Monday, July 01, 2013

Another Parolee Arrested In Costa Mesa

YET ANOTHER PAROLED CRIMINAL ARRESTED
According to the Costa Mesa Police Department, shortly after noon on Saturday - as my wife and I were preparing to head on over to the 60th Anniversary Celebration - a 34-year old parolee named Osvaldo Castro walked into the Metro PCS store at 1175 Baker Street holding what appeared to be a semi-automatic handgun.  He approached the service counter, pointed the gun into the face of an employee and attempted to fire it.  The weapon malfunctioned and he fled the scene.

FAST WORK WITH AN ASSIST FROM "DUKE"
Quick work by the CMPD, with a big assist from the Orange County Sheriff's Department helicopter "Duke" coordinating the search Castro was located near Mission Drive and Mendoza Drive and was arrested.  A replica handgun was found nearby.

ZERO TOLERANCE
According to the press release, Castro was booked and later transported to the Orange County Jail in Santa Ana.  Here are the final words from the press release:
"Costa Mesa police embrace a zero-tolerance approach towards all acts and threatened acts of violence.  Costa Mesa Police Department works with neighboring agencies and the District Attorney's Office to hold suspects accountable to the fullest extent of the law."

KUDOS
Great job by the CMPD and the Sheriff's helicopter.  You remember what a police helicopter is, right?  We used to have THE BEST municipal law enforcement helicopter program in the country until our Mayor got peeved at the CMPD because they opposed his candidacy for office, so he spear-headed the movement to close down the A.B.L.E. program.  So, while the mayor and the rest of us were partying Saturday, the CMPD, with the help of another entity's helicopter, snatched up a parolee intent on committing a serious crime in our city and aimed him back to prison.

IGNORANT
Sometimes listening to Righeimer is kind of like watching one of those Holiday Inn Express commercials on television.  He's not a police officer, but he's related to one!  Under his short-sighted "leadership" the CMPD has been intentionally gutted and one of the most effective law enforcement tools, the A.B.L.E. program - which served our REGION, not just our city, with distinction for four decades - was cast aside like a basket of rotting fruit.

VINDICTIVE
Righeimer has vindictively forced staffing levels to fall below where they were twenty years ago and refused for more than a year to permit the Chief of Police to hire replacements for departing officers while crime is on the rise.  He ignored the staffing recommendations of his own consultants and those of then-Interim Chief Steve Staveley - a man with decades of law enforcement leadership experience who proudly served us as Interim Chief twice in recent years.

OVERTIME CRITIC - HE CAUSED IT!
Under his "leadership" the Costa Mesa Fire Department was forced to operate significantly understaffed, including at the highest leadership levels in the department, for two years.  This created mandatory overtime for most of the fire department staff, for which members were criticized by Righeimer from his bully pulpit on the council dais.  His "leadership" stalled the implementation of Interim Fire Chief Tom Arnold's plan to redeploy the available staff for a more efficient operation, which conveniently kept one of his major campaign contributors in business in the city.

SHINY OBJECTS
Righeimer crows about saving money by shuttering the A.B.L.E. program, yet spends that money on parties to distract the residents from what is really happening in our city.  Sure, we all have fun at Christmas with the Snoopy House  on the City Hall lawn.  But it costs money.  Sure, we all had a great time with the 60th Anniversary Celebration - but the City spent maybe $200,000 on it, and that doesn't even count thousands of staff hours spent on it.  (By the way, a big chunk of that money went to a company operated by his pal, Scott Baugh)  We're going to spend tens of thousands of dollars sprucing up the City Hall lobby - a completely unnecessary expense, but another "feel good" shiny object to distract us from the fact that crime is on the rise.

WHY PR?
We're spending hundreds of thousands of dollars every year now on public relations staff!  You only hire PR people when your organization needs public relations help - somebody to spin the facts to distract the public and deflect criticism.  You hire party planners to make the residents feel good.  The phrase, "Nero fiddled while Rome burned" keeps rattling around in my head.

I'D RATHER FEEL SAFE, THANK YOU
I don't know about you, but I'd much rather feel safe.  We should be putting more public safety boots on the ground instead of throwing feel good events every few months.  But then, that paragon of law enforcement knowledge, Mayor Righeimer, tells us frequently that more cops doesn't mean we'll have less crime.  I've never seen a man so willing to demonstrate such a combination of arrogance and ignorance before!

CONTEMPLATE YOUR SAFETY
So, while you're shooting off fireworks for three nights, not one, this year - it's "all about the kids", right, Steve? - contemplate your public safety and what Righeimer on the council has REALLY meant in this city over the past few years.

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39 Comments:

Anonymous David Schuyler said...

November 2014 can't come soon enough. By then every living soul in Costa Mesa will be crystal clear about what Righeimer is and who he's here for.

After a string of missteps, failures, and terrible events like the death of a city employee, the Lincoln Club and other gop money people are out of patience with our little Napoleon. He will continue to fail and will not be re-elected.

Sycophants like Fitzpatrick, Mensinger, Fisler, McCarthy, and a host of others will answer to the voters for many years to come for their support of a guy who came here and hurt Costa Mesa.

7/01/2013 09:43:00 AM  
Anonymous Mesa Mustang said...

I love this blog! It is the best reading in the entire County. Guy robs a store, it's Righeimer's fault. It's hot outside, must be Righeimer and Scott Baugh's fault. You know what, my dog ran away. Yep, evil Jim Righeimer and Scott Baugh did it.

Cauldon, do you ever stop to read the stuff you print sometimes. It is just ludicrous. You are as nutty as the Tea Party guys. The sad part is you actually sprinkle in some good stories here and there. I swear, you and Millard must be related.

7/01/2013 10:16:00 AM  
Anonymous James Rivera said...

Let's bring in the drones to replace those choppers. Young folks fresh out of the Air Force that already piloted drones would be the best and even cheapest option.

7/01/2013 10:35:00 AM  
Anonymous Troll Tracker said...

Mesa Mustang and Rivera ARE Millard.
Thrift Store Marty's "style" is easily detectable.

7/01/2013 10:58:00 AM  
Anonymous Disgusted Rupublican said...

I posted this under a different BC article, right before anniversary celebration started. My opinion hasn't changed...this is was an unnecessary waste of money, and from what I understand from people who did attend, it was underattended, especially yesterday and the concert Saturday night, and for the people living in the surrounding areas, a living hell of noise for 3 days from relentless loud bands. This was nothing but a promotion piece for the RIGmeister, who even said so himself as quoted in the DP on Saturday. HE needs to capitalize on a city anniversary now...he'll be too old and won't able to when the next milestone anniversary comes around! (His political career will be loooonnnggg over by then!

Here is original post:


I know that a lot of people have spent and volunteered considerable time, effort, and hard work to put together this 60th anniversary celebration for CM, and it's a nice thing to acknowledge that the city is now 60 years old, but....Has anyone ever wondered why we need to have this costly, not to mention traffic clogging, THREE day celebration for a non-milestone year (60th) anniversary - not the 25th, 50th, 75th, or even 100th anniversary, but the 60th (not insignificant, but certainly not warranting this huge of a celebration)??? When the money spent for this (what? up close to $200,000.00 now? more?) could be much better spent, any number of ways, in our city (in tandem with the $650,000.00 to unnecessarily light the dawn to dusk use Fairview Park parking lot) and a smaller, less expensive, anniversary celebration planned (was the 50th anniversary celebration this big/expensive? wasn't it just incorporated into the fair that year?), why is this necessary? The answer is very simple...This THREE day SIXTIETH anniversary "celebration of CM" is nothing but a Tony Villar grandious style vehicle for, and by, the RIGmeister to promote himself and further his personal political agenda and career. He is using this opportunity to be able to plant his mug in front of every tv camera and radio microphone he possibly can to say "look at me; I'm the "mayor"; aren't I wonderful; look at all I'VE done for this city!" The city of CM is actually, and unwittingly, paying for his campaign attempt at his politcal furtherment - don't forget the 2014 election (for him) is really right around corner; this is a great kickoff opportunity for the RIGmeister in a manipulative and underhanded manner - which is what he is all about. His sidekick, Baby Hugie, might be the obvious bully to distract attention away from his master as far as trying to push unwanted plans on CM, but understand that the RIGmeister is the man behind the curtain pulling all the puppet strings of his cc majority followers, as well as all of his hand picked ocgop $ contributing /developer buddy puppets on the Planning and P&R committees, and all other various pseudo-committees he has put together since becoming "mayor". This supposed celebration for CM is just another example of his manipulative string pulling, motivated solely by his own self-interests. There is honestly no good reason that this should be a THREE day affair, nor, given the current dire financial circumstances of our city constantly painted by the RIGmeister, should we really be spending this kind of money on such a thing now. I hope that someone completely impartial conducts a statistical poll, while this is going on, to determine the actual percentage of the total number of people who attend that are CM residents! I think the numbers would be telling - and not in favor of large numbers of CM residences in attendance. I have not volunteered, nor will, nor plan to even attend this event because of what it is really about, and I know I am not alone. Actually, the one thing I will do this weekend to help out is to avoid the whole area to not add to the traffic burdens caused by this RIGmeister promotion event!

7/01/2013 11:07:00 AM  
Blogger Marquis said...

"November 2014 can't come soon enough. By then every living soul in Costa Mesa will be crystal clear about what Righeimer is and who he's here for."

I'd be far more confident about the future of Costa Mesa if the above statements were actually true.

The council cadre of knuckleheads has their 10,000 or so fellow knuckleheads who support them regardless of facts or logic. They get another thousand or so votes from people who have no idea who they're voting for.

On the other side are about the same number of people who are crystal clear about what the knuckleheads are up to.

In the middle is huge number of people who have no idea what's going on or just don't care. We have a very large population of people age 20-35 who don't read the Pilot or Register or this blog or ANY local news. Very few of them have any idea what's going on, even though they have a bigger long-term stake in the city than us old farts.

I'd love to believe that the ridiculous antics of Mansoor, Bever, Righeimer, Monahan, etc. and their awful track records would be enough to rile up the tuned-out voters in CM, but the past dozen years or so does not give any real reason to hope for that.

I hope I'm wrong, but I'll be very surprised if Righeimer does not get re-elected. All he needs is about 10% of the population to buy into his BS and his supporters ALL vote.

7/01/2013 11:32:00 AM  
Anonymous blast from the past said...

stavely? lol!

7/01/2013 11:48:00 AM  
Anonymous CPA said...

Troll:
"stavely? lol!"

Your lack of a career,job record, or net worth matching Staveley's hahahahhaha!

7/01/2013 12:40:00 PM  
Anonymous Roger T. said...

Hard-pressed to think of a Mayor more popular with the residents now than Righeimer. Balanced budget without tax increases, hugely successful Mayor's dinner that raised tons of money for our schools, a fantastic 60th anniversary celebration, cracking down on motels, etc. There's a real positive vibe in the community that even the haters on this blog have to acknowledge. I think Righeimer will be our Mayor for a while. The rest of the folks can just continue to sulk.

7/01/2013 12:51:00 PM  
Anonymous Old but angry said...

If we had our helicopter we would have less crime and we could have raised more for the Mayor's event.

All my old angry friends and I want to be safer. We don't care what it costs. We will be dead by the time the bills come due

7/01/2013 01:22:00 PM  
Anonymous Wyatt Earp said...

Roger T...Name one hotel/motel he has "cracked down" on? And the budget would have a major multi million dollar surplus if it weren't for Righeimer's disdain for rules and regulations ala another Republican disappointment in John Moorlach. Both have wasted massive amounts of taxpayer money to further their political careers.

More importantly, if Righeimer is so much loved within the community, how did his pet charter get its collective ass whipped by 20 percentage points in a plurality Republican city? One word: trust. Obviously even his own party did not trust him with the unchecked power that boondoggle would have unleashed.

In the famous words of Ace Ventura, "Alrighty then".

7/01/2013 01:41:00 PM  
Anonymous Schpelling Bee said...

Geoff,
Thanks for the inspiration to expand my vocabulary...

arrignorance (ar-RIG-nor-ance) is the blatant arrogance & ignorance symbiotically exuded daily by Costa Mesa Mayor Jim Righeimer a/k/a "Der Rigsheister"

7/01/2013 02:04:00 PM  
Anonymous Not in a million years! said...

Roger Tt: you would be wrong about that I would say about 100 percent. I have not spoken to anyone that likes this guy. The motels are still a problem, now we have hookers on Wilson and Harbor, never did before, we have legal money laundering...see above story, which taints the celebration. Now we are faced with the loss of our open space park(s) for Steve's enjoyment. And the only way the budget was balanced was at the cost of our ABLE program and our very safety as crime has risen sharply and steadily since Rig has taken office.

I just love it when some uninformed rube gives us a forum!

7/01/2013 02:40:00 PM  
Anonymous Just the facts said...

How many hours was ABLE in the air each day?

How much did ABLE cost each year? (Total cost, including maintenance, staff, equipment, hangar space, etc.)

If ABLE were so critical to public safety, why didn't very rich (more than double our budget with a lot lee residents) Newport Beach keep it?

Talk about shiny objects, Geoff!

7/01/2013 03:35:00 PM  
Anonymous Scandalous said...

Wait... A Scott Baugh owned company benefited from the 60th? I find that very troubling and sort of in your face to the community. Isn't there at least a code of ethics where if it's questionable then better to avoid?

Baugh and Righeimer I hear are very close and share an office building. This just looks bad on the surface. But I guess this is what the voters want, nepotism and paybacks.
When does the hush money and laundering begin?

7/01/2013 04:40:00 PM  
Anonymous Mary Ann O'Connell said...

Roger T - "popular" and "positive"? Is this the same fairy tale as the "people" the Council Majority always cite when ignoring those who come to speak? Unicorns. You are all quoting unicorns - mythical beasts no one has ever seen or heard. The "haters" were strangers, from all walks of life here in Costa Mesa and were galvanized by the arrogance and hubris of this Council Majority. The are not popular, but they are populous and real. Not a unicorn in the bunch.

7/01/2013 08:57:00 PM  
Anonymous Wyatt Earp said...

Just the facts....wasn't there a wealthy Newport Beach resident namesd who offered to help save the ABLE program?

7/01/2013 10:40:00 PM  
Anonymous Observing citizen said...

Pot stirrer, can you please provide more details about Scott Baugh's company receiving money from the 60th anniversary party? I am very curious...

7/02/2013 02:52:00 AM  
Anonymous look up said...

Wyatt.... Yes there was. Downing ABLE wasn't about saving money. It was about Riggy kicking the PD in the jewels to show them he won and would be dictating the game from now on.
The HB program is a sham that allows him to further put it in the PDs face. Where were they when DUKE was needed to assist on this call? We are paying them a fair percentage of what ABLE cost and yet... PD uses the Sheriffs Dept when they need airborne help.

7/02/2013 07:26:00 AM  
Anonymous wtf just happened? said...

Mary Ann: us mythical beasts and people you never hear from or see are voters, not whiners. we like who we have in office and we like it that you are not in office. care to run?

7/02/2013 08:00:00 AM  
Anonymous a 200K party? said...

Geoff: what happened. You had a HUGE post praising the 60th celebration just yesterday and now you are putting it down? Did you get a poll from Sandy that showed Riggy's popularity just spiked and you need to spin this in a new direction? Speaking of spin, PR departments are tasked with many chores, are a well respected discipline, and are at every level of government and most large businesses. Very important positions to help a city thrive.

7/02/2013 08:09:00 AM  
Anonymous Just the facts said...

Wyatt, that was never viable - and you should know that. Nice red herring.

The question was why the CITY of Newport Beach - our partner in ABLE - did not see the critical value in the program that would have warranted stepping in and assuming the cost of operating it.

But you want to play little games, and talk about the proposal of a private citizen & helicopter buff. Why don't you tell us all how that would have worked, instead of just throwing it out.

7/02/2013 09:28:00 AM  
Anonymous Lindora said...

More food events (60th celebration, mayor's awards, dinners in vegas) won't bring back Huy Pham.

The bosses in Fashion Island get fatter while the average worker struggles to stay solvent.

7/02/2013 09:38:00 AM  
Anonymous i wudda been for it if i hadn't voted against it said...

West went from: "Wow, what a party" major post to what a waste of money in one day. Playing both sides will lose you both sides.

7/02/2013 11:17:00 AM  
Anonymous Wyatt Earp said...

Just the facts.....alright genius, you bring up the wealthy Newport Beach resident thing, I call you on it and now you call that a red herring? And yet you guys wonder why no one trusts your council boys. What is fact, and what was documented here, in council meetings and in the Daily Pilot, is there was enough money in the ABLE account to fund the program for another two years. Don't take my word for it. Go do the research for yourself (which everyone knows you won't do). Facts have always been inconvenient for you guys.

7/02/2013 11:28:00 AM  
Anonymous funny glasses said...

What an angry blogger.

All other cities around us have had PR functions for a long time. The story was that we never had one.

But that gets in the way of the narrative of city council majority is bad.

7/02/2013 11:30:00 AM  
Anonymous CM Watchdog said...

I was wrong about the party. it WAS very bad to hold it. shame on scheafer and all the volunteer pigs at the trough with all the "VIP" freebies (even tix for alcohol) handed out to Foley, Genis, Leece, Summers, Buffa, etc. To the residents who participated, shame on you.

7/02/2013 02:44:00 PM  
Anonymous cherokee fiddle said...

I agree with CM Watchdog, shame on all of them.
Our city is burning down, not literally but with all the murders, rapes, assaults, etc. going on, the council fiddles while we burn.

oh, thanks for the huge cake, very fitting. shame on the OCC chefs who made it for us peons while the "VIP"s ate real food with alcohol. Nice. you with me on this Robin? are you aware of the fancy food? bet you weren't a vip, thus no doggy bag for you.

7/02/2013 03:32:00 PM  
Anonymous Fatcats said...

The rigclones are already out in force spin spin spinning to keep the questions from being asked:

How much did ocgop chief Scott Baugh or any entity affiliated with him receive?

Given his relationship with Righeimer, was there a conflict of interest?

7/02/2013 03:52:00 PM  
Anonymous So much for transparency said...

I doubt its a conflict of interest. The Taste of Newport (one of the events Scott Baugh stood to make a lot of money on) was CANCELLED. He had to make up that money from somewhere...so guess who gets a party? See any connection yet?

7/02/2013 09:31:00 PM  
Blogger Gericault said...

The OC Taste Fest run by Wendy Baugh, (Scotts Wife) also has another partner. CAA Events Partner. Which looks like OC Taste Fest efforts are underwritten by the CA. Apartments Association, which we all know invested heavily in the last campaign coffers of Steve Mensinger and Colin McCarthy. Nice way to make all that money back.
There were many who wondered where all the Costa Mesa restaurants were during the event. Wing Lam's Wahoos' usually shows up and Ivan Calderon's Taco Mesa is a strong City supporter recognized with a Mayors Award but the Mexican restaurant featured at the celebration was a chain from Irvine.It bothered me that Costa Mesa restaurants weren't focused on. Instead OC Taste fest focused on Orange County.....from their website...."Dozens of Orange County’s favorite restaurants will be offering unique tastes from around the globe." The booth fees for food vendors were $1000 and 30% of the gross went to the OC Taste, I have no idea if any of that money went back to the City.
Heard it was very early in the process that the committee was told they were using OC Taste Fest, it was more of an edict, than a Celebration Committee decision.
Bread and Circuses, my fellow citizens.....try not to get too distracted by the bright and shiny objects.

7/03/2013 07:36:00 AM  
Anonymous FYI said...

...and what about the VIP creds given to Howard Hull and Jim Fisler? They were not on the list of VIPs.

7/03/2013 09:09:00 AM  
Anonymous Vetting said...

Fisler is very important.
Very important to the Developer's plan to build out the rest of Costa Mesa.

7/03/2013 11:00:00 AM  
Anonymous They are mad as hell but not sure why said...

Newport Beach will put 200 cops on patrol for the 4th and yet no whinny residents are blaming city council for not having a helicopter.

I don't want to be Irvine or Newport Beach but I also don't want our whiney residents either. Always complaining. Don't spend time doing anything positive.

The same residents that say we have great employees in one sentence then bash them in another. Half the time the criticize the council it is something the employees are doing.

These angry people are so mad they can't even figure out who they are upset at. Could it be they are just mad at themselves?

7/03/2013 12:29:00 PM  
Anonymous VIP said...

Is that why as a planning commissioner Fisler voted against most projects over lack of adequate parking? he is a developer hack? He was the only one who stood up for us and it cost him the Chair of PC when McCarthy, Mensy, and Riggy were put on a demoted him. get it str8.

7/05/2013 11:19:00 AM  
Anonymous Arthur T. Nern said...

Troll re Fisler:

"He was the only one who stood up for us and it cost him the Chair of PC"

Maybe he was looking down the road to whatever rewards might be coming his way after spending huge money on "branding," then huge money on meals.

Could desalination be a factor somehow?

We don't like or trust Old Fis. He strikes us as another bootlicker and sycophant like Fitzy.

7/05/2013 01:20:00 PM  
Anonymous what a tangled web we weave...... said...

interesting thing , the fiddling and burning and all. the dots are starting to connect, our mole was correct after all. sandy, robin, Debbie, and merle: might want to start encrypting things.

7/05/2013 07:25:00 PM  
Anonymous feedin' fisler said...

yeah, fisler spent HUGE sums on meals: report shows $198.00 over two years, or around 8 dollars a month. it was Atkinson and Hall who were the big spenders and Fisler has continually called them out on it. Hall is gone thankfully.

7/08/2013 06:23:00 AM  
Blogger kwahlf said...

Gericault- I wish I had known that before I bought coupons for the OC Tastefest!
Our great CM restaurants were not there- Taco Mesa, Wahoo's, Avila's El Ranchito, etc.
How about featuring predominantly Costa Mesa restaurants for any future city celebrations?
Scott Baugh is running our city through his control of the CM City Council majority.
Enough Baugh meddling in our city!!

7/08/2013 08:38:00 PM  

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