Costa Mesa upholds decision to end Friday Night Lights group’s priority use of fields

Costa Mesa city officials denied a youth flag football program’s appeal for prioritized use of athletic fields this week, a decision that leaves the league’s future in the city in question.

Newport-Mesa Friday Night Lights, which has more than 1,000 participants on its roster for fall 2016, had contested its virtual loss to use Costa Mesa fields next year, but was informed Monday that it wasn’t getting any special consideration to get those fields back, primarily because it fell far below the threshold of having enough local schoolchildren.

In the city’s denial, Tammy Letourneau, assistant city CEO, cited Friday Night Light’s failure to enroll at least 90% local residents — defined as those living or attending a school within the boundaries of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District — on its fall 2016 roster.

The league claimed to have about 860 Newport-Mesa kids, which still wouldn’t have met the minimum 90% requirement, city officials have noted.

Of those, City Hall was able to confirm just under half of them fit the residency requirement.

The deficiency meant Friday Night Lights lost its higher-priority status or, in city policy terms, it was demoted from a “Group 3” user to a “Group 5.” Because city fields are in high demand, being Group 5 user effectively left little to no room for Friday Night Lights to acquire field space in fall 2016 ahead of other prioritized groups.

Scott Mahaffy, the league’s commissioner, filed his appeal in an email to the City Council and other top officials Friday. He wrote he was never notified of the change in his group’s status until reading news reports about it.

He then asked for a “probationary” status, with additional time for Friday Night Lights participants to submit their paperwork.

Letourneau countered Mahaffy’s claim in her email Monday that he wasn’t made aware of the decision.

“You were notified of the results of the audit last week via regular mail and email,” she wrote. “As you know, the City Council adopted the new field use and allocation policy (FUAP) in July 2015. City staff was proactive in educating user groups about the new criteria.”

Mahaffy also said the new residency verification process — which went into effect this summer, following a City Council-approved change in July — has been “an administrative burden and process that we were not prepared for.”

Also curbing Friday Night Lights’ ability to comply, Mahaffy added, was the league’s website getting hacked and member information that was “stolen and manipulated.” An FBI report was filed, he said.

“Please take this into consideration as a good solution for the kids of the community, as over 800 parents will be put out to travel to other areas,” he wrote in an email.

Letourneau noted that all athletic groups received extra months — the Aug. 31 deadline was extended to Oct. 30 — to complete their forms.

In her email, she added a complaint that went beyond bad paperwork.

“In addition to not meeting the residency requirement, there are concerns about your group’s conduct throughout this process,” she said. “This includes refusing to cooperate and inappropriate behavior toward city staff. Because your group did not meet the residency requirement and for the other concerns listed above, the decision will stand and Friday Night Lights will be classified as a Group 5 user for fall 2016.”

The city did not specify the nature of the alleged inappropriate behavior.