The Costa Mesa City Council convened an open meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 2, and then recessed to a closed session to consider labor negotiations with city employee organizations and several pending or potential lawsuits, the council announced.

Madam Clark, the city clerk for the meeting, read the closed-session agenda items under California Government Code §54957.6(a) and §54956.9. The listings named agency-designated representatives identified in the agenda as Cecilia Diardo Dealey and Cecilia Gallardo (both identified in the read list as interim city manager) and specified employee groups including the Costa Mesa City Employees Association, a managers association (read in the transcript as "Coast Mesa Division Managers Association"), and the Costa Mesa City Executive Unit. The clerk also announced items for conferences with legal counsel for anticipated litigation (three cases) and the initiation of litigation (one case) under Government Code §54956.9(d).

Madam Clark read several case captions the council planned to discuss in closed session. Those included Farrell Harrison v. City of Costa Mesa (Orange County Superior Court) and multiple matters involving D'Alessio/Casa D'Alessio Investments versus the City of Costa Mesa, including filings referenced in both Orange County Superior Court and the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The clerk also read City of Costa Mesa v. Ohio House LLC (Orange County Superior Court) among the listed cases.

The mayor noted there were no in-person or Zoom public commenters during the open session and closed the public-comment period before recessing the council to the community room for the closed session. The clerk recorded that all council members were present except Council Member Reynolds and Council Member Marr, and stated that Marr was anticipated to join remotely via Zoom at about 5 p.m.

Because the matters announced fall under the closed-session exemptions of the Brown Act, the council did not provide further public details about the negotiations or litigation at the open meeting. Any reportable actions taken in closed session—such as a settlement authorization or formal direction to city staff—were not disclosed in the open-session record.