HomeMy WebLinkAbout00 - Written CommentsMarch 22, 2016, Council Agenda Item 1 Comments
The following comments on items on the Newport Beach City Council agenda are submitted by:
Jim Mosher ( jimmosher@yahoo.com ), 2210 Private Road, Newport Beach 92660 (949-548-6229)
Item 1. Minutes for the March 8, 2016 Study Session and Regular
Meeting
The quality of City minutes varies greatly, and in offering corrections to obvious blunders of
spelling, grammar or fact, I make no representation that what results after the corrections will be
clear, complete, balanced or accurate.
But the present minutes strike me as setting a new standard of incomprehensibility.
For example, the description of the Study Session has Council members leaving the room due
to conflicts of interest, but never mentions if they returned.
And at the bottom of page 586 we encounter, without any prior mention of costs: “Council
Member Petros asked if that cost included the necessary CEQA document.” Few who were not
there could guess that, in defiance of the normal conventions of both logic and grammar, this
sentence relates to what follows it rather than to what preceded it.
Or, at the top of page 589, in the summary of Mayor Pro Tem Muldoon’s comments we read “He
commented on the Council Members’ relationships.” This gives not the slightest clue what the
comment may have been.
And on page 591 we are told the motion included “the amendments to Item Nos. 4 and 7,” but
are given no hint what those amendments may have been.
I believe the fact that even if the suggested corrections are made, the minutes will remain
unclear, incomplete and frequently incomprehensible underscores the importance of the City
preserving in perpetuity an audio or (better) video recording of the proceedings, so that what
actually transpired can be recovered.
That said, and without attempting to rewrite the draft minutes, or insert anything new:
The page numbers below refer to Volume 62 of the draft minutes. The passages in italics are from the
draft with suggested changes shown in strikeout underline format.
Page 586: paragraph 5 from end: “Council Member Peotter discussed meetings with the
Mariners Mile Merchants Association, the design charrettes and land use compromises.”
Page 588: paragraph 2 from end: “Council Member Curry requested the following political
reform measures be considered prior to the upcoming election: 1) provide the City Attorney
the ability to enforce campaign contribution limitations; 2) omit close the loophole in
campaign contribution limits through the use of for slate mail committees; 3) require
disclosure of lobbyists; and 4) address fundraisers occurring prior to the campaign period.”
Received After Agenda Printed
March 22, 2016
Consent Calendar - Written Comments
March 22, 2016, Council Agenda Item 1 Comments - Jim Mosher Page 2 of 2
Page 589: paragraph 2, sentence 3: “She reported that a multiagency maritime disaster drill
will be held on March 23, 2016, from 10:00 a.m. and to 3:00 p.m. to test land, sea, and air
emergency response.”
Page 593: paragraph 5, sentence 3: “He discussed the difference between private and
public fire rings and suggested that Council request regulations be imposed on public
fire rings be regulated the same as private burning.”
Page 594: paragraph 1, last sentence: “He discussed enforcement challenges and the
potential for disappointing residents people.”
Page 594: paragraph 2, last sentence: “He discussed fire rings in Carmel and the Coastal
Commission’s consideration of the mix mixed use with of wood and charcoal.”
Page 594: paragraph 4, first sentence: “Council Member Petros indicated it was right and
appropriate to question policy made on bad science, but and argued that there was no
scientific evidence for the 700-foot mark.”