Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Charter Committee Meeting Tonight, And More

BACK AT IT AGAIN
The Costa Mesa Charter Committee will meet again tonight at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) adjacent to the Police Headquarters on Fair Drive at 6:00 p.m.  As has been the case in past such meetings, the proceedings will be facilitated by Dr. Kirk Bauermeister and Dr. Mike Decker.

WILL HE OR WON'T HE?
The agenda for this meeting can be found HERE.  Since that pesky "moment of silence" is on the agenda again, I'm going to be interested in seeing if Tea Party Tom Pollitt still insists on having an invocation.  As I've said many times, no other committee or commission for that matter, has an invocation.  None of the committees even say the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.

CONTRACTS AND PREVAILING WAGE
The committee is still working its way through the Public Contracts segment of the agenda elements they agreed upon at an earlier meeting.  This time they will have in their hands a letter from Director of Public Services, Ernesto Munoz, which answers many of the questions asked earlier, primarily about how our current bidding process works and the prevailing wage issue.  You can read that staff report HERE.  This is an interesting, brief yet thorough, summary of how contracts are handled by the City currently and is especially interesting and timely considering the rumors swirling around town over the past several days regarding expenses for the 60th Anniversary Celebration.

IF YOU CARE, COME TO THE MEETING
These meetings usually last until around 9:00 p.m., with a break or two, depending on the agenda.  For those seriously interested in the evolution of a possible charter for this city, attendance at these meetings can be very informative.  And, if you wish to address the committee, each speaker will be given two minutes to present a view to them.  Each of the volunteers seem sincere about their participation and, in a few cases,  the personal bias they brought with them into this process is beginning to coagulate into impatient requests.  It's going to be very interesting to see how Bauermeister and Decker "facilitate" this issue.

A HECK OF A BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
So, I'll spend my birthday evening plunked down on a fairly uncomfortable chair, listening to a group of folks being facilitated.  Then I'll write to you about my impressions of the evening.  Sound like fun?  Nah, I don't think so, either.  Assuming we get the fire permit for all those candles, my cake will come Thursday, when my sweet and very patient wife will drag me to a favorite restaurant to celebrate six dozen years.  Happy Birthday to me... again.

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24 Comments:

Anonymous volunteers: thanks said...

this citizen involvement is just another in a long line of council improvements by the boyz. it is the mark of good governance. of course there are still some who decry it because they say it is filled with council supporters! gee, should we fill it with haters?
each council member gets to select members and/or vote on others. some are drawn from a hat. some people are just natural gripers, either have too much time on their hands, feel superior, or just lead miserable lives feeling unimportant and need press and tv time. easy to spot them: they have very trivial input but are long winded in delivering it. or they repeat the same thing week after week, no new material. sometimes they are obsessed with a single word that was used such as "we" and are not even embarrassed about it. don't their friends tell them how rigdiculous they look?

8/14/2013 06:03:00 AM  
Anonymous permanent manboy said...

this citizen involvement is another in a long series of hustles by the developer, the phony badge waving bully and other minions of rich people in Newport beach who got these fools to help sell out costa mesa its a lot more fun to lick boots than find real full time work and support my family then I go to the dive and get even dumber thanks mom and dad for putting me thru a good school I bet your really proud of what I've become

8/14/2013 08:18:00 AM  
Anonymous Get the Raid said...

volunteers, or maybe they just don't feel the need to soil themselves around the flies that continually buzz around Riggy's head. (uh...that would be you!)

If you don't want the gripers and complainers, then you should involve all of the city residents, not just your friends. DUH! That isn't rocket science...volunteers must be Steve.

8/14/2013 08:22:00 AM  
Anonymous Costa Mesa deserves more... said...

Lipstick on a pig. Good governance starts with humbling yourself as a public servant and working for consensus with not only your fellow council members but also the community so everyone sees and understands the vision and goal. Wasn't done, never going to be done.
Our community will see this for what it is and vote accordingly. Telling them that it had a "committee", had "facilitators", and had everyone's favorite attorney, will not mask that it is 1) still not needed and 2) will give too much power to those that already play fast and loose with the rules.
The excuse of "local control" is only used by those who are always the victim and yern for some power to dictate their will/philosophy. Costa Mesa is not a City needing leadership by dictatorship, never has - never will. Those who choose this line of reasoning, don't know, don't care and don't understand Costa Mesa - all of Costa Mesa. It is however a City needing solid, mindful, humble leaders who don't carelessly use the dias to grand stand, be rude to any member of our community, or who see fellow residents as "haters" because they disagree.
BTW - those who use the term "hater" do realize that you yourself are hating and thereby are also a "hater". For everyone else, look at the bigger picture - continuning to communicate like this will only breed a divided community. I don't think that is what any of us want for our city.
Time for change and a return to humbleness. For the council majority, hit the road, your time is done.

8/14/2013 08:24:00 AM  
Blogger Mike H. said...

He can't hear you, "CM deserves more". He never will.

8/14/2013 09:00:00 AM  
Anonymous Jim Rizzoheimer said...

I have stacked the charter committee with trolls who will do what I want.

8/14/2013 09:01:00 AM  
Anonymous Mary Ann O'Connell said...

Happy birthday, Geoff and thanks for sharing it with us on the committee.

8/14/2013 09:25:00 AM  
Anonymous Pay Attention Righeimer said...

"In the following weeks, the Grande Armée underwent catastrophic blows from the onset of the Russian Winter, the lack of supplies and constant guerilla warfare by Russian peasants and irregular troops. When the remnants of Napoleon's army crossed the Berezina River in November, only 27,000 fit soldiers remained; the Grand Armée had lost some 380,000 men dead and 100,000 captured.[9] Napoleon then abandoned his men and returned to Paris to protect his position as Emperor."

8/14/2013 11:27:00 AM  
Anonymous Citizen said...

Best line ever:

"...citizen involvement is another in a long series of hustles by the developer..."

Thanks for confirming that involved citizens lead to better government. Quiet, complacent citizens lead to horrible contracts and complacency.

8/14/2013 11:56:00 AM  
Blogger kwahlf said...

Happy Birthday, Geoff!
Thank you for all your hard work, research and for reporting the news in our community.

8/14/2013 01:08:00 PM  
Anonymous Truthout said...

Troll:

"Best line ever:
...citizen involvement is another in a long series of hustles by the developer..."

Liar. The post reads "THIS citizen involvement."

As in a hand-picked, stacked-deck committee chosen by the Developer to reach a pre-ordained result.

Like your master, you twist facts and tell untruths to advance your agenda.

One more offense in a long series of hustles.

Are your parents proud of what you've accomplished and become since they spent all that money on your education?

Are you proud of what your family has experienced because of your behavior?

8/14/2013 01:35:00 PM  
Blogger kwahlf said...

Truthout,

I'd like to add one more question to BOMOPs,

Are your supporters proud of what you do here on Geoff's blog?
That would include all the CM Planning Commissioners.

8/14/2013 01:45:00 PM  
Anonymous MV said...

I'm so amused by the term 'planning commissioner,' as it would seem to imply some sort of planning ability. Our guys have none.

8/14/2013 02:40:00 PM  
Anonymous use super powers for good said...

So Kwahlf we give up. What secret sense do you have to identify anonymous bloggers?

Can you help us?

we are trying to figure out which disgruntled police officers come here to stir up emotions during contract negotiations and once we know who they are do they post on company time?

And we are trying to figure out who are the deep throat employees.

Can you please use your extraordinary powers to help us too?

8/14/2013 03:05:00 PM  
Blogger kwahlf said...

So, "super powers"
according to you outing our city employees here
so you can further target and harass them would be using power "for good"?

You're on your own,

8/14/2013 03:36:00 PM  
Anonymous lance boil said...

citizen involvement is a good thing. some citizens don't like other citizens but that does not matter. citizens are getting involved at the invite of council. btw, there are two women on council. how did the miss the joyce problem? (IF there is one) just riggy is at fault?
thanks to the citizens who give up their time to help make costa mesa a better place. the brand is strong, home sales up, city income up. but the libs "see bell" around every corner. what an old, stupid line from an old grumpy guy. all our spending is online. salaries are online. this is Bell? do some research. size, type, good, hold.(I needed four more words to get paid alf)

8/14/2013 06:13:00 PM  
Blogger kwahlf said...

To "Super powers",
Are you the one who keeps ragging on Geoff for not complaining about the city employees posting under anonymous usernames here?
Seriously? You don't see why they would want to stay anonymous? You see no difference between them and a paid troll?

See my first reply to you- it's for the same reason.
The current political climate at CM City Hall is very tense. The councildudes created this and run their show using fear,intimidation and retaliation.

8/14/2013 07:28:00 PM  
Anonymous Troll Tracker said...

Troll:
"see bell" around every corner. what an old, stupid line from an old grumpy guy."

We'll take an old grump over a young drunk any day.

8/14/2013 10:00:00 PM  
Blogger Ocpublicsquare said...

Happy birthday Geoff! I appreciate your hard work. It's always encouraging to me to see you sitting in your seat taking notes at the back of the council chambers even until the wee hours. But I know you still have to write your blog when you get home. That's dedication. I know you love Costa Mesa too. Have a healthy, happy year.

8/14/2013 10:44:00 PM  
Blogger kwahlf said...

To lance,

The term 'Costa Mesa brand' is as ludicrous as calling our city a business. We don't have CEOs, we have City Managers.
We are not a business, a product or a "brand"!
We have been, are and always will be a city.

8/14/2013 11:29:00 PM  
Anonymous MV said...

'Our Brand is Strong' - we're not selling Tide here, folks.

8/15/2013 10:45:00 AM  
Anonymous let us end this once and for all said...

kwahlf,

I guess we understand you refuse to use your super powers to help identify current and retired pd that comment here. OK

But, maybe you could help out the unions?

Where is Jimmy Hoffa?

8/15/2013 03:02:00 PM  
Blogger kwahlf said...

Troll, your version,
"to help identify current and retired pd that comment here."
Translation,
to out city employees,specifically current and retired CM Police officers so they can be further targeted and harassed by Mensinger & Co.

Seriously, "refuse" "help identify"?? Wow-Who do you think you are- the FBI? Get over yourself!
Mensinger, are you breathing down their necks while they try to do their work? I understand that's your MO and you're infamous for it.
That's arrogance and megalomania at its best.

Are you done here or do you want to continue posting your redundant drivel, making yourself look oh so foolish?

8/15/2013 08:59:00 PM  
Anonymous Recruiter said...

Mensy needs full time W-2 work. Good thing there are "characters in Anaheim," or he woulda been back in Stockton by now..

8/16/2013 08:54:00 AM  

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