THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE:

Despite frequent city council talk of changing Costa Mesa’s day labor policy by adding a job center and tightening anti-solicitation ordinances, the city’s budget for next fiscal year doesn’t include any funds for the effort, drawing questions from council members at Tuesday’s meeting.

The council also debated raising business license fees in the city, which have been static for more than 20 years, according to City Manager Allan Roeder.

Business licenses in Costa Mesa cost as little as $25, while those in surrounding cities like Newport Beach cost hundreds.

Councilwoman Linda Dixon brought up the issue, saying that by raising the fee only 2% the city would put an extra $2 million in the city coffers.

Roeder said such a modest increase would not even bring Costa Mesa’s fees up to the Orange County average and that the idea was something that the city would “definitely have to look at” in the future.

If the license fees don’t increase and city salaries continue to rise to meet those of surrounding communities then the city will have “less money for other things besides personnel costs,” Roeder said.

In order to change the fees, city officials said that the proposal would have to be put forth for the voters in the form of a ballot measure on the November ballot. If that were the goal, those interested would have until the end of July to take the necessary steps to get it on this year’s ballot.

Activist group hires public relations firm

In the spirit of Mark Twain, who once said “the public is the only critic whose opinion is worth anything at all,” the rehabilitation home activist group Concerned Citizens of Newport Beach has hired a public relations firm to do a little image polishing.

The group has hired the public relations firm DeMo Communications to issue periodic press releases about its ongoing battle against what it views as an over concentration of rehabilitation homes in the city.

DeMo’s other clients include a freight management company and a social networking website for tennis enthusiasts.

Concerned Citizens describes itself as a “nonprofit community organization” in its press releases. The group has already spent about $250,000 on legal fees and planning experts to face off with city officials on Newport’s rehabilitation homes ordinance.

“DeMo Communications not only helps clients create positive perceptions about their products or services, but it also keeps close watch on what the current perceptions are and what elements might be impeding success,” the firm’s website states.

The citizens group’s most recent press release alleges Newport Beach City officials haven’t been doing a very good job of their own in the public relations department. The group claims city officials refuse to talk with them.

“Representatives of CCNB, a nonprofit community organization, said elected officials would not answer any questions from citizens about how they are enforcing new ordinances aimed at regulating the number of facilities,” the press release states.

City officials have maintained they cannot talk to the residents about ongoing legal matters or negotiations. Newport also is being sued by several rehabilitation homes. The city entered legal mediation with the Newport’s largest rehabilitation home operator, Sober Living by the Sea, earlier this month.

The group is suing some of Newport’s largest drug and alcohol rehabilitation home operators, as well as the city, to the tune of $250 million. The suit, filed in January, alleges numerous rehabilitation home operators have violated state and local laws, causing an over-concentration of recovery homes in the city.

The group claims homeowners in Newport coastal neighborhoods have seen a drop in property values because of crime and other nuisances they say the rehabilitation facilities cause.

The city of Newport Beach also is named in the Concerned Citizens group’s lawsuit. The group alleges the city has violated residents’ civil rights because it has not responded to its complaints about drug and alcohol rehabilitation homes they claim have overrun their neighborhoods.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com. ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at alan.blank@latimes.com.