Minutemen and Independence Day

"MINUTEMEN" IN NAME ONLY
As we approach the Independence Day holiday I find it truly ironic that an organization called "The Minuteman Project" continues to generated so much negative press.

COSTA MESA KNOWS HIM WELL
We in Costa Mesa have more than a passing awareness of that organization. A couple years ago their founder, Jim Gilchrist, brought his band of rabble to town to lobby before our city council in support of then-mayor Allan Mansoor's plan to cross-designate every Costa Mesa police officer as an immigration screener.

GILCHRIST WAS FLASH POINT
You will recall that Gilchrist was the flash point that created the firestorm at a council meeting where activist Benito Acosta was dragged from the speaker's podium, horse-collared and wrestled from the auditorium and arrested. Acosta had protested being forbidden from having his friends stand to show support, and for being cut off short of his alloted 3 minutes speaking time. Gilchrist had earlier asked his five dozen supporters to stand.

GILCHRIST HOOLIGANS DEMONSTRATE
Subsequently, Gilchrist and his hooligans began picketing the Westside restaurant of activist and council candidate Mirna Burciaga, taunting patrons and blocking patrons from entering.


HYPOCRITE PATRIOT
And, who could forget Gilchrist's pathetic performance before the City Council two years ago when, hypocrite "patriot" that he is, he forgot the words to the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag? As I said at the time, even those children of immigrants on our city's Westside can recite The Pledge without botching it. Gilchrist has become a pathetic caricature - a cartoon version of himself.

MINUTEMAN MANSOOR
Oh, yes, and don't forget that Gilchrist anointed Mansoor as an honorary Minuteman amid much hoopla - a designation Mansoor readily acknowledged.

O.C. REGISTER CHRONICLES HIS FALL
Gilchrist has lost control of the organization he founded under a cloud of accusations of misuse of funds and mismanagement. The Orange County Register recently published an excellent account of Gilchrist's "fall from grace" in an article by Amy Taxin. You can read it HERE. The sidebar that chronicles the "Minuteman Project" time line is particularly interesting.

WHAT INDEPENDENCE DAY IS ALL ABOUT
As you approach our Independence Day holiday on Friday, a day on which we celebrate the establishment of this great country, please try to remember what the day stands for. It's not just a day for picnics, parties and fireworks. It's a day when we commemorate the grand idea that resulted in the founding of this country - a country of immigrants. This country has prospered and endured for more than 230 years by recognizing the value of immigrants and welcoming them with open arms.

NAME USURPERS AND FEAR MONGERS
Gilchrist and his group - which has more than 20 splinter organizations according to Taxin's report - usurped the patriotic name of the real Minutemen in an attempt to seduce you into believing they are patriots. They are not. They are fear-mongers who prey on the most vulnerable among us.

REMEMBER THE REASON
On Friday, as you broil your hamburgers and hot dogs, unfurl your red, white and blue bunting and shoot off your safe and sane fireworks, please remember what this country is really all about. Remember what the real Minutemen fought for more than two hundred years ago. Remember the inscription at the base of the Statue of Liberty - the poem written in 1883 by Emma Lazarus, which says, in part...

"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!"

Remember the immigrants who founded this country and those subsequent immigrants who have made it the bright beacon for the rest of the world. Remember...

Consent Calendar Dollars And Laguna Beach Defense Bucks

FINAL 2007 MEETING
The Costa Mesa City Council will wrap up 2007 at their final meeting of the year on Tuesday, December 4th. Except for a study session scheduled for the 11th, they will not meet at an official scheduled meeting again until January 2, 2008. They will go out with a bang.

MORE SURPRISES IN STORE?
The agenda for Tuesday's meeting looks fairly routine, but with these folks you just never know. You will recall that our young jailer/mayor chose to spring his infamous plan to cross-designate all Costa Mesa police officers as immigration screeners two years ago at the final meeting of the year and ignited a firestorm that persists to this day.

THAT'S A LOT OF ASPHALT!
One thing I noticed on this agenda is the amount of money to be authorized in the Consent Calendar. The Consent Calendar is where "routine" items are placed and typically voted on in one big hunk, sometimes without any discussion at all. In addition to the usual warrants authorizing payroll and city operating expenses, this time there are eight items - numbers 7 through 14 - involving much needed street rehabilitation projects around our city. If you include item number 5, which will facilitate the completion of access roads and improvements to streets for the Home Ranch Project, and item number 6, a consulting contract to provide conceptual design and public outreach services for the proposed mulitpurpose trail at Paularino and Santa Ana Delhi Flood Control Channels, our city council may authorize the expenditure of nearly $12 million with a motion and vote that might take no more than 15 seconds! The breakdown is listed below:

Item 3 - Warrant Resolution 2189 - Payroll #723 $2,418,455.91
Payroll #722A $1,047.03
Operating Expenses $2,532.134.51
Total....$4,949,543.39

Item 4 - Warrant Resolution 2190 Operating Expenses $396,040.06

Sub-Total - Items 3 & 4....$5,345,583.45

Item 5 - Purchase of two parcels to facilitate completion $213,168.00
of improvements to Harbor Blvd. and 405
access to the Home Ranch project

Item 6 - Prof. Svcs. Contract - Multipurpose trail $92,277.00

Item 7 - Roadway Rehab. - East 19th St. $555,555.00
Santa Ana Ave. to Irvine Ave.

Item 8 - Roadway Rehab. - Baker St. $751,649.00
Fairview to Bear

Item 9 - Roadway Rehab. - Harbor Blvd. $1,430,213.98
Wilson St. to Newport Blvd.

Item 10 - Roadway Rehab. - Sunflower Ave. $1,092,387.38
Harbor Blvd. to Hyland

Item 11 - Roadway Rehab. - Hyland Ave. $859,000.00
So. Coast Dr. to MacArthur Blvd.

Item 12 - Roadway Rehab. - So. Coast Dr. $475,363.10
Harbor Blvd. - Hyland Ave.

Item 13 - Roadway Rehab. - So. Coast Dr. $842,030.00
Carmel Dr. to San Leandro Ln.

Item 14 - Parkway Concrete Repair and $374,800.00
New Sidewalk Project

Sub-Total - Items 5 - 14....$6,686,443.46

Grand Total, all items.....$12,032,026.91

Now, before you get all hot and bothered, all these items seem to be important projects and do need to be authorized, but it makes this taxpayer swallow hard when I realize that, in one quick wave of their magic wand, the City Council will agree to the expenditure of $12 million of our hard earned dollars. This is especially interesting when you consider this same group haggles over pennies during the budget discussions.

BREAKING NEWS! COST OF GARCIA'S FOLLY IN LAGUNA BEACH REPORTED!
The Orange County Register, in it's Immigration Blog, reports this morning that the City of Laguna Beach spent $75,000 defending itself in the lawsuit by Minutechick Eileen Garcia challenging their day laborer center. Combine that with the thousands of dollars being spent by the City of Costa Mesa in the Benito Acosta trials because of our young jailer/mayor's actions almost two years ago and it sure looks like those Minutemobsters really like to spend our hard-earned tax dollars on their flights of fancy. I find that amusingly curious since both Eileen of Laguna and our mayor claim to be conservatives. I guess they are good students of Minuteman Grand Pooba, Jim Gilchrist, who reportedly has had some difficulty managing money himself.

That should give you something to chew on this weekend as you stay all warm and cozy inside trying to figure out what that wet stuff is that's falling from the sky while watching the Trojans and Bruins battle for a potential Rose Bowl bid.

The Mayor vs. The Truth

REPORTS FROM THE TRIAL
I did not attend any of the court sessions of the trial of Benito Acosta last week, but the information from news accounts and anecdotal reports from some who were there indicate there was some pretty interesting testimony provided - including some from our young jailer/mayor. Reporter Alicia Robinson provided an excellent capsulization in her article in the Daily Pilot today, here. She projects that the trial may continue through the middle of next week.

MANSOOR'S REBUTTAL
A very interesting sidebar is the mayor's reaction to earlier news coverage provided by the Daily Pilot, here. In fact, once at that link you will be able to scroll down to Mansoor's seven segment, nearly 500 word, rebuttal to the text in the article. Even more interesting is the fact that the mayor's version of events contradicts the actual video record, which is available for all to view by going to the city web site. Use this link, then select the record for January 3, 2006.

THE VIDEO RECORD
In question is exactly what happened when Jim Gilchrist, Mansoor's sponsor as an honorary member in the Minuteman Project, stood to speak. Gilchrist's segment begins at 00:07:13 on the streaming video counter and runs for more than his allotted 3 minutes. Fifteen seconds into his talk he points to his "5 or 6 dozen supporters" in the audience and asks them to stand to show their support. Although the mayor says he admonished them, this video record shows that he didn't. In fact, if you view the video you will see that he actually encouraged them to stand showing support for Gilchrist's view in lieu of speaking, too. More important, he encouraged "the other side" to do the same. Certainly, Benito Acosta's supporters would qualify as "the other side". The mayor has selective memory, which is very strange, since anyone can view the video and see the truth. Although it is possible, I cannot believe that he didn't view the record before testifying.

THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND...
So, once again, we have a fabrication instead of the truth. This whole thing about Acosta is a very big deal - especially for Acosta. He might be fined and/or jailed as a result of that evening's events. Of much greater concern for me is how it demonstrates the cavalier disregard for the truth on the part of the mayor. It's as though he thinks no one will bother to check the record. In fact, in his Daily Pilot blog tirade, he specifically indicates that's what we should do. He states, "We are at a point where people need to provide their own oversight and research to get the facts on issues."

PERJURY?
Well, when we do our own research we find that he has not been truthful. How are we to interpret his divergence from the facts in this matter? Is it possible that our young jailer/mayor perjured himself on the stand last week? I cannot imagine him doing that intentionally, but whether didn't tell the truth on purpose or due to ignorance, the effect is the same. Is it really possible for him to testify untruthfully on an issue so easy to verify? If so, one would think this could be big trouble for a sworn law enforcement officer.

WHO CAUSED THE CHAOS?
For a different, longer, view of Acosta's removal from the city council chambers the night of January 3, 2006, go to this link, which is a video posted on YouTube. This five minute clip not only shows Acosta being removed from the auditorium, but the subsequent demonstrations, as well. Near the end, those familiar with city politics will recognize among the demonstrators some staunch Mansoor supporters, trying to "sing down" the Acosta supporters. It certainly seems to me that there was fault on both sides that evening, regardless what precipitated it.

THE OTHER SHOE
Also of concern to me is the fact that, regardless the outcome of this criminal trial, Acosta apparently has filed a civil suit against the city. This reeks strongly of yet another pile of money to be lost by the boneheaded moves of our city council. I'm concerned that we will end up either settling that case out of court or losing a sizable judgment - money that could have been used for more public safety staff members and repairing our crumbling streets.

ANTICIPATING THE OUTCOME
So, as the week progresses, we will look for more information on this trial and contemplate how the outcome will affect the lives of Costa Mesans and the future of some of it's politicians.

COSTA MESA VS. COYOTL - FINALLY

COYOTL'S DAY IN COURT
Tomorrow, Tuesday, September 25, 2007, at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach, the trial of Benito Acosta - a self-professed native American who also uses the name Coyotl Tezcatlipoca - will finally stand trial on the charges filed against him following his expulsion from the Costa Mesa City Council meeting on January 3, 2006.

THE HISTORY
You may recall that Acosta was one of dozens of speakers before the council that night addressing both sides of the plan by Mayor Mansoor to cross-designate every Costa Mesa police officer as an immigration screener. When Acosta encouraged his supporters in the audience to stand and show their support Mansoor cut him off even though he still had 30 seconds left on his three minute allotment of time. Acosta was subsequently dragged from the council chambers by several Costa Mesa police officers and arrested.

MANSOOR'S DOUBLE STANDARD
I'm not sure how this is going to play out, but it certainly did appear that our young jailer/mayor applied a double standard that evening. For example, his sponsor as an honorary member of the Minuteman Project, founder Jim Gilchrist, spoke earlier and did exactly the same thing - he requested his "5 or 6 dozen supporters" to stand and be recognized. (The adjacent photograph shows Gilchrist motioning to his supporters in the audience) Mansoor did not demand that his supporters cease and desist. Quite the contrary, he encouraged Gilchrist to have them stand. And, Gilchrist was permitted to speak 20 seconds beyond his allotted time.

BREAKDOWN OF ORDER
I've watched the city tape of this event several times. I've also watched video from other sources, which showed the breakdown of order following Acosta's forcible removal from the council chambers, with members on both sides of the issue singing at the top of their lungs. It was not a pretty sight, although some of Mansoor's "improver" buddies can be heard chuckling in the background of one tape.

EVEN-HANDED JUSTICE?
It certainly appeared that Acosta was complying with the directions of the officers as he left the podium before then-Chief of Police John Hensley directed the officers to remove him. I don't know the law on this issue. I do know that I expect our leaders to apply the rules evenly - that didn't happen on the evening of January 3, 2006.

Gilchrist Twists In The Wind

As I read reporter Jennifer Delson's report on the current travails of Minuteman Project co-founder Jim Gilchrist entitled "A Minuteman meets his hour of crisis" published in the Los Angeles Times today I couldn't stifle the smile that formed on my face. The chronicle of the turmoil within that organization, including Gilchrist being fired by members of the board he had hand picked and he, in turn, trying to fire them, had me thinking that he deserved every bit of discomfort he gets.

You will recall that Gilchrist, failed congressional candidate and the self-annointed savior of our country, had embraced and supported our young jailer/mayor, Allan Mansoor, during his campaign for reelection. He made Mansoor an honorary Minuteman and his Minutechicks held a fundraising picnic for him. Gilchrist and his band of loopy minions demonstrated on the streets of Costa Mesa against illegal immigration and Gilchrist popped up in front of the City Council several times to praise Mansoor's "bravery" and "leadership". Many of his whacky, rabid entourage drove long distances from garden spots like Ontario and Bakersfield to bring their wisdom before the council and many of them wrote flowery letters of support of the mayor and his positions to local newspapers.

There's no doubt in my mind that Gilchrist and his flock had a positive impact on Mansoor's campaign. That, alone, is a reason to chuckle when he's in trouble. He deserves it.

I look forward to seeing how the issue of control of the Minuteman Project, and the alleged missing $750,000, gets resolved. In the meantime, I'll enjoy imagining Gilchrist twisting slowly in the wind.