Mansoor and Senate Bill 54
Those who read this blog know that at the very end of the long, long City Council meeting last Wednesday morning, just before 1:00 a.m., the council rejected Councilman Allan Mansoor's request for a letter to be sent from The City opposing Kevin deLeon's Senate Bill 54. The motion eventually made was to ignore his request and just receive and file the issue, effectively killing Mansoor's request. The vote was 3-2, with Mansoor and Councilman Jim Righeimer voting NO. Mayor Katrina Foley, Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Genis and rookie Councilman John Stephens voted YES.
THE REGISTER REPORT
You can read Louis Casiano, Jr.'s report from the Orange County Register published late last week HERE., which included a link to another article from a few years ago.
Today, Sunday, Mansoor had a letter to the editor pleading his case on this subject. Click HERE, then scroll down to his letter to read it.
To more fully understand this issue it's important to have some context. For that purpose I present for your reading pleasure Chasen Marshall's OC Weekly piece titled "It's Gotten Costa Messy In Costa Mesa" published September 1, 2011, HERE. When you click on that link you will find Marshall's excellent piece PLUS a link to a timeline that will also be helpful to understand the tension in our city at that time.
Understand that when we had Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in our jail the atmosphere in this city among the Latino population was so tense you could feel it as you moved around town. School children and their parents of Latino heritage were terrified about venturing out for even the most modest errands for fear of being picked up and deported and families torn apart. That was the atmosphere created by Mansoor - anointed as an honorary Minuteman anti-Latino activist Barbara Coe, now deceased.
Apparently Mansoor missed the power he had in Costa Mesa while he was in the California Assembly - a position he held with ZERO distinction. During his tenure he managed to author only one piece of legislation that actually passed - a change removing the word "retarded" from the official state lexicon. Who would vote against that? Now he's back here where his mere presence on the dais has restored old fears among the Latinos in our community.
It appears that Senate Bill 54 may, in fact, become State Law - which the City of Costa Mesa will have no choice except to enforcement it. One of the great ironies in this situation is Mansoor's last sentence in his Letter To The Editor, above. He closes by saying, "All elected officials take an oath to uphold our laws, but it looks like that's changing." How will he feel if, and when, SB 54 becomes law - will he have the same position?
Before some of you get your panties in a wad, please understand that I do not support coddling criminals, whether they are in this country legally or not. If you do the crime you should do the time. AB 109, Prop. 47 and Prop 57 have made the lives of law enforcement officers across the state much more difficult, and made the residents less safe. If an undocumented alien resident commits a crime and is convicted he should do the time and be deported. But, I don't think the Costa Mesa Police Department - particularly in it's current depleted condition - should be expected to stop every person with brown skin to see if they are in this country legally. That's a poor use of resources at a time when crime is on the rise.
It's going to be interesting to watch Mansoor as he gains momentum on the dais, to see if he will continue to pursue this issue.
Labels: Allan Mansoor, Barbara Coe, Chasen Marshall, Jim Righeimer Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Kevin deLeon, Louis Caisano, OC Weekly, Orange County Register, SB 54
posted by The Pot Stirrer at 4/23/2017 10:52:00 PM
3 Comments:
"to stop every person with brown skin to see if they are in this country legally" is not just bad resource management. It's racial discrimination.
Allan Puppet has no ideas of his own. He needs support and campaign money in order to rebuild his political career, hence this return to immigrant-bashing and bootlicking of the Newport bosses. Das Rigmarshal is quickly learning what 3-2 means. Now Allan Puppet should do the same.
Costa Mesa is a lot of things, but I hope racism cannot be counted in the mix. People fear what they don't know. I have come to enjoy the Hispanic culture in our city and dare say it would be a loss.
That said, I agree with Geoff, that any criminal should be jailed and deported. The rest will settle itself out. No need for witch hunts and hatred of our neighbors. Let them add their richness to our society. I only wish they felt as though they could integrate more fully. I wish that all could be here legally, but its not possible. Does that make a person less of an asset to the community? I doubt it. Does that make them less able to contribute to a community? Not historically.
Shame on Mansoor for his hatred. I, for one, am not willing to go back to his last regime and the negative name he brought to this city.
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