Gary Monahan

Sources: OC DA Investigating Costa Mesa Police Union for Possible Crimes in Jim Righeimer DUI Set-Up Last Year

Remember that weird-ass story last year involving Costa Mesa councilmember Jim Righeimer, a private dick who called 911 saying Riggy was DUI-ing after emerging from Skosh Monahan's, and Costa Mesa PD summarily forcing Riggy out of his house and giving him sobriety tests even though all he had to dri ... More >>

OC Weekly 2012 Election Guide: Costa Mesa!

Unlike other city election guides that have graced the benevolent blog pages of Navel Gazing, this one will take on a different format. A brief mention of the proposed city charter, titled Measure V, will precede an outline of city council candidates. Current council members tried to bring the initi ... More >>

What We Learned, Feb. 4-10

​It's a week worth of bite-size Orange County news and what it all taught us.FEB. 4: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange reveals on its website that it is accepting from parishoners new names for Crystal Cathedral through Feb. 20. Bishop Tod Brown's only requirement is that the new moniker be "C ... More >>

[UPDATED: City Invited Feds to Raid Clubs Last October] Bizarre Costa Mesa Pot Shenanigans Behind Tonight's City Council Protest

​Update, Feb. 8 11:45 a.m: According to the Orange County Register, the city of Costa Mesa invited the DEA to raid medical marijuana dispensaries operating in the city as early as last October. In a story published yesterday and updated this morning, the Register says it has obtained an Oct. 26 le ... More >>

What We Learned

The Year on Navel Gazing and Beyond!

It's Gotten Costa Messy In Costa Mesa

Scenes from the civic dissolution of America's latest public-employee battleground

[UPDATED: TelPhil Comments; Costa Mesa Mayor Calls For DA Investigation of Berardino] OC Fairgrounds Sale Dead (Never Buried); New Names Join the Party

​John Gilhooley/OC WeeklyJeff Teller​UPDATE, AUG. 18, 5:04 P.M.: If Nick Berardino's intention was to stir shit up around the Orange County Fairgrounds, he's officially succeeded. Now that the OC Fair is over, the focus has returned to the fate of the Orange County Fairgrounds--a now two-ye ... More >>

PBS SoCal Breaks Ground on Costa Mesa Studios Today

​PBS SoCal, which was formerly known as KOCE/Channel 50, is scheduled to break ground this morning on new studio headquarters on the first floor of the South Coast Corporate Center at 3080 Bristol St., Costa Mesa.Production studios, which are expected to be completed by the fall, will join PBS SoC ... More >>

Costa Mesa Hiring Former Secret Service Agent to Conduct Second Investigation of City Employee Suicide

​Either officials from Costa Mesa are really concerned with determining what exactly happened in the final hours and moments of Huy Pham's life before he seemed to have jumped from the roof of city hall or they're just protecting their own interests in the possibility that a lawsuit is f ... More >>

[UPDATED: Police Chief Uncertain of Cocaine Involvement] City Employee Commits Suicide, Jumping Off Costa Mesa City Hall

Christopher Victorio/OC WeeklyHuy Pham, in a photo brought to a candlelight vigil for him​UPDATE, MAY 31, 8:16 A.M.: Costa Mesa's police chief, Steve Staveley isn't entirely convinced by the conclusions being made from the coroner reports that Huy Pham had cocaine in his system at the time of his ... More >>

OC Fairgrounds: Revenue-Sharing Plan Gains Traction; Governor Releases Revised Budget; Costa Mesa Mayor Would Rather the Land Go to Highest Bidder

In breaking news, Assemblyman Jose Solorio's bill (AB 35) passed the Appropriations Committee--with a vote of 10-2--which allows for a revenue-sharing option if Governor Jerry Brown decides not to honor the $100 million bid by Facilities Management West for the Orange County Fairgrounds.That's but a ... More >>

Costa Mesa Fires City Workers While City Leaders Get Free Lunch

​Yesterday, lawyers for the Orange County Employees Association (OCEA) filed a complaint in Orange County Superior Court, asking a judge to stop Costa Mesa's city council from firing 100 city employees. The complaint, which names Thomas Hatch, the city's chief executive officer, as a defendant, al ... More >>

Costa Mesa Chronicles: Councilman Accused of Chest-Bumping and the OCEA Funds an Audit

​The Costa Mesa City Council and its residents can't seem to figure out how to get along. Mayor Gary Monahan was once the focalpoint of scorn, but now that unwanted attention has shifted to Councilman Steve Mensinger, after reports of a physical confrontation (of sorts) th ... More >>

[UPDATED: Mayor's Bar Vandalized; OCEA Comment] The Beat Goes On: Hundreds Turn Out to Voice Outrage Toward Costa Mesa City Council

Chasen Marshall/OC WeeklyMayor Gary Monahan​UPDATE, APRIL 18, 5:57 P.M.: After closing time on Saturday evening, someone sent a message to Costa Mesa's mayor, Gary Monahan at his place of business, Skosh Monahan's. The means of communication? A brick through the front window, with a note attached ... More >>

Brick Thrown Through Window at Skosh Monahan's

Skosh Monahan's Facebook page​Names might not hurt Costa Mesa mayor Gary Monahan, but having them attached to a brick and thrown through his front door probably will. At least, that was the case early Sunday morning, when it was projected into his bar, Skosh Monahan's.You'll undoubtedly hear more ... More >>

TV Commercial Targets Costa Mesa Mayor, Gary Monahan, Calling for Him to "Keep Walking"

OCEASt. Patty's Day: not one of Mayor Monahan's better moments.​Controversy goes a long way in stirring attention. Costa Mesa, the city that was once best known for being home to South Coast Plaza and the Orange County Fair, finds itself embroiled in a power struggle that has managed to grab natio ... More >>

[UPDATED: Union GM/Photographer Talks] City Employee Commits Suicide, Jumping Off Costa Mesa City Hall

Mayor Gary Monahan on St. Patty's Day. Was this photo a set-up?​UPDATE, MARCH 21, 5:45 P.M.: The Weekly was able to speak with Nick Berardino while he was in a taxi on his way to catch a flight home from Sacramento. He had a good laugh about Mayor Gary Monahan's accusations of a union setup, ... More >>

Jim Righeimer Has Earned the Hate of the Unions

[Moxley Confidential] The conservative Costa Mesa city councilman insists his pension-slashing plans are about pragmatism, not politics

Costa Mesa City Council Votes In Favor of Outsourcing One-Third of City Services

Click here to see the slideshow.​By the time the Costa Mesa City Council was finished with its farewells to its outgoing City Manager and City Attorney Tuesday evening, every seat in the council chambers was filled. More than 250 people had turned out for various items on the agenda, but the maj ... More >>

Costa Mesa Kills "Luxury" Police Helicopter Program

"Eagle" clips a political wire​Led by freshman Republican city councilman Jim Righeimer, the Costa Mesa City Council late tonight voted to kill an expensive police helicopter program to help resolve a massive budget shortfall."We need to do this," Righeimer said before the 4-1 vote. "This program ... More >>

The Cannabis Candidate

Dispensary owner and Costa Mesa City Council aspirant Sue Lester is ready to 'raise my hand and do what I can for what I think is right'

Costa Mesa Makes State a $96 Million Offer to Buy OC Fairgrounds

​The Costa Mesa City Council has made a formal proposal to have the city purchase the Orange County Fairgrounds from the state for $96 million.

Cotton Candies All Around: Costa Mesa, Orange County Approve Pact to Buy Fairgrounds

​The county and the city of Costa Mesa just announced that the two government entities have approved a memorandum of understanding to purchase the Orange County Fairgrounds, which is state-owned property Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to sell. A private foundation composed of members of the publ ... More >>

Humberto Caspa's New Book Chronicles the Fear and Loathing of Mexicans in Costa Mesa

Real Gene-ius

A conversation with OCs most elusive expert on race mixing

Man-Sore Losers

It's bad enough that Costa Mesa and its divisive Mayor Alan Mansoor are getting beat up by their own hometown Daily Pilot columnists (here and here, not to mention that paper's own readers here and, oh, by one of its more distinguished residents here). But now they are getting national unwanted expo ... More >>

Who Is 'Jubal'?

Republican activists engage in right-wing circle jerk on the Net

Hot-hate Special

Mirna Burciaga takes on the Minutemen with tacos and pupusas at El Chinaco

Civil Service

One vote for Skosh Monahan