On Tuesday June 7, Costa Mesa Mayor Steve Mensinger honored longtime resident Kirk McIntosh with the Mayor’s Award for his years of involvement as the director of the annual Pilot Cup soccer tournament.

“You’re one the people who make our city special,” Mensinger said, noting that the event had 213 teams competing this year. “For Kirk and his legion of volunteers to pull off a tournament of this magnitude every year is extraordinary.”

The Pilot Cup started 17 years ago and was the brainchild of McIntosh, a father of five soccer playing girls. He presented his idea to Daily Pilot editors and publisher Tom Johnson and the rest is history.

McIntosh, who attended the meeting with his wife Sue as well as some of his children and grandchildren, said the event wouldn’t be possible without volunteers.

“As we all know it’s nice to be recognized and I wish I could bring some others up here as this event requires a lot of volunteer participation.,” he said. “But there is a lot of happy kids and happy families. I thank you for this award and I’ll share it with the other folks who should also be up here.”

The Pilot Cup originally started with only 500 players but has grown to 2,500 players from third to sixth grade and every school in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District competes as well as local private schools.

Costa Mesa detectives have made two arrests for the vandalism to the police vehicles that took place Thursday April 28 at the Donald Trump campaign rally at the Pacific Amphitheater at the OC Fair and Event Center and have compiled an image of the suspect they believe damaged a police car that night.

Both of the arrestees were juveniles and Costa Mesa residents.

Click here to read a bulletin regarding the outstanding suspect.

The Trump event was under the jurisdiction of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

The Costa Mesa Police Department assisted and was primarily tasked with handling traffic control on the outlying streets surrounding the fairgrounds. Based on news sources approximately 31,000 attended the rally.

After the event ended, event attendees and protesters flooded the intersections along Fair Drive from Fairview Road to Newport Boulevard.

The Costa Mesa Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff Department responded and requested mutual aid assistance from surrounding law enforcement agencies to manage the large crowds leaving the fairgrounds.

The crowd’s participation elevated to the level of civil unrest with incidents of vandalism and assaults occurring.

The Costa Mesa Police Department has proactively investigated the criminal incidents to identify and hold the responsible parties accountable for their actions. The incidents investigated by the CMPD are:

• Vandalisms – Four vandalism incidents were taken and/or reported by the CMPD. One incident consisted of the vandalism to six CMPD marked patrol vehicles. The other three vandalisms were to motorists who reported damage to their vehicles. There were no investigative leads for those other three incidents.

• Assaults – Two assault incidents were reported to the CMPD. One incident involved a CMPD officer being hit in the helmet with a rock and the second was of a citizen being hit in the head with a fist. Both assault cases are still being investigated.

In addition to the above investigations, an additional assault incident and a reckless driving incident is being handled by the OCSD. These investigations are ongoing.

The Costa Mesa Police Department continues to vigorously pursue investigative leads to identify and hold the responsible parties accountable for their involvement in the activities which occurred after the Trump rally in Costa Mesa. We will pursue all means to ensure that we recover full restitution for the cost of the city’s damaged property.

Individuals with information and/or who can assist with identifying the outstanding vandalism suspect are asked to contact Detective Peters at 714.754.5198.

Fire Department Management Analyst Alma Reyes was the recipient of May’s CEO Leadership Award.

Our video team spent some time with Reyes to get an idea of what her workday is like.

Northbound Fairview Road (Baker Street to McCormick) is closed due to a Mesa Water District (MWD) water main break.

Northbound traffic will be detouring at Baker Street.

The Bismark Way neighborhood will be affected by the water main shut down.

Public Services is working with Mesa Water District on the road closure, signal timing and  traffic control and coordination.

Our Engineering Division will be assessing the road condition and determining the extent of the damage.

 The duration of the closure has not been determined at this time.  

At the May Meet and Greet, City CEO Tom Hatch presented Management Analyst Alma Reyes with the CEO Leadership Award.

Reyes has been with the City of Costa Mesa since January of 2011, where she began her first job as a Management Analyst for the Public Services Department. In April of 2013, she transferred into the Parks and Community Services Department to serve as both the Management Analyst and Recreation Supervisor.

In November of 2015, Reyes moved into the Fire & Rescue Department to serve as a Management Analyst and Chief Dan Stefano praised her passion for public service, team value orientation and engaged professionalism.

She provides support to the Fire & Rescue Department in the following areas: Budget preparation, procurement of supplies and equipment, processing invoices, contract administration, managing/tracking funds, monitoring of department budget, and special projects (i.e. CIPs).

She also serves in various city committees.

Prior to working in Costa Mesa, Reyes worked for 10 years for the City of Hawaiian Gardens in various areas of local government including: Administration, Public Relations, Public Safety, Public Works, Recreation, Code Enforcement and Finance.

In addition to honoring Reyes, CEO Hatch welcomed three new employees, recognized three more for promotions and congratulated Public Services Director Ernesto Munoz on his upcoming retirement.

Beginning Friday May 27, 2016, Costa Mesa Fire and Rescue will be conducting wild land fire training in the Canyon Park area beginning at 8 a.m. until about 3:30 p.m. to prepare for the upcoming brushfire season.

The department will be using cold smoke from canisters to give a sense of realism to the training and assist firefighting personnel with locating the source of the simulated fire.

Fire and Rescue wants the public to know that while smoke may be visible to nearby residents, the canisters pose no safety or fire risk.

Additional training will take place on the following days:

June 1
8 a.m. to 12 noon
1 p.m. to 3:30

June 3
8 a.m. to 12 noon

June 6
8 a.m. to 12 noon
1 p.m. to 3:30

June 9
8 a.m. to 12 noon

June 20
8 a.m. to 12 noon

Costa Mesa citizens are invited to attend several community meetings throughout the city with demographic mapping expert David Ely, of Compass Demographics, to discuss the process of creating maps for voting district boundaries.

The meetings are scheduled June 2, 4, 15 and 18 and are designed to give residents an opportunity to discuss and interact with others on the district mapping process.

Ely will typically use sample maps as a starting point to give an idea of how equal population district boundaries might be distributed and solicit input and mapping ideas during these meetings.

The meetings will be held:

• Thursday June 2 at 7 p.m. at the Neighborhood Community Center, 1845 Park Ave.
• Saturday June 4 at 10 a.m. at Halecrest Park, 3107 Killybrooke Lane.
• Wednesday June 15 at 7 p.m. at St. Joachim Catholic Church, 1964 Orange Ave.
• Saturday June 18 at 10 a.m. at the Balearic Community Center, 1975 Balearic Drive.

Translators will be present to assist with language needs in Spanish and Vietnamese.

R.S.V.P.’s are requested, but not required, to help plan for the number of attendees and translation needs.

For more information or to R.S.V.P., please email districtelections@costamesaca.gov or call the City Clerk’s office at (714) 754-5225.

Kelly Shelton, assistant to CEO Tom Hatch, was presented with the CEO Leadership Award for the month of April. See that story here.

To get a better idea of what it’s like to be the assistant to the CEO, we spent some time with her and got a glimpse of what her day is like.

See the video for more.

Mariners Christian School has earned the highest accreditation status, a six-year renewal from the dual accrediting organizations of Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) and Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

“Dual accreditation is often more difficult to achieve because there are broader and deeper evaluations of school performance, including a higher requirement for teacher and administrator training, and a detailed focus on biblical elements of instruction and organizational practice,” said Head of School Troy Moore. “When a school achieves dual accreditation, it has demonstrated its ability to meet rigorous standards, both secular and biblical in nature.”

The entire accreditation process required two years of preparation, with Vice Principal Megan Shahabi leading the effort.

The visiting committee from ACSI/WASC, which included delegates from other private schools in the Southern California region, toured the school extensively in April, with a formal accreditation being granted on May 4.

Longtime Costa Mesa resident John Carpenter, who is retiring this year after 38 years as both a teacher and coach at Estancia High School, was the recipient of the Mayor’s Award at the Tuesday May 17 City Council meeting.

“Tonight, we are honored to have long-time Costa Mesa resident John Carpenter here to receive the Mayor’s Award,” Mayor Steve Mensinger said. “John has touched the lives of many throughout this community, especially youth through his work as a teacher and coach at Estancia High School.”

Carpenter move to Costa Mesa from El Paso Texas when he was 10 and attended Sonora Elementary, Davis Jr High, Costa Mesa High School and Orange Coast College.

In high school he was an All-American swimmer and a starter on the OCC National Champion Water Polo Team in 1972. In 1985, he was named Newport Beach Lifeguard of the year.

At Estancia, Carpenter spent his career both as the school’s water polo and swim coach and also as a biology teacher, serving as the Science Department Chair.

“I’d like to thank Mayor Steve Mensinger for this outstanding and humbling honor, I am deeply touched by it,” Carpenter said. “I’d also like to thank the City Council for all you do. I can’t believe 38 years have gone by, it’s been the most wonderful time in my life and it’s going to be harder to leave it.”

Public Services Director Ernesto Munoz has accepted an offer to become Director of General Services for a private asset management group, capping a 22-year career with the City of Costa Mesa that was highlighted by several major milestones including the restoration of wetlands at Fairview Park.

“Ernesto is one of the top engineers I have worked with in my 28-year career in government service,” City CEO Tom Hatch said. “His contributions to the Costa Mesa community are far reaching and we benefitted immensely from his vision and expertise. We are going to greatly miss him here at City Hall.”

Munoz was named public services director in 2012, overseeing a staff of 120-plus employees and managing a budget of more than $22 million and a Capital Improvement Program budget of $27 million. The city has more than $500 million in assets that fall under public services purview.

“Since I took over my responsibilities as director in 2012, we have implemented a very aggressive Capital Improvement Program and constructed approximately $100 million in infrastructure improvements,” Munoz said. “We continually improved the quality of services and at the same time achieved enhanced efficiency throughout the department.”

Under his leadership, public services also brought the City’s street system’s Pavement Condition Index from 77.6 to 86.3, which is well above the County’s average PCI of 77.

In addition to the Fairview Park wetlands project, Munoz oversaw City Hall’s seismic retrofit as well as the creation of major recreation and sports venues, including the Volcom Skate Park, the Angels Tot Lot and the Jack R. Hammett Sports Complex.

One of the pools created by Costa Mesa Public Services to restore the Fairview Park wetlands.

He and his staff have completed multiple street, drainage and alley improvement projects, many with significant grant funding. Most recently, the city entered into a partnership with the OC Fair and Event Center to create a new bio-swale development that will improve walkways and help manage storm water runoff into the Back Bay.

“This has been a very emotional decision for me as I have a deep bond to this community through great relationships with residents and businesses alike,” Munoz said. “I have the best and brightest staff any director can hope for.  I have received tremendous support, both from the Councils I have served as well as community members and CEO Hatch, and I don’t regret a minute of my 22 years with this great City.”

By Robert N. Sharpnack
Chief of Police 

For many Californians, the term “Honor Roll” conjures up images of academic excellence and the proud feelings associated with seeing your name included on a prestigious list.

For those of us in law enforcement, the “Honor Roll” is not a list on which we want to find our names.  Although this list also gives rise to feelings of pride, it is the list of California peace officers killed in the line of duty.

So far in 2016, 33 names of officers who lost their lives throughout the United States were added to the national Honor Roll.

Each year, the California Peace Officers’ Memorial Foundation holds a ceremony to honor the men and women in law enforcement who have made the ultimate sacrifice and joined the list that year. The numbers vary from year to year, but since 2001, the names of 159 California Police Officers have been added to the Peace Officers’ Memorial Monument in Capitol Park in Sacramento and are included in the Honor Roll on the Foundation’s website.

Those names are also included in the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington DC and are joined by thousands of others. These brave men and women are honored each year in our nation’s capital during National Police Week that runs from May 15 to Saturday May 21.

According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, on average, one law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in the United States every 61 hours. Since the first known line-of-duty death in 1791, more than 20,000 U.S. law enforcement officers have made the ultimate sacrifice.

In remembrance, we honor the sacrifice of two of our fallen family members: James D. “Dave” Ketchum and John W. “Mike” Libolt, who through noble commitment to duty, made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our community.

Both officers were killed on March 10, 1987 when their helicopter collided with a Newport Beach copter while pursuing a suspect in a stolen car. Ketchum and Libolt were both 15-year veterans and became the first Costa Mesa police officers killed in the line of duty in the department’s history

The good work that we do day in and day out does not frequently end up in the paper. It is not considered news because it is what we chose to do – protect and serve our respective communities.

None of us wants to be included on the “Honor Roll” for our service, but recognize that the Honor Roll is there to remind us that each year, there are those of us who will make the ultimate sacrifice in service to our communities.

The risk of this sacrifice keeps many from entering the law enforcement profession. Those of us who chose law enforcement start each day with a desire to serve and protect our communities by putting the safety of others before our own. We are husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters. We are coaches, counselors, mediators and mentors.

We dedicate ourselves to fighting crime and drugs to create a safe community for those we serve. We help at-risk youth in schools, parents in crisis and connect the homeless and mentally ill with services. We show up when you call 911 to help you in a time need or an emergency.

We do these things with the understanding that it’s part of our job and we proud to serve our community.

On a related note, we are proud of records specialist Tina Foster’s brother, Niagara County Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Tortorella, who received a Medal of Valor award this week from President Obama.

Below are links about the award and the actual incident. His heroic actions truly made the difference that day.

http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/deputy-tortorella-receives-medal-of-valor-from-president-obama/196825976

http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/wheatfield/acting-on-his-instincts-a-sheriffs-deputy-prevented-a-tragedy-20150504

We are fortunate to work in a community where the overwhelming majority of our population trusts and supports what we do. This support is earned by your tireless efforts to protect our citizens, enforce our laws, and keep our community safe in accordance with the core values of Teamwork, Integrity, Professionalism, and Service.

The men and women of our Department care deeply for Costa Mesa and demonstrate that care through various community engagement efforts – many of which are done on our own time.

We also strive to decrease crime and ensure a high quality of life through proactive and intelligence based policing strategies. We are grateful to serve a community that supports its Police Department and to not have to struggle with the challenges that plague many other cities.

I encourage members of the community to show that support during National Police Week by shining a blue light to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their community and to show our local heroes how much they are supported by those they serve.