Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Buffoons, Boundaries, Blogs and Barbecue
I'm still chuckling about Minuteman Project co-founder Jim
Gilchrist's gaffe at the Costa Mesa City Council meeting last
Wednesday night. In his attempt to "show up" people in the
audience he described as anarchists by reciting the Pledge of
Allegiance to the flag for them, he managed to forget the words
at the end. Somehow, the word "liberty" managed to escape his
memory. He never did get it right, substituting the word,
"freedom", despite coaching from his supporters in the audience.
***
The beat goes on here in the land of Newport-Mesa. People on both sides of the Newport Beach/Costa Mesa boundary are all in a tizzy about the meeting tomorrow during which the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) will discuss several issues. Of great interest will be that one-foot lasso of land which surrounds the Banning Ranch. That thin strip is all that holds Newport Terrace inside the Newport Beach boundaries - it's otherwise completely surrounded by Costa Mesa. Our old pal, the pit bull I refer to as Your Neighbor, has dedicated a blog entry to it in which he suggests that Costa Mesa simply allow itself to be annexed to Newport Beach. This, of course, is old news. I wrote a commentary in the Daily Pilot eighteen months ago in which I, tongue in cheek, suggested the same solution. I guess Your Neighbor has finally exhausted his prodigious brain of any new ideas.
***
Speaking of blogs, Orange County Register columnist Steven Greenhut, in the OC Punch blog, has addressed the presence of Return to Reason, speculating that the group is a bunch of liberal old guard politicians. Well, if he did, in fact, read the list of initial supporters that he published in his blog entry, he'll realize that the group represents a very broad constituency, covering the spectrum from liberal to conservative and all points in between. I've read his stuff in the Register and usually enjoy it. Of course, the blog has been a gloves-off place for him and other Register columnists to vent their collective spleens and not worry - too much - about journalistic accuracy nor editorial interference. That freedom can be addictive and I caution Greenhut not to fall into the same pile of excrement that Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik jumped into recently. He was caught posting entries on his blog under assumed identities and his employer exiled him for awhile. I don't know what long-term damage this has done to his career, but it can't have helped it. Such is the siren song of blogging...
***
At the Planning Commission meeting last night the commission voted, 3-1, to uphold the decision by staff to deny the conditional use permit for the Beach Pit Barbecue to display a television set on it's patio. The owners, in what they acknowledged was a bit of poor judgment, had installed the television in the patio despite it being specifically forbidden in the conditional use permit. Such arrogance apparently didn't sit well with at least a couple of the commissioners. Chairman Perkins abstained - he owns part of the restaurant - and former mayor, Vice Chairman and resident curmudgeon Donn Hall voted no. Perkins opted to speak as a private citizen and owner before "his" commission. He need not have wasted his time. His conversation contributed nothing at all to the case. That's no surprise, though. Among the many things on the long list of things Perkins is not very good at is public speaking. This decision will likely be appealed to the city council, so it will be interesting to see if they uphold the rule again. With this group, one never knows.
1:43 pm pdt
***
The beat goes on here in the land of Newport-Mesa. People on both sides of the Newport Beach/Costa Mesa boundary are all in a tizzy about the meeting tomorrow during which the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) will discuss several issues. Of great interest will be that one-foot lasso of land which surrounds the Banning Ranch. That thin strip is all that holds Newport Terrace inside the Newport Beach boundaries - it's otherwise completely surrounded by Costa Mesa. Our old pal, the pit bull I refer to as Your Neighbor, has dedicated a blog entry to it in which he suggests that Costa Mesa simply allow itself to be annexed to Newport Beach. This, of course, is old news. I wrote a commentary in the Daily Pilot eighteen months ago in which I, tongue in cheek, suggested the same solution. I guess Your Neighbor has finally exhausted his prodigious brain of any new ideas.
***
Speaking of blogs, Orange County Register columnist Steven Greenhut, in the OC Punch blog, has addressed the presence of Return to Reason, speculating that the group is a bunch of liberal old guard politicians. Well, if he did, in fact, read the list of initial supporters that he published in his blog entry, he'll realize that the group represents a very broad constituency, covering the spectrum from liberal to conservative and all points in between. I've read his stuff in the Register and usually enjoy it. Of course, the blog has been a gloves-off place for him and other Register columnists to vent their collective spleens and not worry - too much - about journalistic accuracy nor editorial interference. That freedom can be addictive and I caution Greenhut not to fall into the same pile of excrement that Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik jumped into recently. He was caught posting entries on his blog under assumed identities and his employer exiled him for awhile. I don't know what long-term damage this has done to his career, but it can't have helped it. Such is the siren song of blogging...
***
At the Planning Commission meeting last night the commission voted, 3-1, to uphold the decision by staff to deny the conditional use permit for the Beach Pit Barbecue to display a television set on it's patio. The owners, in what they acknowledged was a bit of poor judgment, had installed the television in the patio despite it being specifically forbidden in the conditional use permit. Such arrogance apparently didn't sit well with at least a couple of the commissioners. Chairman Perkins abstained - he owns part of the restaurant - and former mayor, Vice Chairman and resident curmudgeon Donn Hall voted no. Perkins opted to speak as a private citizen and owner before "his" commission. He need not have wasted his time. His conversation contributed nothing at all to the case. That's no surprise, though. Among the many things on the long list of things Perkins is not very good at is public speaking. This decision will likely be appealed to the city council, so it will be interesting to see if they uphold the rule again. With this group, one never knows.
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