Split council approves City Hall upgrades
Costa Mesa City Council members strayed from their usual voting alliances Tuesday in approving more than $1 million worth of City Hall upgrades.
Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer and council members Gary Monahan and Katrina Foley agreed to convert the structure’s former print shop into a community meeting room that could host live broadcasts of public meetings. Mayor Steve Mensinger — who typically aligns himself with Righeimer and Monahan — joined Councilwoman Sandy Genis in dissenting on the motion.
In addition to the new community room, the plans call for a remodeled lounge for employees and residents and a new 3,330-square-foot outdoor seating area. The project is expected to cost $1.2 million, of which $992,000 would go toward the print shop conversion and broadcasting equipment.
The shop is 1,625 square feet. City staff noted that the only other public meeting space on the first floor is a small, narrow conference room that seats no more than 35 people.
Foley pointed to exemplary meeting spaces at the Irvine and Newport Beach city halls, saying that Costa Mesa should have something similar.
“I love the idea of having a community space that is something more functional for our city,” she said. “I like this concept a great deal.”
Righeimer said Newport spent tens of millions on its new civic center, and now “it’s about time” Costa Mesa “put a few bucks” into its City Hall.
Genis said she liked the plans but felt that Costa Mesa should boost its budget reserves and fix aging fire stations instead.
“I do believe we need to prioritize,” she said. “As much as I like this project, I really can’t support it.”
Mensinger agreed that he liked the plans but wanted more information before he could approve them.
City staff added that a renovated lounge would be a great improvement over the current lounge, which they called a “stark” space containing little more than a small table, a sink, two vending machines and a microwave.
“At lunchtime, it’s common to see employees eating lunch in their cars because of the condition of the employee break room,” staff wrote.
