Tuesday, June 13, 2006
It's Time For Change
A recent mini-vacation provided several uninterrupted hours
on the road and gave me time to engage in a little serious
contemplation about the current condition of our fair city,
about those who presently attempt to lead it - and those who may
wish to do so come November. My sweet and patient wife helped
guide me down this path of contemplation.
Those who have visited this site often know that I've been highly critical of our young jailer/mayor, Allan Mansoor, and his sidekick, Mayor Pro Tem Eric Bever. In my opinion, they and their small group of "advisors" have charted a course for this city that will not serve the residents well. It appears to me, as I've said many times, that they feel the Latinos among us are the root cause of much of what they think is wrong with our city. Their short-hand method of "fixing" that particular problem seems to be aimed at making life so miserable for that particular demographic group that they will leave the city. Our "leaders" have been urged (probably guided) in that direction by one particular activist in town - a man who makes no bones about his feelings about any group except those of us who are white as he writes extensive essays on extremist web sites and in his web log.
I asked myself if I've allowed the obvious influence of that one activist on the current leadership of this city to cloud my own views. With the help of some very provocative questions from my spouse, I stepped back and thought long and hard about this issue.
I do, in fact, think my opinions on the current state of leadership in Costa Mesa are affected by my perception of the influence that activist has on our leaders. I think he's found a fertile field into which he has deftly planted his seeds of intolerance and, using his considerable intellect and oratorical skills, influenced those who make up the ruling majority in our city and aimed them down the wrong road.
Our young jailer/mayor's susceptibility to such manipulation was obvious when Jim Gilchrist, co-founder of The Minutemen, praised him, embraced him and anointed him as an honorary Minuteman earlier this year. The list of examples of his poor judgment goes on and on, including his terrible plan to cross-designate all Costa Mesa police officers as immigration screeners (subsequently diluted by lame duck councilman Gary Monahan to parallel the Sheriff's plan and include only jailers and gang detectives). His latest snafu, the knuckleheaded idea shared with his probable running mate, Wendy Leece - to rip up part of the municipal golf course and use that space for playing fields - is every bit as contentious as his immigration idea.
So, I found myself thinking about Costa Mesa, and what might be wrong with it. This is a pretty darn nice place in which to live. Despite all the ranting by a few people about gangs and failing schools, it's still a great community. It's filled with hard-working, caring people doing the best they can. It is the home of a world-class performing arts complex and one of the finest shopping venues in the country. In any year, we can count the days of "bad" weather on one hand.
Despite the capricious nature of some politicians, we have an excellent city staff, headed up by a man who well may be the best City Manager in the county, if not the state. They manage to keep the municipal wheels turning regardless of the curve balls thrown to them by the elected leaders.
The desirability of Costa Mesa as a place to live is evidenced by the continuing escalation of property values and the willingness of buyers to purchase a nice, small home and tear it down and replace it with a nicer, large edifice.
Our city is served by an outstanding school system, which produces well-educated, well-rounded graduates. In our neighborhood, for example, the four young people who will graduate from high school next week are headed to places like Harvard, Berkeley, the University of West Virginia and Chico State in the fall.
Yes, the police department obviously has it's work cut out for it dealing with what appears to be a growing gang problem. With any luck, a new police chief will be in place within the next couple months and the direction that department will be taking can be clearly defined. Also, if wiser heads prevail, the mayor's bogus plan to cross-designate our police officers and jailers as immigration screeners will not come to fruition. The smokescreen the mayor uses as his avowed goal - to rid the city of dangerous felons - can be accomplished with our existing structure and laws.
Yes, some schools on the Westside of our town are performing below preferred standards. However, improvement has been made and a new Superintendent of Schools will soon climb aboard that throne and, hopefully, provide some insight and direction, too.
In the meantime, the mayor and his amigos - using the Latinos among us as culprits - keep flogging away at imagined problems, coming up with ethereal solutions that divide the city and have no chance of succeeding. Even the activist mentioned above - their puppetmaster - has criticized our young jailer/mayor for not just trying to "think outside the box", but for what he called "thinking outside the universe."
It's time to examine the track record of our current leadership and compare it to their rhetoric. It's time to say a resounding "No!" to the forces that are dragging this city down the path of intolerance. It's time for mature leadership in this city. November is that time.
5:16 pm pdt
Those who have visited this site often know that I've been highly critical of our young jailer/mayor, Allan Mansoor, and his sidekick, Mayor Pro Tem Eric Bever. In my opinion, they and their small group of "advisors" have charted a course for this city that will not serve the residents well. It appears to me, as I've said many times, that they feel the Latinos among us are the root cause of much of what they think is wrong with our city. Their short-hand method of "fixing" that particular problem seems to be aimed at making life so miserable for that particular demographic group that they will leave the city. Our "leaders" have been urged (probably guided) in that direction by one particular activist in town - a man who makes no bones about his feelings about any group except those of us who are white as he writes extensive essays on extremist web sites and in his web log.
I asked myself if I've allowed the obvious influence of that one activist on the current leadership of this city to cloud my own views. With the help of some very provocative questions from my spouse, I stepped back and thought long and hard about this issue.
I do, in fact, think my opinions on the current state of leadership in Costa Mesa are affected by my perception of the influence that activist has on our leaders. I think he's found a fertile field into which he has deftly planted his seeds of intolerance and, using his considerable intellect and oratorical skills, influenced those who make up the ruling majority in our city and aimed them down the wrong road.
Our young jailer/mayor's susceptibility to such manipulation was obvious when Jim Gilchrist, co-founder of The Minutemen, praised him, embraced him and anointed him as an honorary Minuteman earlier this year. The list of examples of his poor judgment goes on and on, including his terrible plan to cross-designate all Costa Mesa police officers as immigration screeners (subsequently diluted by lame duck councilman Gary Monahan to parallel the Sheriff's plan and include only jailers and gang detectives). His latest snafu, the knuckleheaded idea shared with his probable running mate, Wendy Leece - to rip up part of the municipal golf course and use that space for playing fields - is every bit as contentious as his immigration idea.
So, I found myself thinking about Costa Mesa, and what might be wrong with it. This is a pretty darn nice place in which to live. Despite all the ranting by a few people about gangs and failing schools, it's still a great community. It's filled with hard-working, caring people doing the best they can. It is the home of a world-class performing arts complex and one of the finest shopping venues in the country. In any year, we can count the days of "bad" weather on one hand.
Despite the capricious nature of some politicians, we have an excellent city staff, headed up by a man who well may be the best City Manager in the county, if not the state. They manage to keep the municipal wheels turning regardless of the curve balls thrown to them by the elected leaders.
The desirability of Costa Mesa as a place to live is evidenced by the continuing escalation of property values and the willingness of buyers to purchase a nice, small home and tear it down and replace it with a nicer, large edifice.
Our city is served by an outstanding school system, which produces well-educated, well-rounded graduates. In our neighborhood, for example, the four young people who will graduate from high school next week are headed to places like Harvard, Berkeley, the University of West Virginia and Chico State in the fall.
Yes, the police department obviously has it's work cut out for it dealing with what appears to be a growing gang problem. With any luck, a new police chief will be in place within the next couple months and the direction that department will be taking can be clearly defined. Also, if wiser heads prevail, the mayor's bogus plan to cross-designate our police officers and jailers as immigration screeners will not come to fruition. The smokescreen the mayor uses as his avowed goal - to rid the city of dangerous felons - can be accomplished with our existing structure and laws.
Yes, some schools on the Westside of our town are performing below preferred standards. However, improvement has been made and a new Superintendent of Schools will soon climb aboard that throne and, hopefully, provide some insight and direction, too.
In the meantime, the mayor and his amigos - using the Latinos among us as culprits - keep flogging away at imagined problems, coming up with ethereal solutions that divide the city and have no chance of succeeding. Even the activist mentioned above - their puppetmaster - has criticized our young jailer/mayor for not just trying to "think outside the box", but for what he called "thinking outside the universe."
It's time to examine the track record of our current leadership and compare it to their rhetoric. It's time to say a resounding "No!" to the forces that are dragging this city down the path of intolerance. It's time for mature leadership in this city. November is that time.
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