CM PRESS # 296

ONE KID SHOT, ANOTHER PERSON FOUND WITH OTHER INJURIES ON WESTSIDE
Link
Improvers have more to do on the Westside. People with the proper vision for Costa Mesa are needed on the City Council to fix things.  Improvers believe Jim Righeimer has that proper vision.

Electing people who will thin out the slums is essential to improving the Westside and all of Costa Mesa.  The Westside is key to city wide improvement.
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CITIZENS URGING CITY COUNCIL TO NOT APPROVE ANY EMPLOYEE CONTRACTS UNTIL AFTER THE ELECTION AND A NEW COUNCIL IS SEATED

There's a City Council special meeting this Tuesday, October 26, 6:30 p.m.  LINK

The Council is being asked to approve  "Side letter of agreements for the Costa Mesa Employees Association (CMCEA), Costa Mesa Police Management Association (CMPMA), Costa Mesa Police Association (CMPA) and resolution for unrepresented employees (Executive and Confidential)."

There's a very strong buzz in the community for the Council to not approve these and to hold off on any such agreements or contracts until after the election and the seating of a new City Council.
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WHAT COSTA MESA PAYS ITS EMPLOYEES (Are you sitting down?)

The City has put up the compensation figures for 2009 HERE .  If you want to see a comparison with 2008, go to Jim Righeimer's website HERE.

There are too many figures for us to post them all here, so we just grabbed a couple at the top of the list. 

Police Chief--Total compensation      2008---$298,970
 "                                               "      2009---$320,907

Police Captain Total compensation   2008---$259,936
"                                                  "   2009---$283,216
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SHOULD CITIZENS OF COSTA MESA WORK TO ELECT POLICE UNION OFFICIALS AND MAYBE ALSO  WORK TO DEFEAT SOME?

As you know, the Costa Mesa Police Association (CMPA) elects its president and board. Here's the list of the elected officials according to the CMPA website.

Allen Rieckhof--President
Dana Potts
Damian Stafford
Mitch Johnson
Jason Chamness
Chuck Oliver
Rob Dimel
Matt Grimmond
Cameron Phillips

Since the CMPA, which represents many members who don't live in Costa Mesa, and who thus can't vote here, regularly tries to elect or defeat City Council candidates in Costa Mesa, why shouldn't Costa Mesa citizens try to elect or defeat cops in the CMPA?

We hear some saying, "Hey, if we're not members of the CMPA we don't have any votes and we shouldn't be buttinskies in their elections."

Well, isn't that the same thing that many citizens are saying about the CMPA members who don't live in Costa Mesa?  Why should the CMPA get involved in OUR elections?

Okay, the citizens of Costa Mesa probably won't try to get involved in CMPA elections, but doesn't reversing roles as we did above give you an idea of why many citizens of Costa Mesa  think our city employees, including members of the Costa Mesa Police Department and the Fire Fighters should stay out of our local municipal elections?
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Those are our opinions.  Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 295

WE HELP CHRIS MCEVOY BE UPFRONT

On his website, McEvoy has the following: "Finally I issue a challenge to all my opponents. Be upfront where your money comes from...."

He also has this:  "I do not accept donations and am personally funding this campaign."


Okay, fair enough.  And, he's probably technically correct. Still, one wonders if this isn't just a little Clintonesque as in "It depends on the definition of 'is.'"  Read on and see what you think.

McEvoy shows very little money going through his campaign account; just a couple of thousand bucks at that, and it appears that's all his own money. Just as he says. He seems to have spent much of it at Home Depot, presumably to buy boards, paint and wood stakes for those homespun signs he's putting up around the city. So far, so good.

However, and here's where it gets a little Clintonesque. As we previously reported, liberals Sandy Genis and Greg Ridge have formed a Small Contributor Committee called Costa Mesa First, I.D. number 1332564, headquartered out of Genis's home, that is helping McEvoy.

As far as we know, McEvoy hasn't told Genis and Ridge to stop helping him.  But, if he has done so, maybe he can let us have a copy of any letter he may have sent to Genis and Ridge about this. 

"No" means "no"  unless, of course, you don't say "no."

So, has McEvoy said "no"?  And, if not, and if he's elected, won't he be beholden to those who donated to him, er, who donated to Costa Mesa First, which then used some of those donations to pay for mailings for McEvoy? Hasn't he indicated in the past that he was funding his own campaign because he didn't want to be beholden to anyone?

Below is Costa Mesa First's latest 460 filing with the City Clerk.  As you can see, Costa Mesa First says it spent $ 8,000 for "Mailings supporting Chris McEvoy and Measure L."

NOTE: CLICK ON EACH FORM AND YOU'LL SEE THE WHOLE FORM

Who has contributed to Costa Mesa First?  Here's page 3 of the same 460:

Now, as you may recall...

1. The DAILY PILOT reported that McEvoy was arrested for DUI (which he pled down to a lesser charge). 

2. Some in the CMPD made a big deal out of Jim Righeimer questioning what he believed was a misplaced DUI checkpoint.

3. Then, some in the CMPD even went to a City Council meeting and told just how bad drinking and driving is, etc. and how outraged they were about Righeimer daring to question the wisdom of having a DUI checkpoint that was backing rush hour traffic up on a 405 Freeway offramp.

4. A police union spokesman apparently told the DAILY PILOT that the union was not backing McEvoy.

So, if the CMPOA is against DUIs and isn't supporting McEvoy, presumably because he got a DUI, then why have they given $ 6,000 to Costa Mesa First which is paying for mailings for McEvoy? 

Okay, there is wiggle room here.  Can if be that the CMPOA isn't aware that Costa Mesa First is paying for  mailings supporting Chris McEvoy? Or, maybe the CMPOA thinks their $6,000 won't be comingled with the money being used for the McEvoy mailings and will only be used for Measure L mailings?

Unfortunately we don't have an additional breakdown of exactly where the Costa Mesa First money is going.  We don't know how much is going to McEvoy and how much to Measure L or to other candidates and causes.
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HATING THE POLICE?

The CM PRESS has received a comment from a reader who wonders if we hate the police.

Let's put that to rest right now.  We are big supporters of the police and always have been.

[However, we do believe that there really may be a small "clique" within the CMPD that has a political and social agenda that is not in the best interests of the citizens of Costa Mesa.]

We're also big supporters of self-determination for the citizens of Costa Mesa. We don't like to see the political process hijacked by employees of the city (including police) who don't live in Costa Mesa.

If you work for the city and you also live here, then have at in the political arena (so long as this doesn't violate any professionalism, contracts or job requirements you may have with the city), but if you only work here and live elsewhere, we think you should stay out of our politics and our political campaigns.

A little later today we'll publish the latest campaign statements of some who are trying to defeat Jim Righeimer and we'll show where the money is coming from and the path it takes.  Stay tuned.
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Those are our opinions.  Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 294

IMPORTANT ISRAELI RABBI COMPARES NON-JEWS TO DONKEYS WHOSE ONLY PURPOSE IN LIVING IS TO SERVE JEWS
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CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL SAYS THERE ARE MANY CITIES IN CALIFORNIA WITH BELL LIKE PROBLEMS

Link

Say, that reminds us.  Wasn't Costa Mesa going to release compensation figures for our city employees? 

Where are those figures?  All we have are the ones from 2008, and they've no doubt gone up since then.

If you want to see how well you pay some of your employees, go to Jim Righeimer's website HERE for some figures from 2008.

Maybe if there had been a Jim Righeimer in Bell, the citizens of that city would have discovered their crooks a lot sooner. 

Of course, if Righeimer had run for office in Bell, the unions would no doubt have been trying to get him defeated.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Also, why is it that Righeimer is the only one of the five city council candidates even asking about such things this year? Hmmmmm?

You know, city employee unions brow beat city councils into raising their compensation packages based on what other cities pay their union employees.

It's like a game of economic leapfrog. The unions in the various cities all try to get their compensation packages raised by electing city councils who will play footsie.  Then the neighboring city's union points to the compensation in that other city as justification for getting their own compensation packages raised. This goes on year after year.

Soon, as is the case in Costa Mesa, the employees make more than the bosses (the citizens) and can afford to live in much nicer cities and can afford to put thousands of dollars into campaigns to elect or defeat city council candidates who won't play along.

We have a better idea of how to negotiate these things.  Let's peg employee salaries to the median income level of the residents of Costa Mesa instead of letting unions play this leap frog game with us year after year.

Think of it as a sort of  municipal Peace Corps plan.  As you probably know, Peace Corps volunteers must live no better than the people they are helping.
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WHAT WAS THE REAL PROBLEM IN BELL?

City employees made the citizens of Bell their servants instead of it being the other and correct way around.

The employees of Bell dictated to the citizens and robbed them blind.

Meanwhile, the citizens of Bell were apathetic and some were the usual low I.Q. groupies and suck-ups to anyone in a uniform that we see in every city--including in Costa Mesa.

Don't let your employees dictate to you as they did in Bell and as some are trying to do here in Costa Mesa.

Jim Righeimer will help reestablish the correct respectful relationship between uniformed city employees and citizens of Costa Mesa.  He'll put citizens back in charge and he'll help restore confidence in the Costa Mesa Police Department.

Improvers are saying this to each other:  You can vote for two candidates for City Council this year in Costa Mesa, but... DON'T USE BOTH VOTES.  JUST USE ONE VOTE AND THROW THE OTHER ONE AWAY.  USE YOUR ONE VOTE FOR JIM RIGHEIMER.

The Improvers believe this will help defeat those who want to rule you as in Bell and that this will put the power back in the hands of the ordinary citizens of Costa Mesa. But, maybe you have a different idea.  It's up to you how you will choose to vote.

Ask yourself this:  Did you vote for any of the union cops who are trying to defeat Jim Righeimer?  Who gave them the right to try to dictate to the electorate of Costa Mesa?  Why are they spending $40,000 to try to convince you to vote against Righeimer in a completely negative campaign that has no positive aspects?

You've seen the dirt that these unelected mostly out of town union cops have been slinging.  They've dredged up the fact that Righeimer, like many others in our economy, had some bills twenty years ago.  Big deal.

Righeimer is a family man.  Unlike many of these carpetbaggers, he lives in Costa Mesa.  Unlike many of these carpetbaggers, what happens in Costa Mesa affects Righeimer, his wife and his small kids. When he works to make Costa Mesa better for himself, his wife and his kids, he is also making it better for all of us.

Remember, most of the crooks in Bell didn't live or vote in that city. They could rob it blind and feather their own nests because their nests were far away from Bell.  Don't let that happen in Costa Mesa. 

Keep local control over Costa Mesa and our employees.  They work for us.  We do not work for them.

Don't vote against one of our own because some out of town union types want more money and benefits from you.

Don't be a sap like the citizens of Bell.  Take charge of Costa Mesa and your future in our great city.

Don't be DING DONGS like the people of Bell. 

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A BILLION GALLONS OF WATER IN JUST ONE CRATER ON THE MOON

Link

So why are we wasting our space dollars on make-work projects instead of establishing a permanent base on the moon?  And, will we elect a president in 2012 with the proper vision to establish such a base?

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CM PRESS # 293

HALLELUJAH! WILLIAM LOBDELL HAS FOUND HIS FAITH AGAIN--IT'S IN THE POLICE, LEFTY POLITICIANS AND PEOPLE WHO RAN FOR OFFICE YEARS AGO

Let's boil down William Lobdell's  column that appeared in the Daily Pilot today (HERE) to two major points: 

1.According to Lobdell, good political candidates are ones who are lefties or they're ones who ran many years ago. Sure aren't any good ones around these days. Sounds a little like:  "Back in my day, good politicians crawled through ten miles of snow...."  Ho hum, yawn.

2.  Also, according to Lobdell, if citizens, who have been seeing the over the top negative campaign being waged against Jim Righeimer by some cops, happen to see some other things that seem questionable, such as what might possibly be an attempt by cops to intimidate people who back Righeimer--they're wrong.  "Why, you must have faith in the police. Amen."

All genuflect and repeat after me: "Hail the police, lefty politicians, and people who ran for office years ago, they are full of grace  and the Lord is with them. Amen."

Anyway, Lobdell  tries to make fun of the alleged cop intimidation reported by Councilmember Bever and another citizen, and in doing so minimize its potential seriousness.

Well, let's give Lobdell and other apologists a little more fodder about some actions by CMPD cops to see if they want to try to minimize these actions and maybe make fun of the people complaining:

What about the cops at the DUI checkpoint who talked to the press even though they knew they weren't supposed to do that?  We hear the apologists: "Ah, they just broke a little rule."

What about the cops who may have had an illegal sign in front of one of the candidate forums?  We again hear the apologists: "Oh, they didn't know about the law. And, it's okay for cops to break laws like that." Try telling a judge that you didn't know about some law that some cop gives you a ticket for and see how that plays.

What about the Costa Mesa cop who put a CMPD owned GPS device on a girl's car and then stalked her?  (We believe this matter is in court right now.) The apologists speak: "Gee that's no big deal.  Hey, she's probably just overly sensitive. Why, who would mind having a cop put a police department owned GPS device on their car so the cop could track them for personal reasons? Hey, the guy is a cop. Have faith, brothers and sisters."

How about the case where a former Costa Mesa big shot cop wrote a column in the Daily Pilot and then when an activist wrote a rebuttal, two cop cars suddenly showed up and parked in front of the activist's front door and didn't leave until the activist called the City Manager?  The apologists: "Hey that was probably just a coincidence that they parked there on that quiet cul de sac street where they had never been before and it was probably also a coincidence that they parked right in front of the activist's front door instead of near  any other homes. And, surely it was a coincidence that they showed up early on the very morning that the activist's rebuttal column appeared in the Daily Pilot. No, they weren't trying to intimidate the activist. You must do penance for thinking such a thing."

"O Ye of little faith.  You must have blind faith in the police.  They are selfless and they only want to help citizens of Costa Mesa out of the goodness of their hearts.  Why, they don't even get paid.  Yes, that's right, they just volunteer."

Oh, they don't just volunteer?  You mean many of them get more than $ 200,000 per year in total compensation? You mean they're trying to defeat Jim Righeimer because he wants to get their pay and benefits packages in line so the city doesn't go broke?  You mean, they're just out for themselves?

Lobdell and those like him aside, it'll be interesting to see the results of the investigation of the Bever incident being conducted by an outside investigator--if it's made public.  We have a suspicion that  CMPD brass may already think that something wasn't right about the incident, and that's why this has been given to an outside investigator. 
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ONE VOTE FOR IMPROVEMENT=TWO WINS

Here's how some of the Improvers are voting this year, and this is the order of the candidates on your ballot:

CITY OF COSTA MESA

Member, City Council
Vote for no more than Two

JIM RIGHEIMER---Cast one vote for Jim Righeimer
WENDY LEECE  No vote
SUE LESTER        No vote

CHAD W. PETSCHL No vote

CHRIS MCEVOY No vote

As we've written before, you do not have to use the two votes you have.  It says right on the ballot (as reproduced above) "Vote for no more than Two."  This means you can vote for fewer than two or none at all.

Voting for just one person and not two does not invalidate your ballot. 

If you think, as do we, that the way to defeat the haters and bigots and get a good person who will help improve Costa Mesa on the City Council, you may wish to only vote for Jim Righeimer and just not vote for a second candidate.

It's our belief that the above gives the greatest probability of electing Jim Righeimer.

We believe that Wendy Leece will also be elected and that she does not need the votes of the Improvers.

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Those are our opinions.  We've been right about Costa Mesa elections since 2000. We think we're right about this one also.

CM PRESS # 292

LEFTY JOE BELL CRAWLS OUT OF THE TANK OF SOYLENT GREEN AGAIN--SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP PUT HIM BACK IN
Link

Makes stupid  and predictable comments about the election in Costa Mesa (he lives in Newport Beach). 

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STATE TO SELL FAIRGROUNDS TO FACILITIES MANAGEMENT WEST
Link
Hmmmm. Since Costa Mesa and FMW were once going to buy the fairgrounds together, and presumably had inside information on each other's strategies, etc., we wouldn't be surprised if we start hearing some folks wondering, rightly or wrongly, if there might be a breach of fiduciary responsibility. Of course, we don't know all the facts, and it is the facts that are determinative.
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ROEDER ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT TODAY

Costa Mesa City Manager Allan Roeder announced today that he will retire in March of 2011.

We're sure many others who have watched City Hall over the past years will agree with us that Mr. Roeder has some extraordinary skills and will be missed. 

The CM PRESS has constantly been impressed with the way Roeder has been able to deftly handle very different personalities of many different city councils, staff and ordinary citizens.

We're not sure one can teach the talents that Roeder has--you may have to be born with them--but if they can be taught, he might consider teaching some courses at OCC or other local college if he remains in Costa Mesa.
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VOTE 1 TO WIN 2

We channel the sub-atomic particles that make up Stephen Hawking and the entire universe...

There are subtle and unseen forces in the universe. They are beneath and make our everyday reality. 

To defeat the forces of evil in Costa Mesa this year, you must vote for one candidate only for the City Council--Jim Righeimer.

Jim Righeimer is number one on your ballot.  Vote only for him.  Vote for no other.This will bring a win for two candidates: Jim Righeimer and Wendy Leece.  This is not magic.  It is science.  It is probability made manifest. 

Cast one vote only.  Cast this one vote for Jim Righeimer.  Do not cast a second vote.

That is all.
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BUT JUST IN CASE YOU WANT ANOTHER SCIENTIFIC OPINION...

I asked the witch doctor how to vote this year
And the witch doctor he spoke into my ear
He said that
Ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang
Walla walla, bing bang
Ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang
Walla walla, bing bang
My friend the witch doctor, he taught me how to be a rhymer
My friend the witch doctor, he said to vote Righeimer
Ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang
Walla walla, bing bang
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Those are our opinions.  Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 291

CITY RETAINS OUTSIDE INVESTIGATOR TO INVESTIGATE POLICE MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS

Here's the complete press release issued by Chief Shawkey  today:

In response to allegations of possible police misconduct made by Costa Mesa City Councilmember Eric Bever and another citizen, the city has retained an outside investigator so the matter may be reviewed independently of the police department. The investigation will focus on whether any police department rules, regulations or policies were violated. Should the investigation reveal any criminal activity, that information will be turned over to the appropriate prosecutor’s office. The investigation will be conducted in accordance with the Peace Officer’s Bill of Rights and the City’s Personnel regulations as will any findings which may result.

Costa Mesa Chief of Police Christopher Shawkey said in a statement issued by his office, “While I certainly feel that the Professional Standards Unit within the police department would have provided a fair and objective review and investigation of the allegations, we recognize the need for independence of this investigation so all the parties involved, including members of the Costa Mesa Police Department and the citizens of Costa Mesa, have complete confidence in an impartial investigation.”
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COP CHARGED WITH DRUNKEN DRIVING

Link

Doesn't it seem that there are an awful lot of bad cops?
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IF YOU'VE BEEN READING COMMENTS FROM THE USUAL ANONYMOUS COMMENTERS IN THE DAILY PILOT...

You'll have noticed the hatred and bile that seems to be part of  some of these people's repertoire. 

Don't worry, though, it's just a small handful of nutcases and they change their anonymous names to make it seem like there's more of them than there really are.

According to this small handful of nutcases, Jim Righeimer is the devil incarnate.

Don't be fooled, folks.  The nutcases with their hatred and bigotry are trying to confuse you. 

They don't want you to vote for Righeimer. That's because he's been honest and said that some of the salaries and benefits of some of our employees aren't sustainable.

That's it.  That's the same thing that's been said by many honest politicians and economists.

Well, what some of these nutcases have done with their vile attacks is that they've awakened many voters in Costa Mesa to the reality of our situation. 

And, they've pissed a lot of citizens off with their attacks on a guy who lives here and is raising his family here (unlike many of them).

They're attacking one of our own.  They're attacking a family man just like many other family men and women in this city.

We don't like it, and we know many of you don't like it either. 

So, and as we've written before, we intend to ONLY CAST ONE VOTE  for a city council candidate this year and it's going to be for Jim Righeimer. 

By not casting our second vote, we think Righeimer will have a better chance of winning a seat on the council.  Then, he'll be able to work for us.

By the way, we at the CM PRESS have nothing to do with Righeimer's campaign.  We haven't donated any money to him, we haven't walked precincts, we haven't done anything.  We've never said more than a few words to him. And, we are not looking for a seat on a commission or any other benefit if he wins.

Our goal here is the same as it has been since the late '90's--TO MAKE COSTA MESA A BETTER PLACE TO RAISE FAMILIES. 

Every election year, we've tried to find the best candidates to help improve Costa Mesa. And, when we find those candidates, we try to let you know who they are.

This year, we think Jim Righeimer is the best choice to help improve Costa Mesa.

Yes, we also support Wendy Leece.  But, this year, unfortunately, because of the hate campaign being waged against Righeimer, a vote for Wendy will often work as a vote for McEvoy. 

So, we're not going to vote for Wendy, but we believe that Wendy is going to easily win election anyway.

If the citizens of Costa Mesa want improvement and if they get it right with their voting, we should wake up on November 3, with Wendy Leece and Jim Righeimer on the city council.
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HAVE YOU NOTICED...

It's mostly the potheads, the lefty kooks and the illegal alien advocates who support the cops in their attempt to stop the election of the only candidate who promises to help get our fiscal house in order?

And, have you noticed that it is mostly the cop union that is doing the mud slinging? 

Imagine that.  The police who are supposed to serve and protect the citizens of Costa Mesa  have dropped all pretenses of being public servants and are now slinging mud at a candidate in a city in which most of these cops don't even live and a city in which they can't vote.

Who do you think has your best interests at heart, Jim Righeimer, a family man raising his kids in Costa Mesa and whose family drives our streets, shops in our stores and sleeps here at night, or unionized city employees who don't want to live here and who don't care what happens here once they punch the time clock and head back to their safer cities and their families?
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Cop Accused of Assaulting 2 Female Cops
Link
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ON THE WATERFRONT (The movie)

 (ALMOST, WELL JUST, ER, BACK FROM THE WATERFRONT A LITTLE BIT, AH, LIKE UP THE HILL)

SCENE: Medium sized California city of Almost Waterfront.  The year is 2010. The Brooklyn Dodgers long ago moved west and so have some others.

THE STORY: On the surface, Almost Waterfront looks quiet and peaceful. But beneath the surface are out of town  thugs who are trying to run the city for their own benefit.

Jim Reagan, a good, decent citizen of the city who is a regular guy, a father, a husband, a man trying to scratch out a living to support his family in the rough and tumble world of private enterprise sees some things wrong in the city and decides to run for the city council to try to make things right.

This doesn't please some of the thugs who control  Almost Waterfront and who immediately attack him because if he wins office he'll be a threat to the racket of ripping off the taxpayers of the city.

Thug 1: "Boss, dis schmo ain't gonna play footsy with us and he's gonna ruin da racket wese got goin."

Boss Thug: "How many times, I gotta tell youse. Don't call dis ting we got goin no racket. Capeche? Don't the schmuck knows we run dis town?"

Thug 1: "Dat's the point, boss, dis schmo says the citizens run the town, not us."

Boss Thug: "What is dis guy, a boyscout?  And, hey, I sez he's a schmuck and youse says he's a schmo. Which is it? Ah, never mind. Tell the schmuckschmo we'll back him in the election and help him win if he just does us a few favors. Make him a nice offer."

Thug 1: "Boss, we tried dat.  The schmuckschmo don't want our backing."

Boss Thug: "We got any dirt on the guy?

Thug 1: "Yeah, he had some bills a buncha years ago."

Boss: "Dat's the dirt? Da schmuckschmo had some bills? Dat's all ya got? Hey, the only ones who ain't hurt by the economy is us. Ah, awright, go with what youse got."

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Those are our opinions and some fiction.  Thanks for reading the CM PRESS.

CM PRESS # 290

SOMEONE ON THE WAY TO FILE REQUIRED CAMPAIGN DISCLOSURE STATEMENT BY OCTOBER 21?








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So, who were those two cops in CMPD car # 711 at approximately 4:57pm on Thursday, October 14, 2010, who it is claimed were photographing citizens near the corner of 17th Street and Superior?

How difficult can it be to determine who they were, what they were doing, and whether or not they had a legitimate law enforcement purpose for doing what they were doing, with so many facts known about their presence?  
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IS THERE A 'CLIQUE' WITHIN THE CMPD?

Some in the community have long suspected that there is a "clique" (to put it politely) within the CMPD that has its own agenda and which is not working in the best interests of the citizens of Costa Mesa (putting that politely, also).

Some in the community have also suggested that some indiduals who are no longer with the department may be part of the problem and may be undermining the present administration.  Again, this has not been confirmed, but maybe it's worth looking into.

Hopefully, top brass in the department will fully investigate what's going on, if anything, and will take the necessary action before the CMPD loses any more credibility with citizens.
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HATE ATTACKS ON RIGHEIMER BACKFIRING

Word from the streets of Costa Mesa is that the hate attacks on Jim Righeimer are backfiring.

And, not only that, it also seems that more citizens are now understanding that what is really at stake in this election is not only the future of Costa Mesa, but the future of the many good, decent citizens who live here.

Will out of town carpetbaggers be allowed to control Costa Mesa or will the citizens of this city be in charge?

A vote for Righeimer puts the citizens in charge.  It's no more complicated than that.

We're also hearing that more improvement minded voters are now going to cast only one vote in the City Council race and throw one vote away.  They believe that this is the best way to elect Jim Righeimer and also Wendy Leece.

That's right, you read that correctly.  By only voting for Jim Righeimer, some believe that both Jim and Wendy will win seats on the City Council.

You say: "What? Not voting for Leece and only casting one vote and that one for Jim Righeimer will mean that both Wendy and Jim will win election?  How can that be?"

It's the way the universe works. [Well, it also has to do with voting patterns and numbers, voter apathy, and a number of other factors.]

But, we're not telling anyone how to vote.  That's up to each person. 

If you think that you can, in good conscience, only use one of your two votes and if that's the way you choose to vote, that is your choice under our system.  When the ballot says; as it does: "Vote for no more than Two," it means that you can vote for fewer than two. It means you can vote for ONE if you want.

We at the CM PRESS know how we're going to vote. As always, we're going to vote in a way that we believe has the best probability of increasing the improvement of Costa Mesa.  To us, that means we're voting for Jim Righeimer. Period.  We will exercise our right to not cast a second vote.
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Those are our opinions.  Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 289

UPDATE ON SEVEN-YEAR OLD BOY HIT BY ILLEGAL ALIEN IN KATRINA FOLEY'S SLUM
Link
The CM PRESS saw the aftermath of this incident.  The car was rammed into the side of a garage of a fourplex in the Mission-Mendoza illegal alien infested slum in Katrina Foley's Mesa Del Mar neighborhood. 

This slum is directly across the street from the new homes that have replaced the old shopping center.

This is also the slum where Foley and her lefty pals made a big show of planting flowers and doing some other photo-op type of work a couple of years ago. 

This slum has been the location of several murders, drive by shootings, and other serious crimes over the years and is a cancer on Mesa Del Mar and Costa Mesa.

Funny, planting flowers in front of a slum doesn't fix the slum.  Tearing it down fixes it.

VOTE FOR RIGHEIMER TO HELP RID THE CITY OF SUCH SLUMS
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SEVEN YEAR-OLD BOY HIT BY UNLICENSED DRIVER IN COSTA MESA
Link

There's another reason why you should vote for Jim Righeimer for City Council and Allan Mansoor for State Assembly.  Stop the madness!  Stop illegal aliens and their running dog lefty pals from ruining Costa Mesa. There was no mention in the above linked article about the legal status of this driver, but....

And, here's another reason to vote for Mansoor for Assembly.  His rival Phat Phuey is meeting with State Senator One Bill Gil Cedillio (D-Los Angeles) in Costa Mesa today. LINK You may know that One Bill Gil Cedillio is the guy who keeps trying to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens.

Cedillo is also the chairman of the Latino Caucus. Why isn't that called racist?  Hey, why isn't there a White Caucus?  Why are Whites being denied representation for their most important identity--the one they were born with?  Hmmmmm?  Are you getting fed up with the double standard: Non-Whites good--Whites bad ?

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JIM RIGHEIMER IS THE BEST CANDIDATE RUNNING THIS YEAR FOR IMPROVEMENT AND SHOULD GET THE VOTE OF ALL THOSE WHO WANT A NICER COSTA MESA

THE BUZZ: The CM PRESS is hearing a buzz among improvement activists and those who want a nicer Costa Mesa that goes something like this:

Wendy Leece is the second best candidate running, next to Jim Righeimer.

However, Wendy Leece will probably easily win re-election and doesn't need the votes of the improvers.

Jim Righeimer is under assault by those who want to stop improvement and who want Costa Mesa to be a new Santa Ana or a Tijuana Norte. 

He is also under assault by what some believe is a "clique" that has existed within the CMPD for years, as well as by the police union because he has promised to get Costa Mesa's fiscal house in order.

So, what some big I and little i improvers say they're going to do is vote for Jim Righeimer, but not vote for Wendy Leece. 

They say they'll either not use that second vote at all or vote for Chad W. Petschl (which is the same as not using the second vote).

What do you think?  Do you think those who plan to vote this way have it right?  How will you vote?  Let us know.
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Those are our opinions.  Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 288

THE OC REGISTER'S TAKE ON THE CALL TO INVESTIGATE CMPD COPS
Link with video of the press conference today.
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SUPERVISOR MOORLACH AND COUNCILMEMBER BEVER CALL FOR AN INVESTIGATION

At today's press conference at a vacant, privately owned lot at the corner of 17th Street and Superior (near Trader Joe's) attended by about fifty people, Councilmember Bever told how at approximately 4:57 pm on Thursday, October 14, he and local activist Christian Eric were putting up Righeimer election signs on the property with the permission of the owner.

According to Bever and Eric, while they were installing the signs, Costa Mesa police cruiser # 711 with two  uniformed officers inside slowly drove by.  Bever said that he gave them a friendly wave and a smile, but that one of the officers gave him a "nasty" look.

Then, according to Bever, the cruiser circled around the block two more times and the officer in the passenger seat held up a large camera and took photos of Bever and Eric.

Both Bever and Eric said they felt the officers were trying to intimidate them. Bever says that he later called Police Chief Shawkey about the incident and was told that the Chief will investigate and  report back to Bever.

The following morning, Friday, October 15, Eric went by the site and discovered that all eight signs that he and Bever had installed were now missing.

Bever and Eric want to know:

Who were the two police officers?
Were they acting on orders from higher ups? If so, who?
Was the camera police property?
Was there a legitimate law enforcement objective in what the cops were doing or did they have a political or other motive?

Because what Bever and Eric were doing was a protected First Amendment right, police intimidation--if that is established--may have violated federal civil rights laws and may also implicate a criminal conspiracy both under U.S. and California law since there were at least two officers involved in the incident.

Supervisor Moorlach emphasized the potential seriousness of this incident and said that his office would investigate if the Costa Mesa investigation leaves questions unanswered or seems inadequate.

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CM PRESS # 287

*******************BULLETIN***************
6:45PM--This corrects to SW corner....
Potential voter intimidation violations by the Costa Mesa Police Department will be revealed at a press conference held tomorrow, Saturday October 16 at 11:00am at the SW corner of 17th St and Superior Ave in Costa Mesa, CA with Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach and Planning Commissioner and City Council Candidate Jim Righeimer. Witnesses to the voter intimidation act will be present.
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GEERT WILDERS NOT GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS
LINK
Dutch PC types tried to have the popular politician jailed or fined because he said some things about Islam they didn't like.
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Message to E....--leave your email in comments.  It won't be published. We'll then contact you. Do you have photos? Thanks.
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MESSAGE TO 'ETHICS...' PLEASE SEND INFO ON HOW YOU KNOW THEY'RE THE ONES TAKING DOWN THE SIGNS.  AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'OFFICIAL'?
 IF YOU HAVE PHOTOS, GIVE US YOUR EMAIL IN COMMENTS (we won't publish it) AND WE'LL CONTACT YOU FOR COPIES. Thanks, CM PRESS
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IF YOU LIVE IN COSTA MESA AND YOU VOTE FOR THIS GUY--PHU NGUYEN (KNOWN AS PHAT PHUEY TO US)-- OVER ALLAN MANSOOR FOR THE STATE ASSEMBLY YOU SHOULD HAVE YOUR HEAD EXAMINED.

As a resident of Costa Mesa, Mansoor has a long time understanding of what we need in our city as well as a natural affinity for Costa Mesa.  Phat Phuey knows nothing about Costa Mesa.

Mansoor's website
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 RIGHEIMER SHINES AT EASTSIDE COMMUNITY FORUM

Jim Righeimer's website HERE

The Eastsiders put on a nice candidate forum last night with questions that clearly revealed what the candidates were made of.

The three know-nothing candidates--Sue Lester, Chad Petschl and  Chris McEvoy--once again showed that they know nothing.

Some questions were asked of all candidates and some of just one candidate.  Below is a sprinkling of what struck us the most.

On a question about what to do with John Wayne Airport curfews[as in, how do we keep JWA from growing?] Petschl, who admitted that he has only been in town since March 2009 (why in the world is this guy running and wasting our time?), showed he doesn't know a thing about our area when he went off into lala land and talked about adding more runways to JWA so we wouldn't have to have  curfews on flights and could have planes landing all day and all night.  No, dear reader, we're not kidding you.  This is what this guy thinks we want in Costa Mesa: a bigger airport,with more runways, running all night long.

The rest of the candidates all said they wanted no expansion of JWA.

On a question about how to control density on the Eastside, Lester swerved off into a stupid backhanded attack on Jim Righeimer and the Planning Commission (without naming either) when she said that the "city should have no appointed positions."  She repeated this at least one other time during the forum. 

Can it be that Lester doesn't understand that California law requires cities to have Planning Commissions? [Digression: By contrast, California does not require cities of have Parks and Recreation Commissions and the CM PRESS has repeatedly called for ours to be disbanded].

 And can Lester be unaware that the normal way of filling Planning Commissions, that are on the same page as our elected City Council, is to have the Commissioners be appointed by the Council?  If it weren't done this way, we could end up with a dysfunctional local government in which Councilmembers might be elected for, say, slow growth, and then Planning Commissioners--if not appointed by the Council--might all want fast growth.

The result would be that many decisions of the Planning Commissioners would then be appealed to the Council where most would probably be overturned.  This would be a very inefficient and costly way of doing the people's business.

On a question about what to do with the 55 Freeway dropping traffic into our downtown, McEvoy at first gave a rambling and mostly incoherent answer about making sure we don't have cut through traffic in our neighborhoods. Then, he must have realized he was missing the point and mentioned a tunnel--which is what most of us want.

When asked about noise levels coming from Triangle Square, Leece didn't say anything meaningful but just seemed to acknowledge that she had heard there was noise coming from the Sutra Lounge. Wendy does work hard at her job on the Council and she is approachable, and she really does mean well, but sometimes we wish she were more focused on the big picture of improving our city and could see how all the pieces fit together.  More of this in the next article below, because it would be too long a digression here.

Every one of Righeimer's answers was intelligent and showed that he does understand what we need in Costa Mesa and how we can get it.  Righeimer is no ham handed politician.  He knows that you sometimes have to get to your goal via an indirect route. When asked about what we can do about the proliferation of half-way houses in the city, Righeimer correctly said that under state law we can't do much in a direct fashion  but that we can control the impacts. 

He then gave an example of this. If, for example, you are going to open a half-way house and intend to add another bedroom or two, the city may say that you also have to have a three car garage to keep all the additioal cars off the street.  Now, in Costa Mesa, there aren't many built out properties that will allow you to add a three car garage, right?  Sorry, you can't put in a half-way house.
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WENDY LEECE, THE BIG PICTURE AND HUMAN PETS

We like Wendy and we'd like to see her get re-elected. And, we have no doubt that she will be re-elected.  However, we do have some problems with Wendy tilting too much in favor of non-profits.

Now, let's understand right away that "non-profit" is not necessarily the stuff of Mother Teresa.  Many of the non-profits in Costa Mesa are businesses that make very nice salaries and provide good benefits for the bosses of these non-profits.  Some of these non-profits even get free rent from the city (that taxpayers pay for). 

To repeat. The business plan of some non-profit bosses is to get free rent and pocket the profits as salaries and then to be perceived as kind and compassionate souls.

Take the free use of some of our sports fields in Costa Mesa. Some non-profits (not all of them, though), that aren't even headquartered in Costa Mesa, get absolutely free use of sports fields that taxpayers must pay for.  But these non-profits charge their players to play on these fields.  Where do those player dollars go?  In some cases, right into the wallets of those who run the non-profits.

Some other non-profits are magnets pulling people to Costa Mesa who can't afford to live here, and then these non-profits help them  feel comfortable and wanted here by paying their rent, paying their utility bills, giving them free school supplies, giving them free bags of groceries, giving them free baby sitting services, and day care and free this and free that.  And, many of those receiving these freebies are illegal aliens who are working under the table and hiding their incomes.

What is the result of all these freebies?  Well, free things draw even more who want them. Feed a lone pigeon in your backyard and you'll soon find an ever growing flock of pigeons showing up. The principle is the same with humans.

In our view, Wendy doesn't always seem to see the big picture concerning some of these non-profits. She seems to have been drinking too much of the self-serving kool-aid press releases put out by some of these non-profits.  She doesn't seem to understand that not all of the non-profits in Costa Mesa are helping people who have fallen on hard times, but that many of them have been established to help illegal aliens feel at home in Costa Mesa and many of them are acting as magnets drawing people to our city who then become a permanent underclass driving down the quality of life of self-reliant citizens who do try to stand on their own no matter what is thrown at them.

And, when some of our stable citizens fall on hard times, they find all the non-profit gelt has been sucked up by those leeching off the system who probably shouldn't even be in this country.

There's also a reason why we have a growing homeless population in Costa Mesa. In fact, there were many homeless people in the park and in the library next to the forum last night.  The reason is the same as we wrote about above. It's because the non-profits here welcome them and fill their needs.  Homeless people feel comfortable here.

To repeat. Feed a hungry pigeon in your backyard and you'll soon have a flock of pigeons.  It's just the nature of life--including human life--that it works this way.

In several of my books I lay this out very simply as a precept: "All living organisms gravitate to where they feel comfortable."   The principle is the same for bacteria and humans.

Now, the comfort can be physical or it can be psychological or it can be  both.  Take some of the folks who we read about in the papers all the time for their charity work in Costa Mesa.  They're seeking  their own comfort just as the people they "help" are seeking theirs.

Scratch the surface of some of these compassionate folks a little and you'll often discover that it's not altruism, but a deep seated psychological need to mother others.  They find their comfort in doing this charity work.  It gives meaning to their lives.  It makes them feel, oh, swell, and holier than those who don't do this.

Unfortunately, many of those involved in this work commute to Costa Mesa (hey, it's closer than the Third World) to get their jollies doing this charity work and then they go back to Newport Beach, or where ever, when the sun goes down).  They may be helping some individuals, and they may go to sleep at night feeling smugly good about themselves, but they're harming the city as a whole, because they're pulling Costa Mesa down.

We'd like to see some of these compassionate folks from Newport Beach come to Costa Mesa and take some of the "needy" back to their own neighborhoods to care for them as the human pets that they make them into.  But, you know they won't do that.  They don't want the needy in their backyards, daaaaahling, they want them in Costa Mesa where they are close enough to swoop down on and mother for a few hours but far enough away so they're not a bother and so they won't ruin the quality of life where the compassionate folks live and raise their families.

Some of these compassionate folks are the slightly less loony version of the neurotic cat ladies we read about in the paper all the time.  But, instead of  collecting and mothering cats, these folks collect and mother humans.  Unfortunately, they don't fill their own neighborhoods with them the way cat ladies may fill their cars or homes with cats, they fill OUR neighborhoods with them.

What a life.  Have a neurosis but  have some others think it's compassion and then have them actually  praise you for your neurosis while you stand there with a beatific smile while casting your eyes heavenward.

"Why, isn't that the smell of roses? "

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Those are our opinions.  Thanks for reading them.