City Manager Tom Hatch presented Recreation Coordinator Kevin Stoddart with the City Manager Leadership Award at the monthly Meet and Greet employee recognition event on Thursday Jan. 25.

“As someone who has managed recreation and community services in the past, I know how important Kevin’s work is in regards to teaching kids about water safety and preventing drownings,” Hatch said. “I know I appreciate him, but even more I know his colleagues appreciate him as a hard worker who does the best job for the public we serve.”

Stoddart is a seven-year employee who began with the city as a part-time lifeguard and eventually was promoted to a full-time Recreation Coordinator.

Click here to read more.

On Jan. 18-19, City Council Member John Stephens and members of city staff joined a contingent of 41 Orange County officials, including city council members (from 11 cities), nonprofit providers, healthcare and business leaders and state Sen. John Moorlach to visit Haven for Hope in San

Antonio.

Haven for Hope is a sprawling and bustling campus that offers housing and transformational, life-saving services for homeless men, women and children.

Haven for Hope is a public/private partnership that started with a $10.5 million donation by Texas philanthropist Bill Greehey, the CEO of Valero Energy. Nearly every nonprofit in San Antonio that serves the homeless is a part of Haven for Hope. That adds up to 142 partners providing over 300 services. The success rate is impressive.

In January of 2010, the point-in-time count found 738 homeless on the streets of downtown San Antonio. By January of 2017, that number dropped to 148, an 80 percent decrease.

Since it opened, more than 3,835 people have exited the transformational campus and moved to permanent housing, with 90 percent of those not returning to homelessness.

In its first year of operation, there were 3,300 fewer jail bookings in San Antonio and Haven for Hope estimates that more than 50,000 people have received services since its inception. Remarkably, city and county jails and emergency rooms avoided about $97 million in costs because of Haven for Hope.

Each year, about 40,000 quality medical, dental and vision care services are administered at Haven for Hope to homeless men, women and children who would otherwise go without.

City staff and Council Member Stephens brought back some great ideas to share with the city's own Network for Homeless Solutions.

The Fair Housing Foundation will be holding a Tenant Rights Workshop at the Balearic Community Center – Sierra Room at 1975 Balearic Drive from 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018. 

This workshop is free and open to the public. Attendees will learn about how they are protected under fair housing laws, what their rights and responsibilities as tenants are, and how to deal with tenant-landlord disputes. A housing counselor will also be on hand to answer any questions from participants.  

The Fair Housing Foundation provides assistance to residents of Costa Mesa. The foundation is contracted by Costa Mesa and receives funds through the Community Development Block Grants. The foundation educates the public about Fair Housing rights and responsibilities through workshops, trainings, and community events. The foundation provides mediation and counseling services through its housing assistance hotline 1-800-446-FAIR and walk-in clinics. It also investigate issues of discrimination related to housing.  

On Thursday evening, the Police Department graduated two new police officers from the Orange County Sheriff’s Academy. 

Officer Tyler Salem and Officer James Hagan completed the six-month long police academy and represent the latest growth of the department’s sworn staff to 126 officers.

Officers Salem and Hagen will start the Field Training Program in the coming weeks.

Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue and Costa Mesa Police Department responded to reports that a small plane performed an emergency landing on the northbound 55 Freeway, south of the Del Mar/Fair Drive exit. 

The pilot, his passenger, and all commuters on the 55 were unhurt. Fire worked with CHP and Orange County Airport to determine what to do with the plane. 

Fire crews responded to assist Newport Beach with a structure fire on the border of the two cities at the 800 block of 15th Avenue. 

A kitchen fire in a two-story apartment complex quickly grew to consume the entire apartment. Crews acted quickly to prevent the fire from extending to adjacent units. 

The six probationary firefighter recruits continue with their training as they work to be ready for service in Costa Mesa.

The probationary team members were focused this past week as they trained on the various types of apparatus the department responds on and learned the “Costa Mesa” way of laying hoses.

 

 

The department kicked off the initial meeting of its Business Preparedness Academy led by Brenda Emrick. 

Training includes topics such as, preparedness in the workplace, disaster medical skills, and search and rescue. 

Public Services Maintenance staff recently began its annual winter renovations that include citywide preventative and routine maintenance at city parks. The Gisler Park playground was the first of this season to receive a fresh layer of playground chips.

Thirty-five yards of this material were spread throughout the playground by Brightview (formerly Marina Landscape), the city’s landscape maintenance contractor.

The additional playground chips provided an overall aesthetic and safety improvement to the park

Public Services recently contracted with Global Power for the emergency generator installation project at the Police station, Fire Station No.4, and the Costa Mesa Corporation Yard. 

The emergency generators will provide vital power supply to each of these City facilities in the event of an electrical outage. The current generators are old and many parts are no longer available which has made general maintenance or repairs challenging and costly. 

In accordance with the South Coast Air Quality Management District permit condition, Public Services staff is working with the Newport Mesa Unified School District to issue 30-day public notices to the parents and guardians of the children attending Estancia High and Wilson Elementary Schools to notify them of the generator installation at Fire Station No. 4 and alert them to the air quality analysis of this project available on the SCAQMD’s website.

The installations at the three locations are anticipated for completion by summer 2018. 

The city's newest residential community, 17 West, had a public grand opening ceremony on Saturday, Jan. 27 for two of the three models.

17 West, located at 1686 Grand View near the intersection of 17th Street and Pomona Avenue, integrates a remediated, former industrial site into the fabric of Costa Mesa with an innovative live/work housing model featuring 177 two- and three-bedroom units. The development model has been successful in revitalizing other underutilized sites throughout southern California.

17 West connects to the existing city street network and the community is organized around a central park through a network of paseos. Designed in the spirit of the Costa Mesa, the architecture is beach house modern with updated clapboard siding in sunny colors with oversized trellises and balconies.

A mix of three housing choices is carefully sited within the development—three-story live/work units, four-story loft models and three-story live/work detached homes. All 177 units feature roof decks. It’s a thoughtfully planned setting for a vibrant neighborhood in an evolving part of the city. 

 

For information regarding 17 West, please visit the project website here.

On Wednesday, Jan. 17 the Costa Mesa Senior Center Travel Program went to Pala Casino in San Diego. 

More than 40 seniors enjoyed gambling and exploring the eateries and gift shops inside the casino.

The travel program provides monthly casino trips and bi-monthly day trips to locations such as the Getty Museum and the Griffith Observatory.

The Youth Art Gallery is now featuring a Costa Mesa Non-Profit Organization, Save Our Youth (SOY). The Youth Art Gallery is a quarterly gallery exhibit of youth artwork from Costa Mesa Non-Profit Organizations or Costa Mesa Schools and is held at the Costa Mesa City Hall Lobby. 

The event is sponsored by the city's Cultural Arts Committee.There will be a reception for SOY on Tuesday, Feb. 20, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and members of the public are welcomed to attend. 

Refreshments and snacks will be available. The City Hall lobby is currently exhibiting a one-of-a-kind mural created by the (SOY) participants.

After a long holiday weekend, the Parks and Community Service Department’s teen centers have been bustling with all kinds of after-school activities such as studying, catching up with friends, and playing video games.

Several teens have showcasing of their artistic side with each center’s free art supplies in anticipation of February’s upcoming art themed teen event “Express Yourself” that is to be held at the Downtown Recreation Center's Teen Center on Friday, Feb. 16 from 4:30 to 6:30 pm.

Purple Needlegrass (Nassella pulchra) (the official state grass of California) returns to Fairview Park. Tolerant of summer drought and heat, once established the seeds of purple needlegrass were one of several grass species used as a food source by Native Americans in California.

Today purple needlegrass is used for habitat restoration, erosion and levee control (and also continues to provide forage for California's cattle and wildlife). https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/california/state-plant/purple-needlegrass 

The 2018 Costa Mesa Youth Basketball and Cheerleading program kick started on Saturday January 13th, with the Los Angeles Clippers. 

The event, which ran from 9 a.m. until 10:30 a.m., drew a record number of attendees. Over 150 parents and 125 participants were eager to learn about the exciting season up ahead. 

The Youth Sports and Fitness program provided healthy snacks and coffee to parents in attendance. Parents and participants had an opportunity to meet with former players and current coaches from the NBA and the Positive Coaching Alliance. 

They participated in fun and engaging drills and learned about teamwork and sportsmanship on and off the court. Team coaches who attended the event were introduced to parents and participants, and spent time with their teams getting to know them and their families. The 2018 Youth Basketball and Cheerleading program had its first games on Saturday, Jan. 20 at the Downtown Recreation Center and TeWinkle Middle School.

The Burrowing Owl and the Snowy Egret, an interesting juxtaposition of Fairview Park wildlife! 

Just a sample of the amazing variety of California wildlife and vegetation. 

Costa Mesa woman still looking to cash in on painting.

Officials kickoff 405 Freeway expansion at groundbreaking ceremony.

Small plane makes emergency landing on 55 Freeway.

Newport-Mesa school officials looking to expand classroom WiFi to Westside schools.

Five hospitalized after 405 Freeway crash.

OCC plans exhibit of artists Jim Defrance.

OC Fair board bans marijuana events at fairgrounds.

Court to review Mariners Elementary award controversy.

Vanguard University gets $300,000 grant from Fletcher Jones Foundation.

Fish Fry to stay in Fairview Park but will move date of event.

Last week, City Outreach workers assisted 60 people and helped to house three people, including one homeless veteran.

Each week, the city compiles a report on the efforts of our outreach team to help provide assistance to homeless persons in need.

Our team reconnects homeless with their families, locates housing opportunities and helps individuals get into recovery programs and even employment.

Click here to read this week's report

To see past reports click on  this link.

Animal Control officers compile a report each week detailing encounters with wild animals and pets in the city.

To keep the public informed about what is happening with the city's Animal Control department, we are going to publish a weekly report on our website.

Click here to read this week's report.

Saturday, February 3 through Sunday, February 4, 2018 – Great Train Show, 10 a.m.- 4p.m., OC Fair and Event Center, 88 Fair Dr. The nation’s only coast-to-coast model train show will feature over 300 tables of trains for sale, exhibitors from across the country, 20 huge operating model train displays, bounce houses for kids and more. For more information, please visit: trainshow.com/costamesa

Monday, February 5, 2018 – Fall Prevention, 9:30-10:30 a.m. Costa Mesa Senior Center, 695 W. 19 ^th St. An interactive presentation and workshop designed to educate attendees on fall prevention, risks and recovery methods. For more information, please call: 714-327-7550.

Tuesday, February 6, 2018 – OCC-CMCC Joint Breakfast Learning Series, 8-10 a.m. Orange Coast College Ronnenberg Center 101, 2701 Fairview Rd. This is the first session in a series, Emergency Preparedness "Grab & Go" Binder, with Cloud Back Up! For more information, please call: 714-432-5880.

Wednesday, February 7, 2018 – Tenant Rights Workshop, 2-4 p.m., Balearic Community Center – Sierra Room, 1975 Balearic Drive, Costa Mesa. Attendees will learn about protection under fair housing laws, what their rights and responsibilities as tenants are, and how to deal with tenant-landlord disputes. For more information or to RSVP for the Tenant Rights Workshop, call 1-800-446-FAIR.

Thursday, February 8, 2018 – Battle of the Bottles Texas Hold’em Tournament, 6-9:30 p.m. Coleman’s Cardroom, Net Development 3130 Airway Drive, Costa Mesa. $100.00 buy-in plus $50 + value bottle of spirits or wine brought to event. $25.00 all non-playing guest or spectators. Bunco and Raffle Prizes also. For more information, please contact Eileen Benjamin at 714-885-9095.

Monday, February 12, 2018 – Movie Monday, Beauty and the Beast, 12:45 p.m. A live action version of the Disney adapted animated feature. Popcorn will be provided. For more information, please call: 714-327-7550.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018 – Monthly Networking Luncheon, 11:30 a.m.- 1 p.m. Karl Strauss Brewery, 901 A South Coast Dr. Meet new friends, share your business story, find out about what's happening around the community and make business contacts. For more information, please call: 714-885-9093.

Thursday, February 15 through Sunday, February 18, 2018 – The Shrek Musical, Robert B. Wentz Theatre, Newport Harbor HS, 600 Irvine Ave. For more information, please call: 949-515-6537.

Thursday, February 15, 2018 – Monthly Luncheon Series, Homelessness and Your Business , 11:30 a.m.- 1 p.m.  Learn about the business perspective on homelessness. Learn what does not work, what can work, and what you can do. For more information, please visit: www.costamesachamber.com

Friday, February 16 through Sunday, February 18, 2018 – UVSA Tet Festival , OC Fair and Event Center, 88 Fair Dr. Celebrate the Lunar New Year at the 37th annual UVSA Tet Festival. With more than 150 exhibitors, delicious ethnic foods, cultural displays, live entertainment, and carnival rides and attractions. For more information, please visit: tetfestival.org ,

Friday, February 16, 2018 – Express Yourself , 4:30- 6:30 p.m., DRC 1860 Anaheim Ave. Teens are invited to join the teen program for a fun art event that gives you the freedom to express yourself in print making. For more information, please contact: 714-327-7652.

Mid- January 2018 through mid-February 2018 – Upper Newport Bay Parking Lot Rehabilitation , 7 a.m.- 4 p.m. The Upper Newport Bay parking lot is located at University Drive and Irvine Avenue in Newport Beach. For more information, please contact Shannon Widor at 714-667-9759.