Costa Mesa CEO Tom Hatch presented Chief of Code Enforcement Fidel Gamboa with the CEO Leadership Award at the monthly Meet and Greet event on Thursday Oct. 27 where new employees are welcomed and new promotions celebrated.

“Controversy often accompanies the cases Code Enforcement handles,” Hatch said. “And there can be many heart breaking reasons why a resident is not complying with Code.  Fidel has honed the skill of balancing the direction of City officials and compliance with Code, while compassionately dealing with residents.”

Named Chief of Code Enforcement in February of 2015, Gamboa oversees 12 full-time and part-time Code Enforcement Officers as well as a management analyst and one support staff.

Code Enforcement is responsible for enforcing a variety of complaints including those involving dilapidated properties, group homes, and homeless matters. Since the beginning of the year, more than 1,700 cases have been opened to address complaints received from a variety of sources including the online Costa Mesa Connect and telephone hotline.

Gamboa was also instrumental in establishing the new Community Improvement Division of Development Services, providing assessments of current staffing and their deployment as well as comparing our Code and with those of other cities, formulating recommendations to improve the division where appropriate.

With the exception of a small stint at the City of Irvine, Fidel has worked for the City of Costa Mesa since 1994 as a Crime Scene Specialist in the Police Department but, primarily, in Code Enforcement since 2000.  He has a bachelor’s degree in social sciences from UC Irvine.

In addition to honoring Gamboa, CEO Hatch welcomed several new employees including, Nadia Flores, Office Specialist, City Clerk Division; Johnwilly Aglupos and Roger Rath, Assistant Planners, Development Services; Danielle Garza,  Permit Processing Specialist, Finance Department.

In the Parks and Community Services Department new employees include Geovanny Benitez  and Jordan Brucelas, Recreation Leader III; Karen Caspa, Trenton Cooper, Silvia Hernandez, Matthew Nguyen, Tu Nguyen, Sunya Ungar-Rujijanyawat Janet Zuazo, Recreation Leader, Jason Ramos, Recreation Leader IV and Paul Lopez – Maintenance Worker; and from the Police Department, Michele Wilson, Police Records Technician.

Those celebrating promotions included Heather Hamilton promoted to Management Aide in the Information Technology department and Laura Gomez and Gabriela Ruiz who were both promoted to Recreation Leader IV in Parks and Community Services.

In effort to maintain higher-quality housing stock in the City, the code enforcement/community improvement division on a regular basis addresses simple property maintenance issues such as deteriorated paint. Small improvements make a big difference.

In this example, Code officer Uriel Sanchez worked with a property owner on the 600 block of Plumer street to address some paint issues on his building. The end result was a drastic transformation not only of the building but of the attitude of the tenants and property owner.

They all agreed that the transformation brought a new sense of pride to the neighborhood which motivated the property owner to paint another building he owns in the same neighborhood.

Sloan, a 5-year old Pit Bull mix is a big girl with an even bigger heart. This girl has lots of love to give but can be selective, so for that reason, Sloan would do best in a calm household with no other pets and minimum visitors. Click here to contact the Orange County Humane Society, and schedule your visit with Sloan today.

On Monday Oct. 17, Costa Mesa Mayor Steve Mensinger presented longtime Westside business owner John Hawley with the Mayor’s Award.

Hawley founded Railmakers in 1969, which specializes in the fabrication and polishing of round tube and flat-plate products.

Originally founded to serve the large ship building industry on the Westside, Railmakers has evolved over the years to create multiple products, including industrial projects at South Coast Plaza.

Railmakers even created the iconic Bell that Costa Mesa and Estancia high school football teams battle for each year.

“Through the years John has been a leader for the Westside business community,” Mayor Mensinger said. “For nearly 20 years, John has been actively involved in fostering a cohesive relationship between the business and residential communities. He’s the quintessential Costa Mesan. He lives in our city and creates jobs in our city.”

Hawley thanked the mayor for the honor and is grateful to be in Costa Mesa like many Westside business owners.

City Council Member Sandra Genis and City staff, along with more than 400 local leaders from throughout California, gathered in downtown Los Angeles on Oct. 11 for the Southern California Association of Governments’ California Housing Summit, “The Cost of Not Housing.”

The event brought government, business and community leaders together to address the state’s housing crisis and share strategies for addressing it. The summit opened with a panel of experts familiar with the housing crisis, who discussed why California is experiencing a housing deficit, and the extent of its economic, environmental and social costs.

Breakout sessions investigated different avenues for mitigating the housing shortage: funding strategies including incentive programs state-authorized systems, integrating housing into planning at all levels and public engagement to demonstrate community benefits of housing projects.

The summit concluded with a call to decision-makers across the state to build stakeholder partnerships and say “yes” to housing.

The Public Services Department advertised the “Bristol Street Improvement project” for construction with a scheduled bid date of Oct. 31, 2016. This much-needed improvement project will extend along Bristol Street from the I-405 Freeway to Newport Boulevard and includes roadway resurfacing, new storm drain catch basins, new landscaped medians, new traffic signal installation, and a storm water diversion project.

This project represents more than $6.5 million in improvements with funding coming from various sources including Federal, State and County agencies, gas tax and local funds.

This project will provide a smoother ride along this stretch of Bristol Street, better operational conditions for vehicular and pedestrian traffic, and improve the water quality of the Back Bay area by providing treatment for some of the storm water runoff.

Construction is anticipated to begin in early 2017.

City and Fire Department leaders were pleased this week to host a contingent of Chinese government leaders from the city of Chengdu, who visited Costa Mesa as part of a multi-week, fact-finding mission on the best practices of Community Emergency Response Teams or CERT.

Brenda Emrick, the city’s CERT manager who has visited Chengdu several times last year for training purposes, said the group was in the United States on a study tour sponsored by The Asia Foundation. 

Welcoming the group to Costa Mesa along with Emrick was Mayor Steve Mensinger, CEO Tom Hatch, Police Chief Rob Sharpnack and CERT leaders from the State of California and the cities of Huntington Beach, Long Beach, Downey and Irvine as well as members of The Asia Foundation.

Chen Liuting, who represented The Asia Foundation, said the visitors from Chengdu were all emergency managers who had prior training from the Federal Emergency Management Association. She said the city of Chengdu in the Sichuan Province of China has a population of 13 million people.

“It is a big city with lots of responsibilities,” she said. “That’s why there are here to learn more about CERT.”

The past two weeks the group has been studying at the University of Maryland, before winding up in Costa Mesa on Tuesday and Wednesday. During their visit to Costa Mesa, the group got a tour of the city’s Emergency Operations Center as well as a visit to Orange Coast College to learn about campus-based CERT.

The trip also included workplace seminar as well as a visit to South Coast Plaza for lunch at Lawry’s and dinner at Maggiano’s.

The Costa Mesa City Council unanimously passed a resolution opposing Proposition 57 and joined a growing chorus of cities, law enforcement officials and district attorneys who oppose the ballot measure that will reduce prison sentences and allow more opportunities for convicted felons to apply for parole.

Click  here to read the resolution.

Also, in a letter to Gov. Jerry Brown, Costa Mesa Mayor Stephen Mensinger took direct aim at the statewide initiative, which is backed by the governor.

“Proposition 57 will undermine the work that has been put into stopping sexual assault, domestic violence, and human trafficking and weakens legislation protecting victims,” Mensinger wrote. “Important legislation such as the Victim’s Bill of Rights, Mary’s Law, Californians against Sexual Exploitation Act, and the Gang Violence and Juvenile Crime Prevention Act will become weaker if Proposition 57 passes.”

Click here to read the entire letter.

Costa Mesa joins the League of California Cities, prominent Police Chiefs, District Attorneys and law enforcement agencies and associations throughout the state in ardent opposition to the Proposition 57, which appears on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Like many cities in the state of California, Costa Mesa is feeling the effects of statewide laws and ballot measures that aimed to lessen the prison population but have in turn put more criminals back on the street prematurely.

According the League of Cities, California has experienced increased and sustained property crime in the aftermath of the 2011 public safety realignment and the passage of Proposition 47 in 2014, leading to an increasing number of crimes being treated as misdemeanors, aggravating a pre-existing shortage of beds in county jails, and resulting in an increasing number of offenders being at liberty on the streets of California’s cities.

The league also points to reports in the Los Angeles Times that show violent crime rose in California by 10% in 2015, a figure corroborated by crime statistics maintained by the state’s Department of Justice, which indicate that over 15,000 more violent crimes occurred in California in 2015 than in 2014.

At its Oct. 4 meeting, the City Council voted 4-0 to approve a resolution officially opposing Proposition 57, citing its potential to further increase levels of violent crime.

The Fire Station Reconstruction Project has been advertised for construction bids. The bid opening is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 24. The Public Services Department has been working closely with the Fire Department and WLC Architects for more than a year to develop construction documents for this reconstruction.

The scope of work includes demolition of the existing station, and construction of a new, 12,000-square-foot station equipped with a three-bay and double-deep apparatus room, dorm rooms, administrative offices, kitchen, dining room, day room, physical training room, EMS training room, mechanic shop area, and emergency medical supply room. Additional site features include an emergency generator, fuel station, hose drying tower, and a City emergency supply storage unit.

Construction will commence shortly after the holidays in the first quarter of 2017.

The City of Costa Mesa and the Military Affairs Team have launched a Halloween candy collection drive for Marine families. 

The City will be collecting unopened individually wrapped candy to celebrate Halloween with the Marines of the First Battalion Fifth Marine Regiment and their families at Camp San Mateo for a trunk or treat event.

The collection point will be at the concierge desk in the Costa Mesa City Hall Lobby, 77 Fair Drive. 

Candy collection will last until Thursday Oct. 20. 

If individuals from the public are interested in participating or have questions about donations, please call Dan Baker at 714-754-5156 for additional information.

As campaign season heats up and political signs are prominent throughout the city, residents may not be aware that the City Council adopted a new ordinance this year governing the placement of campaign signs.

Under the new ordinance, political campaign signs are now considered “non-commercial portable signs” in the City of Costa Mesa.  Non-commercial portable signs are defined as: Any sign which can be moved from place to place which is not permanently affixed to the ground or to a building that is not used for commercial purposes.

Examples of non-commercial signs generally include, but are not limited to, signs that promote a political or religious viewpoint, and signs commenting on public officials(s) or matter(s) of public discourse.

Non-commercial portable signs may be displayed in Costa Mesa if they comply with Costa Mesa Municipal Code Section 13-123.

To learn more about non-commercial portable signs and commercial portable signs, here is the link to the Sign Code.

Below are answers to some Frequently Asked Questions about political signs and the new ordinance:

Q: When may non-commercial portable signs be posted?

A:   In the six weeks before the upcoming Nov. 8 election, non-commercial portable signs may remain in the public parkways without any weekday restrictions.  Non-commercial portable signs may also be placed on private properties, subject to the same time frames as those placed in public parkways — including the six-week extension before the election.  Commercial portable signs are still only allowed to be installed in the public rights-of-ways between 6 a.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Sunday.

Q: Where may the non-commercial portable signs be posted?

A: The signs may be posted on any landscaped parkway, or on private property with the consent of the property owner, lessee, or occupant.

Q: Where are non-commercial portable signs not allowed to be posted?

A: Signs may not be posted on:  Utility poles; roadway signs; traffic control boxes; bus shelters; in tree wells; center median islands; overhanging a curb, sidewalk, or driveway or anywhere that obstructs visibility of pedestrian or vehicular traffic; within 15 feet of a fire hydrant, intersection of an alley, street, or highway; or within 15 feet of a driveway.  Additionally, they may not be posted in front of public facilities such as libraries, schools, city hall, and parks and must be placed a minimum of 100 feet away from any polling place.

Q: What happens to non-commercial portable signs that are not legally posted?

A: City staff will remove signs posted in violation of the Municipal Code.  Signs will be stored for 10 days and then can be disposed of unless the owner of the seized sign contacts the City’s Code Enforcement Division within that 10-day period.

Q: When must non-commercial portable signs be removed?

A: Signs must be removed within 10 days after the election.

Q: How will a sign owner know whether the City or a vandal removed a sign?

A:  Signs removed by the City are tracked and stored as noted above.  The owner can contact the Code Enforcement Division at 714-754-5623.

Q: What are the size limits for non-commercial portable signs?

A: In public rights-of-ways, signs may not exceed 5 square feet in area with a maximum height of 3 feet above grade.  On private properties, non-commercial portable signs may not exceed 5 square feet in area with a maximum height of 6 feet above grade.

Q: Are there any restrictions regarding non-commercial banners?

A:  Since the Sign Code is currently silent as regards to non-commercial banners, they are subject to the same requirements as a commercial banner except that no permit is required.  They may be placed only on a building or freestanding sign; identification must be placed on signs; they may be installed up to 6 weeks before the applicable election; and they must be removed within 10 days after the election.

Q:  Does the City require a security bond to be posted to ensure removal of non-commercial portable signs following the election?

A:  No, the City does not require a security bond for non-commercial portable signs.  However, the owner of the signs must affix their name, address, and telephone number on the sign prior to installation.

Maximum area permitted for:

• Residential zones:  0.5 square feet per dwelling unit/100 square feet maximum per site
• All other zones:  0.5 square feet per lineal foot of building frontage facing the street; minimum 25 square feet per tenant with a maximum of 75 square feet per tenant.

If you have any further questions, please call Code Enforcement at 714-754-5623.

City officials plan to christen the new Harbor Boulevard Cornerstone Bike Trail on Saturday Oct. 8 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and bike parade that will begin on the new multipurpose trail and continue along for a 3.75-mile trek.

The event will take place between 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. near the intersection of Fair Drive and Harbor Boulevard.

Parking will be available in the Fairview Developmental Center parking lot.

At the event, a dedication plaque will be unveiled that contains the names of the City Council members, City CEO and City Engineer.

The mayor and members of the council are expected to be in attendance.

Immediately after the plaque unveiling, members of the public can take part in a free bike registration and a raffle for a new bike. In addition, the public is invited to participate in the bike parade.

The improvements to the trail, which spans the west side of Harbor Boulevard between Fair Drive and Merrimac Way, consisted of the removal of the old asphalt trail and concrete sidewalk, and construction of a 12-foot wide, colored concrete multipurpose trail.

Low-level lighting and a new irrigation system has been installed and the turf was replaced with drought tolerant shrubs, ground cover, boulders and mulch. Sixteen Queen Palms and 31 box trees have also been planted.