Chaos(ta) Mesa requires real house cleaning

ROGER CARLSON

The blame for the wreckage of the athletics system at Costa Mesa High

School is easily traced.

Chaos created by a Joint Use Agreement in which the City of Costa

Mesa’s recreation department controls the playing fields on the

school’s campus with an iron fist is the first thing that must be

reversed with an attitude of common sense and follow-up on promises.

Additionally, coaches at Mesa, as well as Estancia, deserve to be

paid for their endeavors, during the school year and outside the

school year, just as everyone outside the Newport-Mesa School

District is, and just as those at Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar

high schools enjoy.

Did you know one of the stipulations in the coaches’ contracts for

football, basketball and baseball, is that “You will run a summer

program.”

If it is going to be stopped, it has to come from the top,

starting with the mayor’s office, the City Council and the board of

trustees at the school district, which, I believe, has the collective

power to enforce their will.

Gary Monahan is the mayor of Costa Mesa and is joined by Allan

Mansoor, Libby Cowan, Mike Scheafer and Chris Steel on the City

Council.

The general idea in the recreation department is that the coaches

have the audacity to believe these fields on the school grounds

belong to them. Countless, unpaid hours of personal attention can

create the illusion.

I only wish there was a way for the school district and the city

of Newport Beach to create a Joint Use Agreement to invade Corona del

Mar High’s baseball facility and tell Coach John Emme to get off his

field at 5:05 p.m. You could sell tickets for that one.

The Joint Use Agreement was a well-intentioned tool to make the

best use of available athletic facilities, but I think the city and

the school district could have sought better insight from the

coaching fraternity in terms of potential ramifications.

It’s the city’s recreation department and it needs to be shaken to

its foundation to create genuine cooperation.

The superintendent of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District is

Dr. Robert Barbot and his board of trustees consists of David Brooks,

Linda Steen, Martha Fluor, Serena Stokes, Judy Franco, Dana Black and

Tom Egan.

Surely, there is a collective strength among this body of

individuals to force changes.

If you think I’m right about this, send them a letter, or e-mail

them, or pick up a phone.

This is not meant as a plea for Coach Dave Perkins, who was fired

with six weeks remaining before the Mustangs’ first football game

this fall. He’s been pretty well toasted.

But the problems are going to keep right on going if changes are

not made.

Virtually all of the money players in the communities served by

the Newport-Mesa Unified School District reside in Newport Beach and

Corona del Mar. Booster clubs take care of the extras the district

fails to live up to its responsibilities.

I saw some of Mesa’s booster club Monday evening as players

embraced Perkins in tearful farewells. But dedicated as they are,

they are like goldfish in a shark tank. Their hopes are nothing but

fodder for luncheon laughter at the district office.

What would I do if I had the sole power?

The district would have a new superintendent who has an

appreciation for the values of athletics, which is at the heart of

the morale of any campus. At the very least, someone who has a sense

of fairness and for what is right.

Why pick on him? He’s the man in charge and bares the ultimate

responsibility for letting things reach this point.

And his assistants, and their bloated salaries, would all be

summarily dismissed and the new superintendent would consolidate his

or her efforts.

I would name it the “Terminator Program,” in honor of Governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed cuts in state government.

In the words of assistant superintendent Jamie Castellanos, from

Monday’s edition of the Daily Pilot: “Am I worried? No. Am I

concerned? Of course. I’m concerned because you don’t want to lose

good coaches.”

Well, he ought to be worried. And ashamed.

Costa Mesa would get a principal with the principles of a Bob

Packer and Estancia would get another Bob Francy.

And, there wouldn’t be any more nepotism in the system. It would

be phased out as quickly as possible.

As for Perkins, he won’t soon be forgotten.

He addressed his players on Monday and when asked what he said to

them, with tears welling in his eyes, he said, “I told them the

truth.”

He was noisy, was successful on the field, and was sometimes

self-destructive with comments.

We had our own differences on a couple of occasions, but there’s a

bottom line:

His players and their parents loved him, he was honest, knew his

subject, worked like a dog and was faithful to his staff.

And, he was probably the one person responsible for saving the

school district from a multi-million dollar lawsuit after the tragic

death of Estancia High transfer Matt Colby in 2001.

His showdown with the principal, Fred Navarro, last week included

a point by point explanation for every accusation, and the man who

wrote the $1,500 check with Perkins’ name on it, Mark Gross, verified

every single item to Navarro, to no avail, according to Perkins.

Perkins said he “Did all the permits, that it was a fundraiser,

with times and dates, and because it was during regular school day

hours, the city should have not been involved in it, at all.”

His offer to resign after the end of the season was rejected.

Players will assemble on Aug. 17 and when asked Monday night what

they would do if no coach had been chosen, the players were told by

Navarro, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

After listening to him on Monday I’m not at all sure the decision

was Navarro’s, but a directive from the district. How else could

anyone in their right mind do this to a high school football team six

weeks before the season over such minor accusations?

Brea Olinda and Corona del Mar are first up on Sept. 2 and 10th. I

don’t know about Brea, but I know for sure, Corona is loaded.

Navarro may have used the check for $1,500 made out to Perkins as

the firing point, but it’s clear Perkins was walking on thin ice, for

two reasons:

First, he recognized the flaws in the Joint Use Agreement with the

city, which gave the recreation department carte blanche treatment to

enforce its rules on Costa Mesa’s facilities, and he saw the effects

on his staff. But, instead of just eating it, he stood up and tried

to defend. His reward: The brand of a trouble maker.

And, when he saw his coaches being mistreated by the district

regarding the lack of payment despite signed and verbal agreements,

he made some more noise, demanding justice. His reward: The brand of

a trouble maker.

So, when a check for $1,500 arrives at Costa Mesa with his name on

it for the use of the fields by a summer football camp it is used as

the wedge to eject. Was the $1,000 check to the school’s AVID program

confiscated and sent off to the district, too?

In fact, where does all of the money derived go? Costa Mesa and

Estancia athletics certainly see none of it.

There’s a volleyball club which uses the gyms and Newport Harbor

and Corona del Mar which ponies up something like $15,000 a year

alone. Is that money funneled back to the schools’ athletic programs?

According to recreation department figures, $90,000 was collected

in 2003 for city and school district fields and the part-time workers

who make up the staff of the “field ambassadors” were paid around $53

grand, or about $10 an hour.

It must be comforting for ex-coaches at Costa Mesa to know someone

is getting paid.

At some point a new athletic director will be named, as well as a

new football coach, a new baseball coach and a new track and field

coach, joining new basketball coach Ryan Schachter.

I wish them all good luck.

Hey! See you next Sunday!

* ROGER CARLSON is the former sports editor for the Daily Pilot.

His column appears on Sundays. He can be reached by e-mail at

[email protected].