Friday, December 16, 2005
The Beat Goes On...
The Beat Goes On...
Indeed it does. Since the now-infamous city council meeting
on December 6th, during which the plan by our young mayor to
certify every field officer and jailer in this city to be able
to enforce immigration laws was debated - and partially rejected
- the response from both sides has been overwhelming. There have
been dozens of letters to the editor published in the local
press on both sides of the issue. Commentaries have been printed
covering the gamut, including a doozy of double-speak by our
young mayor himself. Former councilman Mike Scheafer signed in
with his assessment of the situation - which was right on the
money, by the way.
Two local newspapers have published editorials against Mayor Mansoor's plan and the modified version Gary Monahan proposed. Both our young mayor and councilwoman Katrina Foley appeared on national television to give their views of this situation.
Sheriff Carona's plan is apparently moving forward and, based on a snippet of a news interview with him that I heard recently, is broader in scope than some anticipated. Based on what Carona told that particular news interviewer, he plans to have hundreds of field officers certified to perform immigration screenings in the not-to-distant future. Of course, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see our municipal "leaders" jump right on that bandwagon and also expand the scope of Costa Mesa's operations to include all field officers, not just the gang detail, detectives and a couple civilian jailers.
It looks to me like this pot will continue to boil throughout the holidays.
With the closure of the Job Center looming - December 31st is the closure date - our police officers will now be expected to be especially vigilant in the enforcement of our solicitation ordinance. That ordinance was created coincident with the Job Center's establishment 17 years ago as a method to "encourage" those seeking day labor to use the center instead of congregating in parks and convenience store parking lots around town. The plan worked so well that it became a model for other communities facing similar situations. Those were the days when adults were in charge of the city - the men and women who used their intellect, not their emotions, to assess the problem and come up with a solution that worked. Our current municipal "leaders" seem determined to turn back the clock to darker times.
I know the presence of illegal aliens places a huge burden on our economy as we educate their children, treat their illnesses and apprehend the criminals among them. It also puts a comparably large strain on our society as we debate this issue. The subject was very clearly outlined in a recent Daily Pilot editorial.
However, many of those self-same immigrants pick our produce, wash our cars, clean our buildings, tend our children, cook the food served to us in restaurants, wash those same dishes, mow our lawns, staff our factories, build our homes and on and on and on. Without the labor they willingly perform our economy wouldn't slow to a crawl, it would slam to a stop as though hitting a brick wall.
Enforcement of our federal immigration laws is a matter for the federal government to handle, not local police. This should not become a tool in the hands of a narrow-minded few to expunge Latinos from our community. This is like putting a loaded gun in the hands of first graders - they lack the common sense and maturity to handle it safely.
Mansoor and his tight-knit group of angry and vocal supporters will deny that there is anything racist about this move, but recent history proves them wrong. The impetus behind this movement has clearly been provided by one member of this community - a man who very much resembles my theoretical character "Your Neighbor" - who has spouted his racist venom in online essays for years, and has been the prime mover of most efforts to cause discomfort for the Latinos among us. Our young mayor and his cronies may deny association with this particular person, but their actions certainly speak volumes and refute any such denial. Like it or not, you are known by the company you keep.
Let me quote the final few lines of "The New Colossus", the poem by Emma Lazarus that is inscribed in the base of the Statue of Liberty:
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Have we, as a society, become so calloused that we will turn our backs on those among us who clearly meet the definition of those described above? Will we rush to arrest and deport those among us simply because we don't like the color of their skin, the sound of their music or their language, leaving behind their children - American citizens, just like Mayor Mansoor and me? Will we slam shut that "golden door" through which so many of our own descendants - including our young mayor's own parents - arrived on these shores to create new lives for their families? Will we topple our economy by yanking out the labor which forms it's foundation just to satisfy a few angry, mean-spirited individuals among us? Will we in Costa Mesa now undo nearly two decades of progress, when a more enlightened municipal leadership recognized a problem and created solutions to resolve it?
If we do, it will be a truly sad day for this city. We will have affirmed that the dark forces of hatred and intolerance have taken control of our community. None of us will be the better for it. We will no longer be known as the City of the Arts. We will become known far and wide as the City Without a Heart. If the majority on our City Council does not come to it's senses and proceeds with their plan, perhaps artist Richard Serra's recently-commissioned piece of art for the Performing Arts Center should be a burning cross, perpetually aflame to remind residents and visitors just what kind of community this will have become.
10:28 am pst
Two local newspapers have published editorials against Mayor Mansoor's plan and the modified version Gary Monahan proposed. Both our young mayor and councilwoman Katrina Foley appeared on national television to give their views of this situation.
Sheriff Carona's plan is apparently moving forward and, based on a snippet of a news interview with him that I heard recently, is broader in scope than some anticipated. Based on what Carona told that particular news interviewer, he plans to have hundreds of field officers certified to perform immigration screenings in the not-to-distant future. Of course, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see our municipal "leaders" jump right on that bandwagon and also expand the scope of Costa Mesa's operations to include all field officers, not just the gang detail, detectives and a couple civilian jailers.
It looks to me like this pot will continue to boil throughout the holidays.
With the closure of the Job Center looming - December 31st is the closure date - our police officers will now be expected to be especially vigilant in the enforcement of our solicitation ordinance. That ordinance was created coincident with the Job Center's establishment 17 years ago as a method to "encourage" those seeking day labor to use the center instead of congregating in parks and convenience store parking lots around town. The plan worked so well that it became a model for other communities facing similar situations. Those were the days when adults were in charge of the city - the men and women who used their intellect, not their emotions, to assess the problem and come up with a solution that worked. Our current municipal "leaders" seem determined to turn back the clock to darker times.
I know the presence of illegal aliens places a huge burden on our economy as we educate their children, treat their illnesses and apprehend the criminals among them. It also puts a comparably large strain on our society as we debate this issue. The subject was very clearly outlined in a recent Daily Pilot editorial.
However, many of those self-same immigrants pick our produce, wash our cars, clean our buildings, tend our children, cook the food served to us in restaurants, wash those same dishes, mow our lawns, staff our factories, build our homes and on and on and on. Without the labor they willingly perform our economy wouldn't slow to a crawl, it would slam to a stop as though hitting a brick wall.
Enforcement of our federal immigration laws is a matter for the federal government to handle, not local police. This should not become a tool in the hands of a narrow-minded few to expunge Latinos from our community. This is like putting a loaded gun in the hands of first graders - they lack the common sense and maturity to handle it safely.
Mansoor and his tight-knit group of angry and vocal supporters will deny that there is anything racist about this move, but recent history proves them wrong. The impetus behind this movement has clearly been provided by one member of this community - a man who very much resembles my theoretical character "Your Neighbor" - who has spouted his racist venom in online essays for years, and has been the prime mover of most efforts to cause discomfort for the Latinos among us. Our young mayor and his cronies may deny association with this particular person, but their actions certainly speak volumes and refute any such denial. Like it or not, you are known by the company you keep.
Let me quote the final few lines of "The New Colossus", the poem by Emma Lazarus that is inscribed in the base of the Statue of Liberty:
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Have we, as a society, become so calloused that we will turn our backs on those among us who clearly meet the definition of those described above? Will we rush to arrest and deport those among us simply because we don't like the color of their skin, the sound of their music or their language, leaving behind their children - American citizens, just like Mayor Mansoor and me? Will we slam shut that "golden door" through which so many of our own descendants - including our young mayor's own parents - arrived on these shores to create new lives for their families? Will we topple our economy by yanking out the labor which forms it's foundation just to satisfy a few angry, mean-spirited individuals among us? Will we in Costa Mesa now undo nearly two decades of progress, when a more enlightened municipal leadership recognized a problem and created solutions to resolve it?
If we do, it will be a truly sad day for this city. We will have affirmed that the dark forces of hatred and intolerance have taken control of our community. None of us will be the better for it. We will no longer be known as the City of the Arts. We will become known far and wide as the City Without a Heart. If the majority on our City Council does not come to it's senses and proceeds with their plan, perhaps artist Richard Serra's recently-commissioned piece of art for the Performing Arts Center should be a burning cross, perpetually aflame to remind residents and visitors just what kind of community this will have become.
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