ALL FIVE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS AGREE THAT ONE OF THEIR TOP PRIORITIES IS FIXING POTHOLES.
HUH?
THAT'S LEADERSHIP?
Say you own a company that is losing market share to competitors and you hire a new guy to turn things around.
Would you be concerned if the new guy then tells you that his highest priority will be to change the light bulbs in the restrooms? Would you question his priorities and his leadership abilities?
At the City Council study session held yesterday (2/13) all five City Councilmembers put fixing streets (read potholes) at or near the top of their priority list for this year.
Now, we at the CM PRESS dislike potholes as much as the next guy--they screw up the CM PRESSMOBILE--but two things come to mind in this regard.
First, fixing potholes and similar things is routine maintenance. We have city employees, led by a very competent and very much on top of things City Manager, who handle these things.
Second, when we spend $ 251,104 for a City Council--which is what the Council costs us each year in salaries, benefits, etc.--we should expect bigger things.
Sure, the Council should push staff to fix potholes, if they're not being fixed, but that's about a five minute conversation. End of issue. Move on to the next one.
Now, we aren't naive at the CM PRESS and we understand that saying you want to fix potholes is a safe political thing to say and gets a nod of approval from some in the city. After all, who would complain that potholes are being fixed?
However, in the larger scheme of things, fixing potholes is little more than window dressing. It's like kissing babies. This is the sort of thing we would expect from Katrina Foley and Linda Dixon who never seem to come up with anything substantive, but we expect more from the Council majority.
Could we please have some Generals along with some Privates? Could we please have some leaders who will take on some of the more difficult issues and who will improve this city in major ways?
Costa Mesa needs a major transformation to be the great city that it should be. To do this is going to require some heavy lifting on the part of the City Council and it's going to require leadership and courage.
The liberal establishment in Costa Mesa is against improvement. Oh, members of this group, who have been calling the shots here for at least two decades, will say they want improvement, but when you hit them with the actual things we need to do to improve this city, they demur and then begin calling names.
So, what are some of these big issues that are worthy of the time and effort of the City Council--of leaders? Well, in our opinion, they include:
1. Undergrounding the 55. This is already being talked about, but the Council needs to keep pushing.
2. Find an alternate location to John Wayne Airport. Most people are still just talking about capping flights at JWA. This is a losing strategy and a big mistake. It is nothing but a finger in the dike.
3. Revive the Marina idea.
4. Remove or thin out the functionally obsolete buildings that are breeding grounds for gangs and crime.
5. Help the Westside Bluffs evolve to more residential uses.
6. Encourage more high end commercial development along West 19th Street, West 17th Street, and along Placentia.
True leaders would be thinking about some of these big things, while not letting the small things go unattended, and they'd be using the power of their offices to get the conversation started about these things and in trying to forge public/private partnerships to get some of them done if appropriate.
# # #
YOUTH PROGRAM
In the story today in the Daily Pilot about Katrina Foley's muddled Youth Program idea, Jennifer Perry, who is described as "Estancia High School government teacher" is quoted as saying: "I'm so disappointed to hear that members of our community don't want our youth participating in government."
No, Ms. Perry, that's nonsense. No one is saying that they don't want our youth participating in government.
What some people are saying, however, is that this program doesn't make much sense. Our youth can participate just as all other people participate. They can attend meetings. They can write letters. They can speak out. They don't need to be patronized with a feel good program.
And, why isn't the school district, that pays you, Ms. Perry, paying for and teaching civics as it should be? It's not the job of the municipal government to pay for this.
In fact, Ms. Perry, Foley's plan is so confused that it is not clear whether it's supposed to be an official city committee or a civics club or a group hug.
If it's supposed to be an official city committee, then the City Council needs to set it up and it needs to have a proper purpose and it needs to be under the same rules as all other official city committees. If it's supposed to be a civics club, then the school district should set it up and fund it on school property. If it's supposed to be a group hug, then the students can do that all on their own.
# # #
AND SPEAKING OF KATRINA FOLEY...
The CM PRESS was at the City Council study session where the above mentioned Youth Program was discussed. We saw, maybe, five students there and a couple of them spoke about the program.
Then, later, the CM PRESS went to the School Board meeting where there was a discussion about reconfiguring the schools. And, Katrina Foley showed up. Foley told the Board that she had just come from the Study Session where the City Council heard the opinions of eighteen students. Maybe Ms. Foley is not good at counting.
FOLEY SAYS SOMETHING STUPID
Ms. Foley also told the school board that they should stop intradistrict transfers of students.
Frankly, that would be a mistake. What's happening now in Costa Mesa is that upwardly mobile people are still buying homes in Costa Mesa neighborhoods with failing schools only because they don't have to put their kids in their local schools, but can enroll them in Newport Beach schools.
If parents are forced to put their kids in bad schools in Costa Mesa, you can expect an increase in the flight out of this city of upwardly mobile citizens.
# # #
Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.
# # #
Here's our link:
http://cmpress.blogspot.com/
-30-
