Is a shakeup ahead? Political turbulence forecast for Costa Mesa in wake of lawsuit
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Good morning. It’s Wednesday, July 16. I’m Carol Cormaci, bringing you this week’s TimesOC newsletter with a look at some of the latest local news and events from around the county.
A clue to the reasoning behind the recent, abrupt firing of Costa Mesa’s city manager Lori Ann Farrell Harrison by a city council that was divided over that move, was provided last week when the terminated public servant slapped the city with a lawsuit.
For the past several years, the City of Arts has appeared to be moving along relatively smoothly, without the drama seen in the administrations of other cities. But the lawsuit pulls the curtain back on the buildup to some serious turbulence there.
Now the public is learning that a team of City Hall executives led by Farrell Harrison had prepared a 14-page report alleging Mayor John Stephens had violated numerous laws and created undue liability for the city. Specifically, according to the reporting by my colleague Sara Cardine, Farrell Harrison on March 28 “notified three members of the City Council about her concerns about Stephens, alleging conflicts of interest, quid pro quo activities and gender and racial discrimination toward city employees.”
Before you ask, Cardine is waiting on a response from the city to her public records request for a copy of that report, so we cannot at this time provide the details within it. But we do have its title: “Formal Complaint — Mayoral Potential Conflicts of Interest, Illicit Interference, and Undue Influence in City Operations, Permitting and Contracts.”
Anyway, Farrell Harrison was told then that council members would quietly speak to Stephens in hopes that he would correct any concerning behaviors. But on April 14 she learned that Councilmember Loren Gameros, one of the officials she thought was going to follow that course, “was no longer interested in speaking to Stephens about the alleged behaviors and instead suggested Farrell Harrison consider taking an early retirement.”
Farrell Harrison was told on April 16 that city leaders had approved an outside investigation of the allegations against Stephens, according to the lawsuit. She was further told that on May 6 the council would consider during the closed special session two agenda items: “potential litigation” and a review of the city manager’s workplace performance.
The city manager, as we know, did not resign. It was Gameros who made the motion to fire her during that fateful closed session. His motion passed on a 4-2 vote, with Stephens, the man in the middle of the controversy, abstaining.
And, the lawsuit alleges, Gameros told a local union president before that meeting was convened, “[Y]ou watch, we’re going to switch this whole thing around — instead of this being about the mayor, we are going to make it about Lori Ann.”
Here’s where a possible political calculation, the agenda of that closed session, may come back to bite the person or people who set it, because Farrell Harrison’s lawsuit asks the court to determine if the Costa Mesa City Council violated the state’s Brown Act when the agenda was essentially set aside and the vote was made to fire her.
“Such a discussion was unlawfully held during the agendized ‘potential litigation’ item,” the lawsuit claims.
More details about the lawsuit can be found in Cardine’s story. And last week, Costa Mesa City Council considered during a closed session whether or not it should adopt a code of ethics for the council and top City Hall brass.
Such a consideration was made at the request by City Councilmember Arlis Reynolds with the support of Councilmember Andrea Marr and Mayor Pro Tem Manuel Chavez. Reynolds and Marr were the two who had opposed Farrell Harrison’s termination.
“We’re just saying as a council we want to have a certain standard of conduct that we’re all going to agree on an annual basis to adhere to,” Reynolds said.
One can’t help but imagine the short set of dots between the code of ethics conversation and the report of the allegations against Stephens.
Stay tuned.
MORE NEWS
• Vice President J.D. Vance and his family traveled to Anaheim Friday to enjoy a trip to Disneyland. When word spread of the Vance visit, about 100 to 150 people gathered Friday near Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa for an impromptu protest against the vice president and recent raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents ordered by the current administration.
• Some Southland sanitation workers employed by Republic Services who are members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, stepped off the job last week in solidarity with striking Republic workers on the East Coast, leading to trash accumulating at local curbs. Trash pick-up services in several Orange County communities was interrupted, but on Monday the Teamsters dropped their strike extension in O.C.
• Irvine-based WJK Development Co. is the developer of a proposed project to bring 10 homes to land previously occupied by a former oil/gas production facility on Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach. Last week, on a split, 4-2 vote, the city’s planning commission approved coastal permits for the project. According to the Daily Pilot report on the vote, the homes would each be three stories high, ranging from 3,420 square feet to 4,011 square feet. Four of the homes would also have accessory dwelling units.
• While considering allowing more events at the Irvine Bowl on Laguna Canyon Road, the city of Laguna Beach has approved spending funds on a study of decibel levels during three live concerts scheduled for mid-November during the Coast Film & Music Festival. The amphitheater is located on the same grounds as the Festival of Arts.
PUBLIC SAFETY & CRIME
• Relatives of an 85-year-old woman suffering from dementia reported her missing Saturday night only to learn she was killed in an alleged DUI driving crash on Brookhurst Street near Crailet Drive in Huntington Beach the same evening. The victim, Caryl Margulies, had been on foot when she was struck down by a Toyota Rav 4. Those searching for her reported she’d last been seen in the area of Reef Lane and Saline Drive.
• A 41-year-old Las Vegas man, Eric Duane Bird, has been charged with child abuse for exposing a 3-year-old boy to fentanyl in Newport Beach over the Fourth of July weekend. Bird, his wife and two teenage children were in town to spend the holiday weekend with relatives when the little boy fell ill and had to be rushed to Children’s Hospital of Orange County, where he was given Narcan and recovered, according to prosecutors.
• An armed suspect driving a Chevy Silverado led police on a chase from the West Valley area of Los Angeles that ended near Kings Place and Cliff Drive in Newport Beach after the pickup truck crashed into the front yard of a residence at 2:30 a.m. last Thursday.
SPORTS
• Vanguard University learned Thursday it has been granted full NCAA Division II membership for the 2025-26 year, after having been provisionally approved two years ago. The final year of a three-year transition period for the Lions was waived after Vanguard met all NCAA compliance, academic and operational benchmarks one year early.
• Team USA named five local water polo standouts to its roster for the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. The event began Thursday and will run through Aug. 3.
• An O.C. adult soccer league, Soccer6, founded by former Mariners Christian School athletic director Mac Thompson and his wife, Idalia, is marking its 15th year this summer. It offers play at three skill levels with coed, men’s and a new women’s league. There’s also a popular 35-plus “gentlemen’s league,” according to the Daily Pilot’s look at the league that has seen more than 15,000 players join in the competition over the years.
• UC Santa Barbara right-handed pitcher Tyler Bremner was the Angels’ No. 2 pick in the MLB draft Sunday and L.A. Times columnist Bill Shaikin opines on why that choice made sense for the Halos.
LIFE & LEISURE
• Someone Cares Soup Kitchen, founded by the late Merle Hatleberg in 1986 to serve up healthy meals daily for residents in need, has a new executive director. Adam Ereth was tapped by the noprofit’s board to step into the role that, since Hatleberg’s 2007 death, had been held by her granddaughter, Shannon Santos. Santos, who expanded Someone Cares’ offerings in Costa Mesa to include on-site tutoring, died June 1 at the age of 59. Ereth is not a new face to the nonprofit, as he recalls starting to volunteer at the soup kitchen at around age 6 or 7 alongside his mother, Rachel Perry, and most recently served as its programs director.
CALENDAR
• The Orange County Fair, this year carrying the theme “Find Your Happy,” returns to the Costa Mesa fairgrounds on Friday. After this weekend, the fair will be open Wednesdays through Sundays until Aug. 17. A look at the preparations leading up to the big event can be found in this Daily Pilot story. Advance tickets are required and can be purchased here.
• “Marvelocity: The Art of Alex Ross” is on view now through Aug.17 at the Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center, 241 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim. The exhibition features more than 50 original works by the comic book artist.
• The 18th annual Back Bay Plein Air Art Festival opened Saturday and will run through this Sunday. The open air setting of Newport Back Bay serves as the backdrop for several events planned throughout the week, with most taking place at the Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center at Upper Back Bay.
• Fans of Neil Diamond are snapping up seats for the musical about his life, “A Beautiful Noise.” The Broadway production is coming to the Segerstrom on its North American tour from July 29 through Aug. 10. “American Idol” winner Nick Fradiani channels the younger version of Diamond in the show while Robert Westenberg appears as the singer-songwriter’s older self. Tickets start at $44.07.
Until next week,
Carol
KEEP IN TOUCH
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