CM PRESS # 423

AN OC REGISTER COLUMN ABOUT THE PROPOSED OUTSOURCING IN COSTA MESA
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Here's the most important line in the column: "[M]ore than 80 percent of the city budget goes to pay employees; the statewide average is 47 percent."

Eighty cents of every dollar goes to pay employees and the twenty percent that is left over is used to fix our roads, parks and all the rest.

Many private business owners use nationally published charts showing the percentages of  expenses that go into different aspects of their particular type of business as a way to know if something is out of whack. 

Usually, if their expenses are just a few percentage points higher than the average for the particular type of business (pool supplies, auto repair, dry cleaner, whatever) sharp business owners take action to get things in line.

In Costa Mesa, you can see that we're about 33 percent higher than the statewide average for the percent of the budget that goes to labor.

One has to wonder why that didn't raise red flags among earlier City Councils.

Here's another problem we have: Most Costa Mesa employees don't live in Costa Mesa so the money we pay them doesn't circulate here, their kids aren't in our schools, they're not living with the conditions that they help create.

Several years ago (before City Hall clammed up), the CM PRESS was able to learn that more than 75% of the cops who work here don't live here.  When we've tried to obtain more current figures, not only for the police, but for all employees, we've hit a stone wall.

Why is this a secret?  Why can't we know the percentage of employees in each department who live here?
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REPRESSIVE GERMANY ARRESTS MAN FOR RAISING ARM THE WRONG WAY
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NICE ARTICLE ON THE LHC FROM THE GUARDIAN
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THE BEST SHOW IN TOWN STARTS TOMORROW NIGHT AT 6 PM

The Costa Mesa City Council meeting tomorrow night promises to be contentious. 

Will the four strong Council members remain strong or will they get squishy when the mob tries to intimidate them into not doing what is necessary to get Costa Mesa's financial house in order?
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