Recent content by CM_Dude_IHB

I can respect your opinion regarding Prop. 13, but that doesn't address the rest of CA state spending. Our schools get nearly $50 BILLION a year in general fund monies alone, yet constantly operate in a state of crisis where there is little to no accountability. I'm not spewing talking points...

Seriously, No_vas, did you catch the sleight of hand in Skelton's column? I've corresponded with Skelton on past columns of his, and he is a very bright guy who will return e-mails and engage in debate. He will admit that he believes that we aren't taxed enough in CA, and that the only way to...

No_vas, I never said that, what I said was this: Personally, and I'd think most people here would agree with me, I think $600,000,000 of documented waste, fraud or abuse (Cal-tax calls it mismanagement) is "staggering." That $600,000,000 is the floor, the bare minimum, for January to October...

On the subject of waste, fraud and abuse, the State Auditor found that Dept. of Corrections spending has skyrocketed DESPITE a declining number of inmates: http://www.caltax.org/caltaxletter/2009/091109_fraud.htm State Auditor Slams Department of Corrections Spending. In a September 8 report...

You're right - not ALL WFA, but it is a significant factor. I'll do more research when I'm not at work, but I also include bad programs in my description of waste and abuse. When Schwarzenegger came into office, we ran the state just fine on much, much less. Stating that we would have to shut...

Wow, no_vas, way to inject partisanship into the issue! I guess Belmont Learning Center was a paragon of fiscal responsibility? How about the unfolding CalPERS scandal? Perhaps you'd like to hold up the state prison health care system as an example of just why we "lemmings" (the public, who...

Absolutely too frothy. The wife and I are pulling out after we hear about our latest offer. We're predicting big drops on the Westside when the interest rates creep up and the credits vanish. I've been in CM for 15 years and know what the real values are.

The amount of fraud, waste and abuse in the public sector is staggering, and the pension problem WILL ruin us. CalPERS is rife with mismanagement and cronyism, with zero accountability, yet we are on the hook for every bad decision and giveaway. Costa Mesa is in a very deep hole, that is...

Thanks freedomCM, it is extraordinarily frustrating. I'm going to dig deeper into the $399,000/$450,000 property and file a complaint if I can get some more solid info, i.e. who exactly (names) said what. Another extremely frustrating trend is the relisting of houses that I have made offers on...

I'm looking in Costa Mesa, and have several offers in - all short sales. The process has been a total clusterf@ck, dominated by listing agent horsepoop. Every one is a gimmick, all designed to stimulate a bidding war. Honestly, it is really pissing me off. Why waste everybody's time? One...

I graduated from CdM High School in the '80s and moved to Newport in the '70s. I now live in Eastside Costa Mesa. My family purchased our first Port Street house for $157,000 in 1979, on Port Weybridge. We bought another house on Port Sheffield and finally ended up on Port Ashley, which was...

Perspective, do you have the CC&Rs handy? I'd like to see the "right to enter" language. Thanks.

Perspective, if I bought into community governed by CC&Rs, I would want them enforced as well, especially parking issues. As I said, to each his/her own. I know quite a few people who'd never live in my neighborhood, and who prefer the orderliness of Irvine and south county. As for me? I'd...

Good point, and well taken. This is their neighborhood and they are facing the parking issues everyday. I am sensitive to this issue because I just helped a friend draft a response to his HOA's proposal to hire Patrol One to deal with parking problems in his gated community. It was the same...

Also, regarding garage inspections. I have a gun safe, work bench with expensive tools, expensive bikes, backpacking, skiing, climbing, fishing and camping equipment, with plenty of room for vehicles, in my garage - no way in hell would I let some Patrol One rep get a peek in there. I might...