Around Town: Costa Mesa deputy city clerk gets CEO Leadership Award

Costa Mesa city Chief Executive Tom Hatch last week awarded February’s CEO Leadership Award to Jessica Mejia, deputy city clerk.

Mejia, who has been with the city about a year and a half, helps manage the city clerk’s office and council meetings and assists new committee and commission secretaries.

“The city clerk’s office is right on the front lines of City Hall,” Hatch said in a statement. “We have a great team in that office who help the public with all their requests on a daily basis, and Jessica is a big part of that team.”

Mejia is a Cal Poly Pomona graduate and an avid runner, having run 28 half-marathons and two full marathons, according to a city news release. She previously worked for the cities of San Dimas and Monterey Park.

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Traffic signal work coming to Newport Boulevard

Grant money from the Orange County Transportation Authority is helping to fund traffic signal improvements along Newport Boulevard in Costa Mesa, according to a city news release.

The $811,070 project, 80% of which is funded by OCTA’s Measure M2 sales tax for transportation projects, will upgrade signal equipment along the boulevard at 15 locations between Bristol and Bay streets, the city said.

The work also includes new closed-circuit television cameras and fiber optic communication cables.

The work is expected to be done by this summer, said city spokesman Tony Dodero.

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Costa Mesa park ranger returns from Army deployment

A Costa Mesa Police Department park ranger recently returned to duty after serving abroad in the Army Reserve.

Lorna Lyttle, a park ranger since 2006, began her Army service in 2010 and was deployed to Afghanistan in April 2014. She served as a convoy escort protecting military equipment moving between bases, according to a city news release.

She has attained the rank of sergeant. Lyttle returned to the Costa Mesa Police Department in January.

Before her deployment, Costa Mesa police honored her service by tying a yellow ribbon to a tree outside the Police Department headquarters.

“It was an experience that I will never forget, and now that I am home, I am just trying to get back to the daily grind and back to living life as I knew it before,” Lyttle said in a statement. “I left with a whole lot more gratitude for being a U.S. citizen.”

She added that she’s happy to be back with Costa Mesa police.

“They are my other family,” she said.

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Costa Mesa Civic Center gets flooring upgrades

Costa Mesa City Hall and the Police Department headquarters have received new flooring.

The first-floor City Hall lobby carpet was replaced after 18 years of use and features thicker padding and a more modern design, according to a city news release.

The fourth-floor lobby received new floor tiles. The replaced tiles had been there since City Hall opened in 1967.

The Police Department’s first-floor lobby flooring also was replaced. It was heavily used and was stained from the fruit of ficus trees on visitors’ shoes, officials said.

New floor material was installed near the department’s entrance that will help remove the tree debris as visitors enter, officials said.

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Save Our Youth seeks scholarship donors

Save Our Youth, a Costa Mesa-based nonprofit serving Westside youths, is seeking scholarship donors for its eighth annual fiesta.

The April 29 event will include food from Taco Mesa, drinks, dinner, entertainment and auctions.

For more information, visit save-our-youth.org or call (949) 548-8501.

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Costa Mesa wins budget award

The city of Costa Mesa recently received the Government Finance Officers Assn. award for Distinguished Budget Presentation.

City officials called the award the highest form of recognition in government budgeting. Costa Mesa has won the award more than 10 times.