CM PRESS # 495

WHAT TO DO WITH TRIANGLE SQUARE

Had we been active when the City Council back then was considering approving building Triangle Square, you would have seen us go to the podium and say to the Council: "Are you out of your friggin' minds?"

Triangle Square should never have been built as a retail center.  It just doesn't work.

And, the facility will never be a money maker for its owners unless certain things happen or are done.

Here's what we would say to those who want to make Triangle Square work.

1. If it is to remain a retail center, the 55 Freeway has to be undergrounded and the area up above--which is now a busy street--has to be turned into a pedestrian friendly square.  Maybe with no cars at all. 

Then, the area from the present Mother's Market to Triangle Square would turn into a prosperous Town Square for Costa Mesa (assuming proper traffic circulation elements and parking are added on the fringes).

Unfortunately, undergrounding the 55 with present economics is way off in the future, if at all.

2.  Triangle Square could be turned into a college. 

3.  Triangle Square could be turned into office space. Maybe even a new City Hall for Costa Mesa, and the present City Hall could be sold to Vanguard University, which wants that building as part of its campus.

Or, maybe we could get the DMV to move from W. 19th Street to Triangle Square and free up its 19th Street site for a proper retail center or supermarket.

Options 2 and 3 get around the problem with the underground parking, because students or those working in the offices or going to those offices would have little choice but to park in the caverns--which is something that retail customers, who have a choice, prefer not to do.
#                  #                       #
Those are our opinions.  Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 494

SEVERAL DAY OLD ARTICLE IN THE DAILY PILOT ABOUT WASTE WATCHERS
Link

We meant to write a few lines about this before, but it got lost in the shuffle.  Frankly, we're all for this idea. 

We can't tell you how many City Council meetings we've gone to over the past few years in which one of our main purposes in going was to castigate various City Councils for spending like drunken sailors.

But, it wasn't just spending per se that got our goat, it was the lack of proper priorities to fix our city.

We're of the fish hook instead of a fish view on this and we want the City Council to spend money on fish hooks, not on fish.

Hopefully, the employee group behind this will even start a blog or website to point out where our money is being wasted. 

Who better to spot waste than those on the inside?
#                         #                         #
GOOD SCHOOL ARTICLE IN THE DAILY PILOT
Link

From the DP article: "The five lowest-scoring elementary schools [in the district] — Adams (768), College Park (743), Pomona (725), Whittier (722), Rea (712) and Wilson (718) — are in Costa Mesa."

The truth about school scores is that they are based on how the students score.  They have very little, if anything, to do with  funding, the teachers or the school buildings.

The high scoring schools, which are all in Newport Beach, have about the same funding, the same quality of teachers and the same type of school buildings as the low scoring schools in Costa Mesa.

If you have students who score well on standardized tests, the school scores are higher.

And, when you have an upscale area, full of students from upwardly mobile parents who live in those areas, you usually have students who perform better on the tests.

#                        #                            #
A CAMEL IS A HORSE DESIGNED BY A COMMITTEE

While the CM PRESS has been calling for the City Council and the Planning Commission to dust off the Westside plans and implement them, we have to tell you that there are some possible mistakes in those plans that should not be implemented.

How did possible mistakes get into the plans?  They were the result of various compromises made by the committee members--most of whom didn't know anything about how to develop retail shopping areas so retailers can make money.

We do not need more Triangle Squares all up and down W. 19th Street.

Here's a few basics that you need to know about the optimum way to design small retail shopping centers in our area:

1. Retail stores have be on the ground floor.
2. Proper parking should be out front, not in the rear, and not underground.
3. There has to be a proper tenant mix.
4. Ingress and egress must be via wide curb cuts.
5. The parking lots should not be cut up with too much foliage, but should remain as flat and open as possible.

The problem we have with W. 19th Street, as we've written before, is that the lots are mostly very shallow and won't allow for proper parking out front (# 2 above).

The solution is to either find a way to make those lots deeper and then assemble several of them with frontage on W. 19th Street or to try to make a Belmont Shore model work.

Belmont Shore, as you probably know, is a trendy, upscale, neighborhood in Long Beach with the main retail drag being 2nd Street.

The retail stores in Belmont Shore are all right on the sidewalk and the parking is either in front along the curb, in back in small lots, or up and down the residential streets that back up to 2nd Street.

Belmont Shore works primarily because of the upscale demographics of the area. And these demographics overcome any negatives relating to parking and design.

Could the Belmont Shore model work on W. 19th Street?

Possibly, but many other changes would have to happen in the surrounding neighborhoods or the retailers would probably starve.

DEMOGRAPHIC REPORTS

Say you're the owner of a successful retail store, bar or restaurant someplace and you want to expand.

How would you pick a new location?  Throw darts at a map?  Just guess?

If you're a sophisticated retailer, you'll first find out the demographics surrounding your present successful location and then look for another area that has very similar demographics.

Fortunately, there are such reports for all areas of the country.  You can usually get those reports in one mile, three mile and five mile circles, with the one mile circle being your primary market.

So, if you have a business in Belmont Shore, would you find the demographics around W. 19th Street similar to Belmont Shore?  The answer is no.

But, say you have a pawn shop or a second hand store in a downscale area, would you find similar demographics around W. 19th Street?  The answer is yes.

You see the problem.
#                   #                              #
Those are our opinons. Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 493

PLANNING COMMISSION TO DISCUSS THE WESTSIDE PLANS AT ITS 5/23 STUDY SESSION
Link

The CM PRESS has been urging the City Council and the Planning Commission to dust off the Westside plans that many of us worked on and to see if they can start being more aggressive in implementing them.

This discussion sounds like it may be a good first step. 

What the Commissioners do after this step is even more important.  

For example, one good thing the Commissioners could do is make a strong recommendation to the City Council to hold its own or a joint City Council/Planning Commission meeting on implementing these plans. 

A significant part of these plans involves revitalizing W. 19th Street and making it a destination location. 

However, one of the problems with W. 19th Street is that many of the lots are too shallow to accommodate new development even if lots are assembled.

Maybe the City Council and the Planning Commission will have some ideas on how to get around this problem.
#                    #                       #
HISPANIC GANG FIGHT ON WESTSIDE--TWO STABBED--TWO ARRESTED
Link

Unless the City Council gets serious about fixing the Westside, we're going to see more gang crime and we're going to see the crime spread all over the city.

Here's what to do to fix the Westside:  Hire more cops.  Drain the friggin' swamp.  What does that mean?  It means buy slum buildings, tear them down, and put in pocket parks.  It also means stop feeding the charities that are acting as magnets for a down scale population.

Let's start competing for upwardly mobile residents by improving the Westside.
#                              #                         #
[UPDATE ON AZ STORY:  Cash pouring in to build fence.  HERE'S WHERE YOU CAN DONATE.]
-----------------------------
AZ FED UP WITH DO NOTHING FEDS IS GOING TO BUILD ITS OWN BORDER FENCE USING ON LINE DONATIONS AND PRISON LABOR
Link
#                     #                      #
PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING TONIGHT
Link to agenda.

What's important on the agenda is what isn't there--applications for trendy restaurants on the Westside.

There's an application for a new restaurant called Greenleaf that wants to go in on E. 17th Street and which is going through the hoops because of perceived parking problems.

Now, why aren't we seeing any trendy restaurants going in on W. 19th Street?

When will the Planning Commission and the City Council do what is necessary to open up W. 19th Street for proper development?

ASIDE:
The Planning Commission still has some deadwood on it.  We need five activist members on that body.  We don't need people on the Planning Commission who are either party hacks or who just want to collect their checks and have a resume enhancement by being on the Commission.
#                   #                     #
Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 492

GET OUR TROOPS OUT OF AFGHANISTAN
Link to OC Register article.

We should go even further than this.  Any time we topple one government and put another in power, we should send a bill to the new government and get paid for our work.  The pay we demand should also compensate our military people and the families of any who didn't make it.
#                         #                                #
WE IMAGINE...

UPDATE TO CRISSY BROOKS STORY ABOUT THE WAYWARD MATTRESS
Link to original Daily Pilot column by Brooks.

In the above linked column, Brooks writes that a man from her Shalimar neighborhood was discovered to be an illegal alien (An illegal alien in Shalimar? Who'd a thunk it?), and was deported.  This caused some unhappiness among his mattress needing family that remains in Shalimar.

Brooks then gave a used mattress to the family.

We now imagine the adult woman who received the mattress writes a letter to Brooks.

Dear Senorita Great White Mother Brooks,

Gracias for the used mattress that you gave us.  You shouldn't have done it. Really.

Now, my children are scratching all the time from  bedbugs and one of them has head lice. 

Another one has ringworm. A third smells of old urine all the time and the fourth one has some sort of rash from head to toe.

Also, the  illegal aliens  our, er, cousins, who are renting floor space in our apartment, ah, visiting, say that after they take their turns to sleep on the mattress they get back pains and can't get hired when they stand on the corner looking for work. have trouble working.

My husband says that as soon as he sneaks back into Costa Mesa he's going to come find you.

We wonder, would it be possible for you to maybe go practice your compassion in Africa in the future?

We hear that Barack Obama's brother is living in a tiny hut with a dirt floor.  Maybe you can take the mattress with you when you go?


 /s/ Senora Not really needing a Great White Mother


P.S. Do you know a fumigation company that will tent our entire apartment building for free?  The bedbugs, the lice, the urine smell and even the backaches have now spread to all the other units from your demon mattress.
 #                             #                         #

Mother o' Mine by Rudyard Kipling

If I were hanged on the highest hill,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
I know whose love would follow me still,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

If I were drowned in the deepest sea,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
I know whose tears would come down to me,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

If I were damned of body and soul,
I know whose prayers would make me whole,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
#                     #                                #

CM PRESS # 491

H.B. GETS COMPETITIVE AND MEANS BUSINESS
Link

If you buy a car in Costa Mesa, you get a car. 

 If you buy a car in Huntington Beach, you get a car and a beach pass worth $ 150.
#                         #                     #
POSTER FROM ESTANCIA HIGH SCHOOL

The Mr. Flores named on this poster is Joel Flores, a Language Arts teacher at Estancia High School. LINK

You may have seen  Mr. Flores in the Repair Costa Mesa TV commercial [HERE @ 12 second mark].

Mr. Flores, you may recall, got into some sort of verbal altercation with Councilman Steve Mensinger recently.

After the story of the altercation hit the newspapers and blogs, some parents of students apparently wanted to know exactly what was being taught at Estancia.

In an apparent attempt to answer those parents, the Daily Pilot then ran an article on May 2, [HERE] in which Estancia Princpal Kirk Bauermeister was reported to have said that Flores kept his political beliefs out of the classroom.

However, on May 4, the PILOT issued a correction [HERE] and said that  Principal Bauermeister did not say that Flores kept his political beliefs out of the classroom.

So, given the PILOT's correction, many parents are probably wondering if Flores does keep his political beliefs out of the classroom or not.

Here's a notice that is now appearing on the Estancia High School website [HERE] that mentions Mr. Flores and room 250, again.

Answer Club Day of Silence– To commemorate Thursday’s Day of Silence the Answer Club is showing movies about LGBT rights today at lunch in Mr. Flores’ classroom (room. 250). Estancia’s Day of Silence is Thursday, April 28 to remember those we have lost.

If Mr. Flores or Mr. Bauermeister want to comment, they are welcome to do so. We may even feature their comments up here on the main page as well as in comments down below. We're sure parents would like to know more about what's going on in our schools.
#                     #                                 #
Those are our opinions.  Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 490

UPDATE:  WE JUST RECEIVED THE ANSWERS TO A READER'S QUESTIONS

Push poll question: 12. City council spent thousands on new carpet and remodeling of city hall, do you agree with this type of spending?

Mr. Lobdell's answer: The proposed $7 million in upgrades for City Hall in the 2010-2011 budget was part of an unfunded, 7-year, $204-million capital improvement program, which included needed road repairs, fire station renovations and park improvements that have been on the city’s to-do list for years. The City Hall renovations have not been started—and there are not plans to do so in the foreseeable future—because the city doesn’t have the funds. Though needed, the City Hall repairs are not a priority right now.


Push poll question: 13. City bureaucrats keep changing the size of the budget deficit. It's changed from a large deficit to a small deficit and now no deficit in an effort to make the city more partisan. Do you think their actions are misleading?

Mr. Lobdell's answer: The council passed the 2010-2011 budget last June with a deficit of more than $11.2 million. Because of increased tax revenues, employee concessions and budget cuts, that deficit now stands at about $1.6 million (including the $200,000 added for consultant services), and that’s the budget gap the City is projected to finish the fiscal year with.

The budget gap for the 2011-2012 fiscal year initially came in at $5 million from the first numbers submitted by each department. In addition, council has indicated that it wants to adequately invest in infrastructure and technology and replenish its reserves, which would add more to in the initial budget gap.

City Chief Executive Officer Tom Hatch has said he’ll submit a balanced 2011-2012 budget to the City Council on May 17, along with a 5-year budget projection that will include estimates of revenues, expenditures and funding for infrastructure, technology and replenishment of its reserves.

It’s also important to note that Costa Mesa still has $222 million (the actual market number, according to CalPERS) in unfunded pension liabilities and $35.4 million in unfunded retirement health benefits.

Push poll question: 14. City politicians are laying off employees while they spent $90,000 printing newsletters available online. A $50,000 car allowance for 3 council members, and hundreds on gold name badges the same day they sent out layoff notices to city employees. Do you agree with their actions?

Mr. Lobdell's answer: It will take some time to research the alleged $90,000 in printing costs for newsletters, but, for example, the City does print a Recreation Guide that for its residents. Not everyone in the City—especially seniors—get their information online.

Council members do not get a car allowance.

I think the badges are a reference to what the employees association is calling “jewel-encrusted” nameplates. These are not “nameplates” but council badges that cost $175 a piece. For decades, the City has given badges to all council members as ceremonial gifts when they first take office. I suppose the badges can used to identify oneself as a council member but I imagine they are rarely, if ever, used that way.

Another error: The badges weren’t ordered on St. Patrick’s Day. They were ordered on Feb. 9, 2011 and shipped on March 17, 2011.

And finally, they aren’t “jewel-encrusted.” The badges have a single tiny fleck of what the vendor calls a “ruby” for the eagle’s eye.

In a city that faces $222 million (current market value, according to CalPERS) in unfunded pension liabilities, $35.4 million in unfunded retirement health benefit liabilities, recent depletion of its reserves by more than $30 million and is working to close a multi-million dollar budget gap for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, questioning the purchase for two council badges for $175 each is a diversion from the real budget challenges.
#           #                  #
LOBDELL MORE OPAQUE THAN TRANSPARENT? [3:44 p.m. 5/6/11--See Update above for answers we just received from Mr. Lobdell.]

In the old days (just a few months ago), if the CM PRESS had a question regarding the municipal government, we would often email City Manager Allan Roeder and we'd always get a quick answer.

Now that the City has hired Bill Lobdell  as the City's communications director we can't seem to get quick answers. This is not the first example of this, either.

Below is an email that we sent to Bill Lobdell at 8:35 a.m. this morning.

It's now 1:55 p.m. and we haven't even received an acknowledgment of our email.

5/6/11--8:35 AM



Hi Mr. Lobdell,

The following three questions are reportedly part of a telephone push poll that is being conducted in Costa Mesa.


A reader of my blog, the CM PRESS, wants to know if there's any truth to the assertions in these questions and, if not, exactly what might the pollster be using to make such assertions.


Do you have any short answers that I can publish?


Respectfully,


M. H. Millard
----------------------------------

12. City council spent thousands on new carpet and remodeling of city hall, do you agree with this type of spending?


13. City bureaucrats keep changing the size of the budget deficit. It's changed from a large deficit to a small deficit and now no deficit in an effort to make the city more partisan. Do you think their actions are misleading?


14. City politicians are laying off employees while they spent $90,000 printing newsletters available online. A $50,000 car allowance for 3 council members, and hundreds on gold name badges the same day they sent out layoff notices to city employee. Do you agree with their actions?


#                            #                          #
THE HARM THAT MISPLACED COMPASSION IS DOING TO ALL CITIZENS OF COSTA MESA

Suppose Wendy Leece or Crissy Brooks or any of the other charity mavens just came over and cut one of your bedrooms out of your home? 

Imagine that they could just rip it out and patch up the hole. Then imagine that they used the wood from that bedroom to, oh, build a fire to keep illegal aliens warm and comfortable in Costa Mesa.

What would the result be for you?

Well, you just lost thousands of dollars in value to your home because now it's smaller and has one less bedroom.

That, in essence, is what is going on in Costa Mesa.

By keeping parts of our city downscale, it's almost as though these two and other charity mavens have ripped out part of our homes and made them less valuable. 

Compassion that helps those who shouldn't even be in the city, at our expense, is false compassion and it is not praiseworthy.
#                   #                           #
CRISSY BROOKS HELPS ANOTHER FAMILY WITH AT LEAST ONE ILLEGAL ALIEN MEMBER STAY HAPPY AND COMFORTABLE ON THE WESTSIDE INSTEAD OF MOVING TO WHERE THEY CAN AFFORD TO LIVE
Link

Misplaced compassion is helping keep part of the Westside a skid row.

And, when our City Council gives our money to charities that are magnets for people who can't afford to live in Costa Mesa without subsidies the problems grow.

Wendy Leece also promotes the magnet charities.  Wendy's usual excuse for helping keep the Westside down is that she's helping "the kids."

"The kids" is always a big excuse for lefties like Leece.

Hey, Wendy and Crissy, how about the citizens of Costa Mesa and the Westside?  Don't they deserve a better and safer city with high performing schools?  Why are you snubbing them?  Why are you helping illegal aliens?

If you want to help poor people, why don't you two go to a poor country instead of importing the poor country here for your limousine compassion?
#                                #                             #
PUSH POLL SCRIPT BEING USED BY BIG UNION
(According to a reader. This also appears in comments section of CM PRESS # 489.)

J said...

I got a call from California Opinion Research (916) 443-4722 at 6:00pm this evening. They say they are contracted by “Costa Mesa City Wide” to conduct a survey of people in the area.

Asked to answer with not likely, most likely, or definitely:
1. How likely are you to vote in the 2011 special election?

Asked to answer the following with positive, negative or neutral:
2. Have you heard of mayor Monahan?
3. Have you heard of Steven Mensinger?
4. Have you heard of Mayor pro tem Righeimer?
5. Have you heard of Wendy Leece?
6. Have you heard of Costa Mesa Public Employees Association?
7. Costa Mesa City Council?
8. OC Employee Association?
9. City council proposal to outsource city employees and services?
10. The city council has proposed to outsource 213 jobs or nearly half the city staff what do you think of this proposal?

Asked to give an answer to:
11. Where did you hear about this proposal?

Asked to answer the following with disagree neutral or agree:

12. City council spent thousands on new carpet and remodeling of city hall, do you agree with this type of spending?

13. City bureaucrats keep changing the size of the budget deficit. It's changed from a large deficit to a small deficit and now no deficit in an effort to make the city more partisan. Do you think their actions are misleading?

14. City politicians are laying off employees while they spent $90,000 printing newsletters available online. A $50,000 car allowance for 3 council members, and hundreds on gold name badges the same day they sent out layoff notices to city employee. Do you agree with their actions?

15. Instead of outsourcing these city jobs should the city consider reducing council members pay and perks including a 10,000 car allowance for the city manager?

16. Some people claim city employee wages and Pension costs are bankrupting the city should the city council be considering outsourcing city jobs and services to balance the budget?

17. Do you support a recall of Mayor Monohan

18. Recall Eric Bever?

19. Recall Mayor pro tem Righiemer?

20. Recall Steve Mensinger?

21. City workers say the top 4 council members efforts have polarized the city are they out of line or doing the right thing?

Asked to give an answer:
22. Do you own Cable or Satellite TV?
23. Do you consider yourself a liberal moderate or conservative?
24. Last year of education completed?
25. Do you or any member of your household belong to a labor union?
26. Do you have a facebook account?
27. Whats your race?
28. What year were you born?

This is the order questions were given and I did my best to use the exact wording used. I got the impression the survey was intended to be negative towards members of the city council and the proposal to outsource employees to balance the city budget.

Another reader comments on the above:

May 5, 2011 7:03:00 PM PDT
Anonymous said...
Interesting comments about the opinion survey! I believe this same polling company has been calling my home to speak to my wife - a Dem and in a union. They are calling several times a day for the last week and so far missed her because of her busy schedule. Their persistance suggests she is selected specifically because she fits some model of who is likely to provide answers they are seeking. It appears the survey is designed to produce a desired result calling into question their selection criteria.
#                     #                           #

CM PRESS # 489

AS YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED...

The CM PRESS mostly supports what we think the City Council majority is trying to do: Get the government on more of a business footing and put our tax money where it will do the most good for the citizens of this city and improve the Westside and the rest of the city.

However, and we've written this before, we don't have loyalty to people or political parties. 

Our loyalty is to the improvement of Costa Mesa.

If the Council majority doesn't start doing things to improve the Westside in meaningful ways, our support is going to go away very fast.

THE GOP ESTABLISHMENT SAW THE PARADE AND JUMPED IN FRONT AND SAID THEY WERE LEADING IT

Some readers may recall that the CM PRESS opposed Jim Righeimer when he ran for the City Council the first time.

At that time we didn't think he'd been in Costa Mesa long enough to understand anything about improvement.  He lost that first election.

We knew when Righeimer first popped up what was going on. 

The GOP establishment had noticed that the Improvers were winning elections in Costa Mesa, and that we were doing it with candidates who the establishment types thought could never win elections and who had almost no money.

So, they probably figured that there was some sort of magic working in Costa Mesa that they could take advantage of, if they just moved their players into the city.

And, that's what they've done. We still have no problem with that, so long as they help improve Costa Mesa.

In fact, we don't care if it's the Raving Mad Looney Party that moves in so long as they help improve Costa Mesa.

As part of this moving in process, the GOP establishment has put some of its unknown operatives on the no-Planning Commission and the no-Parks and Recreation Commission and in other nooks and crannies of local government.  We still have no problem with that so long as they help improve Costa Mesa.

Take a look at the website for the Costa Mesa Taxpayers Association.  That's not homegrown.  It's a GOP establishment site. Again, we still have no problem with it or the group so long as they help improve Costa Mesa.

But, the GOP establishment types are foolish if they think the hard core Improvers are patsies who can just be used with no payback.

If the GOP establishment types want the continued support of the Improvers, they have to step up and (are you ready?) HELP IMPROVE COSTA MESA and ESPECIALLY THE WESTSIDE.

TANSTAAFL
#                          #                          #
HEY, I AGREE WITH THOSE OTHER SISSIES  GUYS ABOUT BULLIES
(We imagine the weakling in the photo is  speaking.)

"Every time I walk up to some guy who has even a smidgen of testosterone and I start mouthing off and using fighting words and that guy says "Boo" I feel like I've been bullied. Whaaaaaaa, whaaaaaa, whaaaaaa."

"If you ask me, the world is full of bullies.  I see them all over the place.  Why, the other day I was bullied by a 10-year-old girl who wouldn't move out of my way at the 99 cents store where I was buying some new panties for myself."


#                  #                 #

CM PRESS # 488

HERE'S THE LINK TO THE COSTA MESA TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION AGAIN
Link
Looks like these folks are much more active on Facebook than on their website, but if you scroll around over there, you'll find a lot of facts about Costa Mesa's financial problems.
#                      #                     #

THAT STEVE MENSINGER IS A BIG BULLY
(We imagine the guy in the photo is talking.)
[Hold your nose tight with your fingers as you say the following, to get the full picture.]

"Steve Mensinger is thuch a big bully. Why he walked past me very fast and I almost fell over.  Now, that's a bully for you.

"And, he suggested that Wendy Leece wasn't doing much to help the kids in our city.  Now, is that bullying or what?"
#                 #                       #

SANTA  ANA ORDERS HOTEL'S DEMOLITION
Link

We often make fun of Santa Ana, but if you're interested in improving Costa Mesa, do yourself a favor and read the above linked article all the way through (it's not that long).

Wouldn't you love to hear some Costa Mesa officials say the sorts of things the Santa Ana officials are saying?

And, speaking of Santa Ana, if you haven't driven up Bristol Street all the way to First Street in many years,  you might give it a try.  Santa Ana has transformed that street from what we might expect to find on the Westside of Costa Mesa into something that looks like it belongs in Newport Beach.

As we wrote before, cities can't stand still.  They have to improve or they deteriorate.

In Costa Mesa, too much of our tax money is being sucked up in wages and benefits and too little of it is going into the types of improvements that Santa Ana is making to that city.

If this keeps up, Santa Ana will be the new Costa Mesa and Costa Mesa will be the old Santa Ana.
#                         #                     #
ARE YOU TIRED OF HEARING WENDY LEECE SAY SHE LIVES ON THE WESTSIDE?

From her oft repeated statement about where she lives, you're supposed to believe that she's for Westside improvement because, by golly, she's right in the thick of  the Westside. A real Slum Goddess, by gum. 

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In the first place, Leece lives in a gated community (you know, to keep "them" out).  It's one of the very few gated communities in Costa Mesa. 

Leece might as well be living in Irvine.

In the second place, her idea of improvement is to give support to the charities that are acting as magnets to attract and keep people in Costa Mesa who wouldn't be able to live here without the subsidies from the charities.  That means illegal aliens, mostly.
#                    #                          #
LEFTIES  ON THE SAME PAGE

At last night's City Council meeting, failed City Council candidate and sour grapes loser Chris McEvoy went to the podium to call Council member Mensinger a "bully."

Then, later on in the meeting, useless bag of wind and phony Wendy Leece told Mensinger that he can't "bully" her.

#                            #                              #

WE IMAGINE...

One ringy dingy, two ringy dingy--"Hello, this is Out Of Town Big Union, ah, your neighbor from, er, Costa Rica, I mean Coster Messer.

"Say, did you hear the four men on the Coster Messer City Council weren't happy that Osama Bin Laden was killed? 

"Do you, as a fine upstanding citizen of, er, Coster Messer, think that the men on your city council should be there when they don't approve of the U.S. getting a terrorist like Osama?

"Will you sign a petition to get rid of those terrorist loving Councilmen?"
#                     #                                      #

OUT-OF -TOWN-BIG-UNION WANTS TO RECALL THE FOUR GOOD COUNCIL MEMBERS

Apparently, Out-Of-Town-Big-Union has begun a highly negative telephone push poll as a step toward launching a recall election of 4 of our 5 City Council members in November.

They are using live-call pollsters under the name "Opinion Research." They call between dinner and 9 p.m.
A recall would a pose a significant financial strain on the City and potentially lead to a union takeover of our City.

If you want a fiscally responsible government and if you want an improved Costa Mesa, it is important that you stay engaged and informed and not be duped by this expensive negative campaign.

Remember, all that the four good Council members are trying to do is control expenses and improve the city.

And, for this they're being threatened by out of town goons and creeps of all sorts who have enlisted the aid of a few local left wing kooks to act as their fronts.

#                       #                            #

CITY ADDS TRANSPARENCY PAGE TO WEBSITE
Link ("Transparency" tab at top of page)

It's a single page with links to important information that makes it easier to find out what our municipal government is doing.

Now, watch some of the nutcakes say things like "Yeah, but on page 32, there's a comma that shouldn't be there and that just shows this is like the City of Bell.  What are they hiding with that comma?  It looks like Righeimer is up to his old tricks and is using his puppet Mensinger to bully the punctuation."
#                   #                   #
CITIES COMPETE FOR WELL EDUCATED, PRODUCTIVE, UPWARDLY MOBILE CITIZENS

How's Costa Mesa doing in the competition?

Well, we seem to be attracting a lot of illegal aliens and homeless people.

Why is that the case?

It's because we've not done the things that will attract well educated, productive, upwardly mobile people.

In fact, we've been doing the things that attract poorly educated, unproductive, downwardly mobile people.

We're hopeful that the new majority on the Council will change that, and so far they seem to be on the right track.
#                       #                      #
HOW NOT TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE

One wonders what is going through the minds of some of the barely literate commenters in the Daily Pilot or some of the nutcakes who speak at City Council meetings lately who keep trying to smear and intimidate the responsible City Councilmembers.

Do they think they're winning over the Councilmembers with their tired arguments and hate speech?

Do they think they'll intimidate the Councilmembers?

At last night's Council meeting we watched the usual low I.Q. types troop up to the podium like geese on a greased string to squawk their samey same rambling  nonsense and insults. And then even after the nuttiest of the nutty spoke, the trained seals in the audience clapped and hooted.

All these haters and bigots are doing is causing more ordinary citizens to lose any type of sympathy for them.

#                     #                          #

Those are our opinions.  Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 487

WAS SOMETHING  IMPORTANT GOING ON IN THE CITY WHILE THE CITY COUNCIL WAS MEETING TONIGHT?

[UPDATE: What we saw at the City Council meeting was apparently the CEO and Mayor being told about a double homicide. Link]

Don't wait for an answer from us, because we don't know.

Here's what we saw.  At the start of the meeting, the police chief went up on the dais and whispered for a few minutes to CEO Hatch.  This is unusual by itself.

Mr. Hatch then went over and whispered to Mayor Monahan.  Also unusual. The mayor then shook his head side to side in disgust (?) or concern (?) and had an angry (?) or concerned (?) or grim (?) look on his unsmiling face.

Then, about half an hour later we saw the nutcase, who we believe may be behind some of the problems and threats in Costa Mesa, enter the chambers and have a seat.

Just a coincidence?  Got us.  Maybe there'll be something in the papers tomorrow.

#                       #                   #

Hmmmm.

#                      #                         #

MASSIVE SURPRISE VICTORY FOR CONSERVATIVES IN CANADA
Link
It's not just citizens in Costa Mesa who want government to get more on a solid business footing to benefit the citizens who own the government and who want to get the benefits of that ownership.
#                        #                     #
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

Power to the people who actually live here in Costa Mesa and who are being robbed blind by Big Union. 

Power to the real workers--the ordinary citizens of Costa Mesa who want our municipal government to be smaller and less expensive and to watch how it spends our money.

Power to those who say government should be run more like a business in that it should shop around for services and goods to get the best prices.

Power to the citizens who want our municipal government to start spending our money on more than just mowing lawns in front of gang infested slums, and who want the government to rid the city of the slums and the gangs.

Power to the Westsiders who are fed up that they and their part of town have been neglected by our municipal government for far too long and who are demanding that meaningful changes be made to get the Westside on par with the rest of the city.

Power to those who are rejecting the radical socialists and the dictatorship of  out of town employees and their local running dog shills.

Power to the real people of Costa Mesa--the stable citizens who are demanding that our city become a true shining city on the hill where we have safe streets, good schools and a high quality of life where we can all pursue the American dream.

#                    #                    #

CM PRESS # 486

OF UNIONS...

As a long time union member, I'll be the first to tell you that unions are often needed to protect workers. 

Even in businesses that presently don't have unions, management is aware that if they mistreat workers, they may be unionized.

Notwithstanding the above, I'll also be the first to tell you that as with all things in life, there must be a proper and reasonable balance between the power of the unions and the power of the companies (or cities) that are unionized.

This brings me to Costa Mesa where it appears the balance needs to be righted because it is tilted too much toward the workers; to the detriment of the residents of Costa Mesa who must pay high worker salaries and very high pensions and who have little money left over to improve the city.

A city can't stand still.  And, this is what Costa Mesa has been doing as far as improving the city.  Sure, we mow the lawns and sweep the streets, but we need to do more.  We need to get serious about the Westside and spend the money to prime the pump of change over there.

From recent reports that I've seen, it now looks as though Costa Mesa is going to be the Lexington and Concord of the fight between unions and the City  residents of the city who want our City government to be put on more of a business footing.

What do I mean by "more of a business footing"? 

From where I sit (outside the government) it seems to me that we should keep an eye on our expenses and make sure that we're not spending more than we have to spend to deliver services to the residents of the city.

And as I mentioned above, we should try to have enough money in the pot after we pay labor costs, to make the types of improvements to the Westside that will bring that area up to par with the rest of the city instead of letting it look as though it's  part of some abandoned inner city where nobody really cares if it has slums, gangs and social dysfunction up the ying yang.

And, also from where I sit, it looks to me as though the majority on the City Council is doing what needs to be done to get things fixed and on more of a business footing.

As long as they stay on the right track and don't go too far astray, they'll have my one vote.
#               #                         #
STRICT IMMIGRATION LAWS SAVE DENMARK BILLIONS
Link
#                              #                     #
AGENDA FOR TOMORROW'S CITY COUNCIL MEETING
Link

Hey City Council, cut through the Gordian Knot--don't give any CDBG funds to charities.  Use the money (it's our money) to fix infrastructure on the Westside.

Years and years of pumping money into the charities has just resulted in more downscale conditions on the Westside and in the city generally. 

Fix tangible things that people can see and we may attract more upwardly mobile people instead of those who need to use the charities.

Drain the swamp! Stop feeding the alligators.
#                     #                        #
OUR PURPOSE WITH THE CM PRESS

Given the fact that the CM PRESS publishes all sorts of things from around the world, some new readers may be confused as to our purpose.

1. Our purpose (and this has never changed):  We want to see an improved Costa Mesa.

2. How to do it:  We believe that the Westside is the key to improving Costa Mesa and that if we are to improve the whole city we need to first improve the Westside.

That's it.  Those two simple statements  in blue above are why we started publishing the CM PRESS and they have never changed.

Any other articles you read here on the CM PRESS are just other things that we think may be interesting, but they're really just filler.
#                                 #                             #
ALJAZEERA'S TAKE ON BIN LADEN'S DEATH
Link

And, what of the long rumored reports that Al Qaida has some sort of nuclear attack plan in place if Bin Laden is captured or killed?   Hopefully, there is nothing to the rumors. 
#                  #                       #
COSTA MESA CITY WEBSITE STILL SCREWED UP
Link to screwed up City Website
#                 #                   #

CM PRESS # 485

TWENTY OR MORE COPS MAY BE LEAVING THE CMPD
Link to article in Daily Pilot

Citizens who we've spoken to say they hope that the cops who are leaving are the overly political out of town ones who have been alienating citizens of Costa Mesa by butting into our local politics with their lefty social agendas.

The hope of many Costa Mesans is that we will end up with a police force of top professionals including many who choose to live and raise their families here in Costa Mesa and who will become active members of the community.

Yes, we know that we already have some who live here and who are active members of the community. And, these folks are appreciated by  most citizens who know who they are.
#                #                            #
ENTITLEMENT MY ASS [EMAIL JUST RECEIVED FROM A READER]

Entitlement my ass , I paid cash for my social security insurance!!!! Just because they borrowed the money , doesn't make my benefits some kind of charity or handout !! Congressional benifits , aka. free healthcare , outrageous retirement packages , 67 paid holidays , three weeks paid vacation , unlimited paid sick days , now that's welfare , and they have the nerve to call my retirement entitlements !!!!!!.....scroll down...............

What the HELL's wrong???

WAKE UP AMERICA !!!!

Tuesday's Daily Bulletin paper, ran two articles on the front page side by side :

1- Calif 's 20 Billion Dollar Budget Deficit

2- The Calif Supreme Court ruling that ILLEGALS can attend college and get benefits.

Why don't they just deport t

hem when they arrive to register?

3- Last year they ran an article on the yearly costs to Calif Taxpayers from Illegals using Hospital Emergency Rooms for their general health care -

At just one hospital the cost to tax payers totaled over 25 million a year

Someone please tell me what the HELL's wrong with all the people that run this country!!!!!!

We're "broke" & can't help our own Seniors, Veterans, Orphans, Homeless etc.,???????????

In the last months we have provided aid to Haiti , Chile , and Turkey . And now Pakistan .....home of bin Laden. Literally, BILLIONS of DOLLARS!!!

Our retired seniors living on a 'fixed income' receive no aid nor do they get any breaks while our government and religious organization

s pour Hundreds of Billions of $$$$$$'s and Tons of Food to Foreign Countries!

They call Social Security and Medicare an entitlement even though most of us have been paying for it all our working lives and now when its time for us to collect, the government is running out of money. Why did the government borrow from it in the first place?

We have hundreds of adoptable children who are shoved aside to make room for the adoption of foreign orphans.

AMERICA: a country where we have homeless without shelter, children going to bed hungry, elderly going without 'needed' meds, and mentally ill without treatment -etc,etc.

YET.....................

They have a 'Benefit' for the people of Haiti on 12 TV stations, ships and planes lining up with food, water, tents clothes, bedding, doctors and medical supplies.

Imagine if the *GOVERNMENT* gave 'US' the same support they give to other countries.

Sad isn't it?

#                                #                                  #

ON THE WATERFRONT (Well, Just Back Of The Waterfront and up on the mesa looking down on the waterfront, er, and...)

The citizens of Just Back Of The Waterfront try to take back control of their city from the out of town thugs and street terrorists who have been robbing them blind, and are met with a brick through a window and threats and other forms of intimidation.

Will the citizens be cowed by the thugs and street terrorists, or will they stand up and finally take charge of their own city again?

In this episode, the out of town thugs and street terrorists have enlisted the aid of some weak willed local citizens who are acting as a front for the thugs and street terrorists in order to try to create the impression that the citizens themselves want to remain slaves to the out of town thugs and terrorists.

However, most intelligent citizens realize the front citizens are the usual left wing nut cases who have helped turn Just Back Of The Waterfront into a declining city with growing slums and gangs and other social problems.

What will happen?  Will the beleaguered citizens of Just Back Of The Waterfront be able to throw off the twin yokes of oppression and terror or will they be kept in virtual slavery to the out of town thugs and street terrorists and be ruled over by the front lefties who plan on running candidates for the City Council who will deliver Just Back Of The Waterfront back into the hands of the out of town thugs and street terrorists?

STAY TUNED
#                    #                            #
BEAMS IN THE LHC
Link
#                  #                  #