Several Costa Mesa committees to be created, ended or emptied
In a series of votes this week, the Costa Mesa City Council created several committees, scrapped or combined a handful of others and set new dates for members of some panels to end their terms.
Most of the changes Tuesday passed with 3-2 votes. Council members Allan Mansoor and Jim Righeimer voted against almost all of them.
The exception was the council’s unanimous decision to dissolve the city’s charter and 60th-anniversary committees, neither of which has met in years.
Mansoor said there should have been a study session to discuss the changes before Tuesday’s meeting, especially since the council’s votes took place at about 10 p.m.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” he said. “I’ve heard no outcry from the community to change any of this.”
Much of the discussion Tuesday centered on a proposal to create a city Youth Sports Committee.
Some residents and council members questioned how doing so could affect the existing Youth Sports Council, a liaison group that meets regularly at City Hall.
That group isn’t an official city entity. It was formed by the nonprofit Costa Mesa United in collaboration with the city, the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and others to discuss youth sports issues in Costa Mesa, according to Brett Eckles, a former city parks and recreation commissioner.
The Youth Sports Council brings different groups to the table to help solve potential conflicts, Eckles said during Tuesday’s meeting.
“If we bring this to a city committee, I’m not sure what exactly we’re trying to accomplish, because the youth sports world should be absent some of the political things that go on,” he said.
Some council members, though, said they liked the idea of a formal committee because it would be subject to stricter meeting and transparency rules.
“I just think it’s very odd and awkward for a nonprofit to be running a committee that includes city staff, meets on city property and I think is arguably a violation of the Brown Act,” said Councilman John Stephens, referring to the state’s open meetings law.
Mayor Katrina Foley said she thinks a city committee would be more open, inclusive and productive.
“Staff could be responsible for creating an agenda that actually has some targets and some accomplishments that are measurable,” she said. “Not to deny that the groups and getting together have solved a lot of conflicts and issues over the years, but we can do so much more.”
Along with creating the Youth Sports Committee, council members voted to make the Military Affairs Team a formal city committee and to merge the finance advisory and pension oversight committees.
Council members also opted to replace the Fairview Park Citizens Advisory Committee with a Fairview Park Steering Committee.
Mayor Pro Tem Sandy Genis said the Citizens Advisory Committee was tasked with recommending changes to the park’s master plan. With the recent passage of Measure AA, which requires voter approval for several types of changes that could be proposed in the park, it makes sense to create a new panel, she said.
“They’re not the same thing under another name,” she said. “They have different purposes with different outlooks and different reasons for existence.”
Details about the makeup and responsibilities of the new committees will go to the council for review at a future meeting. Generally, committees are advisory in nature.
The council voted to set March 31 as the term expiration date for members of the following panels: Access Building, Fire and Housing Board of Appeal, Finance Advisory Committee, Historical Preservation Committee, Housing and Public Service Grants Committee, Pension Oversight Committee and Traffic Impact Fee Ad Hoc Committee.
The vote did not include the Cultural Arts Committee, so its members will serve out their current terms.
It also didn’t include the Bikeway and Walkability Committee, but its members’ terms expire in April.
The city plans to recruit applicants for the new and affected committees over the next few weeks.
Righeimer opposed ending committee members’ terms early, raising the same concerns as when he voted last month against a similar move to vacate all existing appointments on the city’s planning, senior and parks and recreation commissions.
“People that donate their time, that have been here ... they bring some institutional knowledge, and we just say, ‘Hey, thank you for your service, we’re going to fire y’all,’” he said.
Stephens, though, said he expects a quality crop of applicants.
“You will get, as we got with the commissions, a tremendous outpouring of new people in the community who will have an opportunity to serve,” he said.
Twitter: @LukeMMoney
