Friday, July 8, 2011

CM PRESS # 553

Costa Mesa wins top award from Orange County Taxpayers Assn.

[Just in from Bill Lobdell]

COSTA MESA, CALIF.—The City of Costa Mesa received the top honor Thursday at the Orange County Taxpayers Assn.’s inaugural “Roses, Radishes and the Royalty Awards” dinner that attracted 300 people to Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel.

In giving Costa Mesa the first Rose Award, the Orange County Taxpayers Assn., also known as OCTax, stated, “By assessing its financial situation, and more importantly, by taking courageous action based on its assessment, the Costa Mesa City Council unwillingly has become a national bellwether in the metastasizing issue of the escalating cost of public employee pensions and other benefits.

“… OCTax regrets the threat of layoffs of any workers, public or private. But we are pleased that Costa Mesa (and some other cities) now recognize the unsustainability of public employee pensions and other benefits, and have found the courage to take action on it.”

Other “Rose” awards finalists were Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach; Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens; Anaheim Enterprise Zone legislative sponsors state Sen. Bob Huff and Sen. Lou Correa and Assemblyman Jose Solorio; Assn. of California Cities-Orange County; Jack Dean, founder of “Pension Tsunami” blog; Orange County Transportation Authority; Michelle Steel, vice chair of the Board of Equalization; and the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

The Orange County Taxpayers Assn., founded in 1986, describes itself as a “taxpayers’ advocate on many public policy issues in Orange County.”
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RETIRED MARINE MAYOR OF AZ. TOWN SAYS LOCAL COPS ARE CORRUPT AND THE "INSANE' POLICE CHIEF THINKS HE'S RUNNING TOWN
[Video]
Mayor also believes some on the town council are also corrupt and that some are stealing from the town.
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OFFICIAL U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE RISES TO 9.2%--REAL RATE MUCH HIGHER

Obama and his libs don't have any idea how to fix unemployment, and the midgets on the GOP side running for president seem equally in the dark.

Hey Republicans here's what you need to say and run on:

If I'm elected president, I'm going to put America back to work.  I'll do this by re-industrializing America.  We simply have to begin making things and growing things again.  We have to stop thinking that if we add paper pusher jobs, we're creating basic wealth.

America must compete with the rest of the world and not just be a consumer of what the rest of the world makes.

etc.
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THE CM PRESS SCHOOL OF FISTICUFFS

Check out this video of undefeated Russian heavyweight Aleksandr Povetkin HERE.

Notice how Povetkin relies on left and right hooks to the neck area under the ear of some of his opponents for his knockouts rather than the traditional right cross knockout punch.  See 3:03,  7:19, 7:30, 7:48 and 8:41 in the video. Also  notice how he almost always follows up a left or right hook with just the opposite hook and how the second hook is thrown almost automatically.

Whether Povetkin consciously realizes it or not, he's fighting opponents based on genetic strengths and weaknesses.  We suggested this genetic strategy several years ago in one of our national columns.

Genes are us.
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DAILY PILOT ARTICLE ON CITY LEGAL COSTS MISLEADS

The important sentence in the above article is this one:

"When Costa Mesa used in-house legal services before Jones & Mayer, annual costs before adding litigation ranged from $700,000 to $860,000, records show." (emphasis added)

"[B]efore adding litigation..." Huh?  You have to add litigation to be comparing apples and apples.

To get the true costs of what legal services used to cost Costa Mesa as compared to what they cost now, one has to add in the litigation costs.

In the past, in-house legal counsel used to farm out almost all litigation to outside law firms.  Those costs need to be added to the in-house bills to get an accurate look at legal costs.

Jones & Mayer, by contrast, apparently handles litigation themselves. So when you compare apples and apples, the city is more than likely saving money with Jones & Mayer.

This doesn't mean, however, that the City Council shouldn't try to hold down legal costs.

The CM PRESS is pleased to see watchdogs in the press and elsewhere constantly looking at expenses and asking intelligent questions of local government.  In fact, we think that's what the New Council is also doing--they are asking questions of the status quo government that has constantly grown here in Costa Mesa under past lefty City Councils that just rubber stamped everything.

But, you may say, "Hey CM PRESS, how can that be?  The New Council is part of government, yet you're saying that the New Council is asking questions of government?"

Here's your answer.  Government is essentially a line and staff organization.  The line is composed of the elected officials.  They come and go each election year.  The staff is composed of the employees.  They remain year after year.

The line initiates.  The staff implements. 

At least, that's the way it's supposed to work.  However, as is often the case, organizations sometimes get a weak line (as in some past City Councils in Costa Mesa), and when that happens, the staff, which follows nature's law of survival and expansion, simply does what comes naturally, and works to preserve the status quo and grow.

This New City Council, as opposed to some passive former Councils, has now jumped into the driver's seat and is controlling the direction and speed of where the City is going.
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Those are our opinions.  Thanks for reading them.

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