At the council meeting this Tuesday on Sept. 6, Mayor Steve Mensinger honored the players and coaches of the Costa Mesa American Little League with the Mayor’s Award.

The award comes on the heels of the league knocking off its rival Costa Mesa National Little League in a two game sweep at the annual Mayor’s Cup.

The American League was not only looking to defend its title from last year, but also to avenge a 2-1 loss to the Nationals in the District tournament. The mayor and council honored both teams on Tuesday.

“We have two great little leagues in Costa Mesa and we are not only proud of all the players and coaches, but of all the parents and volunteers that make Little League baseball such a great experience for the families of this community,” Mayor Mensinger said.

The Mayor’s Cup takes place every year following the District 62 All Star tournament where the two Costa Mesa leagues face off in a best of three series.

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One of the main focuses of the City’s new Pet Committee is engaging the Humane Society on a regular basis to continue to build our relationship and ensure a safe home for Costa Mesa’s temporarily homeless animals. One way we are working to accomplish this is the relaunching of the Pet of the Week Program. On Thursday staff visited the shelter and selected its first star.

Cleo short for “Cleopatra” is a 5-year-old lab mix. She has smooth black fur and amber eyes that dazzle just about everyone she meets. Cleo is very polite, walks well on a leash and knows her basic commands. Despite being at the Humane Society for far too long, Cleo has kept her spunk and always has a smile on her face. She is spayed and ready to move into her Fur-ever home.

Come visit with Cleo today. For more information on Cleo or other available pets for adoption please visit the Orange County Humane Society located at 21632 Newland Street in Huntington Beach or call (714) 536-8480 or visit the website at www.ochumanesociety.com.

On July 1, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law the No Place Like Home program (AB 1618, Chapter 43, Statutes of 2016). This program will distribute $2 billion among counties as deferred payment loans to finance capital costs of permanent supportive housing for persons who are eligible for services under Proposition 63 (2004) and are homeless, chronically homeless, or at risk of chronic homelessness.

The Legislature intends that that the loans will not have to be repaid. This funding program is critical to aid in the effort to end homelessness. California has an estimated affordable housing shortage of more than one million homes. Funding provided by the State for the development and preservation of affordable homes dropped by 79 percent, from approximately $1.7 billion annually to nearly nothing today.

The No Place Like Home program marks the State’s first effort to reinvest dollars into housing for the homeless in recent history. The Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) will administer the program in consultation with an advisory committee. This committee comprises directors of various state departments including HCD and Health Care Services Department as well as county administrative officers, a representative of an affordable housing organization and an administrative officer of a city.

At a recent City Council meeting, Charlene Kass, a resident of The Master’s Circle in Eastside Costa Mesa, alerted the city about construction related issues she and her neighbors were experiencing from the construction taking place at the Santa Ana Country Club.

Kass said the residents of her neighborhood were dealing with dust, dirt on the roadways, a large dead tree that they felt should be removed and other construction related concerns.

Members of the Development Services team reached out to the Joseph Wagner, general manager of the country club to address the issue.

Wagner met with Kass, gave her a tour of the course and an update on the construction, which is now complete.

He reported to Development Services that the issues have been resolved and that Ms. Kass was glad to see the tree that appeared dead was now growing leaves and it will be saved.

Residents interested in learning about the City of Costa Mesa’s approved Fiscal Year 2016-2017 Budget can now see an electronic version by clicking here. 

For those who want a shorter version of the budget, click here to read a Budget in Brief.

On Tuesday August 16, Costa Mesa Transportation Services Manager Raja Sethuraman fielded questions from members of the public during a discussion about a planned median project on Harbor Boulevard between Wilson and 19th Streets.

The event at the Neighborhood Community Center was attended by about 30 people, and included some business owners along that stretch of Harbor Boulevard. Community members expressed concern regarding the proposed improvements and offered several comments.

Sethuraman addressed community’s concerns during the meeting and offered to collect more information to refine the plan over the next few months. While some in the audience had expressed concerns, many of the larger business owners contacted during outreach efforts were generally supportive of the project.

The $1 million worth of improvements, half of which will be paid for by grants, will add a center median with drought tolerant landscape. Sethuraman pointed out to the crowd that in addition to its aesthetic value, the median should help control traffic and reduce accidents on the stretch of road that has seen more than 80 collisions during a five-year period. The city will present the revised plan to the community and Parks and Recreation Commission in the coming months.

This week, the City of Costa Mesa received an energy rebate 0f $2,300 due to the City’s participation in the Orange County Energy Partnership.

Currently, the City of Costa Mesa, together with the Cities of Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Westminster, and Fountain Valley meet monthly with Southern California Edison representatives to evaluate energy efficiency projects at each respective partner city.

Costa Mesa’s rebate steams from the replacement of multiple 750 Watt Metal Halide light fixtures being replace at the old city yard facility in the mechanic’s area.

These “energy hog” fixtures were replaced with state-of-the-art LED lighting fixtures that utilize approximately half the energy of the old fixtures.

The end result is a brighter and safer working environment for the employees who use the facility on a daily basis.

The City detailed a multi-agency plan to control mosquito breeding in the vicinity of Fairview Park Wetlands.

Following is a status update on the plan:

• The City employed the services of McNabb Construction to clear the Fairview Wetland Ponds of bulrush and vegetation along its shores and cleared a 10-foot-wide area in the pond and along the shores to enhance the effectiveness of mosquito control efforts by the Orange County Vector Control District.
• Paths along the ponds have been cleared to allow the vector control to have continued access.
• Vector control will monitor and increase their efforts to control mosquito breeding.
• City crews flushed the storm drains and cleaned the catch basins twice in the lower bird tracts in the past two weeks.
• A contractor will perform a video inspection of the storm drain lines in the next two weeks to make sure that there are no breeding opportunities for mosquitos.
• City staff has been checking the Greenville-Banning supply line three times per week to make sure that the water flow has been maintained.

Costa Mesa City CEO Tom Hatch thanked Code Enforcement Officer Mike Brumbaugh for his extensive community work by presenting him with the CEO Leadership Award at the monthly Meet and Greet employee meeting on Thursday on Aug. 25.

Brumbaugh, who has been a part of the city’s Community Improvement Division since 2012, has tackled a number of nagging issues, namely cleanup of the multi-family properties in the city’s Mission/Mendoza and Coolidge/Fillmore neighborhoods.

“Through Mike’s efforts, a number of gang and graffiti issues were exposed, as well as illegal garage conversions,” CEO Hatch said. “He organized community clean up days that restored pride to the neighborhoods and drew accolades from many who call that neighborhood home.”

With homelessness and homeless issues on the rise, Brumbaugh moved to that area and has been working with private property owners and businesses to combat the problems and provide them with the tools necessary to enhance their properties and enforce trespassing laws.

Brumbaugh has become the go-to person to locate and address illegal encampments and works with County and State authorities to resolve those matters. His duties have taken him to every corner of the City and he, along with the Community Outreach Workers, have grown to be invaluable resources for other City departments and the public in terms of successfully addressing the homeless problem.

Brumbaugh has exemplified collaboration and innovation in his approach to dealing with a very complex issue by effectively communicating with the Police Department and members of the City’s Network for Homeless Solutions.

Most recently, Brumbaugh worked with a homeless veteran to help him find housing after 15 years of homelessness.

In addition to Brumbaugh, CEO Hatch welcomed new additions to the CEO Department who will be working on homeless issues. They are Intern Dariel Flores and Recreation Leader Ameera Ghaznavi. Also recognized were new Fire Department interns Micah Gallardo, Moises Vaca and Kevin Wiggins; from the Police Department new communications officers Grace Camacho and Erin Cedillo; from new Public Services intern Linda Chun, and new Maintenance Assistant Irving Santos and newly promoted Maintenance Assistant Alejandro Martinez.

Members of the Costa Mesa city staff, including police and animal control officials, have stepped up efforts to improve conditions for pets in the city as well as pets who are lost and end up in the city’s animal shelter in Huntington Beach, run by the Orange County Humane Society.

Costa Mesa and Garden Grove contract with the humane society to support pets. To improve on conditions, the humane society is leasing a space on Hamilton Avenue in Huntington Beach where Costa Mesa and Garden Grove animals will be sheltered. The humane society is submitting plans to the city of Huntington Beach to make further modifications and improvements to the new leased space. In addition, Costa Mesa animal control officers under the guidance of Police Lt. Vic Bakkila are conducting daily inspections at the current facility. Also, the humane society is currently updating its website.

In addition to the shelter improvements, the city has formed a new staff Costa Mesa Pet Committee, which is focused on improving the lives of animals through the following:

• Increasing and enforcing pet licensing.
• Promoting adoption from our local shelters and rescue groups.
• Enhancing pet friendly facilities such as the Costa Mesa bark park.
• Encouraging the community to be responsible pet owners by providing them with information about the benefits of spaying, neutering and vaccinating their pets.

The pet committee is comprised of various staff from many departments. Staff includes, McKenna Ewing, Dan Baker, Kelly Shelton, Jennifer Christ and city CEO Tom Hatch, Animal Control Officer Anna Rodriguez, Mathew Schmelzle from the Finance Department, Cecily Renteria from Parks and Community Services, Julie Schall from Human Resources with Brad Long and Tony Dodero working on communication and public affairs.

Last week the City Clerk’s Office concluded work on an unprecedented eight measures for placement on the Nov. 8 ballot. In addition to the eight measures, the City Clerk’s Office also filed the appropriate paperwork for the seven City Council candidates who will be running for three seats in November.

The stacks of papers that include council resolutions and other legal documents were delivered to the Orange County Registrar of Voters by Friday Aug. 12, which was the deadline for cities, school districts, special districts, and other jurisdictions to decide if they wanted to place a measure or item on the ballot.

Preparing ballot measures is a detailed legal process that must follow both the election and government code. In this case, the process for the Costa Mesa City Clerk’s Office began in spring of 2014 when two medical marijuana petitions were filed and then two more citizen-led petitions filed in 2015 and 2016.

The ROV announced it had 33 measures, a record number for a general election. In comparison the state has only 17 propositions. It is believed that Costa Mesa’s eight measures may be a first and a record for the county.

Any member of the public who is interested in reading more details about the city measures or candidates is invited to visit the City Clerk’s Office on the first floor of City Hall or at the city website and City Election page here or by calling the office at 714-754-5225.

The City Clerk’s office also has voter registration forms available for those not yet registered to vote.

Below are the alphabetical designation and titles of the eight city measures:

• V Allow Operation of up to Eight Medical Marijuana (Cannabis) Businesses in the City of Costa Mesa
• W Allow Operation of up to Four Licensed Medical Marijuana Businesses in the City of Costa Mesa
• X The City of Costa Mesa Medical Marijuana Measure
• Y An Initiative To Require Voter Approval On Certain Development Projects
• Z Measure for Sensible Community Development and Development-Funded Open Space and Recreation
• AA An Initiative Requiring Changes in Use at Fairview Park be Subject to Voter Approval
• BB Costa Mesa Measure Prohibiting Athletic Fields at Fairview Park
• EE Voter Districts Formation

Below are the names and titles of the seven candidates in the order they will appear on the ballot:

• John Stephens- Attorney/Business Owner

• Lee Ramos- Commissioner/Retired Businessman

• Jay Humphrey- Retired Businessman

• Sandra L. “Sandy” Genis- Land Planner/Councilwoman

• Steve Mensinger- Mayor/Businessman

• Al Melone- Retired CPA

• Allan R. Mansoor- Retired Deputy Sheriff

The California Department of Transportation will begin a four-month full closure of I-405/Red Hill Avenue Overcrossing from Main Street to Pullman Avenue tentatively starting Monday, Aug. 29, 2016 at 9 p.m. through Friday, Dec, 30, 2016.

The closure is needed to construct retaining walls and perform other bridge repair work.

This closure is part of a $9 million Embankment Stabilization project in the cities of Irvine and Costa Mesa.

Changeable Message Signs will be used to alert motorists two weeks prior to the closure.

Motorist may experience delays and are advised to avoid the area, use alternate routes, and check traffic conditions before traveling.

Once complete in early 2018, the project will reinforce the soil embankment along the local arterial surface street system.

For more on the Caltrans Red Hill project click here.