Thursday, February 12, 2015

Pitiful Turnout For Consolidated Plan Workshop

SPARSE TURNOUT FOR WORKSHOP
The second and final community outreach workshop for the City of Costa Mesa Consolidated Plan was held tonight at the Costa Mesa Senior Center and about a dozen souls attended the presentation.  One early arrival left a few minutes into the meeting for another meeting and four people arrived a few minutes late.  We were told by those in charge that it actually doubled the turnout for the first one, but that's the one with almost no notification in advance.  In fact, in response to a question, we were told that this is an excellent turnout for a city our size.  Now, THAT is depressing!  Among the residents who turned out tonight were two former council candidates - Jay Humphrey and Tony Capitelli and Crissy Brooks Nolf, who runs a social service agency in the city that has been a recipient of CDBG funds in the past.
CONSULTANTS
Mike Linares led off the discussion with a very brief overview.  He then handed off the remainder of the very informal meeting to John Oshimo, President of GRC Associates, the consulting organization assisting the city with the preparation of this plan - a critical, esssential requirement to meet the qualifications for Federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant funding.  Among the things we learned tonight was that the funding for both Federal Grants Costa Mesa currently receives - the CDBG and HOME - is way down from previous years and is expected to drop another 7% for the 2016/2017 year.  We were told the complete slide show from this presentation will be uploaded to the City web site soon.

SURVEY PARTICIPATION IMPORTANT
The main point the consultants tried to get across was the need for residents to participate in the online survey, which can be found on the City website HERE.  The deadline for participation in the survey was to have been February 17th, but the consultants agreed to keep it open through the end of the month to provide the opportunity for more community participation.

CURRENT SURVEY RESULTS
As of tonight there had been 101 surveys completed.  Here are a few slides showing the results of the concerns of those participating.
As you can see from that final slide, the areas of greatest concern as compiled from those 101 surveys indicate that Anti-Crime Services and Homeless Services hold the top spots.

SCHEDULE
Here is the schedule of events for the completion of the Consolidated Plan:
The consultants will next meet with the Housing & Public Services Ad-Hoc Committee - the remnant of the old 3R committee - to gain their input.  That data, plus the survey data, will be combined with boilerplate information provided by HUD for the completion of the Plan.  The draft Consolidated Plan should be completed in March and be available for public review for a month.  Sometime in April the Plan will be presented to the City Council, who will adopt it and, prior to May 15, 2015, the adopted Consolidated Plan will be submitted to HUD.

PLEASE TAKE TIME TO DO THE SURVEY
I encourage you to follow that link above to the survey and complete it.  It doesn't take long.  Keep in mind, this survey is only for certain qualifying areas within the city, so follow the instructions carefully.  Thanks, in advance, for your participation.  The other nineteen people who took time out of their busy lives to attend the one of the two workshops also thank you.



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7 Comments:

Anonymous Teresa Drain said...

The Tea Party meeting at the same time was rather full. They brought out extra chairs.

They had an Fairview Park presentation with Dr. Mehren, Mr. Ernesto Munoz and Mr. Dean Abernathy. Overwhelmingly, the people wanted to keep the park as a passive, natural park.

This Fairview Park panel gave us the history on how and why the Citizens of Costa Mesa fought to purchase this land to keep it in a natural state "in perpetuity". The purchase of the land from the county was specifically to keep development, including sports fields, from being built.

The presentation came after a fascinating lesson about keeping your elected representatives from being bought out by special interests, and not falling for the destruction of our Constitutional rights by the hidden agendas disguised as "it's what the people want".

2/13/2015 12:25:00 PM  
Anonymous Where's My Coffee? said...

Teresa, that's very interesting. Deja vu all over again.

I'm wondering even if they did have a study done, and it showed everyone wanted the park left alone, would those figures really be brought forth? Remember, the council hid and manipulated the crime stats to serve their own purpose, until we discovered it. Why would we believe anything he has to say now?

2/13/2015 02:13:00 PM  
Blogger zennymoon said...

I took the survey and truly thought some data should have been supplied so that the process could have been a more informed process. How do you evaluate the need for hiv, seniors or handicap services if you don't know the per centage of the city population that is affected? An example, city is made up of 12% seniors, should their needs overshadow a greater need? Without facts, numbers, data..the survey is a guessing game...

2/14/2015 06:55:00 AM  
Anonymous Teresa Drain said...

WMC-
Good points! Why are the results of studies not
compiled until after community meetings, or after decisions are made?

Seems like there are more than a few "community input meetings" that are scheduled to conflict with regularly scheduled city meetings:

- Mesa Verde community outreach on the high density development at the former church is same night as city council.

- College Park community meeting on Group Homes and the increase in crime is on the same night as the FPCAC vote on sportsfields.

Transparency by dilution? Fooling us more than twice is just rude.

2/14/2015 11:41:00 AM  
Anonymous Casual Viewer said...

I just found out about the Mesa Verde meeting, which is at the same time as the city council meeting. It's not even on the city calendar on the website. Does anyone know what the project is about?

2/15/2015 03:43:00 PM  
Anonymous Robin Leffler said...

Yes, It's an information meeting about a proposal for a 13 house small lot development at the Christian Science Church Property 2880 Mesa Verde Drive

The developer is hosting one Tuesday at 6:30pm at 2880 MV Drive.
Mesa Verde Community Inc. is hosting one Thursday at 7pm at 1701 Baker, the Methodist Church. Everyone is welcome.

2/15/2015 10:20:00 PM  
Anonymous Robin Leffler said...

here's the Mesa Verde Community Inc announcement:

Dear Mesa Verde Neighbor,

Mesa Verde Community Inc, the volunteer home-owners association for Mesa Verde, invites you to attend an information meeting on a development proposed for 2880 Mesa Verde Drive East.

What: Info meeting about a 13 unit small-lot residential project proposal
When: Thursday February 19, 2015 7 P.M.
Where: 1701 Baker Street - the Methodist Church- in the youth lounge behind the office
Costa Mesa, California 92626

If approved by the Planning Commission and the City Council, per information provided by the developer, the small-lot project would consist of 13 two-story houses, 25' height, on lots averaging 5,000 to 5,500 sq feet, at the site of the existing First Church of Christ, Scientist. The main entrance would be on Mesa Verde Drive.

The developer’s representative will informally present their plans to the community in advance of a public hearing of the City Planning Commission, which is scheduled for February 23, 2015.

Your questions and comments are welcome.

Mesa Verde Community Inc. (MVCI)
A non-profit group established 1965 "To Inform, Educate, and Beautify Mesa Verde"

2/15/2015 10:23:00 PM  

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