Friday, September 1, 2006
More Campaign Musings
More Campaign Musings
I've posted another "Just Wondering..." page for the month of
September. Just slide your cursor to the left and click on the
link.
***
Another day has passed since the campaign forum this week and more "highlights" are percolating in my mind.
I'm recalling the young man who tried to disrupt the proceedings by first asking a provocative question of our young jailer/mayor, then, as the mayor tried to answer it, this young guy tried to pass out flyers. The much bemoaned armed security guards intercepted him practically in my lap and escorted him from the room without much of a fuss being made. It ticked me off, though, because I was distracted from Mansoor's reply to the question, which involved one particularly controversial activist and his influence on the mayor.
Mirna Burciaga got off a couple of the best lines of the evening. At one of the many times that Mansoor and/or Wendy Leece made reference to three illegal alien sex offenders having been arrested in Costa Mesa, Burciaga asked why no such outcry about the other 97 apparently non-illegal alien sex offenders was being heard. At another point, when the mayor was decrying crime committed by illegal aliens, Burciaga spoke up and made the very accurate point that "crime is crime, no matter who commits it." We hope she and the other candidates will continue to call the mayor's bluff and expose him as the hypocrite he has turned out to be.
When Mansoor attempted to make a big deal of Bruce Garlich's campaign finances and Garlich tossed it right back to him with his comment that half of the mayor's came from sources outside the city, it got me thinking more about that issue. We suspect that the radical right-wing group, The Minuteman Project, has been and will be supplying Mansoor with campaign dollars. We do know that most of the correspondence in the local newspapers supporting him have come from people outside our city, many of whom are Minutemen or their camp followers. I just looked at the mayor's web site and find on his endorsement page few names of Costa Mesa residents. Yes, there are some, but fewer than 25% of the individuals identified live in Costa Mesa.
Contrast that with Garlich's endorsement page, which, as I type this, reads like a Who's Who of Costa Mesa. As I scroll down that list, it seems to me that far more than 95% of those listed either reside in or work in our city. Most of the names are very familiar because of their activism and involvement in our community, including former mayors, council members, volunteer activists who keep the wheels turning and members of other boards - including every current member of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Trustees.
If you flip over to Mike Scheafer's web page you will find a similar mix of endorsers - perhaps even a greater percentage of them Costa Mesa residents.
So, when Leece and Mansoor begin to pontificate about outside interests, keep in mind that Mansoor's campaign is predominantly supported by outsiders, apparently hoping to influence the way things run in this city. It will be very interesting, indeed, to review the list of campaign contributors for our young jailer/mayor. I suspect it's going to look like the membership roster of The Minuteman Project, including their wacko, wild-eyed founder, Jim Gilchrist.
I caution observers of this campaign to take what our young jailer/mayor has to say with a grain of salt. He has already demonstrated to us a willingness to fabricate and misrepresent facts. (It's called lying) These are tactics of a desperate person - one who doesn't have the truth on his side. Since election of folks to represent our interests as community leaders is largely about trust, just ask yourself which of the candidates you trust to represent all residents and business owners of this city. That answer is an easy one for me.
Costa Mesa deserves to have an informed electorate make their voices heard on November 7th. Costa Mesa TV, Channel 24, will replay their tape of the August 30th forum several times this month. The first airing will be at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 2nd, followed by 2:00 and 8:00 on Sunday, the 3rd. Subsequent scheduled dates will be listed on the city web site. Please watch and form your own opinions. If you can't do that, just keep reading here and I'll tell you what to think. Only kidding... do your own homework, study the issues and candidates and cast a wise vote.
I hope you all have a safe Labor Day holiday, return refreshed and ready to plow ahead and stay engaged in this process.
2:28 pm pdt
***
Another day has passed since the campaign forum this week and more "highlights" are percolating in my mind.
I'm recalling the young man who tried to disrupt the proceedings by first asking a provocative question of our young jailer/mayor, then, as the mayor tried to answer it, this young guy tried to pass out flyers. The much bemoaned armed security guards intercepted him practically in my lap and escorted him from the room without much of a fuss being made. It ticked me off, though, because I was distracted from Mansoor's reply to the question, which involved one particularly controversial activist and his influence on the mayor.
Mirna Burciaga got off a couple of the best lines of the evening. At one of the many times that Mansoor and/or Wendy Leece made reference to three illegal alien sex offenders having been arrested in Costa Mesa, Burciaga asked why no such outcry about the other 97 apparently non-illegal alien sex offenders was being heard. At another point, when the mayor was decrying crime committed by illegal aliens, Burciaga spoke up and made the very accurate point that "crime is crime, no matter who commits it." We hope she and the other candidates will continue to call the mayor's bluff and expose him as the hypocrite he has turned out to be.
When Mansoor attempted to make a big deal of Bruce Garlich's campaign finances and Garlich tossed it right back to him with his comment that half of the mayor's came from sources outside the city, it got me thinking more about that issue. We suspect that the radical right-wing group, The Minuteman Project, has been and will be supplying Mansoor with campaign dollars. We do know that most of the correspondence in the local newspapers supporting him have come from people outside our city, many of whom are Minutemen or their camp followers. I just looked at the mayor's web site and find on his endorsement page few names of Costa Mesa residents. Yes, there are some, but fewer than 25% of the individuals identified live in Costa Mesa.
Contrast that with Garlich's endorsement page, which, as I type this, reads like a Who's Who of Costa Mesa. As I scroll down that list, it seems to me that far more than 95% of those listed either reside in or work in our city. Most of the names are very familiar because of their activism and involvement in our community, including former mayors, council members, volunteer activists who keep the wheels turning and members of other boards - including every current member of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Trustees.
If you flip over to Mike Scheafer's web page you will find a similar mix of endorsers - perhaps even a greater percentage of them Costa Mesa residents.
So, when Leece and Mansoor begin to pontificate about outside interests, keep in mind that Mansoor's campaign is predominantly supported by outsiders, apparently hoping to influence the way things run in this city. It will be very interesting, indeed, to review the list of campaign contributors for our young jailer/mayor. I suspect it's going to look like the membership roster of The Minuteman Project, including their wacko, wild-eyed founder, Jim Gilchrist.
I caution observers of this campaign to take what our young jailer/mayor has to say with a grain of salt. He has already demonstrated to us a willingness to fabricate and misrepresent facts. (It's called lying) These are tactics of a desperate person - one who doesn't have the truth on his side. Since election of folks to represent our interests as community leaders is largely about trust, just ask yourself which of the candidates you trust to represent all residents and business owners of this city. That answer is an easy one for me.
Costa Mesa deserves to have an informed electorate make their voices heard on November 7th. Costa Mesa TV, Channel 24, will replay their tape of the August 30th forum several times this month. The first airing will be at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 2nd, followed by 2:00 and 8:00 on Sunday, the 3rd. Subsequent scheduled dates will be listed on the city web site. Please watch and form your own opinions. If you can't do that, just keep reading here and I'll tell you what to think. Only kidding... do your own homework, study the issues and candidates and cast a wise vote.
I hope you all have a safe Labor Day holiday, return refreshed and ready to plow ahead and stay engaged in this process.
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