...FROM LAST NIGHT'S CITY COUNCIL MEETING
Senior Center
At public comments, the husband part of a husband and wife team of local activist residents told the Council that they're not pleased with the way an elderly senior citizen is being treated by the Costa Mesa Senior Corporation (CMSC).
Senior Center
At public comments, the husband part of a husband and wife team of local activist residents told the Council that they're not pleased with the way an elderly senior citizen is being treated by the Costa Mesa Senior Corporation (CMSC).
He then read a harsh sounding letter sent by Katrina Foley's law firm to the elderly widow. You read that right. City Councilmember Katrina Foley's law firm represents the CMSC.
The CMSC is the same corporation that doesn't want city oversight and doesn't want Councilmember Wendy Leece to look at what's going on over there. It's also the same corporation that has some of Foley's political pals on the board.
The wife part of the team then read a letter from the elderly widow's attorney sent in response to the letter from Foley's firm.
What it means: Our guess is that the Council may take a serious look at the Senior Center. Remember, CMSC occupies a City owned building at 695 W. 19th Street for a buck a year, and also gets a pile of tax payer money each year.
Some citizens believe the City could run the place better and cheaper if it just took over the building and ran it with Parks and Recreation Dept. employees along with help from volunteer seniors.
The CMSC is the same corporation that doesn't want city oversight and doesn't want Councilmember Wendy Leece to look at what's going on over there. It's also the same corporation that has some of Foley's political pals on the board.
The wife part of the team then read a letter from the elderly widow's attorney sent in response to the letter from Foley's firm.
What it means: Our guess is that the Council may take a serious look at the Senior Center. Remember, CMSC occupies a City owned building at 695 W. 19th Street for a buck a year, and also gets a pile of tax payer money each year.
Some citizens believe the City could run the place better and cheaper if it just took over the building and ran it with Parks and Recreation Dept. employees along with help from volunteer seniors.
And, in this last regard, many of our seniors don't want to just sit and watch the grass grow or join the latest conga line. They want to volunteer their time in meaningful pursuits such as helping other seniors.
If we understand things correctly, the senior widow mentioned above was a volunteer at the senior center but ran afoul of the corporation for some reason and she wasn't allowed to volunteer any longer.
Apparently, her volunteering was an extremely important part of her life such that by not allowing her to volunteer, she suffered a psychological shock as she was stripped of the meaning and purpose in her life. That's not the way we want our seniors treated.
The reason we have a Senior Center in Costa Mesa is to serve the seniors. It does not exist to serve the people running it.
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Fireworks and phony overtime
Councilmember Leece clarified her position on fireworks in the City and said the widely reported proposed 20% "tax" on fireworks booth profits to pay for extra police and fire services during the 4th of July celebrations was only an example and could actually be from 1% to whatever it takes to defer City costs.
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Fireworks and phony overtime
Councilmember Leece clarified her position on fireworks in the City and said the widely reported proposed 20% "tax" on fireworks booth profits to pay for extra police and fire services during the 4th of July celebrations was only an example and could actually be from 1% to whatever it takes to defer City costs.
Ms. Leece's position is that the citizens of the City shouldn't shoulder the costs and that those actually taking in the money for the fireworks should.
There's a column in today's Daily Pilot from Planning Commissioner Stephen Mensinger (writing as a private citizen) taking Leece to task on the issue. LINK
Be sure to read Mensinger's column. He makes some good points, not so much on the fireworks themselves, but on the "phony overtime" being paid to some City employees. This gets to the heart of Ms. Leece's concerns about costs to citizens.
We can tell you that more than a few citizens aren't pleased with the phony overtime.
The CM PRESS has seen the records of how much each one of our employees makes, and we have to tell you we were pissed off when we saw the overtime that one arrogant jerk of an employee makes as he sits on his fat ass and sneers at citizens when they try to get service.
As we reported before, we have employees who make more than $ 60,000 per year just in
overtime.
Maybe some of these employees wouldn't need overtime if they actually lived in Costa Mesa like the people who pay them, instead of in more expensive cities.
You just know that some of these employees are going to their department heads and saying things such as: "I just bought a new home in Newport Beach with an ocean view and I have a high mortgage payment. Can I have more overtime?"
And the reply: "Oh sure, just fill out all your paperwork when you're off your shift. And, take your time."
One of our experiences with lousy service and possible overtime
Not long ago, the CM PRESS tried to get the CMPD--that had ten officers standing around doing nothing but talking to each other after a local incident was finished--simply send one of the ten jawboning officers to give a warning to some people who were in their plain sight and who were violating a minor law that was screwing up the neighborhood.
There's a column in today's Daily Pilot from Planning Commissioner Stephen Mensinger (writing as a private citizen) taking Leece to task on the issue. LINK
Be sure to read Mensinger's column. He makes some good points, not so much on the fireworks themselves, but on the "phony overtime" being paid to some City employees. This gets to the heart of Ms. Leece's concerns about costs to citizens.
We can tell you that more than a few citizens aren't pleased with the phony overtime.
The CM PRESS has seen the records of how much each one of our employees makes, and we have to tell you we were pissed off when we saw the overtime that one arrogant jerk of an employee makes as he sits on his fat ass and sneers at citizens when they try to get service.
As we reported before, we have employees who make more than $ 60,000 per year just in
overtime.
Maybe some of these employees wouldn't need overtime if they actually lived in Costa Mesa like the people who pay them, instead of in more expensive cities.
You just know that some of these employees are going to their department heads and saying things such as: "I just bought a new home in Newport Beach with an ocean view and I have a high mortgage payment. Can I have more overtime?"
And the reply: "Oh sure, just fill out all your paperwork when you're off your shift. And, take your time."
One of our experiences with lousy service and possible overtime
Not long ago, the CM PRESS tried to get the CMPD--that had ten officers standing around doing nothing but talking to each other after a local incident was finished--simply send one of the ten jawboning officers to give a warning to some people who were in their plain sight and who were violating a minor law that was screwing up the neighborhood.
It would have taken about three minutes to do this. And, the violators were within a short walking distance. The cops wouldn't even have had to drive. Hell, they could have shouted to the perps.
We asked for this service in the correct way by calling the CMPD at (714) 754-5252 in addition to actually pointing out the violation to an officer on the scene. The officer saw the violation. And, we even told the officer the CMMC section that was being violated in case she didn't know the law.
We asked for this service in the correct way by calling the CMPD at (714) 754-5252 in addition to actually pointing out the violation to an officer on the scene. The officer saw the violation. And, we even told the officer the CMMC section that was being violated in case she didn't know the law.
While it was a clear violation of the law, and citations could have been issued, all we were asking was that the cops educate and politely warn the violators about the law.
What did the Duty Officer on the other end of the phone at police headquarters tell us? He said, with phony and overly exaggerated smarmy politeness, that was really thinly disguised rudeness, that he wouldn't have any of his officers stop the violation.
What did the Duty Officer on the other end of the phone at police headquarters tell us? He said, with phony and overly exaggerated smarmy politeness, that was really thinly disguised rudeness, that he wouldn't have any of his officers stop the violation.
He told us that all the officers would eventually go back to the station and our call would come up in the normal rotation. Then, someone would respond if an officer was available.
So, after the cops were all finished talking about their personal lives to each other (we actually overheard some of their conversations), they got back in their police cars and we watched them all leave the scene while the violation we reported continued.
As far as we know, no cops ever responded to our call.
How much overtime did those ten cops get for not doing anything? And, why is the CMPD keeping rude cops on the force who refuse to serve the public?
Well, we know part of the answer. We have a few unprofessional cops on the CMPD who are overly political and we have some who have contempt for citizens and activists--including contempt for some City Councilmembers.
Don't get us wrong. Most of our cops seem to be professional and seem honest. But there are some bad eggs in the department.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.
