CM PRESS # 180

WE GET MAIL ABOUT THOMAS H. JOHNSON, PUBLISHER OF THE LIBERAL DAILY PILOT


Dear CM PRESS:

I believe that Thomas H. Johnson, the publisher of the Daily Pilot, actually lives in Newport Beach, not Irvine.

In either case, he doesn't live in Costa Mesa. But, that doesn't stop him from trying to keep our city from improving to be as nice as surrounding coastal communities.

Funny how liberals who have never seen a man bleeding to death from a drive by shooting (on Baker Street, for example) and who don't hear gunshots in the night and who don't have to worry about failing schools and other similar problems in their own cities, try to tell people who live with those things not to worry.

Johnson says he's not a liberal. What a laugh. He was in favor of the job center (so long as it was in Costa Mesa and not near where he lives). He was against having our cops check ID on suspected illegal aliens. And, in the last election, he backed the two liberal losing candidates even though he can't vote in Costa Mesa.

Name Withheld by CM PRESS
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THE GREAT, BUT PHONY, PASSIVE PARK CONTROVERSY

It's been interesting to read the comments about Paularino Park being designated a passive park. Many of these comments come from people who apparently get their information from the Daily Pilot and are thus led astray.

Because they don't understand the reason for and the nature of the passive park designation, and because the Pilot doesn't enlighten them, some are outraged and say things such as: "What, I can't throw or kick a ball to my kid in a park."

Actually, if you can throw or kick a ball to your kid in the park now, this new ordinance isn't going to change that.

However, did you know that there's already an ordinance on the books that says you can't throw or cause to be launched (read kick) a "projectile" (a ball is a projectile), in any of our parks? It's Costa Mesa Municipal Code (CMMC) Sec. 12-20 (a) (3).

But, there's more.

Say you or your kid climb on a park bench. That's a violation of CMMC Sec. 12-20(a)(7).

What if you or your kid let a balloon go in a park? That's a violation of CMMC Sec. 12-20(a)(8).

Maybe you wrestle with your kid on the grass or even (strictly speaking) just walk on the grass. That's a violation of CMMC Sec. 12-20(a)(9).

How about if you and your kid want to walk through the park after dark? That's a violation of CMMC Sec. 12-23.

Now, have you ever heard of anyone being arrested for violating any of the above Costa Mesa Municipal Codes that have mostly been on the books for years? Probably not. They're on the books in case they're needed. They're used reactively not proactively.

For example, suppose someone endangers toddlers by throwing a baseball to someone who is standing near or in the midst of the little kids. The police have the legal authority under CMMC Sec. 12-20(a) (3) to ask those throwing the ball to stop doing that. If they refuse, the police can eject them from the park. If they resist that lawful order, well...things begin to escalate into other violations.

But, if you listen to Linda Dixon and her pals, such as Waving Johnson over at the Daily Pilot, you'd think making Paularino Park passive was going to cause the police to hide behind trees and arrest ten year old kids for tossing a ball to each other.

The new rules and the new boulders and trees in the park will close some loopholes and make the park much, much more enjoyable for all who wish to use it while respecting the rights of others.

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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 179

OH WHAT A TANGLED WEB WE WEAVE WHEN WE SET OUT TO SMEAR OTHERS

Once again, ultra-liberal Daily Pilot Publisher, and Irvine resident, Tom "Waving" Johnson--who claims to not be a liberal but who always seems to support liberal causes and liberal candidates in local elections--attempts to smear a private citizen--me, with a column full of innuendos.

In his column, Johnson writes that "There's primarily one man behind the quest to get rid of the 'soccer players' in Paularino Park which leads me to believe it's race related. His name is H. Martin Millard."

Let's take Johnson's last mistake in those two sentences first: Ya sees Johnson, ya doesn't has to calls me H. Martin Millard. It's Martin H. Millard. I often write as H. Millard, and sometimes as M.H. Millard or even as Martin H. Millard, and rarely as Martin Millard, but never as H. Martin Millard (but it does have a certain ring when written that way--hmmm--maybe that moniker will join the rest of the gang soon).

By the way, readers can find my books and columns all over the web and at Amazon.com. by using my right name. The fact that Johnson can't even get my name right tells something about this guy.

Maybe Johnson's silly column was motivated by the stinging defeat of his anointed candidates in the last City Council election and he wants to strike out, or maybe he's trying to shut me up before the next election. Hey, Johnson, I only had one vote in the election and I didn't give a penny to the good candidates who defeated your liberal candidates. Grow up. And, as far as shutting me up goes, if that's your intention, it's not going to work cupcake.

Or, could it even be that Johnson is in a snit because he knows I'm a shareholder in Tribune Company--the company that owns the Pilot--and that I made a suggestion a couple of years ago to the board of directors that the company might consider selling the Pilot building, and they subsequently did this? Man, I must have some influence. Actually, it's far more likely that the board had already been working on this and that my suggestion wasn't even considered.

I find Johnson so goofy that I often parody him in the CM PRESS as Waving Johnson. That came about after he first started attacking me by allowing smears of me in the Pilot and after he came to our city and sat at the then open job center looking like a cross between Where's Waldo and Alfred E. Neuman. In my parody, Johnson tried to find work as a publisher by sitting with the day workers and waving, while yelling "Yoo-hoo" to potential employers. He lost out to an illegal alien who had more publishing experience--making phony ID cards. Laugh out loud, as we say in blogs.

And, as far as me being "primarily [the] one man behind the quest to get rid of the 'soccer players' in Paularino Park," Johnson is wrong again. While I have been a voice for safer streets, sidewalks and parks in our city--including Paularino Park--and have spoken out frequently about inappropriate and unsafe activities in our parks, I am just one voice. I am not a politician and I'm not a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission which approved the passive park resolution 5-0. I'm also not on the City Council which also just passed the same resolution. Why, I'm not even the publisher of a daily newspaper that has the potential to sway opinion in our community. Just a lone voice with a modest little blog that I don't even know how many people read.

Furthermore, the City of Costa Mesa recently held a meeting in Mesa North to discuss Paularino Park and how the park could best serve the needs of the residents. All residents in Mesa North were invited to the meeting via first class mail. At the meeting, there was a close to unanimous desire expressed that Paularino Park should be made safe and fun by making it a passive park so that residents, and especially those with young children, wouldn't have to fear being injured by sports activities in this very small park that has no sports fields.

If Johnson actually lived in Costa Mesa he might have known this. Instead, he tries to smear me by innuendos.

Johnson then darkly tells readers that he is led to believe that making Paularino Park passive is [lower your voice here and speak in the best conspiratorial tone you can muster] "race related," because "[Millard's] writings [whisper,whisper, pass it on] have been associated for a number of years with racially-charged websites." Oh no, not racially charged websites! Tell us it's not true, and "associated"? Cover your eyes, Mildred. You, of course, dear reader, understand Johnson's ham handed attempt at a smear here. It's the modern version of "So and so is a witch. She's been seen talking to other witches. Pass it on." Or, "Did you know [whisper, whisper in a German accent, while looking over your shoulder and raising an eyebrow] that Herr so and so was seen in the company of [whisper, whisper] Jews?"

Actually, if Johnson were better read he might realize that my writings appear on many websites and in many publications including some minority run websites, MENSA publications (well, there's probably no way Johnson would know about MENSA), and many more.

I write to be read. Given the huge volume of written material floating around, I'm pleased when anyone wants to run or read my stuff and especially the philosophical things about the big questions of existence and why we're here, etc. and the Sacred Cow toppling pieces--and these are the things that I mostly write about nationally. I don't discriminate in who can run or read what I write. Heck, I'd even let some of my stuff appear in the Daily Pilot, under my name, although that might damage my reputation, if the cheapskates would pay for it.

In his column, Johnson continues lurching down the twisted hate filled liberal path that he's made for himself and along the way he tries to defend his fellow traveler Linda Dixon who, in my view, is one of the two worst City Councilmembers we have in this city and who I guess, from her past statements and actions, would vote in an eyeblink to keep the Westside Bluffs full of polluting industries, would reopen the job center, would give even more of our money to illegal aliens and would generally do all those things that have driven Costa Mesa down to the bottom of the barrel where we now have schools at Third World levels. And, like Johnson, she would no doubt talk out of both sides of her mouth to make it seem that she's against illegal immigration and not a liberal.

Despite the smears from the likes of Johnson, I will continue to be an active and outspoken voice for the improvement of all of Costa Mesa. And, while I'm a lone private citizen and I can't do everything, I can do some things--mostly speak out. Here are just a few of the other things, off the top of my head, that I've spoken out about and which have come to pass that Johnson and his pals probably think have a racial basis. This is just a partial list and includes mostly some of the minor things that I've worked on.

1. I worked hard to have the City paint the wall along Baker Street so it would look nicer.

2. I also worked hard to have the alleys closed off on Baker because of dangers to pedestrians.

3. I spoke in favor of the City replacing the wall in front of College Park on Harbor Blvd. (where Linda Dixon lives).

4. I notified the City of dangerous conditions on Baker Street where people were darting across the street. A pedestrian signal was installed.

5. I notified the City of a dangerous turn pocket on Baker Street by the 7-11 and the City painted a no turn island.

6. I worked hard, along with many others, to get the City to start the Westside Revitalization.
7. I worked hard to make the Davis School playground safer by having it moved back from the street.
8. I worked hard to get the City to make the street behind Davis School safe for dropping off and picking up kids.
9. Then there are all the calls about graffiti, gangs, and even the capture of an illegal alien who had broken into a home.

I could go on with many more things that I have spoken out about or done to try to make our city nicer and safer and especially for our kids, but the point is made to those who understand, and it will never be made to those with twisted bigoted minds. I'm not trying to take credit for anything, and most things done to improve the city are worked on by many people, but Johnson's silly column requires that at least a few of the things I've helped with be mentioned.

Here's a heads up to Irvine resident Johnson on a few of the bigger things that some of us are speaking out about now to help improve Costa Mesa. No doubt, Johnson will think there's a racial motive in these things.

1. We need to find a new airport and replace John Wayne. I believe a tiny portion of Camp Pendleton would do the trick. As a former Marine, it's my opinion, given the vastness of Camp Pendleton, that my fellow Marines wouldn't even miss the relatively small chunk of dirt needed for an airport that could be larger than LAX.

2. We need to underground the 55 Freeway to about 15th Street to revive Costa Mesa's downtown.

3. We need to find a way to connect Costa Mesa up to the Pacific Ocean or at least to the brackish water area in Banning Ranch so that we can build a small beach for residents and take our place as a true coastal community which will be good for property values and other things.
4. We need to encourage more home ownership in the city and especially on the Westside Bluffs.

Here's the real problem with Johnson's column. His smears will be picked up by bigots and they'll be twisted some more and they'll probably use Johnson's column as their authority. Such is the power of a daily newspaper that columns appearing in them are often used to bolster the half-truths and outright lies of haters. These things are like jokes going around a room at a party and they get more distorted with each telling.

If you want to know more about my national writings, you can pick up my books at brick and mortar book stores or at Amazon.com or you can find many of my columns--hundreds of them--all over the internet. You may or may not agree with everything I write, but you won't find any hate in any of my writings--just a search for ultimate truths presented in a manner that is hopefully not too boring or dry. After all, I'm not interested in writing another textbook that no one wants to read.

-30-

CM PRESS # 178

MORE ABOUT LINDA DIXON--ONE OF THE TWO WORST CITY COUNCILMEMBERS WE HAVE (The other one is Katrina Foley)

At last night's City Council meeting where Linda Dixon tried to keep Mesa North residents from having their park made safe for our kids, Dixon attempted to save face after she lost the vote by saying that she's proud to be part of a party that likes kids.

Huh?

In fact, it has been the residents of Mesa North who have been trying to make our park safe for kids and it's been Dixon and her pals who have been trying to let it be turned into an unofficial soccer field which puts everyone, including the soccer players, in danger.

Paularino Park is not a soccer field, Dixon! It's too small, it has trees, it has hillocks, it has a tot lot as its central feature, it has a sidewalk running down the middle of the park, it's too close to Paularino Ave. IT'S NOT A SOCCER FIELD.

Residents don't want to have to put their kids in helmets and body armor to simply use the tot lot and not be injured by soccer balls and players and they don't want to get into confrontations with soccer players who play their games with no regard for the safety of others.

Have you ever seen a little kid hit in the head and face by a soccer ball kicked at full force, Dixon? A child could have a brain injury from that for the rest of its life such that he or she would never be able to work or have a happy life. That's what might have happened had this park not been made passive. This was an important health and safety issue.

What intelligent, clear thinking and reasonable adult would think that putting a tot lot full of little kids in the middle of a soccer field, makes sense? That's what Paularino Park was turning into. And, that's what the residents who live in Mesa North were telling Dixon. But, Dixon, who lives in College Park, not Mesa North, thinks she knows better than the people who actually use the park in their own neighborhood.

We expect our City leaders to be responsible adults and to think these things through. Injuries to our kids from soccer games, where they shouldn't be allowed, are completely foreseeable and completely preventable.

Thankfully, Mayor Pro Tem Bever and Councilmember Leece, who really care about the safety of our kids, voted to protect them by letting Paularino Park be used for its intended purposes and not be turned into a soccer field.
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RESIDENTS OF WEST SANTA ANA HEIGHTS WANT NO PART OF COSTA MESA

And, speaking of Linda Dixon and her pals, did you read in the papers how the residents of West Santa Ana Heights want no part of Costa Mesa and how the folks that run the Santa Ana Country Club on Newport Blvd. also want no part of our city? They promise to fight hard to make sure that Costa Mesa doesn't annex them.

Why? Because we've had too many City Councilmembers who have allowed our city to become too much like Santa Ana.

Folks, we need to elect more people like Mayor Mansoor, Mayor Pro Tem Bever and Councilmember Leece to the City Council. And, we need to stop letting people such as Linda Dixon and Katrina Foley get elected.

Costa Mesa was once much more like Newport Beach than it is today. We were the slightly less pretty sister city. But, over the years, Newport has constantly improved itself and has left us in the dust as we continued to allow polluting industrial businesses on our Westside Bluffs, as we opened a job center (now, thankfully closed), and as we allowed--and continue to allow--barracks style slums to exist in our neighborhoods. Student scores in Costa Mesa schools are generally at Santa Ana levels as our citizens take their kids out of these schools and allow the schools to be taken over by the children of illegal aliens.

We need to change and improve Costa Mesa, folks. Are you helping? Are you supporting the three good members of the City Council: Mansoor, Bever and Leece, or are you, perhaps by silence, supporting Foley and Dixon?
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COMMUNITY GARDEN

At last night's City Council meeting, Linda Dixon railed against Mayor Pro Tem Bever because he wants to close down the present community garden on Hamilton Street and find a new location for it. Dixon says we must find a new location.

Hey Dixon, here's a location for you: Have the City buy a couple of the slum buildings on Shalimar and put in a community garden there. Our guess, Dixon, is that you don't want that to happen.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

If Linda Dixon wants to reply, and if her reply is half-way intelligent and readable, we'll consider running it in the CM PRESS.

CM PRESS # 177

LINDA DIXON TRIES TO STIFF MESA NORTH


On a vote of 2 to 1 (Mansoor and Foley absent) the City Council acted tonight to make Paularino Park safe for residents by naming it a Passive Park.

Linda Dixon voted no, and thus against Mesa North, while Mayor Pro Tem Bever and Councilmember Leece voted yes, and for Mesa North.

Say, did we mention that Dixon is up for reelection next year?

The CM PRESS anticipated Dixon's vote against Mesa North. Dixon is no friend of Mesa North or of the improvement of our city. Now, if the issue had been to open a new job center for illegal aliens, you probably would have seen Dixon voting for it. Citizens--even the more than 2-3 thousand of them living in Mesa North? To hell with those peons and what they want seems to be her attitude.

The result of this passive park designation that was approved, over Dixon's silly attempt to kill it off, will be that residents who want to use this tiny park for its intended purposes won't have to fight with soccer players or have to try to avoid having themselves and their young kids run over by these players or be hit with soccer balls.

Audience members we spoke to were virtually unanimous in saying that Dixon looked "stupid" and "silly," in her attempts to stiff Mesa North.

Here's the straight scoop:

Mesa North has more than 700 single family homes and is represented by the Mesa North Community Association that has an elected board of directors. The board, reflecting the will of the neighborhood, wanted the park made passive.

In addition, at a recent meeting of the neighborhood, put on by the City of Costa Mesa, almost all participants said they wanted the park to be made passive.

At tonight's meeting, both the new president of the association along with the former president, along with the publisher of the association's newsletter as well as other residents, asked that the park be made passive based on their knowledge of the park and what residents want.

Yet, Dixon ignored what Mesa North has repeatedly told the Parks and Recreation Commission and the City Council what it wants--A SAFE PARK FOR RESIDENTS!

Dixon apparently thinks she can go against the wishes of an entire neighborhood and impose her screwball will on that neighborhood.

Dixon's argument against making the park passive went something like this (we're paraphrasing):

Are we going to arrest a couple of ten year old kids for throwing a ball to each other?

Actually, no, Dixon, that's absurdly silly, and you know it. And, it's not what we're going to do. If anyone is acting in such a way as to be a danger to themselves or others and if the police are called, the police will simply warn the offenders, and if the offenders don't comply, then ejectment from the park is the penalty. No reasonable residents are going to complain if a couple of kids and/or some parents and their kids are tossing a ball back and forth and not bothering anyone.

Dixon's silly argument contained two logical fallacies:

1. Dicto Simpliciter--This fallacy occurs when one takes a general rule and applies it to exceptional circumstances. The general rule for the passive park will be no sports that will interfere with the passive uses of the park. A couple of kids who do not interfere with the passive uses, even if they, themselves, are throwing a ball to each other, will not be violating the rule.

2. Appeal to Pity--This is an emotional appeal. It's an evasion of the real issue--making the park safe--and tries to win the argument based on gaining sympathy. One can almost imagine someone saying: Poor little starving orphan kids are being kept from their one happiness in life; throwing a soft, tiny little ball underhand to each other in this great big empty park. Now, they'll have to go play on the 405 freeway where they'll be run over by big rigs.

No, dear friends, that's not what's going on. The reality is that the park is often taken over by adult soccer players who may not even live in Costa Mesa. They urinate and defecate in the bushes and even in the tot lot. They demanded that a grandmother who was holding her infant grandson in her arms get off the only sidewalk in the park because they were playing soccer there--on the sidewalk. They also kick balls into the tot lot where there are often very vulnerable toddlers playing. Soccer balls are also often kicked into traffic on Paularino Avenue.

Look, this isn't difficult; unless you're Linda Dixon. Playing soccer at Paularino Park is no more appropriate than it would be for someone to have a picnic in the middle of the Farm Soccer Fields when teams are playing soccer. Some parks are good for this or that, but not for something else. Geez!

Here's something else that might make you mad if you live in Mesa North. When a few residents who live near a basketball court in Mesa Verde complained to the City about the noise, the City quickly removed the basketball hoops so basketball can't be played on the court.

Did you read about that Mesa Verde park being changed to stop sports--in this case basketball--because the residents wanted basketball stopped? Of course not. It was handled quickly and efficiently and below the radar. But, when the residents of Mesa North asked to have our park made safe, it turned into a several years long battle.

Can it be that Dixon and her pals think they can disrespect Mesa North with impunity? Do they think Mesa North residents are so apathetic or stupid that we don't see what's going on?

Well, Dixon, our guess is that you've made some folks in Mesa North angry with your insulting actions tonight. Maybe they're just as mad as the Westside Improvers were a few years ago because you and your pals were treating the Westsiders as second class citizens.

We'll see.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 176

MACHINE REPLACES 40 ILLEGAL ALIEN GRAPE PICKERS

Here's a picture of the New Holland Braud Grape Harvester. This machine, which has been used in Europe for years, is now being used in the Willamette Valley of Oregon to pick grapes. It does the work of 40 illegal alien grape pickers in a fraction of the time and it does a better job in selecting grapes to pick.

Also, we've never heard of any consumers getting sick from produce picked by a machine that didn't wash its hands after using the bathroom.

So much for the "we need illegal aliens to pick our grapes," argument.

As we've written in several of our national columns, this is the way humans always adapt to new challenges--we invent machines or better ways of doing things when we are pressed to do so by a need. Yes, necessity really is the mother of invention, dear friends, and we need to keep having a necessity in order to invent new things. That's how we advance. That's how we end up with higher living standards.

If we keep saying we must use illegal aliens as living-machines--as so many industries are now doing-- because we think it's cheaper or easier than adapting and inventing new ways of doing things, we've just essentially made an argument that we can imagine was probably made by some short-sighted hunter-gatherer leaders long ago, and which we know for a fact was made by slave owners in the not so distant past.

Bring on the machines!
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 175

WAR WITH NEWPORT?


It was a bad day for Costa Mesa at the Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) on Wednesday.

We may have to go to war against bikini clad Newporters.

They're a watery eyed, vicious lot who have ocean domination as their mad dream. If it's wet, the Newporters want it.

LAFCO ruled on Wednesday that West Santa Heights, which is east of Costa Mesa but in our sphere of influence, should be annexed to Newport Beach.

But, here's the real bad news about this, compadres. When it so ruled, LAFCO separated the West Santa Ana Heights issue from the Banning Ranch one and may not rule on Banning Ranch for six months.

The CM PRESS has long argued that annexation issues to our east and to our west should be discussed at the same time so that Costa Mesa would have some bargaining power and might be able to end up with less than the short end of the stick for once.

The CM PRESS believes that Costa Mesa should give up land to our east to Newport Beach --the aforementioned West Santa Ana Heights and even (to sweeten the pot) the Santa Ana Country Club on Newport Blvd. if necessary.

In exchange for those valuable pieces of land, we'd like to see Newport give up any claims it might have on some parts of Banning Ranch (on our west) that could be annexed to Costa Mesa so that our presently landlocked city would end up with some land close to the Pacific Ocean or at least close to the brackish water where the Santa Ana River almost meets the ocean. This would allow Costa Mesa to develop a small pocket beach for our residents and at the same time doff a captain's hat or two and take a chair at the table of coastal communities.

But, with LAFCO separating the east from the west the way it did, we've lost much of our bargaining ability and will now have to slug it out with Newport for Banning Ranch.

Have no doubt about this, my fellow dry-landers, Newport wants Banning Ranch--all of it. They figure it's their manifest destiny to have all land that has water near it. It's a wonder they haven't taken over our City Hall because of the small fish pond in front. Maybe that's why City Staff drained the water out of that tiny pond. They weren't concerned about mosquitoes, but about Newporters setting up camp there.

We swear, as surely as Katrina Foley is a conservative, that we were watering the weeds in front of the CM PRESS skyscraper the other day and before you could say jiggling flesh, a bunch of Newporters showed up, put down towels and started a volley ball game. As soon as we turned off the hose, they left. It's uncanny. They're like flies and garbage. If there's water nearby, they're there.

Costa Mesa is welcome to all the dry dirt we can find, it seems, but add a little H2O and the Newporters are suddenly there with their little string bikinis, surf boards and tanning oil. They're a water greedy lot, those Newporters, and they want to parch Costa Mesa into a bone dry desert.

It's time we used our natural advantage of being up above most of Newport's beaches to show the Newporters that we're not going to take it anymore. Now that Gary Monahan is on the Costa Mesa Sanitary District Board of Directors we may be able to appeal to his sense of Costa Mesa patriotism to help our city.

We figure the next time Gary and the 15 or so other Sanitary District employees and board members, who we pay to sit around the Sanitary District office on 19th Street thinking of ways to raise our rates, are down in the sewers fixing the pipes, that they can divert a couple of our sewer lines so they drain directly into Newport Harbor.

That'll show the smug First World Newporters we mean business and that we want some of our land to be close to the ocean too. Where is it written that Newport owns the entire coast and can block us from just a tiny little sliver of waterfront property where we can dip our toes in the ocean?

Of course, the better alternative, that we've floated before, is to try to trick Newport Beach into annexing all of Costa Mesa.

Newporters have been good stewards of their city, and Newport improves every time we look.

Costa Mesans, on the other hand, have not been such good stewards of our city and we see this in our failing schools, our slums, our gangs, our huge illegal alien population, our lower than they should be property values, and in our lower quality of life.

If Costa Mesa were annexed to Newport Beach, that city would get our tax revenues from South Coast Metro and we'd get Newporters who probably wouldn't stand for the Third World conditions in the then former Costa Mesa, and who would make sure their new section of Newport Beach is improved--like, right now, Dude.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 174

FIERY ODE TO JOY ON THE FOURTH OF JULY RIGHT AT OUR CURBS UPSETS LOCAL GRUMPS

It was a fun night out on the back streets and cul-de-sacs of Costa Mesa this past 4th of July for kids and their parents. Youth was in the air. The city was alive.

The curbs were lined with those who had bought twenty-buck fireworks displays full of colorful and interesting little cardboard boxes, pyramids and cylinders with names like "Sparkling Fountain," and "Good Luck Pagoda."

They were fun to hold and guess from the weight about the quality of the contents and to look at and wonder what they would actually do when their fuses were lit.

The fireworks were cheap, but there was an immediacy, and a spontaneous exuberance involved both in the anticipation of lighting them off, and in actually doing so, that is usually missing in the much larger professional displays where one is just a passive observer. Doing the fireworks yourself brings all your senses into play.

Don't get us wrong, the big displays are also nice. Still...

The small neighborhood displays put you in the action the way the big displays can't. The sudden sounds, sights and smells when they're lit off speak to the reason we even have such displays on the 4th of July at all--we are at the birthday party for a still somewhat young, full of life, hands-on nation that burst on the scene and which brashly and without apology put itself in the very center of the stage on this planet with the vigor and lack of soul damping introspection that is natural to youth. We are a people with a tradition not of passively watching from the sidelines as spectators, but of being active participants--in our lives, in our government, and in our fireworks.

These semi-spontaneous neighborhood events right in front of our homes are subconscious metaphors for joyous, expanding life and they're exciting for our kids to whom the sounds, sights and smells of fireworks are new and wonderful. These kids are in the springtime and summers of their existence and they are not yet jaded by the ways of the world.

Fireworks are buds opening for the first time on a spring morning to display their here-I-am-world-I'm-alive joy and they are light pushing back the darkness without apology.

Beethoven's Ode to Joy and Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture were given their soul stirring expression on every block full of kids without ever being played. To adults, the fireworks may have seemed small things, but adults live a different season than kids.

From the above, you've probably already guessed that we agree with Steve Smith's conclusion in the Daily Pilot that such neighborhood fireworks displays should continue. However, we don't agree with Smith's reasoning to get to that conclusion. Smith posits an ends justifies the means argument and inadvertently sets up a straw man to be easily knocked down.

Smith's argument is that we need the fireworks to raise money for local youth sports teams. Actually, there are many other ways that such money can be raised, and a moment's reflection on this by most people would suggest such ways.

No, the real reason the curbside fireworks should be continued is because they're part of our tradition, they're fun for our kids and they're a close to home reminder of what the Fourth of July is all about--freedom, independence, and the wild exuberance of youth that so characterized our nation for many years. Rationalize and justify the continued use by saying it's to raise money if necessary, but know in your heart that it's really about the joy of being alive.

It has not gone unnoticed to some readers who have contacted us that some (but not all) of the most vocal opponents of fireworks in our city seem to be older childless grouches with sour dispositions. The winter that is within the souls of some of these gloomy people, and the sterility of their beings is shown in their "get off the lawn" attitude toward youth and the things of youth.

Some of these perennially unhappy folks look as though they have no blood in their veins and as though their shoes are too tight and their underwear itches.

Let's keep Costa Mesa a fun and exuberant city and let's reject the desire to make it an antiseptic and sterile place because a few loud mouth sad sacks are full of winter.

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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 173

CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION TODAY--IMPORTANT FOR WESTSIDE

At its study session today, the City Council will discuss possible changes to our zoning codes regarding the conversion of residential and non-residential buildings to condos.

The important part of this discussion, especially for the Westside, is about the non-residential conversions.

It is an axiom among Improvers that the Westside will never be revitalized unless owner occupied residences start being built in the 60 acre industrial area on our Westside Bluffs.

Because of their closeness to the Ocean and Newport Beach, these Bluffs should be the best part of our city, not the worst. They're not the best part now, because of the industrial buildings.

Most coastal cities have expensive homes on their bluffs that take advantage of the ocean oriented geography. By contrast, Costa Mesa has factories on its Westside Bluffs. See anything wrong with that picture? Wonder why the Westside is having a hard time moving away from its crime and slum related problems? Ever hear of highest and best use of land and wonder why our Bluffs aren't being allowed to transition to homes? Curious about how and why some in local government seem to be acting to protect the industrial uses and kill off residential development?

With properly designed residences, the Westside Bluffs will be able to attract and hold upwardly mobile people who will see the Bluffs as a less expensive alternative to Newport Beach.

Their disposable incomes will then attract upscale merchants to the Westside to serve their needs. This will cause W. 19th Street, W. 17th Street, Placentia Avenue and the area around Triangle Square to take on new, vibrant life and contribute to the improvement of Costa Mesa.

Anything that tends to slow down or stop residences from being built on these Bluffs is bad for the Westside and for the city as a whole.

Some people, including many from out of town, who want to keep the Westside Bluffs mired in industrial buildings, are pushing to allow the conversion of industrial buildings to industrial condos. The problem for improvement is that this will head off any realistic chance to change these sites over to residential uses.

As it is now, a residential developer often only has to negotiate with a single owner of a large piece of industrial property that would be a good site for homes, but if the industrial properties are split up into smaller industrial condos, a developer would have to deal with many owners of small pieces of the formerly one big piece, and this would effectively kill off any possibility of having the Bluffs evolve to residential uses.

The meeting starts at 4:30 p.m. in conference room 1a at City Hall.
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USUAL CRAP AT THE SANITARY DISTRICT MEETING

The CM PRESS and a former director of the Costa Mesa Sanitary District were the only two non-involved parties who showed up at the Sanitary District Meeting last night.

From this lack of attendance, we assume that readers aren't interested in the doings of the district and don't mind that our rates are going up. So, we won't bother to write anymore about this matter at this time. Enjoy your newer higher rates which the District will probably raise again next year.
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Here's the link to our site. We don't email all copies of the CM PRESS, so if you're on our email list, but don't check our site, you've missed many exciting issues. If the link to our site is not live in your email, you can cut and paste it: http://cmpress.blogspot.com/
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 172

THE MOUSE IN WINTER
(A report from Urth)

The Lonely Old Man slid his limp stinky fingers between the dusty yellow slats of the venetian blinds covering the sole window of his rented room, parting them ever so slightly. Then, he peered secretly out through a tiny peep hole in the aluminum foil covering the glass. His eye flitted nervously up and down the quiet Costa Messy street as he looked for any sign of movement. He knew from reading about sniper training that the first thing you look for is movement, then shape, then color. He saw nothing out of place.

Behind him, the flickering light of his black and white TV threw scary shadows on the aluminum foil covered walls and ceiling that made him tremble a little before he put them out of mind.

Over the sound of his children--his pet cockroaches--he could suddenly hear the voices of the City Council members discussing this and that on the TV.

The Lonely Old Man had been certain that Mayor Alien Menswear had been hiding in the bushes in front of his room to torment him and to beam thoughts into his brain, so he was relieved to see that the Mayor was there on the 12" TV screen. But, wait a minute...the Lonely Old Man's sweat suddenly turned cold and his dirty underwear failed to keep him warm as a shudder went down what passed for his spine.

His blood shot, beady eyes narrowed to slits as he adjusted the duct tape holding his brain-ray protection helmet--fashioned from TV rabbit ears, aluminum foil, and two empty tuna fish cans. He knew that the Mayor would have trouble beaming any brain-rays into his head so long as he wore the helmet correctly and so long as the Mayor was over at City Hall. But, what if the City Council meeting was a tape?

Could that fiendish and devious Menswear have tricked CMTV into running a tape to throw the Lonely Old Man off guard? Could the Mayor be creeping around outside the Lonely Old Man's room right now with his brain-ray, as the Lonely Old Man knew he had done so many times before? The Lonely Old Man quickly removed his fingers from the blinds and flattened himself against the wall trying to be as quiet as possible. He heard his heart beating as though it were a kettle drum. He was frozen in fear against the wall and couldn't move. He was certain that Mayor Menswear was now sneaking around outside looking for a way to use his brain-ray.

The Lonely Old Man was obsessed with the Mayor and hated him with every gray hair on his neurotic head.

The Mayor was young, intelligent, good looking, and virile. Everything that the Lonely Old Man wasn't. But, the Lonely Old Man didn't consciously think these thoughts. Madness has its own rationalizations. His mind simply told him that the Mayor was evil and that the Mayor was after him because the Lonely Old Man knew that the Mayor was planning on taking over the planet and that the Lonely Old Man and his beloved cockroaches were the only ones who could see the Mayor's devious plans.

Ah, a crooked smile flickered across the Lonely Old Man's flaccid lips as he thought of his beloved cockroaches--his children. They loved him and understood him. They were the only friends he had ever had. They had never left him as so many others had. They never made fun of him. The Lonely Old Man spent hours knitting tiny little sweaters and booties for his cockroaches and they repaid him by telling him what they learned from their cousins who lived in City Hall.

It was a warm July night, but cold winter was within the Lonely Old Man who had spent his working life as a file clerk and who had never been able to have real children of his own. The doctors said that was caused by the Lonely Old Man sitting naked on the office copy machine too often. But, the Lonely Old Man didn't buy that. After all, he had only done that twice a day for 20 years. No, somehow, Mayor Menswear had kept the Lonely Old Man from having children. The Lonely Old Man was certain of this.

The truth of his being, but unknown to the conscious mind of the Lonely Old Man, was that he was bitter now that his mortality was evident in the signs of age that were his daily fare. In a rare moment of lucidity, the Lonely Old Man knew that the Mayor wasn't the cause of his problems or his condition. He knew, just for a moment, that it wasn't the Mayor's fault that nature had filled the Lonely Old Man's veins with a thin liquid that was more like prune juice than blood, and which made him old even when he was young, and it wasn't the Mayor's fault that the life force had always been tepid within the Lonely Old Man.

Nature has a way of cutting its losses when it makes mistakes. Even though nature had allowed the Lonely Old Man to live a full life span--even beyond his useful years--which in his case ended at about his first birthday--nature had prevented him from really living or seeing what life was about, and nature had shown mercy to the species by keeping the Lonely Old Man from reproducing and passing on his sour disposition to others.

The muse of idiots suddenly inspired the Lonely Old Man to get down on his hands and knees and crawl over to his Commodore Personal Electronic Transactor. Once there, he typed his latest hate-the-Mayor message to the local newspaper.

To be continued...

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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.
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The Lonely Old Man is a fictional character on planet Urth in our alternate universe. Any resemblance to any person living, or claiming to be living, or dead is purely coincidental.

CM PRESS # 171

Saturday, July 7, 2007

CM PRESS # 171

MORE ABOUT THE COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT--THE OUTFIT THAT WANTS TO RAISE YOUR RATES

According to the Costa Mesa Sanitary District's Website:

"The Sanitary District provides two services: collecting and recycling trash for 21,000 residences and owning and operating a 325-mile sewer system...." (emphasis added)

When you read the part of the above sentence that we put in bold face, didn't you get a mental picture that the District itself picks up trash from homes in Costa Mesa and has a fleet of trash trucks?

Silly you.

Actually, we think the sentence would be more accurate if it were to be rewritten as: "The Sanitary District provides two services: awarding contracts to private firms to collect and recycle trash for 21, 000 residences...."

As far as we know, the District has no trash trucks.

According to the District's budget, the District will pay $ 2, 411,000 to a private trash hauler to pick up our trash and another $ 2, 470,000 for recycling/disposal in fiscal year 2006-07.

And, the District was able to give out the above contracts with the help of 5 board members and 12 management and staff personnel and with an employee (not counting management) payroll of $ 640,000. Whew! Those elected board members need a raise, by gum!

Now, don't be cynical and say that you could have made a couple of phone calls and arranged for trash pickup from 21,000 homes for a total cost (including your lunch) of about $ 25.00. You apparently don't understand how bureaucracy works.

And, you have to realize that the District does more than just have a bunch of people sitting in an office giving out lucrative trash contracts.

It also does work on our sewers...we think. However, we're not completely clear about how much actual physical "Hey, Norton," work the District does on our sewers, since the City of Costa Mesa, as we reported in # 170, also apparently works on our sewers.

We'll try to get some straight answers from the District and pass on what we learn.

In the meantime, if you're concerned about your rates going up and about the board members giving themselves a raise, you might want to do a little research yourself. Here's the link to the District's Website.

You might also want to reread # 170.

Don't forget, the District is having a meeting on Monday, 7/9/07 to discuss raising your rates. Don't be shy about going. These people work for you and you're paying them.

THIS JUST IN...

The mail just arrived at the CM PRESS skyscraper and with it came a notice of a public hearing in August about a proposed water rate increase! Yup. The bureaucrats want to raise our rates on what goes into our bodies and what leaves them. Your current rate per unit* of potable water is $ 1.99 and the Mesa Consolidated Water District wants to raise that to $2.17 per unit.

We'll write more about this later.

*One unit equals 100 cubic feet or 748 gallons.

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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 170

SANITARY DISTRICT BOARD WANTS TO GIVE THEMSELVES A RAISE AND RAISE YOUR RATES

The Costa Mesa Sanitary District board will discuss raising your rates and giving themselves a raise at their meeting this Monday, 7/9/07 starting at 6:30 p.m. at 628 W. 19 th Street (across from the DMV).

Here's a link to the District's website. You won't find much there, however, because the district doesn't seem to update it very often.
Probably too busy doing whatever it is they do.

As of this writing, the website doesn't even show Gary Monahan as a member of the board. Of course, he was only elected eight months ago.

Unless we're sniffing at the wrong sewer grate, it seems that Costa Mesa's municipal government, which is a different entity than the Sanitary District, also does some of the work that one might expect the Sanitary District to do. But, maybe we have it wrong. Check for yourself.

Here, from the District's Website, is part of what the District says it does:

"The Sanitary District provides two services: collecting and recycling trash for 21,000 residences and owning and operating a 325-mile sewer system...." (emphasis added)

But, here's the link to the City of Costa Mesa's Public Services Department Web page where you'll read that:

"The Streets Maintenance Section is responsible for the maintenance and repair of approximately 188 miles of streets and for the cleaning and removal of debris in the roadway, 14 miles of alleys, 42 miles of storm drains and 319 miles of sewer main lines." (emphasis added)

"The Sanitation Maintenance Section provides maintenance and operation of the City’s storm drain and sewer system. Cleaning of storm drain and sewer lines is regularly scheduled. Daily operation and maintenance of the District’s 20 pumping stations is provided by the five-person crew and a preventive maintenance program has been established. Twenty-four hour emergency service is also provided."

So, we're confused. Do the City and the Sanitary District both work on our sewer lines? If so, maybe the District should be taken over by the City.

You can contact the Sanitary District at (949) 645-8400 or fax them at (949) 650-2253.

Because the District is closed on alternate Fridays we were unable to get additional information or comments from the District for this issue of the CM PRESS.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.