Friday, August 11, 2006
Piling On The Mayor!
I can't remember when I've had so much fun reading political
stuff! Over the past couple weeks our young jailer/mayor, Allan
Mansoor, has been pilloried by writers of every ilk -
columnists, bloggers, editors, publishers and residents, with no
end in sight. A highly respected civil rights watchdog
organization, the Southern Poverty Law Center, has done a
feature article on him and his relationship with a certain
controversial activist in town. And now, even a peer on the City
Council has taken him to task in the press.
Each of those writers have been on the mark. It's vaguely amusing, in a sad sort of way. Of all the missteps Mansoor has made over the past couple years - closing the Job Center; disbanding the Human Relations Committee; reducing funding to charities; trying to cross-designate Costa Mesa police officers to be immigration screeners; permitting himself to become the poster boy for intolerance by being anointed as an honorary Minuteman by the grand pooba, Jim Gilchrist; his grand plan to place the utilities underground throughout the city to the tune of more than $1 billion and his dumb plan to tear up part of the municipal golf course to make playing fields instead of simply lighting two more of the best fields in town at The Farm Sports Complex, to name a few - the issue that has gotten him the most grief so far turns out not to be any of those. No, the issue that has raised the collective hackles of the community are his politically opportunistic and callously insensitive public comments following the drive-by shooting in this city last week that took the life of one young man and wounded four of his friends - all of whom just happened to be Latinos.
The most recent high-profile person to rake him over the coals on this issue is one of his peers on the dais, Councilwoman Linda Dixon - the very person he defeated when she was mayor four years ago to gain his seat on the council! In a commentary in the Daily Pilot today, Dixon went to great lengths to point out just what a hypocrite our young jailer/mayor has become and closed with a warning for residents to "Beware of Allan Mansoor!" I cannot remember when a sitting council member has taken such a firm position in the press against one of their peers on the council. All I can say to Dixon, with whom I've had my share of differences over the past couple years, is "Right On, Linda! You go, girl!"
So, it looks to me as though our mayor, at the beginning of what is starting out to be a very contentious campaign season, will continue to find ways to shoot himself in the foot. I, for one, just hope he keeps on yapping. Perhaps he can find a clown suit among the mugs, aprons and tee shirts in that online store to which he's linked his web site.
Speaking of his web site, a friend pointed out that our young jailer/mayor and his pals seem to be trying to jump the gun on the election. On his home page he refers to "Election Day" as November 2nd, 2006. Most calendars I've seen, and most links on municipal, state and federal web sites, tell us that the correct day is November 7th. He's going to be one lonely dude when he shows up at his polling place on the Thursday before the election.
12:13 am pdt
Each of those writers have been on the mark. It's vaguely amusing, in a sad sort of way. Of all the missteps Mansoor has made over the past couple years - closing the Job Center; disbanding the Human Relations Committee; reducing funding to charities; trying to cross-designate Costa Mesa police officers to be immigration screeners; permitting himself to become the poster boy for intolerance by being anointed as an honorary Minuteman by the grand pooba, Jim Gilchrist; his grand plan to place the utilities underground throughout the city to the tune of more than $1 billion and his dumb plan to tear up part of the municipal golf course to make playing fields instead of simply lighting two more of the best fields in town at The Farm Sports Complex, to name a few - the issue that has gotten him the most grief so far turns out not to be any of those. No, the issue that has raised the collective hackles of the community are his politically opportunistic and callously insensitive public comments following the drive-by shooting in this city last week that took the life of one young man and wounded four of his friends - all of whom just happened to be Latinos.
The most recent high-profile person to rake him over the coals on this issue is one of his peers on the dais, Councilwoman Linda Dixon - the very person he defeated when she was mayor four years ago to gain his seat on the council! In a commentary in the Daily Pilot today, Dixon went to great lengths to point out just what a hypocrite our young jailer/mayor has become and closed with a warning for residents to "Beware of Allan Mansoor!" I cannot remember when a sitting council member has taken such a firm position in the press against one of their peers on the council. All I can say to Dixon, with whom I've had my share of differences over the past couple years, is "Right On, Linda! You go, girl!"
So, it looks to me as though our mayor, at the beginning of what is starting out to be a very contentious campaign season, will continue to find ways to shoot himself in the foot. I, for one, just hope he keeps on yapping. Perhaps he can find a clown suit among the mugs, aprons and tee shirts in that online store to which he's linked his web site.
Speaking of his web site, a friend pointed out that our young jailer/mayor and his pals seem to be trying to jump the gun on the election. On his home page he refers to "Election Day" as November 2nd, 2006. Most calendars I've seen, and most links on municipal, state and federal web sites, tell us that the correct day is November 7th. He's going to be one lonely dude when he shows up at his polling place on the Thursday before the election.
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