadly, this will result in 6 voter districts and a directly-elected mayor.  It will take two more election cycles to complete this transition.  Don't be surprised if Righeimer runs for mayor in 2018, when he's termed-out of his council seat.

COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT
If the current numbers hold it appears that incumbents Jim Ferryman and Art Perry will remain on the CMSD board - good news for all of us.  They hold commanding leads right now.  Gary Monahan and Jim Fitzpatrick have apparently failed to unseat them - again, good news for all of us.

MEASURE TT
It looks like the meaningless advisory measure foisted upon the voters by the Mesa Water District Board of Directors will pass.  This, as we've mentioned many times before, is simply another part of the ploy for Mesa Water to take over the Costa Mesa Sanitary District - most likely to get their hands on the cash in the CMSD coffers as a result of good, forward-thinking management.  This will NOT be the last we hear of this issue.

FISLER DEFEATS REICH
It appears that incumbent Jim Fisler soundly defeated challenger Alex Reich for the seat on the Mesa Water District Board.  Too bad - Reich had some fresh ideas.

INCUMBENTS PREVAIL IN NMUSD

AND IN THE COAST COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT, TOO

 HARPER HOLDS HIS ASSEMBLY SEAT

AS DOES MOORLACH IN THE STATE SENATE

 AND, OF COURSE, SO DOES ROHRABACHER IN CONGRESS

MY NEXT UPDATE AT 5:00 P.M.
So, I'm hitting the sack now.  I updated this following the 1:30 update.  I'm thrashed.  I will take a peek at the results in the morning and will likely post another entry following the 5:00 p.m. update.  There seems to be much to smile about early this morning.

Costa Mesa Ballot Designations Announced

 LET THE FUN BEGIN!
The Registrar of Voters announced the ballot designations for the Costa Mesa election on November 8th.  The following letter designation and official ballot measure name was provided this morning.

 Measure V
Allow Operation of up to Eight Medical Marijuana (Cannabis) Businesses in the City of Costa Mesa.
 This is one of the two citizen-generated medical marijuana issues that qualified for the ballot.  According to the proponents of this initiative, they are no longer pushing it, but will encourage voters to vote for Measure X, the City-generated measure that theoretically "competes" with both V and W, even though it has NO retail distribution element.

Measure W
Allow Operation of up to Four Licensed Medical Marijuana Businesses in the City of Costa Mesa
 This is the second citizen-generated medical marijuana issue on the ballot.  The proponents of this one seem to have dropped off the face of the earth.

Measure X
The City of Costa Mesa Medical Marijuana Measure
 This is the City of Costa Mesa's answer to Measure V and W.  It has no retail sales component and only defines where manufacturing, testing and wholesale distribution may take place - a small section in the northeast section of our city.  It's unclear how this actually "competes" with Measures V and W. 

In theory, if all three pass, the one with the largest number of affirmative votes becomes law in our city.

*****

Measure Y
An Initiative to Require Voter Approval On Certain Development Projects
 This is the Costa Mesa First-sponsored so-called Smart Growth Initiative carefully crafted to bring a level of voter control over what is viewed as out-of-control development in the city.  There is a lawsuit pending on this issue involving false and misleading statements on the rebuttal to the argument in support of the issue in the voter pamphlet.  It is possible that the entire rebuttal will be tossed out as a specious piece of untruths.

Measure Z
Measure for Sensible Community Development and Development-Funded Open Space and Recreation
This is the "anti-Smart Growth Measure" ginned up by the City Council majority to confuse voters into, perhaps, rejecting both Measure Y and Z.  

If both Measure Y and Z pass, the one with the greater number of affirmative votes becomes law.

*****

Measure AA
An Initiative Requiring Changes in Use at Fairview Park be Subject to Voter Approval
This is the measure sponsored by the Fairview Park Preservation Alliance, who rounded up thousands of voter's signatures to place this on the ballot.  It, quite simply, requires The City to follow the existing Fairview Park Master Plan on any kind of development.

Measure BB
Costa Mesa Measure Prohibiting Athletic Fields at Fairview Park
This is another issue ginned up by the City Council majority to confuse the voters.  

Again, if both pass, the one with the greatest number of votes becomes law.

*****

Measure EE
Voter Districts Formation
This is the issue forced upon the City by the threat of a lawsuit.  The settlement requires to place before the voters a "vote by districts" plan to elect council members in future elections.  If it passes, the first election where it would begin to be applied will be in November, 2018.  Unfortunately, Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer used his dictatorial power to ignore the will of the people - those who took time to attend meetings, listen to the demographer/consultant - an acknowledged expert on these issues - and pulled this version out of his hat - or somewhere.  

Instead of what the residents preferred - a 5-district model - he had the consultant define a 6-district model that includes a directly-elected mayor, since the council must be an odd number.  That is what is on the ballot.  And, that will NOT accomplish the goal of the lawsuit - to provide a greater opportunity for the underrepresented Latino section of our city to have a voice.  In fact, this scheme will dilute that voice.  If this measure fails - which it should - then the issue will return to the courts and a judge will define how our districts will be formed.  It's highly unlikely that any judge would select this option if it is soundly rejected by the voters.

This is an up or down vote.  If it passes we will be saddled with a directly-elected mayor and some of the usual suspects are already salivating about that opportunity to become Mayor for life.  If it fails, back to court we go and a judge will apply an even hand to the issue.


THIS, PLUS COUNCIL CANDIDATES
So, there you have it.  Those issues, plus eight (8) candidates for City Council to consider.  More on those later.

Wendy Leece Asks DA For Brown Act Violation Investigation

BROWN ACT VIOLATION PROBABLE
Wendy Leece, former Costa Mesa Councilwoman and member of the Newport Mesa Unified School District Board of Trustees, yesterday asked Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas to investigate a possible open meeting violation by the Costa Mesa City Council at the July 5th city council meeting.

AGENDA NOT ADEQUATE
In her complaint to Rackauckas she described the violation - neither the agenda nor the full agenda report mentioned that the council would be discussing putting an elected-at-large mayor on the November ballot - and more.  She points out that it is a violation of Government Code 54954.2(e).  You can find the Brown Act HERE.

DETAILS PROVIDED - INVESTIGATION DECISION PENDING
She went into great detail in her complaint, mentioning specifics of the perceived violations.  She has been informed that a representative of the Orange County District Attorney Office said her request would be given to the Special Assignment Investigation Department to determine if an investigation is warranted.

THE RESULT OF RIGHEIMER'S ACTIONS
This, again, is a result of Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer's dictatorial posturing on the council.  He calls the shots and Mayor Steve Mensinger and lamest of lame duck councilman Gary Monahan just go along.

A PATTERN
This is the second time in the past few days when Righeimer's actions have been given official legal challenges.  The other one was Eleanor Egan's lawsuit challenging the rebuttal on the Smart Growth Initiative, mentioned in an earlier post.

RIGHEIMER IS A MALIGNANT PRESENCE
Righeimer is a cancer in our city.  He plays fast and loose with the truth and many times he just seems to be making things up as he goes along, assuming nobody will investigate and/or call him on it.  Nearly every move he makes results in legal action - apparently he just views this as a cost of doing business.  Sadly, the voters and taxpayers of this city are paying the price.  He has attempted to micro-manage every element of City government and his limited intellectual capacity and marginal managerial skills have not proven up to the task.  All that is left to him is to bully those who challenge him.   Fortunately, the November election provides an opportunity for the residents of this city to make a change and remove Righeimer's control over the agenda of this town.  By changing the majority on the city council there is an opportunity to not only stop this madness, but to actually undo some of the damage inflicted on the city over the past 5 years.