New system for distributing grants pleases most but not all

Costa Mesa will spend more than $2.6 million in federal funds on programs to help the city’s low-income residents and to improve streets and neighborhoods.

The money from 2007-08 federal grants will go to a study of fire safety improvements for Bethel Towers, neighborhood cleanup programs, meals for seniors and other social services.

Council members refused funding for a cleanup event residents in the Mission and Mendoza neighborhood asked for, and they voted to give the biggest chunk of public service money to programs for seniors.

While city officials and nonprofit operators largely agreed recent changes to the grant process made it work better, a few people still were disappointed with the process and its outcome.

“There’s been sort of a combative relationship between our organization and the [city] subcommittee [that makes grant recommendations] for many years now,” said Trevor Murphy, executive director of Save Our Youth, which offers after-school programs to keep kids out of gangs. His organization asked for $20,000 and received $5,786.

The public service grants are only 15% of the total funding the city gives out, but they’re often the most controversial part. Some representatives of nonprofit groups that apply for grants have said they felt as if they had to defend their organizations from attack during the interview process.

That has largely changed. The City Council in 2006 voted on changes to make the process more objective — for example, if a group serves only Costa Mesa residents, it gets the total possible points for the category rating the percentage of city residents served.

In the past some committee members “would score them a 0, and that’s just not fair,” said Councilwoman Katrina Foley, who called for changes to the application process. “Due to some agendas by some members in the past, the process had been skewed.”

Also, groups that come to the interview prepared and that make a polished presentation get credit for that on the score sheet, city neighborhood improvement manager Muriel Ullman said.

Several applicants and city officials praised the new process on May 1, when the council approved the plan to distribute the funding.

Not everyone came away satisfied. Several residents of the Mission and Mendoza neighborhood asked the council to fund a cleanup for their area instead of the annual mobile home cleanup, but the council voted, 4-1, with Foley dissenting, to stick with the mobile home program.