Published November 8, 2026
NEWPORT BEACH | CITY HALL WATCH | NOVEMBER 8, 2026
Good news for City Hall employees: there’s going to be a lot of class time.
Tuesday’s Nov. 10 City Council consent calendar includes Item 13. It asks for three five-year, on-call training contracts, each capped at $100,000. The firms are CPS HR Consulting, Nextec Inc. and the San Diego Centre for Organization Effectiveness. That’s $300,000 in spending authority. Staff notes nothing is owed just for signing. Money gets spent as classes are ordered.
The menu has 14 categories, from leadership and conflict resolution to public speaking, ethics and, yes, time management. Hopefully that one isn’t a five-year course.
Here’s the part worth a second look. The Oct. 27 council agenda carried two more contracts from the same city request for proposals. Each was $250,000, one with the San Diego Centre and one with Jacob Green & Associates, for $500,000 total. They cover customer service training for part-time, seasonal and sworn staff, plus leadership training for managers. Staff said customer service training for full-time employees began earlier this year.
That means the San Diego Centre would hold two agreements that both include customer service training: one for up to $250,000 and one for up to $100,000. Add both meetings together and it’s as much as $800,000 in training authority in two weeks.
CPS HR Consulting also appears twice on Tuesday’s agenda. It’s one of four firms in a separate executive recruitment item.
None of that means anything improper. On-call contracts are common, and caps aren’t spending. But at $800,000, residents can fairly ask how many employees, how much per class, and how anyone will know it worked.
Consent items pass in one vote, but the public can comment before it happens. The meeting starts at 4 p.m.
Sources
- City Council Staff Report, Nov. 10, 2026, Item 13: On-Call Agreements for Citywide Staff Training (File 26-3099, RFP No. 26-47)
- City Council Staff Report, Oct. 27, 2026: Agreements with Jacob Green & Associates and the San Diego Centre for Organizational Effectiveness
- City Council agenda, Nov. 10, 2026, Item 16: Executive Recruitment Services (File 26-3118)
This story is checked every 3 days for its first 30 days. When there’s news, we add a dated update here. How we keep stories current →
Help us out, Newport.
Read next
City Hall WatchSave Balboa Village: 5 Small Business Ideas for Newport Beach City HallFrom the Balboa Island Ferry to 15th Street Surf Shop, Newport's legends are small businesses. Balboa Village is hurting, and City Hall is still "considering" how to help. Here are…Read story →Suggestion 1 of 5
City Hall WatchNewport Beach Shipped Real Sand to Four Empty New York Storefronts. Balboa Has Empty Storefronts Too.Visit Newport Beach turned four vacant Manhattan storefronts into a Newport vacation, real sand and all. Back home, Balboa Village has empty storefronts of its own.Read story →Suggestion 2 of 5
City Hall WatchNewport Beach Rehired Stapleton, Weigand and Kleiman. Balboa’s To-Do List Is Still on the Counter.Same council, four more years. Here's what's still waiting on the Balboa Peninsula, from P, Q and R to $27.4 million.Read story →Suggestion 3 of 5
Around NewportNewport-Mesa High School Students Can Take College Classes for Free This SpringHere's something Newport families might actually want to get ahead of: local high school students can take college classes this spring without paying tuition.Read story →Suggestion 4 of 5
Surf & CoastWest Newport Is Getting $1.5 Million in Trucked-In Sand. The 62nd Street Groin Is Still a 1974 IOU.City Hall voted 5-0 to haul river sand into West Newport. The groin it planned at 62nd Street back in 1974 is still missing.Read story →Suggestion 5 of 5