Hensley's Comments Highlight Mansoor's Faults

SERNA'S REPORT WORTH READING
Daily Pilot crime reporter Joseph Serna has a very informative article in that newspaper Thursday entitled, "Report: Chief against ICE". You can read it HERE and I encourage you to do so.

HENSLEY IGNORED BY MANSOOR AND BEVER
In it Serna quotes former Costa Mesa Police Chief John Hensley, testifying under oath, admit that not only did he not support then-Mayor Allan Mansoor's plan to cross-designate every Costa Mesa police officer as immigration screeners, but that he told Mansoor and Eric Bever as much at the time. According to Serna's report, "most if not everyone in the department opposed the idea with Hensley taking the argument to Mansoor and Bever." According to Serna's quote of Hensley, Mansoor and Bever "respectfully disagreed".

NOT THE ONLY TIME
This admission comes as no surprise to those of us who were paying attention to those events at the time. This was not the only time the Mansoor-led majority ignored the wise counsel of their top law enforcement officers on important issues in this city. This disregard for the best professional advice available to them demonstrates an arrogance that certainly does not serve this city well.

MANSOOR'S POOR JUDGMENT
Mansoor, a sworn law enforcement officer with now some 15 years as a Deputy Sheriff, not only ignores the guidance we pay for in our chiefs of police, but he also exercises exceptionally poor judgment as he carries out his duties for our city - as witnessed by his biased application of the rules in the Benito Acosta case - which may end up costing the city a pile of money once the civil trial is resolved.

"RRIP"PING OFF THE TAX PAYERS
Another perfect example of this arrogance is the current plan to implement the fee waiver plan for the Residential Remodeling Incentive Program (RRIP) and the Build Green Incentive Program (BGIP). As anyone able to suck in a breath in this city knows, the State of California is still juggling it's budget woes - nearly 80 days since it was due. As part of this juggling, the current proposal will require our city, through it's Redevelopment Agency, to fork over some major cash. Additionally, it was reported recently that Costa Mesa will also have to do without more than $300,000 in state funds earmarked for street improvements already planned.

POOR FISCAL MANAGEMENT DEMONSTRATED
At this time of extreme municipal fiscal distress, it shows terribly bad judgment to waive fees for these two programs now. Yes, three previous years RRIP programs have been successful - if you measure success by the amount of residential improvements accomplished - some $36 million. However, during that same time the city coffers were deprived of well over $1 million in fee revenue. It is not unlikely that implementation of the RRIP and BGIP this fall will cost the city something in the area of $500,000 in revenue - at a time when every single penny counts.

CONSIDER JUDGMENT WHEN VOTING
When voters begin to seriously consider how they will mark their ballots on November 4th, among the things to consider is the judgment demonstrated by incumbents. Fortunately, we do have a record of their performance to go by when we make these very important choices.