I was amazed to see so many Costa Mesa residents turn out last night to speak to oppose the 19th Street bridge idea. Bravo! Our Huntington Beach neighbors made their desires loud and clear to the 6 council members attending: NO BRIDGE!
However, I was the only Costa Mesa council member there. Residents must let the rest of the Costa Mesa Council know of their opposition. The Newport Beach City Council members also need to hear from residents in all cities. Newport wants the bridge as Supervisor Moorlach told us NB Councilman Rosansky asked him to bring up the bridge idea again and that's why we are going through this again.
The next Costa Mesa City Council meeting is Tuesday, Jan. 17 at 6:00 where you will have 3 minutes to voice your opinion and concerns about the bridge changing the quality of life for many Costa Mesans. A resolution (I said "proclamation" last night and I meant to say "resolution") was passed by the Costa Mesa Council in 1993 officially opposing the bridge and that opposition STILL STANDS.
Bottom line, the bridge needs to come off the county master plan for highways. But Newport needs to agree to it with CM and HB. This will not be an easy battle, but we Costa Mesans are up for it! This is a hill to die on, so please spread the word to your neighbors.
My head was spinning this morning when I started to see ALL of the emails with suggestions and comments about the proposed charter! I need to "process" these emails (each and every email is important to me) BEFORE Tuesday's special public hearing.
Are you kidding me? This is no way to run a city! We ask our residents to give us input but tell them they only have a few days to RESEARCH other charters, think about what IS BEST FOR COSTA MESA, and make a pitch for their ideas to be included! Haste makes waste. We will be sorry down the road if we don't slow this train down.
This morning, I have asked the CITY MANAGER and city attorney for clarification on the DROP DEAD date as we are all confused as to the timeline and legal requirements for adding and removing items. Why didn't we think all this through in the first place?
The Charter meeting on Wednesday was very ineffective and I listened to many frustrated residents that night. I agree. I am frustrated too! Residents wanted to ask questions and LISTEN to answers from other residents. Some residents, in asking questions at the info tables were told "look in your packet." It would take a normal person at least an hour to READ the packet let alone THINK about it!
I think we could be there all night at the special city council public hearing next Tuesday, Jan. 10 going over all of the input from residents and discussing among ourselves. Unless, other minds have already been made up about what is supposed to be in the Charter and input from residents really doesn't matter.
I'm sorry. I have have read the Charter, some of the emails and suggestions and I am having a hard time sifting through it all and also looking at other charters for OTHER ideas. I like to be thoroughly prepared when I walk into a meeting. Well, I could be prepared if I dropped everything else in my life for the next few days!
Costa Mesa is a very unique city. We should not be copying and pasting from other cities! Makes us look dumb! We aren't!
If this moves as fast as I think it will, the only recourse we have is to send a resounding message in June: WE DON'T WANT A CHARTER THAT WE HAVE NOT HAD TIME TO UNDERSTAND THOROUGHLY AND THAT WE KNOW IS THE BEST FOR COSTA MESA, NOW AND IN THE FUTURE.
I don't care what other cities are doing to serve THEIR purposes. We have many great minds in this city and those ideas deserve to be heard in an orderly and timely manner.
We are a safe, clean city with excellent customer service. We live the good life here! I want to keep it that way.
3 comments:
Wendy your passion and commitment to the City and residents of Costa mesa is shining through at this dark moment. Keep up the fight......we're behind you.
Wendy I wasn't your biggest fan in the past, but I am now. You are so commited to our great city and I appreciate all of your hard work. Thank you so much for taking the time to really investigate the issues.
"If you do not want to lose your job, perform better and work for cheaper." Well, the citizens of Costa Mesa have no intention of accepting second rate standards of city services. The citizens worked hard for what they have and they deserve the best.
Regarding outsourcing- here is an item for consideration; review the pay scale for those positions that need to out sourced. Then, as we consider outsourcing, we need to remember that the downside of outsourcing which is the displacement of city jobs in the pursuit of the almighty dollar. Also, as the recession continues, expect government legislation or court orders to stop or correctly regulate the practice of outsourcing city services.
Outsourcing is the act of a given city contracting with another agency or company to provide services that might otherwise be performed by in-city employees. Often the tasks that are outsourced could be performed by the city itself, but in many cases there are financial advantages that come from outsourcing. Many cities now outsource jobs such as dispatch services and payroll services. These jobs are handled by separate companies that specialize in each service, and are often are offered for less costs. There are many reasons that cities outsource various jobs, but the most prominent advantage seems to be the fact that it often to save money. Many of the companies that provide outsourcing services are able to do the work for considerably less money, as they don't have to provide lucrative benefits to their workers and have fewer overhead expenses to worry about.
Outsourcing also allows cities to focus on other core city issues while having the details taken care of by outside experts. This means that a large amount of resources and attention, which might fall on the shoulders of city staff, can be used for more important, broader issues within the city. The specialized company that handles the outsourced work is often streamlined, and often has enhanced capabilities and access to new technology that a city couldn't afford to service on their own. Plus, if a city is looking to excel, outsourcing is a cost-effective way to start building foundations for greater services.
There are some drawbacks to outsourcing as well. One of these is that it often eliminates direct communication between a city and its citizens. This may prevent a city from building solid relationships with their citizens, and often leads to dissatisfaction on one or both sides. There is also the danger of not being able to control some aspects of the city services, as outsourcing may lead to delayed communications. Any sensitive information is more vulnerable, and a city may become very dependent upon it’s outsource providers, which could lead to problems should the outsource provider back out on their contract suddenly.
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