City Clerk

Costa Mesa's city clerk was placed on leave Wednesday, a day after a judge ruled that the city's charter proposal would not be allowed on the June ballot because her office missed a filing deadline. Julie Folcik was placed on paid administrative leave "pending a personnel investigation," city spokesman Bill Lobdell said. City CEO Tom Hatch authorized the move, and acting Deputy City Clerk Christine Cordon will take over Folcik's duties, Lobdell said, adding that he could not comment on why she was put on leave so long after the mistake.

Costa Mesa City Clerk Julie Folcik was repeatedly reminded by election officials of the deadline to get a proposed city charter initiative on the June ballot, emails show. The exchanges, obtained by the Daily Pilot through a California Public Records Act request, could cast doubt on the claim that Folcik was merely mixed up about the 5 p.m. March 9 deadline — an argument she made in a failed attempt last week to put the initiative on June's ballot even though she missed the deadline.

The people's right to take a measure to the voters by gathering enough valid signatures is the foundation upon which democracy is built. Political causes -- no matter how noble -- are not always endorsed by the lawmaking body, whether it be the state Legislature or the local City Council. That is why the petitioning process exists. So without weighing in on the merits or potential shortcomings of the controversial Greenlight initiative, we believe it should be allowed on the ballot.

An item that was originally placed on the consent calendar as routine business at the Newport Beach City Council meeting turned into an interesting discussion Tuesday night. Item 3 on the agenda dealt with repealing Chapter 1.30 of the city’s municipal code. The chapter required that during an election, late campaign materials must be filed with the City Clerk in order to give candidates and opponents/proponents the chance to respond in the case of last-minute “hit pieces.

The Daily Pilot has raised the issue of campaign ethics, and I want to take this opportunity to tell the voters where I stand. This is a personal issue to me because last spring, some of my political opponents leveled the same charges at me that were alleged against Barbara Venezia. In my case, the city attorney investigated and determined the charges were without merit, and the Daily Pilot declared the charges for what they were — politically motivated. On the day I filed my nominating papers, I signed the campaign code of conduct, presented to each candidate by the city clerk.

The old Newport Beach City Hall originally was a two-room schoolhouse. When converted to a city hall, one room housed the city clerk and the city treasurer. The other room, one night a month, was the meeting place for the City Council. It was a multipurpose room the rest of the time. It was, among other things, my courtroom when I was the city judge of Newport Beach. The "bench" was simply a desk on a slightly elevated platform. It overlooked the long table at which the City Council met. However, during the time when it wasn't being used by that group, it was the workplace for some people from the county auditor's office who spent their days poring over big books.

Young Chang Arlington "Arlie" Swartz, Costa Mesa's first city clerk, was also the first public works director, eventually a city manager and the man largely credited for modernizing the city's roads. Former mayor Bob Wilson, who served during the mid-sixties and twice again in the seventies, even calls Swartz the most important character in the story of Costa Mesa's shaping. But Wilson wants to tell a personal story about Swartz first. It's a story that'll show just how sweet and humble Arlie -- that's what Wilson's always called him -- really was. Wilson remembers going to a Conference of Mayors in Hawaii where he befriended a leader from Japan.

The old Newport Beach City Hall had originally been a two-room schoolhouse. When it was converted, one room housed the city clerk and city treasurer, the other became the original multi-purpose room. Once a month the City Council met there. The rest of the time it was the courtroom -- sort of. The so-called judicial bench was a desk situated in the back of the room on a slightly elevated platform. Immediately in front was a long table. That's where the council sat on meeting nights.

Lolita Harper COSTA MESA -- The city won't have Deputy City Clerk Mary Elliott to push around anymore -- or perhaps it's the other way around. Either way, staffers are mourning the departure of Elliott, who is touted as running a tight ship while livening up the office with snappy remarks and witty commentary. Elliott, a Costa Mesa resident, is scheduled to retire Friday after 29 years of working for the city. Grief regarding her departure is not reciprocal, Elliott said.

Susan McCormack With the coming of the railroad and a booming tourist industry, residents decided that they no longer wanted to be governed by the Orange County Board of Supervisors. In 1906, the city of Newport Beach was incorporated. John King became president of the board of trustees -- later to be known as the city council -- and four trustees were named. McFadden Wharf was the city center, and the first meeting of the board was held on the pier at the Southern Pacific Railway Station because the city clerk was also a railroad agent.

Having failed to get a city charter initiative included on the county's ballot, the Costa Mesa City Council is looking to spend more than $150,000 to put on its own election June 5. The council will meet Tuesday night to consider whether it will host a special election concurrently with the statewide primary. "We need to become a charter city to get the financial tools we need," said Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer, the proposed charter's most vocal proponent. Costa Mesa residents would vote on having the city switch to a charter - essentially a city constitution - at the same polling place they'd go to for the state and national primaries.

Costa Mesa City Clerk Julie Folcik was repeatedly reminded by election officials of the deadline to get a proposed city charter initiative on the June ballot, emails show. The exchanges, obtained by the Daily Pilot through a California Public Records Act request, could cast doubt on the claim that Folcik was merely mixed up about the 5 p.m. March 9 deadline — an argument she made in a failed attempt last week to put the initiative on June's ballot even though she missed the deadline.

Costa Mesa's city clerk was placed on leave Wednesday, a day after a judge ruled that the city's charter proposal would not be allowed on the June ballot because her office missed a filing deadline. Julie Folcik was placed on paid administrative leave "pending a personnel investigation," city spokesman Bill Lobdell said. City CEO Tom Hatch authorized the move, and acting Deputy City Clerk Christine Cordon will take over Folcik's duties, Lobdell said, adding that he could not comment on why she was put on leave so long after the mistake.

SANTA ANA — An Orange County Superior Court judge ruled Monday that four Costa Mesa residents can have their say in litigation over whether their city's proposed charter should be allowed on the June ballot despite being filed late. Judge Franz Miller decided lawyers John B. Stephens and Katrina Foley, and an attorney representing Mary Spadoni and William "Billy" Folsom, can intervene in Costa Mesa's lawsuit against the Orange County Registrar of Voters. Miller had tentatively ruled against permitting the intervention, but later changed his mind after hearing arguments from Stephens and Foley.

Costa Mesa plans to defend its attorney, clerk and itself against a lawsuit claiming that the city’s ordinance against marijuana dispensaries is unconstitutional, City Atty. Kimberly Hall Barlow said Tuesday. The pot clinics Orange County Directors Assn., Herban Elements Inc., MedMar Patient Care and Collective, and residents Susan Lester and Afshin Sharifi filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court contending that it is against general laws to block seriously ill individuals’ access to marijuana, which they call medicine.

An item that was originally placed on the consent calendar as routine business at the Newport Beach City Council meeting turned into an interesting discussion Tuesday night. Item 3 on the agenda dealt with repealing Chapter 1.30 of the city’s municipal code. The chapter required that during an election, late campaign materials must be filed with the City Clerk in order to give candidates and opponents/proponents the chance to respond in the case of last-minute “hit pieces.

The hoopla over some election shenanigans reminds me of a time when city government was much lower key. As I have told a number of times, because of a dangerous situation in Green River, Wyo., my parents put me on the train at the age of 9 or 10 and shipped me to Balboa to live with my sister Jesse and her husband, Dick Whitson. After that, I spent at least as much time with them as with my folks, and I came to worship Dick, a big, handsome guy who was loved by everyone. He sold washing machines for a while for Johnny Vogel, and I swear, some people bought two just because they liked Dick so much.

The Daily Pilot has raised the issue of campaign ethics, and I want to take this opportunity to tell the voters where I stand. This is a personal issue to me because last spring, some of my political opponents leveled the same charges at me that were alleged against Barbara Venezia. In my case, the city attorney investigated and determined the charges were without merit, and the Daily Pilot declared the charges for what they were — politically motivated. On the day I filed my nominating papers, I signed the campaign code of conduct, presented to each candidate by the city clerk.

The old Newport Beach City Hall had originally been a two-room schoolhouse. When it was converted, one room housed the city clerk and city treasurer, the other became the original multi-purpose room. Once a month the City Council met there. The rest of the time it was the courtroom -- sort of. The so-called judicial bench was a desk situated in the back of the room on a slightly elevated platform. Immediately in front was a long table. That's where the council sat on meeting nights.

Some weeks ago, in the aftermath of the long public City Council session of recrimination and support of Newport Beach City Councilman Dick Nichols, I wrote in this space that the most rational and intelligent comments on that emotionally charged night were made by an African American man who concluded: "This is not a healthy place for me. I don't feel comfortable living in Newport Beach, but I'm not leaving." I suggested that it would be instructive for our City Council members to know why he found Newport Beach unhealthy, and offered to help in that effort by asking him to call me when the city clerk didn't have his name.