OK to hire outside firm shows lack of leadership

Doug Sutton

I’m pretty comfortable accepting the bet made by Costa Mesa Mayor

Gary Monahan during the Sept. 7 City Council meeting. I don’t believe

Costa Mesa will save a dime by outsourcing our legal department.

But first, let’s make the terms of the bet clear. Are we to

attribute the almost $1-million cost of the former City Atty. Jerry

Scheer debacle to our legal department? Along a similar line, are we

to include the $1.5 million we’re throwing into the 1901 Newport

Blvd. project? I’m willing to include the generous severance checks

we’ll soon be writing to our soon-to-be outsourced employees. But, I

absolutely refuse to include legal charges related to council

members’ attempt to sell off bits of Fairview Park to their

supporters. I draw the line here because, after all, everything our

legal department does is directed by the council, and fair is fair.

Of course, I don’t believe Monahan was seriously suggesting a bet

regarding the legal department. I think he was, once again, being

folksy, asking trusting Costa Mesans to accept on faith that he knows

what’s best for our city. Monahan provides no argument for his latest

attack on our city process. He just says, trust him. I don’t trust

him on this. If he were serious about reducing our legal

expenditures, he’d create fewer messes for our legal department to

clean up, and he’d delegate fewer pork projects for them to waste

time on. If he were truly wanted to save money directly by

outsourcing, he’d supply us with an estimate of expected savings.

However suspect his motives, Gary’s tactics on this item were

worse. Calling it up just six weeks before his only two supporters on

the council end their terms (it passed 3 to 2) shows utter disdain

for our staff and our community. Delaying the council hearing at the

last possible moment to prevent the almost full council chamber from

witnessing the travesty was backroom politics at its worst. Ordering,

then ignoring, a $25,000 outside opinion because it didn’t support

his view is irresponsible.

Speaking of leadership, just last week at the Daily Pilot

candidate’s forum, Councilman Mike Scheafer spoke of the importance

of leadership on the Costa Mesa City Council. I agree. I believe the

surest way to predict what one will do is to look at what he or she

has done. Council candidates should run on a platform of demonstrated

passion for and substantive contribution to our community. That’s why

I’m supporting Katrina Foley and Bruce Garlich for council and why I

would love to support Mike Scheafer. His tireless efforts to raise

money each year for community benefit is the stuff that best defines

Costa Mesa.

But I’ve witnessed two important votes of Scheafer’s that concern

me. How could he vote to pay a huge amount to make the Scheer mess go

away without exacting any benefit for Costa Mesans? Who’s going to

fight for residents if a guy who’s fought valiantly for our families

for 30 won’t? Scheafer’s deciding vote to outsource our legal

department is even more perplexing. I’d like to know why he believes

we’ll be better represented by outside counsel than in-house and why

he didn’t object to the deplorable way council managed this issue.

How could he tolerate the City Council spending $25,000 for

independent advice it immediately ignored? I’d be more comfortable if

he’d asked one substantive question or made one substantive comment

before voting on a matter so important to Costa Mesa.

Costa Mesa’s annual budget is more than $100 million. The short-sighted attempts by our City Council to disenfranchise our

community from the process must stop.

I’d like to know what the council’s doing about reversing our

owner/renter ratio, about fighting to improve the opportunities for

Costa Mesa kids and about integrating our 30% Latinos into our Cost

Mesa culture before we are fractionalized beyond repair. What’s the

council doing to make Costa Mesa a more desirable place for families

and about holding our absentee slumlords accountable for the enormous

problems they’ve created? I’d like to know where we’ll find the

additional resources we’ll need to meet the staff’s proposed capital

improvement projects for just the next three years and why the

council whines about our need to generate more revenue but chose not

to place an increased hotel occupancy tax before voters this fall.

Where are the council’s specific multi-pronged plans of attack for

protecting our airspace and preserving our Orange County fairgrounds,

and who on the council will actively lead these efforts?

* DOUG SUTTON is a resident of Costa Mesa.