Government

It is a warm Saturday morning, and I am coming down Placentia Avenue, when, lo and behold, a huge sign probably costing the taxpayers thousands of dollars bellows out something of this sort: "We are using your tax dollars wisely by preserving this park. " Let us start with this observation: I have yet to see a lazy government employee use any tax money wisely. Now let me tell you about the beautiful natural park that existed before the so-called servants who spend our hard-earned money wisely began rolling out their heavy equipment that cost all of us thousands, actually desecrating this park that actually was the reason some bought homes in that area.

COSTA MESA — Gov. Jerry Brown has appointed a labor leader embroiled in Costa Mesa's recent political conflicts to the board of directors that oversees the Orange County Fairgrounds. Nick Berardino, 62, general manager of the Orange County Employees Assn., will join the nine-member Fair Board, the governor's office announced Thursday. The move elevates Berardino's stature as he is locked in an ideological battle with a Republican Costa Mesa council majority that has challenged the city's employee unions on pensions and pay. Brown, a Democrat, has appointed a political ally to a position that his Republican predecessor essentially discarded.

The Irvine City Council plans to sign off Tuesday on a three-year contract extension for Orange County Great Park Chief Executive Michael Ellzey. The renewal of his more than $200,000 annual salary will come with perks, including a $750 monthly car allowance and a $250 cell phone and Internet service allowance, according to attachments to the meeting agenda. The contract would expire June 30, 2014. Ellzey's contract will be among a package of Great Park-related action items that the council is expected to finalize.

When former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger first took office he promised to address the out-of-control worker's compensation system, and he did. Unfortunately, after making progress on about 15% of the difficulties — the ones that were the easiest and least controversial — he basically declared victory, and sailed off to do other good deeds. Recently I read that Gov. Jerry Brown said he would reduce the size and expense of state government by eliminating 37 state panels, advisory boards and agencies.

Attention homeowners: Let me tell you what our diligent City Council has done that may surprise you as much as it did me. The council put into effect a code that says that for uniformity and safety reasons, any hedge in the front of your property that is next to the sidewalk can not be higher than 2 feet, 6 inches for 20 feet back from the sidewalk (20 feet is practically half of most front yards. That code was made effective in 2001. Were the citizens of Costa Mesa told about this new code?

Government offices will be closed and services canceled Monday in observance of Memorial Day. All post offices will be closed, and there will be no collection or delivery of postal items. FedEx and UPS stores will also be closed. The Department of Motor Vehicles offices will be closed, as will banks and courts. All public libraries will be closed. The Orange County public libraries will also be using the holiday to conduct maintenance on its online catalog, so service may be spotty.

COSTA MESA — The Orange Coast College student government plans to vote Wednesday on a budgetary proposal that would give the campus' newspaper $750 out of the $8,750 it requested for the next fiscal year from the Associated Students of OCC. ASOCC budget planners said that the student-run weekly paper, the Coast Report, had not been specific enough in stating how it proposed to spend the money when it applied for its portion of yearly funding from...

My Aug. 12, 2007, column recommended that all governments pass sunset laws requiring each of their agencies to receive a positive vote every six or seven years from their legislatures in order to be funded again. The government would abolish the agency if it did not receive a favorable vote. Sunset laws would allow everyone to see more clearly what each governmental agency had accomplished since its last review period, and what its plans would be for the future. We could see if we were getting sufficient "bang" for our tax buck.

Costa Mesa High's Daria Farris continues to live her life as an example of the American Dream. Estancia's Charlie Umansky is involved in so many activities that it seems like a dream. Their stories and hard work at their high schools caught the attention of representatives of the Toshiba Classic Scholarship Fund, as the two have been awarded with a $10,000 scholarship each. Farris and Umansky will be officially honored during the annual golf tournament's breakfast Tuesday at Balboa Bay Club & Resort.

COSTA MESA — A delegation of Estancia High School students returned Monday from Sacramento where they spent five days doing the jobs of senators, lobbyists and a trial court defense attorney. Estancia sent 19 students to the state YMCA Youth & Government's 63rd annual Model Legislature & Court conference, a mock legislature and judicial government where students learn how the process works by doing it themselves. Students wrote and introduced bills, covered the proceedings as print or broadcast journalists and lobbied legislators to support or kill a bill as the worked in the State Capitol building.