Costa Mesa Mayor Sandy Genis presented longtime Freedom Committee member Scott Williams with the Mayor’s Award at the June 19 City Council meeting.

Williams is a retired first lieutenant in the US Army and Vietnam veteran and an active volunteer in Costa Mesa and Orange County on the Freedom Committee of Orange County.

“For your years of service to this community, your extraordinary leadership, and your passion for sharing stories of military service to the youth of Orange County, it is my honor and privilege to present you with the Mayor’s Award,” Mayor Genis said.

Members of the Freedom Committee share their personal stories of service to more than 10,000 students and community members a year.

“We want veterans to continue to give back to the community,” Williams said. “That’s what we do by telling our stories and hoping that those who hear our stories pick up the character traits like responsibility, teamwork and getting there first.”

City Manager Tom Hatch presented Public Services Office Specialist Karla Gonzalez with the City Manager Leadership Award at the monthly Meet and Greet on Thursday June 21.

“Karla exemplifies the customer service that we expect from our city staff and she sets the example for all of us,” City Manager Hatch said. “I know her co-workers in the Public Services Department appreciate her positive attitude and I am grateful to have her on our team.”

Gonzalez joined the Costa Mesa’s Public Services team in December 2016 as an Office Specialist.

Her responsibilities are centered in providing excellent customer service to the public who visit Public Services. She assists in the permit process related to construction projects and private developments. Her daily interaction with contractors provided valuable input that was later used in the creation of the new waste hauling system.

Additionally, Gonzalez has mastered the Department’s inspection procedures and serves as a liaison between contractors and City inspectors. She has built a good relationship with her fellow coworkers and her versatility, willingness to learn and hands-on approach allows her to adapt to the different areas in the department.

In her two and a half years with Costa Mesa, Gonzalez has worked with every Division in Public Services. She has provided support in Construction Management, the Corporation Yard, Engineering Design and she helps Transportation with resident parking permits.

Gonzalez graduated from Cal State University Long Beach in 2015 with a dual-degree in Psychology and Consumer Affairs. She is currently pursuing her Master of Public Administration with a concentration in Public Finance from Cal State Fullerton.

In addition to honoring Gonzalez, City Manager Hatch welcome Steve Winter, a Plan Checker in Economic and Development Services and in the Parks & Community Services Department

Nathan Adkins and Clarissa Lopez, both  new Recreation Leader II and Eulalia Weed a Recreation Leader I.

In the Police Department, new Communication Officers Madison Munguia and Darlene Serrano were recognized as well as the Fire Department’s Andrew Harris who was promoted to Fire Captain.

The Costa Mesa Police Department (CMPD) submitted a supplemental memo today to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to oppose the Orange County Needle Exchange Program (OCNEP).

On May 1, 2018, CMPD sent a response to CDPH expressing concern about OCNEP’s application to operate a needle exchange in the City of Costa Mesa. As a follow-up, today, June 21, 2018, a supplemental memo of opposition was sent to CDPH, citing analysis and expressed community and CMPD concerns about OCNEP.

“We thought it was imperative to explain our chief concerns and risks to public health and safety should OCNEP operate in Costa Mesa,” said Capt. Bryan Glass. “We oppose the needle exchange program as proposed to the California Department of Public Health in the interest of protecting the community.”

The CDPH is currently accepting public comments on the needle exchange program application by email, SEPApplication@cdph.ca.gov, through June 25, 2018.

Click here to read the full memo, titled “OCNEP Supplemental Information Memo,”  which is available at www.costamesaca.gov/police, by selecting Police Information on the homepage.

The City of Costa Mesa is pleased to announce that Kelly Telford, a 15-year veteran of municipal government finance with experience in accounting, budgeting and operations management, has been named as the city’s Finance Department Director.

Telford, a certified public accountant, is currently the Director of Financial Management for the Community Development Commission of the County of Los Angeles and she has worked in the public accounting firm industry consulting for state and local governments her entire career.

“We are very pleased to have found someone like Kelly to manage the city’s finances,” City Manager Tom Hatch said. “Her knowledge of budgeting at the local government level and her ability to handle large municipal budgets makes her a perfect fit for our Finance Department. We look forward to her joining the Costa Mesa team.”

In Costa Mesa, Telford will lead city’s 23-member finance team, overseeing Treasury Management, Accounting, Budget Research and Purchasing.

“I am honored for the opportunity to serve the city of Costa Mesa and am excited to become a part of the dynamic and innovative team,” Telford said. “I look forward to working with such talent in serving and keeping the city of Costa Mesa among the most desirable cities in the region.”

As the Director of Financial Management for the Los Angeles County’s Community Development Commission, Telford was a member of the Executive Management Team and managed general ledger functions, payroll, accounts receivable/payable, grant accounting and reporting and housing accounting.

She prepared the agency’s $450 million budget and provided financial forecasts of the impacts of labor negotiations and pension liabilities.

Prior to working for the commission, she spent 13 years working as a manager and senior manager at two large public accounting firms, where she developed several new financial management programs and systems and provided consultation to state and local governments on internal audits and special projects.

Telford has a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting and business administration from Cal State University Fullerton. She is a certified public accountant and a member of the Government Finance Officers Association. She will begin her career in the City of Costa Mesa on Monday June 25, 2018.

The Costa Mesa Police Department has concluded that a proposal by the Orange County Needle Exchange Program (OCNEP) to distribute syringes in the Westside of Costa Mesa has the potential to increase discarded needles in the city and present a safety risk to residents and others.

According to the Department of Public Health website, the Orange County Needle Exchange Program has submitted an application to operate its needle exchange program daily in Costa Mesa from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in an area bounded by (N) West 18th Street, (E) Monrovia Avenue, (S) West 16th Street, (W) the outer border of Armstrong Petroleum.

The Costa Mesa Police Department submitted a response to the California Department of Public Health opposing the program.

Click here to read the response.

Members of the public who are interested in more information or commenting on this program can visit the California Department of Public Health’s application page here.

Responses can be sent to this email address SEPApplication@cdph.ca.gov.

Click here to read the full application by the Orange County Needle Exchange Program. 

Public Services Maintenance staff recently completed the rehabilitation of the pedestrian bridge at Shiffer Park.

The original wood bridge had termites and rotted wood, which required staff to regularly make repairs. The TeWinkle Park Bridge Replacement Project provided an opportunity for staff to salvage material from the existing bridges.

The material was repurposed to replace the Shiffer Park bridge, thereby reducing the cost to replace the Shiffer Park bridge and diverting the debris from a local landfill. The bridge replacement was completed in April and a fresh coat of stain was applied.

Public Services recently reached another major milestone with the reconstruction of Fire Station No. 1.

The new LEED Gold station is in the final stages of construction with the installation of architectural finishes and permanent power being supplied to the building. Southern California Edison (SCE) is onsite delivering the new electrical transformer and installing cables and wiring to provide electrical service to the building.

This major milestone will provide the utility necessary to begin the early stages of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing testing, preparations for energizing these systems, ensuring proper system functionality, and conformance with energy standards to meet LEED Gold certification.

Due to the observation of the Memorial Day holiday on Monday, May 28, there will be no residential street sweeping the entire week.

This coincides with the Costa Mesa Sanitary District, which also observes this holiday by pushing trash collection back one day.

This results in residential gutter lines being cluttered with trash cans making it impossible for street sweeper operators to do an efficient job.

Street sweeping will resume back to normal schedule starting the week of June 4.

In lieu of sweeping streets, the following are a list of task that clean streets operators will be conducting next week.

• City wide alley street sweeping
• Sweeping of park parking lots and other city owned facilities
• Accident call outs and special request
• Night route sweeping on all arterial streets

 For more information, residents can call the city’s street sweeping hotline at (714) 327-7471, which has been updated with this information.

Local restaurants continue to receive high praise as both the LA Times and OC Register recently named Costa Mesa restaurants to prestigious awards and lists.

Taco Maria was named the Times’ 2018 Restaurant of the Year by renowned LA Times food critic Jonathon Gold, who noted that “no restaurant in years may have had quite the impact that Taco María and its chef Carlos Salgado have had on the Southern California scene.”

The OC Register recently published their list of the Top 75 places to Eat in Orange County and not only did Brad A. Johnson name 7 Costa Mesa restaurants in his top 13, but his list of top 75 restaurants includes 13 from Costa Mesa.

Costa Mesa eateries placing in the top 10 include #2 Vaca, #3 Arc, #5 Hana Re, #9 The Capital Grille and #10 Taco Maria.

The Orange County Registrar of Voters is in need of poll workers throughout Orange County. Election Day is June 5, 2018 and hundreds of poll workers are still needed as Inspectors and Clerks. As long as an individual is registered to vote in California they are eligible to volunteer in Orange County.

The Polling Place Inspector has the responsibility of overseeing the Election Day operations at an assigned polling place. This includes managing and working with poll workers assigned to the polling place, coordination of site access, picking up supplies, setting up equipment, assisting and processing voters, completing the closing procedures, and transporting the results and supplies to a collection center on Election Night. The stipend for serving as a Polling Place Inspector is $160. A training course is required and are offered throughout Orange County.

The Polling Place Clerk has the responsibility to assist the Inspector in the polling place operations. This includes setting up equipment and supplies, assisting and processing voters, and assisting in the closing procedures. Individuals are needed who are bilingual in Chinese, Korean, Spanish or Vietnamese, which is required under federal law. The stipend for service as a Polling Place Clerk is $120. A training course is required and are offered throughout Orange County.

Interested individuals can volunteer by calling 714-954-1901 or visiting ocvote.com/volunteer.

At the City Council meeting on Tuesday May 15, Costa Mesa Mayor Sandy Genis accepted a check in the amount of $75,000  that was donated by the Friends of the Costa Mesa Libraries to be used for the Community Information Media Wall for the new facility currently being constructed at Lions Park.

Presenting the check was Donna Stapleton, president of the Friends of the Costa Mesa Libraries. She noted that the Friends donate approximately $60,000 a year to the city’s libraries.

“It is with great joy that we present the city another giant check,” Stapleton said.

Stapleton was joined by members Barbara Steck, Charlene Ashendorf, Art and Mary Ellen Goddard, Bob Ooten, Judith and Andy Lamb, Katie Crawford, Darrell and Sherrie Neft, and Kristina Jones, Donald Dungan Branch Manager.

“On behalf of the City of Costa Mesa, I want to thank the Friends of the Costa Mesa Libraries for your generous contribution of $75,000 to the new library,” Mayor Genis said. “Your donation will fund the Media Wall inside the library entrance that will enhance the experience of children, teens, and adults. Thank you for investing in our community and most importantly thank you for your strong support. We truly value your partnership.”

Public Services recently contracted with R.E. Schultz Construction for the replacement of two pedestrian bridges at TeWinkle Park.

Last week, the contractor installed both pedestrian rustic style bridges. Over the next two weeks, sidewalk adjacent to the bridge will be constructed along with the concrete platform for both bridges.

Following completion of the concrete improvements, the TeWinkle Park Lake system water levels will be restored.