In the new year, some people (ok, I’m just assuming it’s at least one… and maybe that’s a stretch) resolve to stay better informed about what is happening in their community. And I DEFINITELY get asked how to stay on top of local news by folks that have a sudden interest in local government, usually when something is going very, very wrong. So I thought I’d write up a quick little summary of how I stay informed.

City News and Events

The absolute best way to stay on top of what is going on in the city, especially for policy and political issues, is to subscribe to the City’s email blasts. It’s really easy: follow this link and check “Subscribe to All Emails” at the bottom. Follow the prompts and you’ll get subscribed to all of the City’s updates, including the announcements of agendas for City Council, Planning Commission, and the City’s other commissions and committees.

Of particular interest the the City Hall Snapshot. This is a little newsletter put out by the city’s PR team that highlights projects and accomplishments. Sometimes the topics are goofy but often there are nice little wins buried in there, like the CMPD helping with kiddo education or bus shelters getting repainted.

Obviously you should also subscribe to the local papers: the Daily Pilot (closest thing we have to a newspaper dedicated to Costa Mesa/Newport Beach), the Orange County Register, and Voice of OC are all good ones to keep an eye on. And consider subscribing to all of them, too; residents are put at a huge disadvantage when there is no local news coverage, so even if you think they are “rags”, we need them to survive.

Orange Coast College, our local community college, also publishes an online newpaper called the Coast Report. While this student paper is usually focused on OCC concerns, occasional stories bubble up about Costa Mesa generally. So this is one worth checking out from time to time.

If you are big into social media, the City also has feeds on Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, etc. The information provided on these platforms isn’t as comprehensive and tends to be redundant of the email blasts, so I prefer to stick to those.

Meetings of the City Council and Commissions

Information about the City Council, Parks and Community Services Commission, Arts Commission and Planning Commission meetings can all be found on the City’s Legistar page, which will post the agendas for these meetings 3-5 business days in advance. If you sign up for the email blasts you’ll also get links to these agendas in your email.

One note about the agendas: If you open one up, you’ll see that the titles of each item are actually a hyperlink. If you click on those hyperlinks, you’ll land on a subpage that will also provide a link to the “Staff Report” for each item (even consent calendar items get a staff report). These reports contain a wealth of information that usually goes unread, so it’s worth reviewing those reports if an item interests you.

Video recordings of each meeting will eventually make their way onto the Legistar page, but it can take a few days. One trick is that the City’s YouTube page not only contains an archive of past meetings, it also provides livestreams of the meetings as they are progress. This is a great way to tune in from home if you don’t want to go through the rigamarole of logging into Zoom.

**UPDATE** One more great source I’ve recently stumbled upon is the City’s Public Notices page. Certain actions by the City Council, Planning Commission and other bodies must be noticed in advance of the deadline for the agenda for the applicable meeting, meaning you can get a preview of what will be discussed before the official agenda is published. This page also has links to the City’s “requests for proposals” (or “RFPs”), which are descriptions of public projects that are seeking bidders for services, such as construction, management, planning, etc. If you are really nerdy it’s a great way to keep tabs on the city’s activities.

Citizen Advisory Committees

Some might not be aware of this but Costa Mesa actually has a number of advisory committees, almost exclusively manned by residents. These committees get regular reports from City Staff (who otherwise can be a somewhat inscrutable bunch) on a variety of topics, including Fairview Park, active transportation projects, our animal services (specifically our animal shelter and city veterinarian), pension and finance, etc. While actually participating on these committees is the best way to be really informed about a specific topic, the public can also attend and just listen in. However, there is no Zoom or YouTube option, so you’ll have to show up in-person to hear what is discussed.

Privately Operated Blogs and Outlets

There is probably a million and one blogs, X/Instagram/Facebook feeds, groups, mailing lists, etc. that I don’t know about. But here are a few that I do. Buyer beware: these may heavily editorialize.

Costa Mesa Brief: This is an editorial v-blog that covers both news and opinion stories.

Orange Juice Blog: This one mostly focuses on happenings outside of Costa Mesa, but a Costa Mesa story pops up once and while. It’s focused mainly on Orange County politics.

Facebook Groups: Costa Mesa Public Circle, Costa Mesa Public Square, Costa Mesa Buzz: These vary in engagement but occasionally interesting stories and conversations are posted in these forums.

*NEW* Agendas for Other Agencies and Districts

The overlapping jurisdictions in California can be a little mind boggling, but here are the big ones that likely affect you:

• Newport-Mesa Unified School District: If you’ve got school-aged kiddos you’ll want to keep an eye on the school board, which governs both the schools and a whole lot of public land. Agendas can be accessed here, and you can also watch school board meetings on NMUSD’s YouTube page. I haven’t found a way to get email updates about these meetings.
• Costa Mesa Sanitary District: This organization covers trash collection, recycling and sewers (all really gross but really important). You can find the agendas here or sign up for updates via email here — just scroll to the bottom and enter your email address.
• Mesa Water: The water district handles all things drains, drinking water, storm water, etc. You can find its agendas here and/or sign up to receive its agendas via email here.
• Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA): OCTA handles all things transportation, mostly roads but also buses and countywide bike paths. OCTA board agendas can be found here and you can listen to (but not watch) the meetings here. This is another agency that doesn’t seem to have an easy way to sign up for email alerts.

Costa Mesa 311

Ok this isn’t a way to stay informed but rather a way to keep the city informed about things happening or going wrong in the city. The Costa Mesa 311 app, which can be downloaded for iOS and Google from the City’s website, allows you to report a wide variety of issues anywhere in the City. I’ve found issues that I’ve submitted are typically addressed or responded to within 24 hours. Things you can report include graffiti, vandalism, park maintenance issues, lifted sidewalks, illegally parked cars and trucks, crooked signs, you name it: if it looks off, you can (and should) report it. The app makes it easy and hassle free.

Hopefully that helps.