Category: Neighborhood Survey

President’s Corner — August, 2019

Posted on by Terry Wall in Annual Meeting, Candidate Forum, City Council, Civic Activity, Community Action, Community Beautification, Home beautification, Mayor's Race, Mesa Verde, MVCI Board of Directors, MVCI membership, Neighborhood Survey, Newport Mesa Unified School District, NMUSD, Parks & Recreation Commission, Parkway Trees, Safety & Security, School Board, School District, Volunteers

Greetings Mesa Verde! As a result of the board’s unanimous vote, I have been appointed to be MVCI’s president for the next two-year term. The last two years have seen significant progress in the endeavors of the organization and can be seen in Bob Juneman’s final message to the community, the July “PC.” While I’m at it, I want to sincerely thank Bob for his marvelous stewardship, and only hope that I can be as successful in the upcoming term.

Going forward, there will be several things I’d like to see us accomplish as your board. But for the purposes of this first message to the community, I want to focus on one issue: Membership! As has been shared several times by Bob and all the members of the board, membership is our lifeblood. We are not a homeowner association in the sense most people understand. There are no mandatory CC&R-based (covenants, conditions and restrictions) HOA fees for common areas, external building surfaces, roofs, pools, etc.

Think of MVCI instead as more of a civic association. All board members are volunteers and all dues collected are also voluntary. The funds the organization takes in allow us to advocate on behalf of the residents with the City Council and the various city commissions, Police and Fire Departments, School Board, Water and Sanitation Districts, to ensure our collective voices are heard. These dollars also help to defray the costs of our Annual Meeting, the MVCI City Council Candidate Forum, newsletters, surveys, the MVCI website and projects associated with beautification, like the entry signs to the community.

I want to appeal to every homeowner in Mesa Verde to join MVCI! With roughly 3000 homes in our community, there is no reason that we can’t get twenty percent membership. If you’re a member, ask your neighbors. I have seen dozens of new homeowners move into the “Upper Bird” streets just in the last few years…ask them! Membership is only twenty bucks a year…4 or 5 visits to Starbucks!

What’s it gonna take to get you to participate?

As part of this task, I will be producing a video, with the working title, “This is Mesa Verde” to help tell the story. We will create a YouTube channel to help communicate with internet-savvy folks. We just formed a partnership with the new magazine, Mesa Verde Living, which is mailed monthly to the aforementioned 3000 homes. To simplify signing up and renewing memberships, we are looking at online methods and will have a robust solution chosen in the next 60 days.

Are you with me? According to a few of our veteran board members, our membership roster has been as high as 500, so the 20% ask (which would be around 600 members) should be “do-able.”

Let’s do this! To get to the membership application, click here.

See you again next month!

~Terry

President’s Corner — July, 2019

Posted on by Terry Wall in Candidate Forum, City Council, Civic Activity, Community Action, Community Beautification, Costa Mesa, Costa Mesa Fire Department, Costa Mesa Police Department, Family Fun, Home beautification, Mayor's Race, Mesa Verde, MVCI Board of Directors, MVCI membership, Neighborhood Survey, Newport Mesa Unified School District, NMUSD, Parks & Recreation Commission, Parkway Trees, Retail Shopping, Safety & Security, School Board, School District, Tanager Park

 

Hello Mesa Verde, welcome to the dog days of summer. Every year about this time I wonder why we haven’t installed air conditioning in our home. Then, about the time I get ready to make the call, the beautiful Fall weather arrives, and another year goes by.

On occasion I am asked, “what exactly is Mesa  Verde?”  Our Board of Directors defines Mesa Verde as bounded by the River on the west, the 405 Freeway to the north, Harbor Blvd on the east, and the north edge of Fairview Park and the public golf course on the south, including Mesa Verde Collection, 27 Seventy Five, Longwood Greens, and Azulon. More importantly, it is our home, a wonderful community in which to enjoy our lives in comfort and harmony. A treasure to be protected and cherished. We hope you agree.

As I mentioned last month, Karla Stagman, has joined us as our Beautification Chair. Karla and her husband bought their home on Alabama Circle in 2000, and love life in our beautiful community. “I believe that with neighbors working together, Mesa Verde will continue to be one of the top neighborhoods in our area.”  Karla sees her role as an opportunity to collaborate with all of our members to bring a voice to all of Mesa Verde. As a local realtor, Karla sees the “power of true community to enhance the beauty and value of our properties.“ If we raise consciousness about community appearance, it will keep Mesa Verde economically viable and “Beautification will become a fun project.”

There is a new order of things in Costa Mesa. Last November brought a “sea change” to   how our city is governed. Our City Council increased from five to seven members. We changed from an “at large” to a six-district voting system, with an “at large” Mayor. We are finding that the costs of running a growing city are increasing faster that the revenue to pay for it, exacerbated  by the exploding unfunded pension liability, now close to $300,000,000. To quote from the 2019-2020 budget message, “The past six years have marked unparalleled prosperity for Costa Mesa and the recovery from the Great Recession has continued, becoming the longest period of economic growth in history. During that time, the City has also been faced with challenges such as addressing homeless issues and defending itself in lawsuits filed by sober living facilities.”  What this all means is that we need to be prepared for tougher times ahead and be patient.

5G technology is coming, and with it some new concerns. Our Board member and Treasurer, Carri Lang, has been “Bird dogging” this issue for us…click here to see her update and to see the actual letter sent to the City Council under my signature, click here.

Finally, as my term as President expires soon, this is my final President’s Corner. At our August Board meeting we will elect a new leader. Looking back over the past several years, the first thing that comes to mind is how fast time flies! What has our Board of Directors accomplished and how has our association grown? Let’s take a look:

~ We increased our Board from 9 to 11 members.
~ Established the position of Data Manager
~ Initiated videotaping of our annual meetings, viewable on our website HERE
~ Sponsored our traditional Candidate Forum in 2018
~ Initiated our Annual Neighborhood Picnic in 2018, continued in 2019
~ Held first public information meeting jointly with the Newport Mesa School Board and local school principals.
~ Replaced or reconditioned our Mesa Verde gateway signs
~ Advocated in support of the Tanager Drive neighbors to help arrive at an equitable solution to the proposed bike trail
~ Established a Mesa Verde Bulletin Board on our website for the use of our residents
~ Established a close working relationship with our police department to reduce speeding and traffic violations in Mesa Verde.
~ Completed several neighborhood surveys and reported results
~ Enhanced our website and broadened our social media coverage to include Facebook (check here) and Nextdoor (go here).
~ Published four newsletters, mailed to over 3000 Mesa Verde residents
~ Established our “Lifetime Membership.”
~ Initiated our Mesa Verde Volunteer Group (If you have a little extra time to devote, please consider volunteering)
~ Created our first self-guided “Water Wise Garden Tour”

Alas, my biggest disappointment is that we have not significantly increased our membership. We’ve added several new members, including seven lifetimes, but quite a few old members have not renewed. Why not? That’s a question we need to address. And, we will!

As I trust you can know, most of this costs money, and your membership dues and donations are our only source of revenue. Can you guess what I’m asking you to do? Click here and go directly to the membership app.

My thanks to our Board of Directors for  granting me the honor and privilege of serving as your President these two years, and to all of you for your support and encouraging words. A special “well done” to the tremendous help from our volunteer group.

I know that you will accord our new President your continued support.

Respectfully,
Bob

President’s Corner — June, 2019

Posted on by Terry Wall in Civic Activity, Community Action, Community Beautification, Costa Mesa Police Department, Holiday Wishes, Mesa Verde, MVCI Board of Directors, MVCI membership, Neighborhood Survey, Retail Shopping, Volunteers

Hello Mesa Verde, welcome to the “long hot summer!” Hope you all have great plans for family fun and recreation.

We’re continuing to grow; three new members in the past month, and the addition of a new Beautification Chair. Karla Stagman, a resident of North Mesa Verde, has graciously volunteered to head up our beautification efforts. We’ll be hearing more from Karla a bit later.

Traffic Update. Our vice-president, Terry Wall, visited with Lt. Victor Bakkila to get an update on the traffic issues in and around Mesa Verde. “Lt. B” was gracious and generous with his time and very enthusiastic about what they’re able to do regarding the traffic throughout the city. He shared with Terry an incredible analytical computer program that can help pinpoint areas warranting increased law enforcement attention and encouraged us to give him input on specific areas that members of the community might spot. The department also has acquired two additional mobile traffic monitoring trailers and again, if we see an area needing a closer look, all we have to do is ask.

The “30,000-foot view” report lists the top 10 intersections with traffic incidents (collisions); note that a number of them involve locations that are either in or touch Mesa Verde. In order, they are:

  1. Newport Boulevard at 19th Street – 13
  2. Wilson Street at Harbor Boulevard – 13
  3. Victoria Street at Placentia Avenue – 11
  4. Harbor Boulevard at Gisler Avenue – 10
  5. South Coast Drive at Harbor Boulevard – 10
  6. Bristol Street at Baker Street – 9
  7. Fairview Road at Adams Avenue – 9
  8. Harbor Boulevard at Adams Avenue – 9
  9. Newport Boulevard at Harbor Boulevard – 9
  10. 17th Street at Superior Avenue – 7

Date range of this report: 4/1/18 – 4/20/19

Lt. B pointed out that the enhanced police presence contributed to the reduction in violations in the Mesa Verde community, but that it’s an ongoing activity. We are the eyes into the community and if we see something, we should say something, so let us know and we’ll pass your feedback along to CMPD.

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We recently conducted a survey of Mesa Verde, asking what you would like to see in our newsletter. So far we’ve heard from 52 residents; 50 actually responded. Click here to see the results so far. The survey is now closed, but if you intended to reply, please be on the lookout for our next one.

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Carmen Twork of C.J. Segerstrom and Sons, reports that several new restaurants will be coming to “The Shops at Mesa Verde” in the near future. SHABU SHABU, featuring a hot pot style of cooking at your table, is scheduled to open this fall. Slated for early 2020 is “KENWOOD KITCHEN AND TAP”, a full-service restaurant and bar, offering high quality salads, burgers, sandwiches, steaks, chicken, and sea food. Both will occupy spaces adjacent to DESCANSO. “MEDITERRANEAN”, a family owned, fast, casual cafe, famous for kebabs, falafels, and Mediterranean plates, is in the final stages of negotiation, and will round out the restaurant mix at “The Shops”.

Please forgive my “stuck needle”, but we need your membership. Please join, or renew, while you’re thinking of it. Click here to get to our membership application.

Finally, as we look forward to the Fourth of July and our BBQ ‘s and fireworks, let’s remember what we’re celebrating: Our independence from a tyrannical monarch and government.
Let us fly our flag proudly, and be ever thankful for our many freedoms.

Warmly,
Bob

Community Survey

Posted on by Terry Wall in Civic Activity, Community Action, Costa Mesa, Mesa Verde, Neighborhood Survey, Safety & Security

As many of you know, in June, MVCI conducted its first survey of the community, the purpose of which was to sample the insights of our residents as to those things they feel are relevant and important. We were very pleased with how responsive the neighborhood has been, and wanted to share some of those results, We received 167 responses, to our email database of about 500 names, for a response rate of 33.4%. For the statisticians out there, this is an OUTSTANDING response rate, and we sincerely appreciate those who took the time to participate.

Following are the bar graphs representing your responses, to the “non-essay” questions. We will start out with the first four questions and continue with the others in the days to come. If we can find a concise way to report the essay question findings, we’ll do that as well. In the meantime, here are the first four:

 

 

 

 

More to come!

President’s Corner — August, 2018

Posted on by Terry Wall in Civic Activity, Community Action, Costa Mesa Police Department, Mesa Verde, MVCI membership, Neighborhood Survey

In last month’s President’s Corner, I reviewed comments from our recent survey. The most prevalent pertained to traffic issues; speeding, running stop signs, and noise.  We brought this to the attention of CMPD, and got the immediate response of Chief Rob Sharpnack, “I think we can help you, but specifics would be helpful.” So, we got them, from you, our residents.  Keep the comments coming: where, what time, what day. Is it speeding, running stop signs, etc. Be specific.  We are gathering all this information and working with Lt. Victor Bakkila, traffic division.  Let’s hope we can make a big dent in this  problem. This will be an ongoing project, and we will keep you informed of progress.

We are working on some informational Town Hall meetings in the next few months, and will announce soon. Mark your calendar for October 4th, when we will be holding our candidate forum for City Council and Mayor.

Elsewhere in this newsletter/website, you will find more detailed info on the candidate forum, The Shops at Mesa Verde, and the opening of Fire Station One.

We still have a good inventory of our famous NO SOLICITATION signs, including mounting brackets, for $5 each. Please contact Arlene Jones at 714-540 6039.

Once again, please remember to renew your MVCI membership. If you are not yet a member, please consider joining us. We have a downloadable application on the website, or, if you’re “low tech” (like me), call me at 714-241 9951 and I’ll help you get aboard.  Membership is our lifeblood, and your annual dues the only resource for our activities.  We keep the membership list on the website and it is up to date. Thank you!

‘til next time,

Bob