PTO president in H.B. accused of embezzlement

A Huntington Beach woman is scheduled to be arraigned Friday for allegedly embezzling thousands of dollars from school fundraisers while serving as a parent-teacher organization president.

Gail Diane Panella-Monestere, 52, is accused of stealing more than $22,000 from Sun View Elementary School in Huntington Beach by writing checks to herself from the PTO bank account in amounts ranging from $250 and $800 and cashing them for personal use, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Panella-Monestere, who is accused of embezzling the money between September 2010 and February 2011, also allegedly kept funds raised at school events instead of depositing them in the PTO bank account.

School administrators discovered the missing funds and contacted the Huntington Beach Police Department, which investigated the case, prosecutors said.

Panella-Monestere faces one felony count of grand theft by embezzlement. She faces a maximum sentence of three years in Orange County Jail if convicted. Her arraignment is scheduled at 9 a.m. Friday at the West Justice Center in Westminster.

–Mona Shadia, @MonaShadia, HB Independent

Construction continues for Coastline’s Newport campus

Guests take a look at the construction progress for the Newport Beach campus for Coastline Community College during a tour Wednesday. (SCOTT SMELTZER)

The crack of hammers and metallic buzzing of power tools echoed throughout the partially finished building at Coastline Community College’s new Newport Beach campus Wednesday.

Walking along an outdoor corridor complete with ocean views, officials took in the many unfinished rooms littered with equipment and electrical work hanging from the ceiling.

“What is right behind you is a typical classroom,” said John Weaver, who led the tour and is with C.W. Driver, the construction management company.

College and district officials donned hard hats to tour the $48-million campus at 1515 Monrovia Ave., which is expected to be completed in the fall and have classes starting in the spring.

“It will be wonderful that the college will now be out in the community,” said retired faculty member Sally Kurz, a Coastline Foundation board member. “So many students come from Newport Beach and Costa Mesa.”

–Britney Barnes, @britneyjbarnes, Daily Pilot

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State decision could lead to lawsuit, budget hole in H.B.

The state Department of Finance is refusing to pay back millions of dollars Huntington Beach once loaned to its now-disbanded redevelopment agency, a decision that may lead to litigation and leave a large hole in the city’s general budget.

Following a decision in December by the state Supreme Court that declared the state’s redevelopment agencies (RDAs) unconstitutional, cities began submitting listings of legally binding agreements or contracts the disbanded agencies had to their county auditors and the state finance department for a review — and payback, said City Manager Fred Wilson.

Those listings included bonds or loans the RDAs had issued for various projects. The process was part of the agencies’ winding-down activities.

Part of the listing Huntington Beach submitted in February was $71.8 million the city advanced to its former agency over the last 20 to 30 years.

The state is now contending that the $71.8 million the city loaned to the agency is not repayable under the law that was passed to dissolve redevelopment, Wilson said.

“At this point, we don’t believe we’ll see any of that money,” he said.

–Mona Shadia, @MonaShadia, HB Independent

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Police break up homeless camp in Costa Mesa

Costa Mesa Sgt. Vic Bakkila, left, and senior Officer Larry Fettis find a pellet gun rifle, among other items, in a homeless encampment under the 405 Freeway near the Santa Ana River. (Don Leach)

A Costa Mesa homeless encampment adorned with animal rights posters and graffiti could shelter suspects connected to a recent spate of burglaries, police said Thursday.

Police discovered the elaborate encampment beneath a San Diego (405) Freeway underpass where the Santa Ana River meets Moon Park, 3377 California St.

Officers believe eight men have been living in the encampment for about two years, said Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Vic Bakkila.

Police came upon the camp after an officer saw a suspicious-looking man go under the overpass, according to Bakkila.

Authorities had increased patrols in the area because of a recent increase in burglaries.

In the encampment, police found a cache of bikes and watches, although where the items came from and whether they were stolen was immediately unknown. Police were working to determine whether the items were connected to the recent burglaries.

–Lauren Williams, @LAWilliams30, Daily Pilot

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Citizen survey: Laguna’s a great place to live

A citizen survey conducted by National Research Center Inc. showed that 97% of respondents rated the overall quality of life in Laguna Beach as “excellent” or “good,” according to results released at Tuesday’s city budget workshop.

The resident opinions included responses from 405 citizens, with many reporting that they plan on staying in the community for the next five years.

The survey said the four areas that received the most favorable ratings were the overall image or reputation of Laguna Beach, quality of overall natural environment, overall appearance and the cleanliness of Laguna Beach.

Amount of public parking, ease of car travel, traffic flow on major streets and the availability of affordable housing received the lowest ratings, according to the survey.

All city services were rated favorably, with 29 out of 35 city services “above” the benchmark rating. (NRC’s database of comparative resident opinion is made up of resident perspectives gathered in citizen surveys from 500 jurisdictions.)

–Alisha Gomez, Coastline Pilot

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CdM loses mural on John Blom photography building

Courtesy Corona del Mar Today

The new owner of the John Blom photography studio building at 3732 East Coast Highway has painted over a mural on side of the structure and plans to add a “living wall,” or a green wall that will be covered in succulents that create a design.

The mural had depicted pelican’s holding waving pictures of seascapes and a church, floating in a blue, cloud-filled sky. Blom said he returned from vacation to see the mural was gone, but he said it was the new owner’s right.

“It was good while it lasted,” he said. Blom recently sold the building and is closing his studio, but he’ll continue to work with clients on locations.

–Amy Senk, @coronadelmartdy, Corona del Mar Today

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Tourism conference: O.C. cities should work together

Sibling rivalries are expected, and to a degree, beneficial, but when it comes to tourism in Orange County cities, the message Wednesday was all about working together.

“Of course, we’ll keep working individually too — I still want to keep my job,” Gary Sherwin, president and chief executive of Visit Newport Beach Inc., joked while speaking at the fourth annual Tourism Conference, organized by the Orange County Tourism Council (OCTC) at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Spa.

Overall, speakers encouraged the audience — and each other — to work together to develop “The OC” as a global brand and destination for international visitors.

“We’re talking about this wonderful shared asset called Orange County,” Sherwin said to the audience. “When you hear ‘The OC’ anywhere in the world, you know what they’re talking about — they’re talking about us. And we take a lot of pride in that.”

Panelist Judith Bijlani, president and chief executive of the Laguna Beach Visitors and Conference Bureau, pointed to the county’s miles of beaches, many art museums and galleries, and shopping as several of the key components making up “part of the OC experience,” a tagline she encouraged local businesses to adopt.

–Sarah Peters, @SPeters01, Daily Pilot

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Mansoor accuses opponent of willingness to work with unions

Assemblyman Allan Mansoor speaks at a Surf City Tea-sponosored forum at the Huntington Beach Central Library on Monday. (SCOTT SMELTZER)

Assemblyman Allan Mansoor (R-Costa Mesa) told a conservative group Monday that he believes his Republican opponent in the June 5 primary will bow down to unions and special-interest groups in Sacramento.

During a Surf City Tea-sponsored forum in the Huntington Beach Central Library, Mansoor said Newport Beach Councilwoman Leslie Daigle, who is running against him in the 74th Assembly District race, supports unions and raising taxes.

“That’s a clear difference between me and my opponent, who calls herself Republican,” he said.

Daigle said Tuesday that there is no basis to Mansoor’s claims.

“There’s nothing in my record of public service that suggests I’m a tax-raiser,” she said. “I would say that together with my colleagues, we’ve gotten more pension reform [in Newport Beach] than Allan [did when he was on the Costa Mesa council].

“Several of the employee groups are now paying their full share of their employee pension, and we’re in the process of working with police and fire, and we anticipate reaching an agreement by the end of the month.”

–Mona Shadia, @MonaShadia, HB Independent

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Costa Mesa man, dog found dead in minivan

A 44-year-old man and his dog were found dead Wednesday afternoon in his minivan that was parked in his Costa Mesa driveway, according to authorities.

He could have been there for two or three days, authorities said.

About 3:15 p.m., a gardener went to the man’s house in the 2600 block of Riverside Drive to do some work when he found the man apparently dead in his Toyota minivan.

Orange County Sheriff’s deputies said that the man appears to have died from health-related issues, and his death was not considered suspicious. All the windows in the van were up, and authorities could not immediately say how the dog died.

The man’s father had last been seen him alive two or three days ago, authorities said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department Hazardous Materials team initially responded to the scene but was later called off.

The man’s identity was not immediately available. The coroner was responding to the scene.

— Joseph Serna, @JosephSerna, Daily Pilot

Whelan Gallery vacating North Laguna space

Patrick Whelan of the Whelan Gallery. The gallery space on North Coast Highway will close at the end of May. (KEVIN CHANG)

After nearly six years in North Laguna, Whelan Gallery will be closing its doors at the end of the month.

Owner Patrick Whelan said he was told last month that he had until the end of May to vacate the space at 353 N. Coast Hwy. He sublets it from Adam Neeley, who has decided not to renew the lease, Whelan said.

According to Whelan, he had no plans to leave any time soon before this. The gallery was “doing alright,” he said, and “holding its own.”

He said it’s not the last that Laguna will see of the gallery.

He is hosting the second annual Night of a Hundred Angels show in conjunction with the Laguna College of Art & Design, and he’ll be showing in the Festival of the Arts in the summer.

He plans to look for another space in the fall.

“We’re not going away,” he said. “There’s just going to be a big dent up here in the north.”

Whelan will have a temporary office at the Cottage Gallery, 1524 S. Coast Hwy.

For more information, visit whelanartgalleries.com.

–Joanna Clay, @joannaclay, Coastline Pilot