Costa Mesa in chaos

Steve Virgen

First in a three-part series

The firing of Dave Perkins as football coach at Costa Mesa High is

one in a series of tremors being felt in the school’s athletic

department that has seen three coaches leave their posts in a

three-month span as well as the demotion of Perkins as boys athletic

director.

When Perkins ceased being boys athletic director on July 1, he

cited spending more time with his family and concentrating on

coaching the Mustangs’ football team.

But now, in the wake of his dismissal as football coach, he says

he can tell the real reason.

In January, Perkins was told by Costa Mesa Principal Fred Navarro

and assistant principal Kirk Bauermeister to finish out the year and

resign, Perkins said. “I think [they told me to resign] because I was

rattling too many cages,” Perkins said. “I was pushing for too much

in the joint-use agreement and I was pushing for coaches to get paid.

They weren’t getting paid on time. For an example, the football

coaches were not getting paid until February and March. They weren’t

liking the waves I was making.”

Bauermeister said it was not his understanding that Perkins was

told to resign. Bauermeister recalled a meeting, “earlier in the

year,” between Navarro, Perkins and himself.

“I know Dave, Fred and I came to an understanding,” Bauermeister

said Saturday. “I don’t think [Perkins] felt he was forced to resign.

[Navarro and I] felt that there was a lot on [Perkins’] plate, and he

might have felt that he was forced to resign in that sense.”

Bauermeister acknowledged he thought Perkins also felt he had too

much to deal with in coaching and athletic director duties.

Bauermeister said Saturday he was unaware Perkins was fired as

football coach.

Navarro did not return phone calls made to his home during the

past three weeks.

Earlier this month, when Bauermeister announced Perkins’

resignation he said, “The biggest thing [about Perkins’ resignation],

is that we all came to understand being the head football coach and

the athletic director is almost like two full-time jobs.”

Bauermeister, a former baseball coach and boys athletic director,

also said Perkins wanted to spend more time with his family.

To that Perkins responded: “I had no problem holding the job and

being with my family, regardless of what Kirk Bauermeister had to

say.”

Bob Serven, who announced he resigned as Costa Mesa boys

basketball coach April 3, initially said he stepped down to spend

more time with his family, but he recently said he also left the

Mustangs, in part, because of the lack of summer pay for coaches and

the frustrations that came from the joint-use agreement for fields

and facilities between the city and the Newport-Mesa Unified School

District.

In late June, Doug Deats resigned as baseball coach and Glenn

Mitchell stepped down as boys and girls track and field coach. They

both continue to say they resigned to spend more time with their

respective families.

Costa Mesa athletics has endured tumult, chaos and turmoil within

the past four months, as the four men resigned from their posts.

“It was just a coincidence they resigned [in the span of three

months],” Bauermeister said at first, but then also gave other

reasons. “There is no pay for coaches in the summer and that is

something we have to look at in the future. [The joint-use agreement

for fields and lack of summer pay for coaches] all of those are

contributing factors. There was an accumulative effect on [Serven,

Perkins, Deats and Mitchell].”

The joint-use agreement is a compromise of sorts between the city

of Costa Mesa and the Newport-Mesa Unified School District in regard

to the fields and facilities of the school and city. In the

agreement, the school was told it has top priority for use of its

facilities and the city, or outside groups, such as AYSO or Little

League, schedules around the Mustangs’ teams. During the school year,

the school has possession of the facilities until 5 p.m.

“It’s going real well,” said Ken Sipes, the city’s recreation

coordinator who is in charge of the scheduling of the facilities.

“We’ve had our issues here and there. The schools have so many sports

throughout the year. I’ve been in my position for a year now and it’s

going real well. We’re working real closely with the city.”

The coaches think otherwise.

“It’s a bad agreement,” Deats said. “It’s not in the best interest

of the athletes and coaches of the city schools.”

In addition, Perkins said Sipes is “a very difficult gentleman to

work with.”

While district and city issues were reasons for the resignations

of Serven and Perkins, chaos within the Costa Mesa High

administration also played a part in a new boys basketball coach and

a yet-to-be-named boys athletic director.

For one, Perkins had not officially resigned, when the school

announced his resignation July 1.

In addition, the hiring process of the Costa Mesa boys basketball

coach intensified the whirlwind for the Mustangs. In late June, Costa

Mesa offered the boys basketball job to Mike Liskey, a former

Northwood girls basketball coach who initially accepted the position.

Mustangs’ girls athletic director Sharon Uhl introduced Liskey as the

coach to the players. But less than a week later, Liskey chose not to

take the job because of medical reasons, Uhl said.

Liskey declined to comment on his reasons for leaving the

Mustangs. He also did not comment when asked if he is working

somewhere now, and he did not confirm or deny he was hired by Costa

Mesa in late June.

The Mustangs announced the hiring of Ryan Schachter as their boys

basketball coach, July 2.

Serven, who is now an assistant for the Mater Dei boys basketball

team, said he resigned, in part, because of two reasons: the lack of

pay for coaches during the summer, as well as the miscommunication

within the joint-use agreement for facilities between school district

and the city of Costa Mesa.

Several Costa Mesa coaches also despise the joint-use agreement,

they told the Daily Pilot during interviews conducted in the

aftermath of the resignations. They contend no summer pay or low

funds is yet another sacrifice they endure for the sake of working in

a profession they love.

“I don’t think the general public is aware of the time the coaches

put in and how little they get,” said Serven, who, just as many Costa

Mesa coaches, does not like the joint-use agreement. “The whole

joint-use thing, there’s poor communication on it. It’s a fight for

us when we have to use the [Farm Field]. [The city] rents out the

place like it’s going out of style. And, the place is left filthy

after these user groups.”

There were other issues for Serven’s resignation, he said, but he

declined to comment on those subjects.

Low numbers of participation, extra work involving fund-raising

and maintaining the fields and facilities also took a toll on the

four men. Yet, that was something Deats could live with, he said.

Nevertheless, the joint-use agreement became frustrating for Serven,

Perkins and Deats.

Perkins received numerous complaints from Costa Mesa coaches and

had also been asked to end his practice and leave the training field

on more than one occasion during the past two years, Perkins said.

Mitchell said he honestly resigned to spend more time with his

wife and daughter. Deats also acknowledged the main reason he left

coaching was to be with his wife and children more regularly.