More Vandalism At Model Train Site

EARLIER DAMAGE
As many of you already know, around the first of March there was very significant vandalism done to the site of the Orange County Model Engineers facility in Fairview Park.  Valuable rails were stolen, part of the infrastructure was destroyed and other damage to the tune of around $9,000.

COMMUNITY RESPONDED
A call went out for help replacing the damaged items and the public responded in a big way, offering replacement for items stolen and cash.  Plans are afoot to install a security system at the site, but that kind of installation takes a little time and a lot of money.

MORE DAMAGE
Unfortunately, in the meantime, there has been more damage reported over the past few days.  Picnic tables and benches were destroyed and control boxes were damaged.  And, what appears to be gang graffiti is now being left.

POSSIBLE GANG INVOLVEMENT
Because of this new possible "gang" element to this equation the OCME is very concerned that their site may become part of a gang turf war, which would cause potential harm to visitors.



CMPD GANG UNIT
The Costa Mesa Police Department, of course, has been notified and will be working on this issue.  Sadly, the gang detail is now down to 2 officers from six, when it was especially effective.

STAY ALERT
In the meantime, if you're in the area at night and see activity please immediately call the police. 

PLAYING FIELDS?
As an interesting sidebar, the Fairview Park Citizens Advisory Committee will soon consider possible options for that segment of the park - the Southeast Quadrant.  There are some on the committee who seem determined to add playing fields to that section of the park.  It will be interesting to see what impact of this vandalism might have on the deliberations of that committee over the next few months.

Yet Another Successful Town Hall

NUMBER THREE FOUR (OOPS)
Costa Mesa City Councilwoman Wendy Leece hosted yet another successful Town Hall meeting Monday night.  This is the third fourth in her series and, although it played to a smaller group, it was every bit as successful as the others. (Sorry about that glitch... Leece has held successful Town Halls at the Neighborhood Community Center, Pomona School, College Park and last night at Harbor Trinity Church)

NORTH PART OF TOWN COVERED
The event was held at the Harbor Trinity Church at Baker and Fairview and was aimed primarily at our good neighbors who live in the north part of town.  Based on a quick headcount conducted early in the meeting, about a third of the approximately 50 attendees were from the Mission/Mendoza section of Mesa del Mar, another third from the Paularino area of Mesa North and the remainder from venues throughout the city.

CMPD, MIKA, CERT, UNITED NEIGHBORS
Leece hosted the event and was supported by Corporal Doug Johnson and Senior Gang Officer David Sevilla of the Costa Mesa Police Department plus Walter Garcia from MIKA community development corporation, who provided the essential translations throughout the evening.  Also present was Diane Hill from United Neighbors, who handed out information on her organization,
 
POLITICIANS AND WANNABES
Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer attended the entire meeting.  City Council candidates Sue Lester, Marshall Krupp and Harold Weitzberg came to hear what troubles our neighbors from the north part of town.  Among the 50 or so attendees was a grumpy old fella from Mesa North, who stayed for a few minutes, then left - apparently not willing to endure the need to translate the discussion.  Too bad, too, because he might have benefited from a question that was asked about white gangs in Costa  Mesa.

CRIME STATS
Corporal Johnson gave a brief overview of the crime reporting areas in question for the evening - there are 37 distinct reporting areas in Costa Mesa.  For the 12 months ended July 14th, area 21 had approximately 1800 calls for service, of which 284 resulted in reports being filed or arrests being made.  Area 17 had 3200 calls and 452 reports or arrests.  He gave a quick comparison to areas 1 and 2 - in the southwest side of town - which have 8,000 - 10,000 calls for the same time frame.

CRIME, GANGS, ALLEYS AND CODE ENFORCEMENT
Most of the issues folks wanted to discuss were gangs, crime prevention, alley safety and maintenance and code enforcement issues - run down properties, trash and debris, etc.  Despite the need to translate both directions in the discussions things went very smoothly.
 

GANG ACTIVITY UP AND DOWN
Both Corporal Johnson and officer Sevilla fielded most of the questions and provided specific statistics about gangs and other crimes.  According to Sevilla, gang activity in the two areas in question is down, but he explained that it kind of ebbs and flows like the tide.  They discussed preventive measures - after school programs, sports, churches and the use of School Resource Officers as effective tools to combat gang proliferation.  Those School Resource Officers are theoretically scheduled to be eliminated this fall unless something dramatic happens.  White gangs tend to be more organized, money oriented and violent.  Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach have large white gang populations.

CRIME UP
Although we continue to hear that property crimes are up dramatically in these areas of town, no specific percentages were given.  Both officers acknowledged that crime is up.

WHICH DRUGS?
A question was asked, in response to a statement made by Johnson about drugs being a major part of the crime problem in our city, if he was talking about marijuana.  Johnson's answer was NO.  Other drugs - cocaine, heroin and meth - were the primary problem drugs, followed by prescription drugs like Vicodin and Oxycodon.  The effects of those drugs can normally lead to criminal behavior.

LOTS OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Nearly two dozen attendees filled out question cards and several others simply just asked their questions - usually as a follow-on to another one.  Several people seemed concerned about the number of officers available to fight crime these days.  When the issue of gang detail staffing came up Johnson and Sevilla told us that the gang unit is staffed with 4 right now and has been staffed as such for a couple years.

CONCERNED ABOUT CMPD STAFFING
I spoke privately with Corporal Johnson who expressed concern for our current staffing levels, especially right now with the safety demands of the Orange County Fair.  Most, if not all, officers are working mandatory overtime to cover shifts PLUS the demands of the Fairgrounds coverage.  The combination of the month-long fair plus the fact that the CMPD is currently operating with at least 10 fewer officers than the authorized strength - 131, which is down from 164 two years ago - is stretching our manpower very, very thin.

A WORTHY EFFORT
I think most folks who attended the Town Hall came away with plenty of information about their communities.  Based on brief conversations with some of them, most felt it was very worthwhile.  Thanks to Leece, the CMPD and MIKA for their efforts.  A little sidebar - MIKA Community Development is an organization that has benefited for many years from contributions of Community Development Block Grand (CDBG) funds that are distributed by the city each year.  This year, however, at the recent meeting where the funds were to be allocated, Bever capriciously and arbitrarily just yanked their funding and gave it to a couple of Gary Monahan's pet organizations, even though the 3R Committee spent hours vetting the organizations, ranking them as to need and contribution to the community and providing their best suggestion to the City Council.

LIAR, LIAR....

FROTHING IN MESA NORTH
Today a notorious blogger who lives in the north part of our town produced another of his rants in which he attempts to persuade his readers that all the brown faces in our town are evil, gang-bangers.

FLAT-OUT LIE!
In the middle of his rant he produces a flat out lie - not unusual for him, since fabrication and pontification is his stock in trade. He states that the CMPD reported recently that our city does not have a White Gang problem. That's a lie!

WHITE GANGS INSIDIOUS
The CMPD had consistently reported that we do, in fact, have a White Gang problem, and it far surpasses in severity the Latino gangs. The White Gangs in Costa Mesa are linked to similar prison gangs and prey on the populace with drug and identity theft schemes. The gangs with which they are associated are vicious, and have been known to kill their own founders because they spoke with the press.

WHY DOES HE DENY?
A couple years ago, as part of a county-wide sweep, twenty White Gang members were apprehended in seventeen locations in our city. No White Gang problem? Ha! Liar! Doesn't it make you curious why this guy defends the White Gangs? I wonder why that is?

DON'T TRUST HIM
This is how it's going to be through the elections - he'll lie every chance he gets. Don't believe a word he says.

Gangs, Caspa on Radio, Local Bloggers and Tomorrow's Council Meeting

GANG ISSUE IN STUDY SESSION
Over the weekend I finally watched my tape of the Costa Mesa City Council Study Session from Tuesday, May 13th. I'm glad I did, because if I had relied on the "report" from one local blogger about the proceedings I'd have had a very different opinion of what occurred.

GOGERTY ON ENFORCEMENT
CMPD Captain Les Gogerty provided a brief overview of the current gang program in Costa Mesa - a program that focuses on enforcement since the council rejected an element that would have addressed the intervention/prevention segment a year ago.

INTERVENTION/PREVENTION PLANS PRESENTED
Deputy District Attorney Tracy Rinauro, whose full time job is working on gang intervention/prevention, did an excellent job of giving information on intervention activities in Anaheim and, quite recently, San Juan Capistrano. Many of those program elements she discussed sounded like they might be effectively used in our city.

SPARKS WERE A'FLYIN'
One thing is sure - Mayor Eric Bever and Councilwoman Katrina Foley continue to be flint and steel. The tension between them was palpable during the presentations by Gogerty and Rinauro. It was clear to me that Bever has no interest in doing more on the gang issue until results of the enforcement-only policy can be quantified. This is a typical response by him and his pals. Their solution to a gang problem is to rid our city of anyone who MIGHT become a gang member. You can translate that to mean anyone with brown skin. It was obvious that Bever was angry because Foley had requested the information that was presented to the council in the Study Session. It's one more example of how the so-called "improvers" want to control the information available to residents.

CASPA ON THE RADIO
Costa Mesa resident Dr. Humberto Caspa, author of the new, hot-off-the-presses book, "Terror in the Latino Barrio: The Rise of the New Right in Local Government", will be interviewed Wednesday morning, May 21st on radio station KPFK, 90.7 FM from 8-9 a.m. For those of you able to block off that hour Wednesday morning I suspect you'll find Dr. Caspa's comments of great interest.

LOCAL BLOGGER LOSING IT?
Speaking of local bloggers, I'm not quite sure what's going on over at the CM Press. I fear the poor guy who owns it may be showing signs of early dementia. Twice in the past month he has used duplicate numbers for his entries - number 330 and number 366 each had two separate entries using the same numbers. In the most recent edition of #366 he used a big chunk of his text to tell us all what a wonderful, interesting life he has had. I wonder if he did that as a memory jogger - because he's forgetting who he is these days.

WATCHING THE WATCHTOWER
New bloggers "Mr. & Mrs. John Smith" over at the CM Watchtower continue to post strange entries. Twice this month they've made claims of being the "Best Local Blog Around", yet provide no source for that acclaim. I have this mental image of them saying, "You're Number 1! No, you're Number 1!" I'm still not sure what their focus is - they seem to dislike almost everyone. Perhaps, as the campaign season approaches, we'll get a better idea of what they think will improve our city. I'm not sure just who these folks are, but I think I've got a good idea. More on that at a future date.

SPILLED "ORANGE JUICE"
And, over on the SantaAnaCentric Orange Juice! blog, the infighting continues. In a Herculean effort, they changed platforms over the past week or so. The new look is going to work, but it appears to be a much more labor-intensive effort. Time will tell. In the meantime, spats continue between their various contributors. Watching them argue back and forth, accusing each other of deleting comments and posts, makes me very happy that I'm a Lone Ranger here.

SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING TOMORROW
The City Council meeting Tuesday, May 20th, promises to be very special. Scheduled events include the Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem by the All American Boys Chorus; presentation of Vanguard University's National Champion Women's Basketball Team; proclamations for both Killybrooke and Sonora schools for academic achievement and topped off by the recognition of city employees who reached 25 and 30 years of service. Whew! After that the remainder of the agenda will be boring with a capital "B".

Hoping for a Quorum, Expanding The Forum and Acosta Decorum

FINGERS CROSSED
I hesitate to mention this for fear of jinxing another City Council Study Session. That being said, this afternoon the Costa Mesa City Council will attempt to hold another study session. The April session was canceled because they didn't have a quorum. Let's hope that at least three members show up today.


CMPD GANG PLANS
Once again, members of the Costa Mesa Police Department will attempt to present their ideas on how to manage the gang problem in our city. The staff report is skimpy, to say the least, but I imagine their plans will include a prevention/intervention element to it in addition to the enforcement segment. Let's all hope the council will listen to them this time around and fund an intervention segment. Last year they blew it off, despite a very credible presentation by the Police Department about how essential a prevention/intervention element is to any successful gang control plan.

CURIOUS DENIAL
There are those in our community that rant and rave about the gang problem in our city, yet completely reject what the Police Department feels is a very real threat - White Supremacist gangs. According to reports made previously, those gangs are vicious and clever. A sweep not too long ago throughout Orange County snatched up nearly 60 White Supremacist gang members - including 20 at 17 locations in Costa Mesa. Those thugs had put out "hits" on law enforcement members and prosecutors. They infiltrate financial institutions, steal sensitive personal information and use it to engage in identity theft crimes to finance their drug businesses. Since the police consistently present facts to back up their position, one can only assume those who reject the very existence of this threat must have a vested interest in it being ignored. I wonder what that might be? I also wonder why, to this very day, the elected leaders of this city - Allan Mansoor specifically - has still not mentioned that sweep and it's results. It's all the more curious because Mansoor is a member of the Orange County Sheriff's Department - a deputy who spends his work day hunkered down in the jail.

NEW BLOGGERS HAVING AN IMPACT
A couple new anonymous bloggers in town, CMTRUTH and CM WATCHTOWER, seem to be having an impact on our town. As we approach the campaign season it will be very interesting to see what positions they take on the candidates. What makes this campaign season especially interesting is the speculation - fueled by his own not-to-veiled comment - that a guy who calls himself "Mr. U-Know-Who" might actually run for City Council. I've said repeatedly that I don't think that's going to happen - it would open him up to so much personal scrutiny and criticism that I doubt he could handle it. Heck, he has a tough time handling criticism now!

COST OF ACOSTA TRIALS
The Benito Acosta trials continue to reverberate through our city. In case you were wondering, as of the end of March the civil trial - Acosta is suing the City of Costa Mesa for his arrest during a council meeting - the cost of defending that suit is over $136,000 according to sources at the law firm representing the city, Jones & Mayer. The criminal trial - the one that was dismissed - has also cost the city over $130,000, but Jones & Mayer is handling the appeal pro bono. I should hope so, since it was their error that caused the dismissal! So far that effort has cost them almost $20,000.

NEVER SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED
I don't know how most of you feel about this - I suspect I'll hear from a few of you - but it's my view that this whole thing never would have happened if then-mayor Allan Mansoor had used good judgment and let Acosta finish his presentation to the council that fateful night. I've watched the tapes of that event and agree that Acosta was rude, but the situation only got out of hand after Mansoor refused to let his supporters stand and be recognized - as he had permitted Minuteman Grand Pooba Jim Gilchrist's followers to do earlier - then cut Acosta off short of his alloted three minutes.

MANSOOR COSTS US TOO MUCH
So far, Mansoor's bad judgment has cost the city over a quarter million dollars in legal fees and has the potential to dip deeply into the city coffers if the civil trial is found in Acosta's favor. The costs incurred so far could have funded a couple more police officers and a gang intervention element. All this to perpetuate and enhance the political future of an inept city councilman - a guy who has used the turmoil he created in Costa Mesa as a springboard to higher office. He's on the June ballot for a slot on the Orange County Republican Central Committee.

Study Session Canceled plus Jailers Suspended

NO QUORUM, NO MEETING (NO PROGRESS)
What's that old phrase, "The best laid plans...."? Well, the study session Tuesday in which the council was to hear from the Costa Mesa Police Department on several issues, including gangs, was canceled. It seems three of the five council members were absent - no quorum, no meeting. Oh, well. I certainly hope they don't wait another month before hearing what the CMPD has to say on this subject... it's too important.

VIDEO OF GANGS IN THE O.C.
One of the folks who posted anonymous comments on my last post on this subject, a person who identified him or herself as "cmtruth", provided a url to a YouTube video that is fascinating. For those who missed it, simply click HERE and you'll be taken directly to the video. Once there you can watch it, then view the other four in the series by British documentarian and actor, Ross Kemp from the menu on the right side of the page. It's a fascinating study on Gangs of Orange County and the first two mention Costa Mesa extensively. CAUTION: these video clips - each is around 10 minutes long - are not for casual viewing.

GRAND JURY REPORT ON LACY JAIL BEATING DEATH
All over the news in the past couple days is the grand jury report on the beating death of inmate John Chamberlain in the Theo Lacy Jail here in Orange County. Based on that report and the news coverage thereof, it seems the poor fellow was beaten to death by a half dozen of his fellow inmates - perhaps because one of his jailers mis-identified him to other prisoners as a child molester.

LAZY JAILERS?
It now turns out that the jailers don't do a very good job of paying attention to their charges in the hoosegow. There are reports that they watch television, leave their posts to workout and generally ignore prisoners. The names of several jail personnel who have been suspended were published in the newspapers Tuesday. You can read the Los Angeles Times article HERE and the Orange County Register article HERE. I looked for familiar names but didn't find any.

JAIL TOURS TOO LONG FOR DEPUTIES
I'm not really surprised that the sheriff's deputies who are performing the job of jailers ignore their duties. The tour in the jail can be 6 or 7 years - perhaps even longer if a person requests it. I've been led to believe that's the case with our former mayor, Allan Mansoor. In my opinion, using deputies as jailers for an extended period of time is a waste of training and talent. Perhaps the new Sheriff of Orange County, whomever it turns out to be, will address this issue. We do know that interim sheriff, Jack Anderson, has stated he wants to replace sworn deputies in the jail with civilian custodial officers. Sounds like a good start to me.

MANSOOR ON THE MEAN STREETS? - OMIGOD!
Of course, that means that Mansoor will actually have to become a real law enforcement officer and work in the streets. I'm sorry, but I can't help but smile...

Gangs - Drumbeat Of Lies Muffles The Truth

GANGS TO BE STUDIED - AGAIN
At their study session on Tuesday, April 8th, members of the Costa Mesa City Council will consider, among other things, proposals from representatives of the Costa Mesa Police Department about their plans to manage the gang issue in our city. You may recall that the council majority rejected a proposal to fund an intervention element last year, restricting the police department's activities to enforcement only. As I've stated many times, enforcement alone will not solve the gang problem. I can tell you that from first-hand experience. The neighborhood where I grew up in Los Angeles is now dealing with it's fourth generation of one gang - Los Avenues - and they are more vicious than ever.

NO DETAILS AVAILABLE
We really don't know what the CMPD has in mind this time around because the staff report, such as it is, tells us only that the issue will be presented, with no details. I guess we'll just have to wait until Tuesday at 4:30 in Conference Room 1A to see what they have up their sleeves.

MISINFORMATION SPREAD
In the meantime, sources of misinformation around town are howling about this event, proclaiming that it will be another plot by "lefties" to make Costa Mesa a sanctuary city for illegal aliens. As is usually the case, this blather is pure fabrication, intended to further inflame a difficult situation in our city.

BULLDOZING THE "PROBLEM"
There are folks who think the one-third of our population that are Latino are the root of all problems in our city and the solution is to bulldoze apartment buildings occupied predominantly by immigrants - usually Latino immigrants. Apparently they feel that if you can't use legal means to discourage these folks from living in our city, then it's OK to chase them out using the blade of a Caterpillar D9 as motivation.

LATINO GANGS THE ONLY PROBLEM? NOT!
Another little bit of self-serving fiction being foisted off on residents is that Costa Mesa gangs are primarily and overwhelmingly Latino, and that the members have strong links to illegal aliens. Horse manure! Yes, there are Latino gangs in Costa Mesa. Yes, some probably know illegal aliens through their cultural ties. However, ask any Costa Mesa cop familiar with the gang issue and he will tell you that White Supremacist gangs are a huge problem in this city. They are much more dangerous to the general populace than the Latino gangs might be. They are heavily engaged in the drug trade and identity theft, infiltrating financial institutions and harvesting personal data. Those who spread misinformation about gangs won't tell you that... I wonder why?

A PLAN FOR ALL GANGS NEEDED
I hope the study session presents to the city council options for dealing with all gangs in Costa Mesa and I hope they will give very serious consideration to the funding and implementation of an intervention element this time around. You simply cannot "enforce" gangs out of existence - a fact to which every credible student of this subject will agree.

LIAR, LIAR...
Meanwhile, the drumbeat of intolerance continues to attempt to drown out the truth with a steady stream of lies and fabrications... You'll probably be able to tell who the purveyor of these lies is if you attend the study session - he'll be the guy with his trousers aflame.

Revelations And Frustrations in Costa Mesa Nation

The Costa Mesa City Council meeting on Tuesday, August 7, 2007 was yet another interesting adventure. I'm not sure what was up with the mayor, but it seemed like every time I looked up at the picture on my television screen he was absent. Every once in awhile he would pop up and dash off the dais like he was trying to make the council meeting an aerobic event.

During the public comments segment an interesting event occurred. One speaker - a regular attendee before the council who resembles my theoretical character, Your Neighbor - who uses his three minutes to provide direction to the council, made a couple of very telling comments. First, he told us that he is able to recognize gang members on sight, and described some of the physical attributes on which he bases his opinion. It sure sounded like racial profiling to me. Now, if this guy can actually identify gang members from among other members of the community on sight I think we need to draft him into the Gang Enforcement Detail of the Costa Mesa Police Department to facilitate the eradication of gangs from our city. Since he's been a frequent loud critic of gangs and a strident advocate for safety of our residents, I'm sure he would acquiesce and perform this public service for the safety of all Costa Mesa residents.

This same fellow also mentioned, in the same context of the gang problem, that he has been a frequent visitor to crime scenes in our city, and that he has also taken his family with him to these locations. This only affirms the mental image I've had of him, squatting in his bunker in Mesa North, listening to his police scanner, ready to dash out to view some violent event in our city. It's my understanding that he has at least one small child - the one endangered by marauding soccer players in Paularino Park - so I find myself wondering just what kind of a parent would drag a small child to a bloody crime scene. Good Grief! This certainly confirms some of my opinions of this man.

As most have already learned by reading the Daily Pilot coverage, here, the question of placing of the fireworks issue and a 2% increase in the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) on the November 2008 ballot were both laid to rest by the Mansoor majority. I found it interesting that they would choose to forbid the voters of this city the opportunity to express their view on these two issues at the ballot box. A 2% increase in the TOT would mean an additional $2 million in revenue to the city - money pitched into our coffers like coins tossed into a wishing well by visitors just passing through. That lack of foresight represents a lot of public safety staff members not hired and a lot of potholes not being repaired. I suppose, if enough voters were interested, either item could be placed on the ballot by the initiative process. That might be interesting.

Among the other items mentioned during the meeting was the possibility of resurrecting a parade in conjunction with the annual Fish Fry at Lion's Park. Councilwomen Katrina Foley and Wendy Leece are scheduled to meet with the City Manager and former councilman Mike Scheafer to discuss it.

Oh, yes. As predicted, the fellow mentioned early in this posting was all over Tony Dodero for his commentary published in the Daily Pilot Wednesday. It sure does seem that he's become our young jailer/mayor's biggest supporter. Maybe it's because the mayor seems to jump every time this guy snaps his fingers.

Ironic Timing

Ah, the world if full of ironies. One day following the City Council Mansoor-led majority's decision to ignore the advice and counsel of their top law enforcement officers and trash can the intervention and prevention elements of the CMPD's gang initiative, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced a sweeping new initiative in that city which includes - here it comes, folks - a significant element dedicated to intervention and prevention!

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, Villaraigosa's plan was applauded by Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton. Bratton is quoted as saying this about the plan, developed in concert with police, gang experts and neighborhood leaders, "Mayor Villaraigosa's $168 million for gang prevention and intervention is the vital component missing from the city's gang plan."

In the article Villaraigosa is quoted as saying, "Take it from a former high school dropout: Fighting gangs is fundamentally a question of putting people on a path to a productive life."

Hello! That's precisely what Chief Christopher Shawkey and Captain Ron Smith attempted to tell the council last Tuesday night. When asked specifically whether, in their best professional opinion, resolving the gang problem in Costa Mesa was possible without the intervention/prevention elements of their proposal, both men replied unequivocally that it was not. Using Captain Smith's analogy, no matter how fast you drain the tub of gang-bangers, unless you turn off the spigot to stop the flow of new members into the tub, you will never win the battle. And yet, in a snit about how the Newport-Mesa Unified School District manages it's money, the Three Stooges who form the majority on the council gave our top cops the stiff arm and rejected that part of their proposal. They also dismissed, without debate, any consideration of the Truancy Ordinance that was included in the CMPD's proposal.

I don't know Antonio Villaraigosa, but I do know that he's an effective politician. His ideology, in a broad sense, is far from mine. It wouldn't surprise me if he becomes the next Governor of this state. I do know Chief Bratton, though, and respect his skills as one of the top law enforcement officials in this country. I agree with Bratton that this proposal is a giant step in the right direction for the City of Los Angeles, and the entire southern California region.

The timing of Villaraigosa's announcement couldn't have been better - unless your name is Allan Mansoor, Eric Bever or Wendy Leece. It emphatically points out the lack of understanding of the problem by our city council majority. Our young jailer/mayor continues to display an amazing lack of understanding of actual law enforcement, despite being a Deputy Sheriff for fourteen years. Bever seems intent on righting wrongs he experienced as a whippersnapper, growing up in a gang-infested neighborhood. Whatever affronts he experienced as a kid - maybe he was harassed about his pigtail hairdo - he seems determined to take it out on the budding Costa Mesa gangs by authorizing only ramped-up use of force instead of a plan designed to seriously address the deeper issue of how to nip the gang growth in the bud - by intervening with the at-risk kids in their early school years.

Leece, who seemed to be sympathetic to the intervention plan during the discussions, turned out to be merely pathetic as she read her prepared statement before the vote. Obviously, these three "leaders" have no interest in hearing from residents nor their senior staff - they already have their minds made up before they get to the meetings.

Like Bever, I, too, grew up in a part of Los Angeles that had a significant gang population. That part of the city was the focus in a recent series done by the Los Angeles Times. The predominant gang way back then was Los Avenues, which is still the largest gang in Los Angeles. It is now in it's fourth generation of gang-bangers - a systemic problem no matter how you cut it.

In their presentation before the council Chief Shawkey and Captain Smith said that Costa Mesa's gang problem is not "generational". The word that was missing was "yet". If nothing is done to divert the young people at risk from becoming gang members I fear we will be seeing the same kind of generational infestation in Costa Mesa that Los Angeles is currently attempting to resolve.

Residents of this city should put pressure on the council majority to re-consider their rejection of the intervention/prevention element of the CMPD's proposal. The majority should get over their snit with the NMUSD and do what is right for this city, instead of fanning the flames of discontent. I stated in an earlier post that I thought they actually wanted a gang problem in this city to help meet their broader goal of the removal of all Latinos from our borders. One way for them to prove me wrong is to institute the intervention/prevention element and let the police do their job.

Mansoor Majority Creates Gang Haven

I'm still reeling from watching the City Council meeting Tuesday night. After many hours of watching and cogitating I've had an epiphany. Here's what happened:

CMPD PLAN GUTTED
In their deliberations on the Gang Initiative last night, the Allan Mansoor-led City Council majority chose to send our law enforcement officers into the battle blindfolded, with one arm tied behind their backs. They chose to approve only the enforcement element of this plan. Despite the specific, unequivocal statements by the Chief of Police, Christopher Shawkey and his strong right arm, Captain Ron Smith, that the intervention/prevention element was critical to the success of the program and despite the fact that it had been funded in the last budget session, the majority vetoed that segment.

TRUANCY ORDINANCE DISCARDED
Additionally, although several residents, including some students, rose to speak against the Truancy Ordinance and the police department recommended that element be referred to a subsequent study session so it could be thoroughly vetted before a decision was made, the majority ignored the recommendation, thereby pitching it into the trash can. I wasn't surprised about that, since both Mansoor and Bever had written publicly in the Daily Pilot indicating their displeasure with such a plan. Instead of taking the opportunity to hear more testimony on the subject by staff and residents they ignored that idea and chucked the whole thing. Their minds were already made up.

SHAWKEY, SMITH, GARLAND REJECTED
I listened as Chief Shawkey and Captain Smith presented their case to the council and answered questions posed by individual members for clarification. It didn't take long to see that Mansoor and Bever were opposed to the intervention segment. When Jane Garland, author of a recent Daily Pilot commentary and school district employee in charge of Project ASK, stepped up at the request of Katrina Foley to correct mischaracterizations by perpetually ignorant resident Mike Berry and to answer questions for the council about the interface between the district and the CMPD, it was clear that Mansoor and Bever view her as an antagonist, not a partner in the resolution of our common problem. I hoped Wendy Leece would understand the importance of the intervention segment, particularly when the chief and one of his top men stated emphatically that they felt it was essential to the success of their plans to eradicate gangs from our city. She didn't. When the votes were finally cast and only the enforcement element was passed I kind of just rocked back in my chair in disbelief.

TOP COP REBUFFED
This is the third straight police chief a Mansoor-led majority has rebuffed emphatically. Two years ago they rejected then-Chief John Hensley's ideas on the immigration screener scheme. A year ago Mansoor jumped the gun on the reward issue when Chief Staveley was on board and now Chief Shawkey has some idea of why he's the third Police Chief in the City of Costa Mesa in two years. This council majority, led by our young jailer/mayor, has no respect for the opinion of their highly skilled senior law enforcement leaders. Their idea of enlightened law enforcement is simply getting a bigger stick and swinging it harder and more often. Bever apparently is trying to right wrongs he experienced as a youth in a gang-infested neighborhood. You could see the bile boiling as he spoke about it.

THE MOMENT OF TRUTH: MANSOOR MAJORITY WANTS GANGS!
As I sat here mulling over tonight's events a light went on. I've finally figured it out! Mansoor and his cronies don't really want to resolve the gang issue! They don't want to follow the advice of their top cops and include an element in their plan that can actually get to the root of the problem and nip the gang problem in the bud. They want this problem to persist because it gives them the wedge issue they need to expunge every Latino from this city! If you "fix" the problem through education and intervention that means that many young Latinos will be saved from a life as gangsters and will thrive in our city. That is precisely what Mansoor, Bever, Leece and their yapping cadre of followers do not want. They want the Latinos out and the gang issue can be the tool they use to accomplish that. They want more gang crime, because it will make the remainder of our citizens fearful and more susceptible to their plans for the ouster of the Latinos.

COPS SEE EXIT SIGN
In my opinion, this is a very sad day for our city. The elected majority on the council seem determined to grind this city into the dust with their arrogant "I-know-best" attitude. I give Shawkey two years, max, before he realizes that his position is one of supreme futility and he bails out. I sure hope he didn't buy a house yet. With this action tonight, by virtually spitting in the eye of our top cops, the Mansoor-led majority has insured the on-going departure of experienced cops from the CMPD. What honest, hard-working career officer will want to work in this city - where the marching orders are given by a bunch of racists?

INTOLERANCE CREATES GHOST TOWN
Without a change of direction this city is doomed to be known as a bastion of intolerance. Soon few people will wish to enter our town because the leadership has intentionally permitted it to become a dangerous locale. More bright, young families will seek homes and educational opportunities for their children elsewhere, leaving behind those of us who are too old, too poor or trapped by an equity imbalance to seek greener pastures. Thank you, Allan Mansoor, Eric Bever and Wendy Leece, for greasing the skids of this city. Your legacy will be the demise of this town.

Tragedy and Leadership

Today, as I write this piece, I can't get the tragic events at Virginia Tech yesterday out of my mind. The convocation from that stricken university is on the television behind me, where speakers, including President Bush, have expressed many of our thoughts. It's hard to comprehend how such a terrible event could occur.

It's impossible to fathom what was in the mind of that troubled young man, Cho Seung-hui, as he methodically went about slaughtering those innocent people. Once again, this kind of event has reached out and grabbed this country by the throat. The images and sounds of that day were looped endlessly throughout the day yesterday, making it impossible to avoid the agony being felt by those in Blacksburg. Many of us look around and say to ourselves, "If it can happen there, it could happen here, too!"

Tonight our City Council will debate a program addressing the growing gang problem in Costa Mesa, trying to decide which path our city will take on this difficult issue. Some apparently feel that only enforcement is necessary control this problem, giving no credence to the experts in this field that tell us a comprehensive program of prevention and intervention is essential to nip gang involvement at the roots.

Some will say that the Truancy Ordinance, which is presented as an important segment of the CMPD's plan, is draconian - a step that will only alienate the broader community in an attempt to control the actions of a relative few. I'm still willing to hear the reasoning behind this plan before offering a final opinion. If the leaders of our police department feel this program has critical value in our fight against gangs, I'm willing to hear their views. I expect to hear residents, including some parents and students, speak on this subject tonight and I hope our elected leaders will listen and deliberate before stating their decision.

Tonight will be another test of the leadership of this city. Tonight we find out if they will, in fact, be the leaders most hoped for when they were elected, or will they pander to the vocal, intolerant few among us. Will they listen to the testimony of their experts and of the concerned residents of this city before making the decision? We'll see.

Gangs of Costa Mesa

At their study session next Tuesday the Costa Mesa City Council will discuss, among other things, the current proposal by new Police Chief Chris Shawkey to attack the growing gang problem in our city.

I read the staff report available on the city web site. It's voluminous, 22 pages, and looks like a pretty good start. The proof, of course, will come in the application of the plan - if the city council approves and funds it. There are elements they've rejected in the past that, according to most credible experts in this field, are essential to the success of any such program.

And, it will come to no surprise to regular readers, that the CM Press has chimed in on this subject with his own special spin. Part of what he has to say should be cause for concern to all Costa Mesa residents.

In his little assessment of the plan he notes with much indignation that the only gangs mentioned by ethnicity are white supremacists. He's offended that the staff report found it necessary to mention that ethnic group and didn't mention Latinos. He attempts in his mini-tirade to portray these groups as somehow oppressed, singled out for discussion when, in his words, the real problem is the Latinos. Give me a break! Anyone with even half a brain, much less a Mensa member, realizes that we're talking about Latino gangs in this city. The fact that white supremacists exist in our community is very relevant and an important consideration when formulating plans to deal with gangs in general.

You will recall that he and his buddy, the mayor, were strangely mute when a task force snatched up 20 white supremacists from 17 separate locations in Costa Mesa as part of a county-wide crackdown the end of last year that took 58 individuals off the streets. Those arrested were part of a group that, among other crimes, allegedly had targeted law enforcement officers for assassination. I commented on this curious silence at that time because the mayor had been the first one in front of a microphone or writing commentaries in the newspapers if a Latino person had been arrested for committing a crime and the CM Press crowed loud and long when any crime involving Latinos occurred. He told us he was frequently "first on the scene" at some crimes because he monitors the calls from his home in Mesa North. I thought at the time it was a curious double standard, and still do. It was especially strange since the targets had been law enforcement officers. I would have expected the mayor to be overjoyed about those arrests and to have made a big deal of it. Any real civic leader would have made a point to compliment the task force, and the part Costa Mesa officers played in the sweep, in an effort to make our citizens proud and feel safer. No, the mayor was mute and invisible.

It doesn't surprise me at all that the guy at the CM Press takes umbrage at the mention of those white supremacist gangs. He writes his racist essays for web sites like the New Nation News and National Vanguard among others that are specifically massaged for white supremacist consumption. His incendiary rhetoric provides no doubt about his personal views on race in this country. In his recent posting he provides his readers with a mini version of his underlying position on race. It's disgusting.

So, next Tuesday the council will have the new plan presented. I will wait with great interest to see how our city council, and particularly the majority, respond to it.