Costa Mesa delays Boys & Girls Club lease extension, wants assurances on facility improvements
The Costa Mesa City Council held off this week on renewing a lease with the Boys & Girls Club of the Harbor Area, which rents city-owned property in the Eastside for its Lou Yantorn branch.
The council Tuesday opted instead to continue negotiating with the nonprofit, which has been seeking a 48-year extension to keep renting at 2131 Tustin Ave. for $1 a year. Its original 50-year lease expires in November.
Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer said he was concerned about extending the lease for such a long time without ensuring that the club maintains and improves the branch’s facility.
Mayor Steve Mensinger agreed, telling club representative Robert Santana: “Your building needs help. We’re glad you’re there … but we have to balance you and your use with our fiduciary responsibility.”
The Harbor Area club, an independent nonprofit for more than 70 years, is looking to merge with the larger Boys & Girls Club of Santa Ana in hopes that the combination would lead to better efficiency and programming for thousands of children.
The Boys & Girls Club of the Harbor Area also has branches in Westside Costa Mesa, Irvine and Newport Beach.
Santana, chief executive of the Santa Ana club, said the leadership team is committed to improving the Lou Yantorn branch but cannot begin a fundraising campaign to upgrade the facility until a long-term lease is secured.
He noted that the branch, which opened in 1966, has received recent improvements, including $75,000 worth of work to the gym, $10,000 in roof repairs and $5,000 in plumbing and electrical upgrades.
Santana pointed to the Santa Ana club’s flagship Joe MacPherson Center for Opportunity, calling it a model for Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide. He said Costa Mesa children deserve such a facility.
“Our kids in Costa Mesa deserve a much better-quality Boys & Girls Club. They deserve a 21st century Boys & Girls Club,” Santana said.
“You have a lot of credibility with me with what you did in Santa Ana,” Righeimer told Santana. “We’d love to have you for 48 more years, but we just need the agreement done right.”
