Here are a few of the issues...

Here are a few of the issues the council considered Monday.

WESTSIDE IMPROVEMENTS

The council directed staff members to explore some incentives

suggested by Councilman Allan Mansoor, that he hopes will spur

greater economic growth and revitalization on the Westside. Some of

his proposed financial incentives are: fee reductions for developers,

lot combinations and identifying and improving the entry points to

the Westside.

WHAT HAPPENED

The council approved staff’s time to work on fleshing out

Mansoor’s ideas. Staff members will work with the Westside

Redevelopment Oversight Committee and the Planning Commission to hash

out the specific details and language of the incentives so they can

be brought back to the council for consideration.

WHAT WAS SAID

“I’m just appreciative of the time that staff put into it -- they

put a lot of work into it,” Mansoor said. “I’m eager to start and

implement some of these incentives. And I also know that Planning

Commissioner Eric Bever is also interested in working on these items,

so I’m hopeful this will cause a spark of improvement on the

Westside.”

PRIORITIZATION OF PROGRAMS

Finance department and administration staff members looked to the

council for direction on addressing long-term budgetary concerns.

Strategies to be considered include across-the-board cuts, reductions

in programs and services and new revenue sources.

WHAT HAPPENED

Individual council members selected the programs they would like

to examine further to be modified or discontinued to close the

budgetary spending gap. So far, they selected about 40 programs. When

Councilwoman Libby Cowan returns, which is anticipated to be at the

March 15 meeting, she will also have an opportunity to add programs

she is interested in exploring. Then the council will vote on each

program to see if it wants to pursue an in-depth study of that

program.

WHAT WAS SAID

“The first thing we’re looking at is programs and services to see

how we can make them more streamlined and efficient,” Mayor Gary

Monahan said.

MOMENT OF SOLEMN EXPRESSION

The council took Councilman Allan Mansoor’s recommendation and

agreed to switch from an invocation to a “moment of solemn

expression” to remove the council from liability. The moment is less

restrictive than a prayer because the content and format are

completely up to the speaker.

Moments of solemn expression can be in any format, like a speech

or a poem; contain any kind of secular or religious content,

including references to Jesus; and be given by a religious official

or a layperson.

WHAT HAPPENED

The council approved the change. Moments of solemn expression will

start to be expressed at the next council meeting.

WHAT THEY SAID

“Despite the court’s attempt to kill it, free speech is alive and

well in Costa Mesa,” Mansoor said.