Wednesday, October 4, 2006
It's Simply A Matter Of Trust
What are the real issues in the up-coming election?
During candidate forums and in letters to the editor we hear about a whole bucket full of things that each candidate thinks is important - playing fields, more police officers, crumbling streets, undergrounding utilities and - the 800 pound gorilla - illegal immigration. These items and others seem to occupy our collective consciousness and generate the most dialogue as we approach November 7th.
To me, this election is a whole lot simpler than that. In my view, this election is about trust.
For the past nearly two years - ever since Mayor Allan Mansoor and his majority took control of the city - we've seen them take actions that have proven to me that they are not trustworthy.
We've seen them blind-side the other council members and the public time after time on issues that are immensely important to this city. The list is almost too great to chronicle here, but I'll give you just a few items.
First, the mayor's bogus plan to cross-designate all Costa Mesa police officers as immigration screeners, which brought with it start-up costs of $1.4 million - unbudgeted dollars, by the way. That proposal was headed off by Gary Monahan's alternative that would train fewer officers and cost "only" $200,000 to launch. Neither plan will work because they take highly trained, specialized officers off the streets to basically baby-sit apprehended suspected felons as they shepherd them through the administrative process. No municipal law enforcement leader in Orange County, including the two most recent past chiefs of police in Costa Mesa, support the mayor's plan because they know it won't work. Additionally, this would be redundant if the Sheriff's Department consummates their deal with ICE. The residents of this city, including the other council members, received no advance warning, nor did they have a chance to discuss it in a study session - standard protocol for important issues in this city.
Another is the half-cocked plan proposed by the mayor and his hand-picked running mate, Wendy Leece, to rip up a quarter of the municipal golf course for playing fields instead of simply lighting more fields at The Farm Sports Complex. That one never made any sense and caused them appropriate levels of embarrassment.
One of the most recent examples of the mayor's shoot-from-the-hip style is the press conference he called - unannounced to other council members - to tell the world he planned to request the council to authorize the payment of a reward for information that led to the apprehension and conviction of the shooters involved in recent drive-by attacks. If he'd done his homework he would have found that the police chief already had that authority. Instead, once the issue was discussed before the City Council, he ignored the recommendation of his police chief - who preferred to wait until his detectives were out of hot leads - and called for the reward anyhow.
That was the second time, at least that we know of, in the past few months when the mayor and his majority ignored their law enforcement leaders. It's no surprise to me at all that the two major public safety organizations have chosen not to support Mansoor and Leece in the election. Why would anyone, much less the folks we pay to protect our lives, support someone who has so little regard for the opinions of true law enforcement professionals?
Further back, shortly after taking control of the city, Mansoor and lame duck Gary Monahan supported Eric Bever's quick pitch of the system when he proposed a much more wide-reaching plan for the revitalization of the Westside than was proposed - and unanimously recommended - by the Westside Revitalization Oversight Committee, who had worked diligently for a year coming up with their plan. That was a bellwether of things to come, as this majority disregards broad public input and expert opinion and, encouraged by fawning radical outsiders, uses only the gripes of their little cadre of malcontents to create city policy and direction.
Under the current "leadership" we've seen Costa Mesa become an isolationist city, alienating every other city with whom we share a border. Costa Mesa does not exist in a vacuum. We need leaders who recognize our role and responsibilities in the broader, regional issues and work to arrive at a reasonable, workable consensus with our neighbors - not continually spit in their eye.
The list goes on and on. Suffice it to say that the current majority, led by Allan Mansoor, has done little to engender the trust of the electorate. The actions they have taken pander to the dark side of human nature and use fear as the motivating factor. Their control is so absolute that it is dictatorial in nature and certainly not in the best interests of this city.
Then, today, the mayor filed his campaign finance disclosure (Form 460) for the three months ending September 30th which shows - according to a posting on Byron de Arakal's Itchingpost.com blog - that more than two-thirds of his contributors for that period (67.7%) have addresses outside the city limits. Those outsiders accounted for 65% of the cash contributed to the mayor's campaign. For the full story please go to Byron's blog. There's a link on my Useful Links page that will take you right to it.
It's time to return the governance of this city to men and women who have demonstrated their concern for our community through decades of public service. It's time to return this city to the hands of reasonable, intelligent people who have the welfare of all residents and business owners in this city in mind instead of pandering to the grumblings of a few frustrated, fearful folks and the whims of outside agitators, who stroke the mayor and play him like a violin. It's time to cast aside the mayor and his divisive campaign of fear and return confidence and trust to City Hall.
7:59 pm pdt
During candidate forums and in letters to the editor we hear about a whole bucket full of things that each candidate thinks is important - playing fields, more police officers, crumbling streets, undergrounding utilities and - the 800 pound gorilla - illegal immigration. These items and others seem to occupy our collective consciousness and generate the most dialogue as we approach November 7th.
To me, this election is a whole lot simpler than that. In my view, this election is about trust.
For the past nearly two years - ever since Mayor Allan Mansoor and his majority took control of the city - we've seen them take actions that have proven to me that they are not trustworthy.
We've seen them blind-side the other council members and the public time after time on issues that are immensely important to this city. The list is almost too great to chronicle here, but I'll give you just a few items.
First, the mayor's bogus plan to cross-designate all Costa Mesa police officers as immigration screeners, which brought with it start-up costs of $1.4 million - unbudgeted dollars, by the way. That proposal was headed off by Gary Monahan's alternative that would train fewer officers and cost "only" $200,000 to launch. Neither plan will work because they take highly trained, specialized officers off the streets to basically baby-sit apprehended suspected felons as they shepherd them through the administrative process. No municipal law enforcement leader in Orange County, including the two most recent past chiefs of police in Costa Mesa, support the mayor's plan because they know it won't work. Additionally, this would be redundant if the Sheriff's Department consummates their deal with ICE. The residents of this city, including the other council members, received no advance warning, nor did they have a chance to discuss it in a study session - standard protocol for important issues in this city.
Another is the half-cocked plan proposed by the mayor and his hand-picked running mate, Wendy Leece, to rip up a quarter of the municipal golf course for playing fields instead of simply lighting more fields at The Farm Sports Complex. That one never made any sense and caused them appropriate levels of embarrassment.
One of the most recent examples of the mayor's shoot-from-the-hip style is the press conference he called - unannounced to other council members - to tell the world he planned to request the council to authorize the payment of a reward for information that led to the apprehension and conviction of the shooters involved in recent drive-by attacks. If he'd done his homework he would have found that the police chief already had that authority. Instead, once the issue was discussed before the City Council, he ignored the recommendation of his police chief - who preferred to wait until his detectives were out of hot leads - and called for the reward anyhow.
That was the second time, at least that we know of, in the past few months when the mayor and his majority ignored their law enforcement leaders. It's no surprise to me at all that the two major public safety organizations have chosen not to support Mansoor and Leece in the election. Why would anyone, much less the folks we pay to protect our lives, support someone who has so little regard for the opinions of true law enforcement professionals?
Further back, shortly after taking control of the city, Mansoor and lame duck Gary Monahan supported Eric Bever's quick pitch of the system when he proposed a much more wide-reaching plan for the revitalization of the Westside than was proposed - and unanimously recommended - by the Westside Revitalization Oversight Committee, who had worked diligently for a year coming up with their plan. That was a bellwether of things to come, as this majority disregards broad public input and expert opinion and, encouraged by fawning radical outsiders, uses only the gripes of their little cadre of malcontents to create city policy and direction.
Under the current "leadership" we've seen Costa Mesa become an isolationist city, alienating every other city with whom we share a border. Costa Mesa does not exist in a vacuum. We need leaders who recognize our role and responsibilities in the broader, regional issues and work to arrive at a reasonable, workable consensus with our neighbors - not continually spit in their eye.
The list goes on and on. Suffice it to say that the current majority, led by Allan Mansoor, has done little to engender the trust of the electorate. The actions they have taken pander to the dark side of human nature and use fear as the motivating factor. Their control is so absolute that it is dictatorial in nature and certainly not in the best interests of this city.
Then, today, the mayor filed his campaign finance disclosure (Form 460) for the three months ending September 30th which shows - according to a posting on Byron de Arakal's Itchingpost.com blog - that more than two-thirds of his contributors for that period (67.7%) have addresses outside the city limits. Those outsiders accounted for 65% of the cash contributed to the mayor's campaign. For the full story please go to Byron's blog. There's a link on my Useful Links page that will take you right to it.
It's time to return the governance of this city to men and women who have demonstrated their concern for our community through decades of public service. It's time to return this city to the hands of reasonable, intelligent people who have the welfare of all residents and business owners in this city in mind instead of pandering to the grumblings of a few frustrated, fearful folks and the whims of outside agitators, who stroke the mayor and play him like a violin. It's time to cast aside the mayor and his divisive campaign of fear and return confidence and trust to City Hall.
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