COSTA MESA CITY COUNCIL WRAP-UP

FYI

* WHAT: Next City Council meeting

* WHEN: 6 p.m., Nov. 1

* WHERE: Council chambers, City Hall, 77 Fair Drive

* INFO: Call (714) 754-5221 or visit www.ci.costa-mesa.ca.us online

Here are a few items the council considered Tuesday.

MAYOR PRO TEM

After Gary Monahan announced Oct. 4 he’s giving up the mayor pro tem post, the council on Tuesday reached an impasse in trying to pick a replacement. Because Monahan was absent, no one seconded the motion when Councilwoman Katrina Foley nominated Councilwoman Linda Dixon or when Mayor Allan Mansoor nominated Eric Bever.

WHAT IT MEANS

The council decided to wait until Monahan is back to choose a new mayor pro tem, a post that in Costa Mesa has often been used to groom a council member to become mayor.

CITY COMMITTEES

The council appointed nine people as members or alternates on five city committees. Brenna-Colleen Orr and Susan Kopicki were appointed to the child care and youth services committee; Dennis Crane, Caryn Callal and Lillian Gorbaty were named to the cultural arts committee; John Anderson will be on the Fairview Park friend/fundraising committee; John McQueen was reappointed to the historic preservation committee; and Terry Shaw was reappointed and David Stiller was made an alternate to the investment oversight committee.

Some members were approved unanimously, but council members debated Kopicki’s appointment because she doesn’t live or work in the city, but she does serve on the board of a Costa Mesa-based organization. Bever moved to appoint only Crane, a visual artist, to the cultural arts committee because he said its focus is now on visual arts, but his colleagues chose to approve all three applicants.

WHAT IT MEANS

Most spots on the committees are now filled, although the child care and youth services and Fairview Park committees still need members.

PAULARINO PARK

After a lengthy debate over the problem of team sports -- namely soccer -- being played at Paularino Park, the council referred the matter to the parks and recreation commission for further study. The park is a 2.2-acre neighborhood park that’s not considered appropriate for organized sports, but some residents have complained that soccer players sometimes take over much of the park for games.

Mansoor leaned toward planting trees or installing some other barrier to deter large group sports, and Bever wanted stricter enforcement of a rule that groups of 10 or more people need a permit for activities in the park. But Foley was concerned this would restrict use of the park by neighborhood children and family groups.

WHAT IT MEANS

The parks and recreation commission will work with the school district on possibly using fields at the adjacent school for sports, park rangers may provide more patrols, and the public will be included in discussions about adding trees or other options for the park.

-- Compiled by Alicia Robinson