Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Public Safety Endorsements & Bogus Voters
The Daily Pilot reports this morning that candidates Bruce
Garlich and Mike Scheafer have received the much coveted
endorsement of the Costa Mesa Police Association. This
endorsement, coupled with the endorsement of the firefighters,
means that both public safety organizations have put their
considerable influence behind the election of opponents of the
present ruling troika in Costa Mesa. This is good news for all
residents of this city.
This is a very interesting turn of events. I won't attempt to put words in the mouths of those brave public safety representatives who are prepared to risk their lives on behalf of Costa Mesa residents, but I can tell you what these endorsements mean to me.
The endorsement of Bruce Garlich and Mike Scheafer by these groups means to me that they recognize that Garlich and Scheafer hold views about public safety that are more in tune with those men and women who are on the front lines. It tells me that they recognize that these two candidates, pillars of the community, are the best choice for the voters in Costa Mesa on November 7th.
You will not be surprised to learn that a man who very much resembles my theoretical character Your Neighbor, on his web log this morning, pooh-pooh'd the CMPA's choices, and equated them with those dreaded out of town industrialists that he rants about frequently. He implied that this endorsement isn't worth much because many of the CMPA members live out of town. What a crock! This endorsement and that of the firefighters means a whole lot more than those of the Minutemen and their camp followers, who have no stake in our city yet actively support our young jailer/mayor.
Of interest, too, was the quote from Mayor Mansoor regarding the endorsement, wherein he implied that this is payback for his position on Proposition 75 a couple years ago. Sounds like sour grapes to me.
The men and women who work in law enforcement in this city are not dummies. They certainly recognize that the mayor, despite being a sworn officer of the law, is completely out of touch when it comes to enforcing the law in this city. As mentioned on this blog before, he has consistently disregarded the opinions of two active police chiefs - John Hensley and Steven Staveley - in this year alone. Make that three, if you count the opinion of Dave Snowden, who served this city as police chief for seventeen years. By ignoring these highly respected law enforcement leaders on extremely important issues Mayor Mansoor has demonstrated to them, and to the rest of the residents of this city, that his own personal agenda and political future is more important to him than the safety of the residents of this city. The rank and file in public safety in this city obviously recognized this attitude and feel a change is necessary.
***
An interesting sidebar occurred at the City Council meeting last night. At the end of the presentation by the Registrar of Voters with which he hoped to recruit poll workers for the upcoming election, a question was asked of him by a man who identified himself as a teacher regarding voter eligibility. It seems some of his students were confused about just who was eligible to vote. The response surprised me. Mr. Kelly, the Registrar, told us that we work on the honor system - that if a person registers to vote and falsely signs the affidavit affirming his or her eligibility, including citizenship, there is no mechanism to catch it.
I mention this because I understand there is a big voter registration drive going on in the Latino community on the Westside. I find myself wondering about those voters now - and not without some apprehension about their impact on the upcoming election.
12:27 pm pdt
This is a very interesting turn of events. I won't attempt to put words in the mouths of those brave public safety representatives who are prepared to risk their lives on behalf of Costa Mesa residents, but I can tell you what these endorsements mean to me.
The endorsement of Bruce Garlich and Mike Scheafer by these groups means to me that they recognize that Garlich and Scheafer hold views about public safety that are more in tune with those men and women who are on the front lines. It tells me that they recognize that these two candidates, pillars of the community, are the best choice for the voters in Costa Mesa on November 7th.
You will not be surprised to learn that a man who very much resembles my theoretical character Your Neighbor, on his web log this morning, pooh-pooh'd the CMPA's choices, and equated them with those dreaded out of town industrialists that he rants about frequently. He implied that this endorsement isn't worth much because many of the CMPA members live out of town. What a crock! This endorsement and that of the firefighters means a whole lot more than those of the Minutemen and their camp followers, who have no stake in our city yet actively support our young jailer/mayor.
Of interest, too, was the quote from Mayor Mansoor regarding the endorsement, wherein he implied that this is payback for his position on Proposition 75 a couple years ago. Sounds like sour grapes to me.
The men and women who work in law enforcement in this city are not dummies. They certainly recognize that the mayor, despite being a sworn officer of the law, is completely out of touch when it comes to enforcing the law in this city. As mentioned on this blog before, he has consistently disregarded the opinions of two active police chiefs - John Hensley and Steven Staveley - in this year alone. Make that three, if you count the opinion of Dave Snowden, who served this city as police chief for seventeen years. By ignoring these highly respected law enforcement leaders on extremely important issues Mayor Mansoor has demonstrated to them, and to the rest of the residents of this city, that his own personal agenda and political future is more important to him than the safety of the residents of this city. The rank and file in public safety in this city obviously recognized this attitude and feel a change is necessary.
***
An interesting sidebar occurred at the City Council meeting last night. At the end of the presentation by the Registrar of Voters with which he hoped to recruit poll workers for the upcoming election, a question was asked of him by a man who identified himself as a teacher regarding voter eligibility. It seems some of his students were confused about just who was eligible to vote. The response surprised me. Mr. Kelly, the Registrar, told us that we work on the honor system - that if a person registers to vote and falsely signs the affidavit affirming his or her eligibility, including citizenship, there is no mechanism to catch it.
I mention this because I understand there is a big voter registration drive going on in the Latino community on the Westside. I find myself wondering about those voters now - and not without some apprehension about their impact on the upcoming election.
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