WANT MORE EFFICIENT GOVERNMENT AND INSTITUTIONS? ASK "WHY?"
In Costa Mesa, the Improvers have been asking "Why?" since they first came on the scene with their principle of constant improvement. And, they continue to do so both as elected officials and as private citizens.
It turns out the Japanese have been doing the same thing, and this has caught the attention of American politicians now that they have to live within shrinking budgets. LINK
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YET ANOTHER LETTER ABOUT THE SENIOR CENTER
Here's the LINK to a letter in the Katrina Foley Almost Daily Daily Pilot from Judy Lindsay who wants the KFADDP to remember love in discussing the Senior Center.
When last heard from, Ms. Lindsay was mentioned in the KFADDP with this line: "Lindsay said she was offended by [Mayor Pro Tem] Leece’s claim that the center needs stricter financial oversight." Here's the LINK to the original article.
ASK WHY
Why are so many people "offended" when our Mayor Pro Tem asks for transparency?
Why are so many people against having Ms. Leece on the Senior Center board?
Why do so many people not want salaries made public? It's a matter of public record that the highest annual salary at the Senior Center is $81,255 with an additional $4,875 for benefits for that person.
Why do some "friends" of the Senior Center sound so arrogant and why are they insulting Ms. Leece?
Don't they realize that the City Council can cut off the City's annual "gift" of $240,00 (going up to $ 245,000 next year) and can evict the present Senior Center Corporation from the building at 695 West 19th Street that is owned by the citizens of Costa Mesa? Don't they realize that another corporation can be formed to run the Senior Center?
Why do so many people apparently not want the City Council to investigate complaints from seniors?
DON'T BE CONFUSED BY SIMILAR TERMS
As we previously reported, the entity running the Senior Center and occupying the Senior Center Building at 695 West 19th Street is a 501(c)3 Corporation named the Costa Mesa Senior Corporation (CMSC). CMSC is not part of City government.
CMSC is a tenant of the City of Costa Mesa and is leasing the building at 695 West 19th Street from the City of Costa Mesa for a buck a year.
If the City Council or CMSC are not pleased with each other, either party may cancel the lease and the agreement. Then, CMSC can go find another building someplace and the City can lease out the building to another Corporation to run the Senior Center or do whatever else the City Council wants to do with the building. Art museum? College classes? Who knows? It's a prime property.
IF WE WERE THE CMSC
If we were the CMSC we'd be trying to cool the intemperate remarks from some who seem to want to turn this into a battle between the CMSC and the City Council. It appears to us that the City Council has all the leverage.
It's time to mend fences, to have transparency, to invite Ms.Leece and some others to be voting members on the board, and to investigate complaints.
It's also time to make sure that our seniors are getting the best service possible and that the citizens of Costa Mesa are getting the most for their money.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.
