Surprises, and a sad exit, from City Hall

I was very surprised to see a few of the choices that our Costa Mesa

City Council made for our Planning and Parks and Recreation

commissions.

New Planning Commissioner Dennis DeMaio? I thought I kept up on

local politics, but I’ve never heard of him. He might be a great guy,

but has anyone ever seen him at council meetings or on any

committees? Is he an architect or developer, where he might have some

background on planning issues?

What’s his experience?

Then, I was shocked that nobody on the council elected Kim

Pederson to return as a parks commissioner. The man has more

knowledge and experience than anyone I know for that position.

I guess the fact that he spent countless hours with our Costa Mesa

recreation programs, coaching and organizing our local baseball and

football leagues, repairing the fields on his own time and expense

and his being unbiased to all recreational programs doesn’t matter.

In my nine years coaching youth sports, I have never seen a man

more dedicated. Even though we had disagreed on some of the Fairview

Park issues, his loyalty, qualifications and dedication to Costa Mesa

recreation is unparalleled.

He deserves better, and the city owes him a great debt of

gratitude for his many years of hard work.

TIM CROMWELL

Costa Mesa