Rudeness Dominates The Council Meeting

NOT SHORT, DISAPPOINTMENT AND AMUSEMENT
In what we hoped, and kind of expected, might be a short council meeting last night we were disappointed, amused and angered all in one not-so-tidy package.

LITTLE LEAGUE AWARD

The evening began with the awarding of the Mayor's Cup to one of the two Costa Mesa Little League Teams.  It was a fun family event with more than 100 people in the audience... so many that I couldn't get a decent photo of them.  Instead, you get the Mayor Steve Mensinger and CDO Tom Hatch with the trophy.

PUBLIC COMMENTS
During Public Comments a Baker's Dozen speakers stepped to the podiums to address issues not on the agenda for the evening, but important to them.

Rick Huffman told us of the professional tennis tournament at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center this weekend.

 (Rick Huffman)

Beth Refakes reminded us of the candy drive for the children of our adopted Marine Battalion, the 1/5, to help them celebrate Halloween again this year.  The collection point is the foot locker in the lobby of City Hall.  All candy pieces MUST be individually wrapped.

(Beth Refakes)

Barrie Fisher thanked the council and staff for their attention to her neighborhood.

Wendy Leece demanded to know why it's taken more than two years to implement the Fire Department reorganization plan, including transporting patients.

 (Wendy Leece)

Karl Ahlf requested the return of the recently-removed bus benches and shelters.

Tamar Goldmann took the council to task for their ongoing attempts to force businesses out of business

(Tamar Goldmann)

Carol Williams bemoaned the July 4th "war zone" and expressed fear for her safety due to the sober living homes.

Mary Spadoni argued that the two women who successfully appealed issues should have had their fees returned.  She told us she had sent a note to contract City Attorney, Tom Duarte, asking if it was legal to have combined those two separate issues - hers and Carrie Renfro's - as one agenda item.  She observed that they were successful because they worked hard and discovered issues the city staff had missed.

Ann Parker was up next and amplified what Spadoni said.  She said their action was not fair and demanded an apology from Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer because he mischaracterized her actions.

(Ann Parker)

Robin Leffler pointed out that council members MAY NOT require a speaker to identify him or herself and extended that to mean that they MUST NOT vindictively identify the speaker, either.  She then supported the refund of appeal fees.  She said the recent Joint Study Session on the General Plan provided inaccurate information - that the segments of town that will be impacted by the plans within the General Plan update will be far more than 4% as presented.  Mayor Mensinger interrupted her when the audience cheered her initial comments and threatened to call a break if further outbreaks occurred.

 (Robin Leffler)

Another speaker - Chris - complained about the removal of benches in parks and the locking of the bathrooms.

Jay Humphrey observed that the Solid Landings facility on 19th Street is still in full operation despite sanctions by the city.  He also supported a change in policy regarding successful appeals and refunding of fees.

(Jay Humphrey)

Laurene Keane angrily complained about the away folks who wished to remain anonymous at the speaker's podium had been treated, citing a Brown Act violation.  She told Mensinger to "get that smile off" his face as she spoke.  He does that all the time.  She also supported a revision to the fee reimbursement policy, and described the hours she, personally, spent helping the two appellants.  At the end Righeimer leaned over toward Duarte and asked him to come back with information about this issue from the Brown Act.

(Laurene Keane)

COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS
GENIS
Sandra Genis, who sits on the Vector Control Board, advised us of the dangers of West Nile Virus this year, and told us to avoid having any standing water around our properties.  She told us planned spraying for mosquitoes had been canceled because small planes may not fly over Disneyland.

She also concurred that anonymity should be respected by those speakers who choose it.

She referred to the refund of appeal fees and reminded us that the vote was 2-2 - councilman Gary Monahan had conveniently slipped quietly out of the chambers before that vote was taken.

She asked that the meeting be adjourned in the memory of Frank Forbath.

RIGHEIMER
Righeimer reiterated his view that we have an appeal process that should be followed.  However, HIS view of that process is not accurate.  Residents ARE permitted to appeal an item, despite his admonition to Parker and Renfro at the last meeting that they should have gotten a council member to appeal it.  His reasoning - if you can actually call it that - was that if you couldn't get at least one member of the council to appeal it, then it would be unlikely that the appeal would pass.  As it turned out, BOTH appeals were successful without a council member being the appellant.  He just makes the rules up as he goes along and figures nobody will notice.

He then complained that people ask him, "How do you take it up there", meaning being criticized at council meetings.  He said he goes to church every week and he prays.  Well, maybe, but he failed to mention that the criticism is well-deserved, and that he brings most of it on himself for his arrogant disregard for the rules - which he has demonstrated almost from the first second he took office.

He chided Robin Leffler for not doing her homework on the General Plan and reiterated the inaccuracy of the 4% number.

He complained about the so-called problem motels and the people who defended their existence.  He acknowledged that not all residents are bad people, but the "pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers" hide behind them.

MENSINGER
Mensinger addressed the Fire Department reorganization and asked Chief Dan Stefano to step up in a few minutes to brief us.  He also announced the ceremony for the CMPD Wednesday morning (today) where "three guys" are getting promoted.  Actually, that's two guys and a gal.  What a buffoon!  Just when you think it's not possible, he takes cluelessness to a new low!

He then promoted his "walk with the mayor" event, telling folks "you don't have to come down here and speak to all five of us" - that you can walk and talk with him.  Oh, yeah... we sure don't want EVERYONE to hear about important issues in the city, do we?  Oh, no... not that!  And then he made one of those stupid statements he's so famous for - citing council critics, he observed it's "political season" - as if much of what he's been doing lately is not pure political posturing - like his muscle-flexing from the dais last evening.

STEFANO
Stefano stepped up and presented a brief overview of the Fire Department plans for the implementation of the 17 point plan crafted by former Interim Chief Tom Arnold.  He spoke about the redeployment model and said they are 80-90% complete, but that full re-deployment depends on the rebuilding and remodeling of a couple fire stations.  He said they are working with a consultant on the cost recovery element of the plan to have our medical ambulances transport victims, who should have data available shortly.  Katrina Foley asked for it soon - like October.  She also asked if any council members or senior staff had been working with them on this.  Later Mensinger also asked, and Stefano replied yes, council members had been involved.

FOLEY
During her turn Foley began by quoting the section of the government code - Section 54953.3 - that clearly spells out that speakers may NOT be required to identify themselves.  Regarding the 17 point plan, she reiterated that it's been over two years and we should have been finished by now.  She observed that we have quarter-million dollar medical ambulances just sitting around except for being taken on the occasional ride like a Prius, and asked Hatch to bring this issue forward in October.

She spoke of the unfortunate school flooding during the current rain storms.  She also acknowledged Frank Forbath and cited a Memorial Service at the Neighborhood Community Center on September 26th.  She also observed the tragic traffic deaths of young Costa Mesa residents in Oregon.

She asked for a policy on the appeal process and refunding of appeal fees at the next meeting.

She observed that one of "the guys" being promoted this morning was a gal - Joyce LaPoint - the first female Lieutenant in Costa Mesa PD history.

She asked for a discussion of a Master Plan of Golf Carts Ways for November, acknowledging that she asked for a specific date because other things she's asked about in the past have just managed to never appear on the agenda.

Righeimer inserted himself into the discussion, saying that he didn't agree to force a date.

Mensinger wondered from Hatch if a council member could make demands and asked him how we handle that.  Hatch spoke briefly about it and eventually stated he would prefer to just rely on him and his staff to bring things forward on a timely basis.

Genis observed that they'd been talking about items not on the agenda, but "That horse is well out of the barn", so she offered her opinion that asking for a date-specific on the Fire Department report is appropriate since it's taken so long.

HATCH
Hatch observed that the recent rains have caused some havoc in town and that free sandbags are available at Fire Station #4, 2300 Placentia.  He also observed that work has begun on that station.  He focused on the Fire Department, indicating that $1.6 million had been budgeted this year for new staff.  They've created a new Captain position focusing on EMS.  They've budgeted for two new engines at nearly $700,000 a piece.  They've converted on Battalion Chief to a Division Chief and have several new firefighters coming on board - two already have and three more are pending.  And, Chief Stefano is working on a 5-year Strategic Plan.

Hatch then introduced an award-winning video regarding the PAAC monitoring via streaming video.

3 CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS PULLED AND TRAILED
Three items were pulled from the Consent Calendar for separate discussion, #8, #10 and #12.  They were trailed to the end of the meeting.

SMOKING/VAPING ORDINANCE 

Old Business #1, the Smoking Lounge/vaping ordinance took a very short time to deliberate.  During that fifteen minutes three speakers addressed the issue.  Wendy Leece observed that we have a responsibility to the community to control the vaping and compared it to cigarettes.  Karl Ahlf reminded us of the Surgeon General's warning stickers on cigarettes.  Ann Parker asked for Chief Sharpnack's input on the subject, citing illicit activities that go on in vape shops - she described it like a bar for 18 year-olds.  The council passed the ordinance, 5-0.

ASSET ALLOCATION
Old Business #2, the Asset allocation issue, took less time and passed with a 3-2 vote, with Genis and Foley voting NO again, citing fiscal irresponsibility for handcuffing future councils and removing flexibility in money management.

DEVELOPMENT ON HAMILTON STREET AND BULLYING

We were rocking right along at 7:50 when we began New Business #1, the screening process for a development on Hamilton.  Deviations had been requested, shown on this chart, and four speakers addressed the project.   Wendy Leece thought it was a great project - only two story and no rooftop decks, but she suggested that we should ask developers to just follow the rules and not ask for deviations.  Jay Humphrey echoed Leece and worried about the cumulative effect of all this new development around town on traffic and other infrastructure.  Tamar Goldmann opined that we have become a city where it is government by the developers, for the developers.  Robin Leffler began to speak but Mensinger interrupted her - again - with one of his peevish displays of bravado.  When she began she addressed the peculiar parking situation with this project and suggested developers should stay within the code.

DEFENDING THE DEVELOPER
Righeimer, in full "smart ass" mode, aimed comments at the audience, indicating that he was angry because, "when this person comes up here with a dream project and you have to nit-pick it."  He praised the developer.

COULD HAVE GONE 3 STORIES
Developer Nick Louis address the project and tried to explain the peculiar parking situation, indicating that they COULD have gone up to three floors, but chose not to.

 (Nick Louis)

MORE MENSINGER SNIPING
Genis addressed the parking - which has three-car garages for two-bedroom units - and said she didn't understand it.  Mensinger sniped at her, "You're not a man."  He then thanked the developer and apologized for the criticism his project had received by members of the public, stating that it was "just political".  Of course, it was NOT just political - it was a group of concerned residents expressing their views that, basically, it's not unrealistic to expect developers to follow the established rules.

FOLEY SUPPORTS PROJECT - AND CRITICS
Foley said it was a "lovely project", and that she was NOT going to apologize for residents speaking up - "that's what makes America great!"  The project will now move forward.

FAIRVIEW PARK TRAIL/ROAD
New Business #2, Sandy Genis' review of the proposed realigned trail in Fairview Park, recently passed by the Parks and Recreation Commission, began at 8:15 and I thought we'd be out of there before 9.  Ha!  Not the case.  She did a PowerPoint presentation, showing the history of the site in question covering a dozen years.  Then Monahan asked questions of Public Services Director Ernesto Munoz, who ended up showing a brief presentation of his own - the one showed to the Parks and Recreation commissioners.  Back and forth the conversations went, including a presentation by a consultant, Tony Bomkamp, who has extensive knowledge of Fairview Park - he apparently discovered the San Diego Fairy Shrimp.  It turns out that neither the Army Corps of Engineers nor the US Department of Fish and Wildlife have jurisdiction on this particular site.

 (Tony Bomkamp)

90% OF SPEAKERS OPPOSE THE ROAD
Ten (10) speakers addressed this issue, including Dr. Richard Mehren, who was instrumental in the City acquiring Fairview Park.  Nine of the ten opined, for a variety of reasons, that nothing should be done except maintaining the existing asphalt pathway.  Those who spoke against the approve plan to re-align this path were Devon Bradley, Mehren, Karl Ahlf, Andy Campbell, Kim Hendricks, Jay Humphrey, Wendy Leece, Robin Leffler and Cindy Black.  Parks and Recreation Commissioner Bob Graham supported the plan as approved by his commission.

 

(Dr. Richard Mehren)

DOES NOT CONFORM WITH MASTER PLAN
Finally, at 9:25, the discussion resumed and Genis observed that the plan does NOT conform with the Fairview Park Master Plan.  Foley wondered why none of the potentially interested entities - Corps of Engineers nor the USFWL had been contacted, particularly since we've had recent, unpleasant interaction with them regarding the now-infamous decomposed granite trail.

FOLEY - JUST FIX THE PATH
During the discussion Foley observed that we don't need to overdevelop everything - that a concrete road is unnecessary.  She said we should just repair the existing trail, even if it means walking away from the $800,000 grant.

RIGHEIMER CRITICIZES FPCAC ATTENDEES
Righeimer, during his piece, was critical of folks who attended and participated in the deliberations of the Fairview Park Citizens Advisory Committee - stating that they "just didn't want to do anything."  Well, that's almost right, because the vast majority of speakers at those meetings did, indeed, express the interest in keeping Fairview Park natural.  He didn't like that fact, but it is a fact.  Then he said, "It's my come from that I want people to see the gnatcatcher", then he said something strange about wanting things "slower, faster, quicker"... What?  Sometimes he just speaks in tongues.

He told us "I've been up it 100 times and I walk it."  He complained about someone's observation that concrete is toxic, and ended up saying "It's just a path!"   That last one is a demonstration of just how clueless he is.

MUNOZ CONFIRMS EXTENT OF WORK NECESSARY
Monahan affirmed with Munoz the extent of the excavation necessary if the existing path is rehabilitated, and that the new road would be ADA compliant.

NOT IN COMPLIANCE
Genis reminded us that the new road is not in compliance with the Master Plan, a fact confirmed by Foley, who also observed that the creation of this new road would severely hamper cross country training and competitions for local schools.

Then Mensinger leaped into the mess and said, "For God's Sake, I understand Cross Country."  He muttered something about "There's all this kind of things flying around here.", apparently meaning disagreement and facts.  When the vote was taken at 9:50 it was 3-2 to support the Parks and Recreation Commission recommendation to go forward with the new road.   Genis and Foley voted NO.

TRAILED ITEMS
Trailed Consent Calendar items were next.  Item 8 was passed in 15 seconds, 5-0. Nobody took responsibility for pulling it.

VACATION OF RIGHT-OF-WAY VS. BIKEWAYS
Item 10, the discussion of vacation of a piece of roadway, was pulled by Foley.  She was concerned that, since no development was immediately planned, why we were doing this when 19th Street is in need of bicycle capacity.  The discussion moved to adjacent properties, where no easement existed and either purchase or use of eminent domain would be necessary to use space off the roadway.  A motion was made to approve.  Genis made a substitute motion to at least delay it until the Bikeways Committee got farther along with their work - Foley seconded.  That motion failed, 2-3 and the earlier motion passed, 3-2.  Foley and Genis were on the short side of both votes.

CAD/RMS CONSULTING CONFUSION
At 10:00 p.m. Mary Spadoni discussed Item 12, the extension of the contract for a consultant who has been working on the CAD/RMS system for a couple years.  She demanded to know why it's taking so long to get back to a functioning reporting system for the CMPD.  Both Police Chief Rob Sharpnack and IT Director Steve Ely addressed the issue.  In response to Foley's question, Sharpnack admitted that we do NOT have a satisfactory system working now.  Foley wanted a timeline from Ely on how long it was going to take and he admitted he didn't know.  He also confirmed to her that this contract would be perpetual because we didn't have anyone on staff skilled to do the work the consultant is doing.  In response to Righeimer's quesiton, Ely confirmed a staff of 12 in IT, including the consultant and three existing vacancies.  Righeimer asked for a report on everything everybody does in IT.  The vote was taken to approve the contract extension on a 5-0 vote.

 (Steve Ely)

ADJOURNED IN MEMORY OF...
Mensinger actually did remember to adjourn the meeting in honor of Frank Forbath and the young people who died in the car crash in Oregon.  We now have three weeks until the next meeting on October 6th. 

Hank Panian, Fees, Development And More

FULL AGENDA...
The Costa Mesa City Council meets for their first, of many, meetings in September on Tuesday, September 1, 2015 for another very interesting gathering.  There's plenty on the agenda to draw a crowd.  Read the full agenda HERE.

HANK IS THE MAN!
Right off the top there will be the presentation of the Mayor's Award to Costa Mesa icon, Hank Panian - a man who has dedicated much of his adult life trying to make Costa Mesa better.  I'm really looking forward to this one.

CONSENT CALENDAR
There are a few interesting items on the Consent Calendar - those items that are considered "routine" and can be voted upon with one vote and no discussion.  That's not likely to happen this time.

SPENDING YOUR MONEY
Item #3 is Warrant #2541, HERE, which shows disbursements we've made for the past several weeks.  As always, I'll give you just a little taste of some of the money we laid out recently.  These are in order as they appear, so you can read along if you wish.

• Bingo West $4 - $15,306.78 - apparently for a Bingo Console (for where?  The Senior Center?)
• Clean Street - $57,799.98 - Street Sweeping Svcs, June. 15
• Jones & Mayer - $143,811.48 - Legal Svcs, various (two full pages listed!)
• Kabbara Engineering - $22,614.50 - Engineering Svcs.
• Keyser Marston Associates, Inc. - $7,125.00 - Consulting
• Liebert Cassidy Whitmore - $8,802.34 - Legal, Personnel Matter
• City of Huntington Beach - $22,540.00 - Helicopter, Jun.2015
• Civil Source - $17,658.00 - Temp. Staffing
• Moore Iacofano Goftsman Inc - $20,426.75 - Gen'l Plan Update and Env. Rprt
• FTOG Inc - $2,775.00 - Special Project Consulting, 7/20-7/31/15
• Government Staffing Services Inc - $7,665.00 - Temp Svcs.
• Interwest Consulting Group Inc - $12,045.00 - Sr. Bldg Inspct. Svcs Jun 15
• Samys Camera - $1,419.12 - GoPro Camera and gear
• Scientia Consulting Group Inc - $5,590.00 - On-site Tech Support 6/28-7/11
• Costa Mesa Conference & Visitor Bureau - $187,048.05 - BIA Receipts, Jun 15
• Safe Moves - $40,154.18 - Bicycle Education Svds Jun 15
• Liebert Cassidy Whitmore - $10,714.50 - Legal, General
• Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth - $13,548.00 - Legal, Various
• Easton & Easton LLP - $150,000 - Settlement Bailey v City
• Mary Goggin - $30,000 - Settlement M Goggins v City
• Government Staffing Services Inc - $11,712.50 - Temp Svcs
• White Nelson Diehl Evans LLP - $7,950.00 - Audit Svcs FY 2014/2015

So, once again legal costs and settlements cost us over $250,000 this time around.

COLLECTING PARKING TICKET BUCKS
Item #7, HERE, is a contract through the City of Sausalito, for parking ticket citation processing with Data Ticket, Inc.  Our contract has expired and, according to the staff report, this is the most cost effective way to perpetuate the agreement with Data Ticket.  Last year it cost us just over $60,000, but the revenue resulting from the citations was a net $700,495.

SEVENTEEN (17) NEW POLICE VEHICLES
Item #8, HERE, is VERY interesting.  It's the request by the Police Department for an increase in the FY 15/16 budget of $372,705 for a total this year of $654,985 for the following:

• Purchase of 8 vehicles replacing 10 that were leased
• Six front line patrol vehicles will be replaced by six purchased vehicles
• Two new pick-up trucks will be purchased for Park Ranger use
• One new vehicle has been purchased for the Chief of Police

VAPING RULES AND SMOKING LOUNGES
There are four (4) Public Hearings on the agenda Tuesday night.  #1, HERE, is the delayed hearing on amendments to Title 8 and Title 13 of the Municipal Code related to vaping in public facilities and regulation of smoking lounges.  If approved as recommended this will:

1 - Add a definition and create zoning regulations specifically pertaining to smoking lounges.
2 - Add a definition f or "smoking/vaping retailers" to preclude the establishment of lounge uses as part of a retail store.
3 - Prohibit vaping in specified public places by modifying the current prohibition of smoking in public facilities.
4 - Consider the existing two, legally-established smoking lounges as legal nonconforming uses, which may be subject to discontinuation or closure in the future under specific circumstances.
5 - Create standards to allow several zoning districts where new smoking lounges may be permitted by right or conditionally permitted.
6 - Create operational and development standards to address various potential issues.
7 - Planning Commission recommended changes to distinguish between tobacco and electronic cigarette/vaping products.

The council can either (1) continue the meeting to address additional changes to the draft ordinance.  If they do that it must be considered by September 15, 2015 because the current moratorium will expire November 5, 2015; OR (2) Direct staff to modify the ordinance and forward to City Council for consideration.  This would require the moratorium to be extended.

CODIFYING CAPITAL NEEDS ALLOCATIONS
Public Hearing #2, HERE, is the first reading of the Capital Asset Needs Ordinance, which codifies the policies established last March.  If approved this will allocate a minimum of five percent (5%) of the General Fund Budget to capital expenditures and plan a goal of an additional one and one-half percent (1.5%) dedicated to a Capital Facilities Account.  If this were in place for the current budget it would have resulted in just over $5.5 million and $1.6 million, respectively.

VACATION OF RIGHT-OF-WAY
Public Hearing #3, HERE, is the vacation of right-of-way at 970 West 16th Street, where a new development is planned.

RIGHT-OF-WAY, PART 2
Public Hearing #4, HERE, is a vacation of a flowage easement at the same address for the same project.

PARK FEES FOR APARTMENT DEVELOPMENT, PLUS...
Old Business #1, HERE, is the second reading of an update to the Park in-lieu fees and Impact Fees (Park Fees), which includes application of those fees to apartment projects for the first time.

MORE DEVELOPMENT!
New Business #1, HERE, may draw a crowd.  This is the General Plan Screening request for a proposed 28-unit residential project at 440 Fair Drive, near the corner of Fair and Harbor Blvd.  I suspect more than one or two of the College Park neighbors will show up to talk about this item.

ALLOCATING LEINART FEES
New Business #2, HERE, is the delayed discussion of how to allocate the nearly $25,000 in fees paid by Matt Leinart Flag Football for inaccurately portraying their organization last year.  Normally, such funds go into the General Fund, but there are those - Councilwoman Katrina Foley - who suggested they should be split and allocated to Costa Mesa and Estancia High Schools for athletic equipment.

VOTING DELEGATES
New Business #3, HERE, is the designation of the voting delegate and voting delegate alternate for the 2015 League of California Cities Annual Conference.  Presently Mayor Steve Mensinger is designated as the voting delegate and Councilwoman Sandra Genis is the alternate.

REFUND OF APPEAL FEES
New Business #4, HERE, is the request for refund of appeal fees for two items - ZA-15-01 involving the Solid Landings facility on West 19th Street and PA-14-41, involving the proposed Farmer's Market at the corner of Orange Avenue and Bay Street.  The appellants, Ann Parker and Carrie Renfro respectively, have requested the refund of the fees they paid for their successful appeals.  Parker's is $690.00 and Renfro paid $1,220.00.

Smoking Lounge Rules Heads To City Council

BIG CROWD HEARS THE SMOKING ISSUE

Before more than 170 people in City Council Chambers last night, the Costa Mesa Planning Commission spent nearly ninety minutes discussing changes to certain codes affecting the way so-called "Smoking Lounges" are managed within the city before voting unanimously to move the item to the City Council.  I thought it was interesting that there was no sign of the Hookah Lounge folks, since it was their issue that started the whole thing more than a year ago.

PARKING LOT FULL OF "VAPERS"
I knew it was going to be an interesting evening when I arrived at City Hall thirty minutes before the meeting was scheduled to begin and found several dozen people milling around outside in groups, vaping away - sucking on all manner of strange devices and blowing mist out into the air.

AN INTERESTING GROUP
Although there seemed to be no official uniform for these folks, many of the men wore some form of black outfit with a variety of logos on their t-shirts.  Peeking from beneath the shirts and shorts were examples of body art - tattoos - and many wore baseball caps with flat bills, just ever-so-slightly askew.  Mixed in among them were young men I might describe as almost "Ivy League" in their attire, plus several young women, some of whom also sported body art.  And, I'm told, a few audience members wore sober living home identification.

"FRAGRANT", TO SAY THE LEAST
About 5:45 little gaggles of those folks began to file into City Council Chambers and found seats scattered around the auditorium.  Within five minutes three-quarters of the seats were filled and more folks straggled in after the proceedings began.  And, I must observe, the combination of fragrances of whatever they were sucking on out in the parking lot stayed with them as they filed into the room - to the point that some of the non-vaping members of the audience had to excuse themselves and leave the room a couple times during the meeting to get some fresh air.

THE RULES WERE FOLLOWED
For the first time in recent memory the Sergeant-at-arms took it upon herself to define the rules of behavior in the chambers before the meeting began.  Instructions were given to those who wished to speak to fill out the appropriate card and to maintain decorum.  As it played out, that admonition probably wasn't necessary, but we'll never know.  The crowd was quiet for the most part and respectful during the meeting.  And, thank goodness, most of them chose not to speak on the issue.

TIGHTENING THE FOCUS
At 6:30 the commission began hearing this issue, Public Hearing #2, HERE.  Right off the bat, before Planner Stephanie Roxas could make her presentation, newlywed Vice Chair Jeff Mathews asked for confirmation that the commission was dealing with only lounge uses, not retail sales of the products in question - which was affirmed.  It was later affirmed that they were also dealing with the USE of these products in public places, like parks.

HEALTH DEPARTMENT PRESENTATION
Following Roxas' presentation and a few questions Amy Buck, representing the Orange County Department of Public Health, gave a presentation.  The following slides formed the core of her presentation and, I believe, will be self explanatory.  Click on the images to enlarge, if necessary.

SMOKING

 SECOND HAND SMOKE

 

HOOKAH

 ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES

WHO WAS THIS GUY?
A total of nine (9) people stepped up to speak on this subject.  The first one was a fellow named Austin Hopper, who was up and down so quickly that I couldn't get my camera up fast enough to get a photo.  I did, however, find this one online.  When he was asked who he was earlier by a member of the audience before the meeting began, he said his name and "Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce".  During his brief time at the podium - maybe fifteen seconds - he praised the small business owners selling these products.  However, further investigation turns up he is actually an officer of a vaping company who has been involved in the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce in the past.

A SPOKESMAN
It was interesting to note that many of the speakers chose not to identify themselves, although Doug Hughes did identify himself as a representative of a vaping trade group and presented public relations information about vaping, including claims that vaping helps with smoking cessation.  A later speaker - unidentified - asked the crowd how many were former smokers and more than 100 people raised their hands.

PARKING AND LIVE/WORK USES?
Mary Spadoni spoke briefly, congratulated the staff for the hard work and urged the commission to maintain the 17/1000 parking space requirement.  She also asked of the highly-touted new Live/Work units being built might be a locale for a vaping shop.

ENCOURAGEMENT
Ann Parker spoke and thanked all the young people for showing up and encouraged them to become involved in broader issues in the city.  I had the strong sense that most were not interested in anything else except this particular issue.

DENIED TOBACCO ASSOCIATION
Other speakers opined that vaping has nothing to do with tobacco use, although a quick check online finds many vaping outlets advertising tobacco on their sites, too.

PERSONAL TOUCH VS. ONLINE PURCHASING
One speaker was concerned about customers not being about to have personal interaction at vaping shops, and not being able to sample the products.  She expressed her opinion that, without that personal touch, their customers would just buy online and significantly damage "these small, local businesses."  Later commissioner Stephan Andranian expressed confusion about that fact, wondering why - if the local businesses were providing such an essential service - would anyone buy online? Uh, huh...

AN OWNER - AND EMPLOYER - SPOKE
The final speaker was a man named John Cavanaugh, who identified himself as an owner of three vaping businesses in the "Newport-Mesa" area - two in Costa Mesa and one in Newport Beach.  He said, "in fact, half of the people here work for me." - and that explained the turnout.

DICKSON ON LIVE/WORK
During the discussion Chairman Rob Dickson addressed Spadoni's concern about the live/work units, indicating they were only authorized for specific uses... but I don't remember that being the case.  Examples of SOME types of businesses have been mentioned, but I don't recall uses being restricted.  In fact, since most of the work elements of the live/work units are 250 square feet and the "sampling area" could only be less than 100 square feet, it seems like a very good question.  A retailer of this kind of product could "sell" it in the first-floor work space and just carve out a little cranny in which folks could do their "sampling".

SENDING IT TO COUNCIL
In any event, just before 8 p.m. the commission voted, 5-0, to move this issue on to the City Council for discussion and approval.  Some language changes were made further fine-tuning some of the definitions to tighten up the process.  Now we'll see what happens from here.  After the rest of the meeting ended about 40 minutes later there were still knots of folks in the parking lot talking and vaping.

PUBLIC HEARING #3 CONTINUED AS PREDICTED
In other news of the evening, Public Hearing #3 was continued to the next meeting, on August 10th.

MERRILL PLACE UNITS APPROVED
 Public Hearing #1, the nice little project on Merrill Place presented by architect George Seitz was approved after a short discussion.

BRISTOL STREET CAR SALES APPROVED - WITH CONDITIONS
The final item on the agenda, Public Hearing #4, the request for a sales facility near the Hilton Hotel on Bristol Street at the site of a recently-relocated high-end furniture store was approved with a few conditions attached involving signage, test drive routes and special events approvals.  During the discussion I was amused by Dickson's concern that this facility might devolve into "low-end, high-end" car sales, and used as a point of reference a 1978 American Motors AMX.  I smiled. 

STUDY SESSION NEWS AND EARLY OUT!
During her comments Assistant Director of Development Services, Claire Flynn, told us that a "packed" joint study session with the City Council is being scheduled for September 8th at which possible revisions to the Urban Plans and the Land Use Element of the General Plan would be discussed, so the Planning Commission's meeting planned for August 24th would likely be cancelled.  Dickson adjourned the meeting to August 10th and, we were actually out of the auditorium before 8:30 p.m.  Yea!