IT'S THE BUILDING THAT MATTERS
Here's a link to a letter from a Barbara Galkin of IRVINE, who says the Costa Mesa Senior Center is swell.
Galkin also repeats the line that the City of Costa Mesa only pays one-third of the expenses of the center.
This one-third business is one of the lines that those who oppose oversight from the Costa Mesa City Council (not the Irvine City Council, by the way) constantly use in a PR attempt to convince the City Council that it shouldn't have anything to do with complaints from our senior citizens and shouldn't have any oversight over the Senior Center.
Here's the reality
The Costa Mesa Senior Corporation--the company hired by the City of Costa Mesa to run the Costa Mesa Senior Center for the City on a contractual basis--not only receives direct monetary funding from the City of Costa Mesa, but also occupies a prime building owned by the City of Costa Mesa and is only charged a dollar a year in rent. The City also provides maintenance and janitorial services for the building free of charge.
The building is where the value lies
It seems to us that without that perfectly located and virtually free building at 695 West 19th Street, which is directly across the street from Bethel Towers with all its senior citizens, that it would be difficult for any corporation to operate a viable Senior Center in Costa Mesa.
Thus, the contribution from the City of Costa Mesa is far more valuable than just the oft repeated one-third monetary contribution. It is the essential contribution of the building that is important.
Of course, if the board of the Costa Mesa Senior Corporation doesn't want the City involved, they can vacate the City owned building and try to find another facility in the private sector.
If that were to happen, our guess is that the City of Costa Mesa might put some parks and recreation employees into the building to run the Senior Center or would have people waiting in line to get the same deal that the Costa Mesa Senior Corporation is getting.
Hopefully, the Costa Mesa Senior Corporation board will agree to the committee idea of Councilmember Monahan, will allow City Council oversight, and will answer Mayor Pro Tem Leece's reasonable questions concerning complaints and operations.
Here's a link to the Senior Center's web site, which has apparently been updated recently.
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LIFE ON MARS?
According to a new report from NASA, there's a lot of methane on Mars. Methane is produced by living things and by some natural processes such as the oxidation of iron.
In the latter category, and given the reddish color of Mars, the methane could just be from rust.
It might also be that this speculation about life being floated by NASA may be because the agency is nervous about funding with a new administration about to take office in Washington and wanted to get this story out there to show that what it is doing is important and should be funded.
If there is life, it is more than likely microbial and lives deep underground. The importance of finding life on Mars is in an analysis of its DNA or whatever passes for DNA. If it does possess DNA and if the DNA is close to what we find on Earth, then it may give credence to the theory of panspermia as well as many other things.
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INVENTOR OF BIRTH CONTROL PILL NOT HAPPY WITH EUROPEAN DEMOGRAPHIC CATASTROPHE
Humans who do not reproduce die out. LINK
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.
