Mansoor Panders & Later Shows His True Self

Well, last night's Costa Mesa City Council meeting was a real doozy! Sorry I'm tardy with this report. I began my day at the dentist's office and it went downhill from there...

SPECIAL OCFA MEETING TUESDAY
First, Gary Monahan informed audience that there will be a special joint meeting of the council and the Orange County Fairgrounds Authority again next Tuesday, August 24th at 5:30 p.m. at which the Ground Lease between the City and Facilities Management West would be presented and voted on. City Attorney Kim Barlow promised that the lease would be available for public review by the end of the day on Thursday, August 19th.


GROUND LEASE AVAILABLE THURSDAY
Former mayor Sandra Genis, President of the Orange County Fairgrounds Preservation Society, expressed concern that the public may not have enough time to sufficiently review the document before it's adopted, but it seems as though the lease will be available as quickly as is possible. Tuesday's meeting should be very interesting.

LEECE APPEALS TRIANGLE SQUARE LIGHTS - 9/7/10
Then Mayor Pro Tem Wendy Leece announced that she had appealed the lighting scheme for Triangle Square recently approved by the Planning Commission. That appeal will be heard at the first council meeting in September, on the 7th. Since that's the day following the Labor Day holiday weekend, we hope interested parties will come prepared with comments and factual data to refute the applicant's claim that there will be no spill-over into residential neighborhoods.

TARNISHED TONGUE
Later Paul Freeman - a man I've identified in the past as a "silver-tongued orator", apparently showed up with some tarnish on that silver tongue. He was unable to convince the council that a 4-5 story assisted living/dementia care facility planned by his client at the site of the old Glabman's Furniture store a good idea. Beleaguered residents of the neighborhood that immediately abuts the site showed up and spoke with passion against the project.

PANDERING MANSOOR IN RARE FORM
The most fun, though, was provided by Mayor Allan Mansoor, who demonstrated, from beginning to the end, that he is an unskilled politician who has developed pandering into an art form. First, he moved his proposal for a resolution naming June 19th each year as a day of remembrance for the Vietnamese soldiers who fought during the Vietnam War from the end of the meeting to the front of the line. Not only was he pandering with the resolution, but he expanded that pandering by not requiring the Vietnamese folks in the audience to wait in line for the issue to be addressed in turn.

KISSING VIETNAMESE FANNIES
He was at his most animated as he presented the resolution and was very deferential to those Vietnamese folks in attendance who spoke on the issue. I suspect he was less than happy that Phu Nguyen, his opponent in the 68th Assembly race, was in the audience and, according to reports in the Daily Pilot, wound up in photos with Mansoor and the Vietnamese freedom fighters. As soon as the resolution was passed he immediately called a 10 minute recess and practically sprinted from the dais to rub shoulders with the Vietnamese folks in the audience. He may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he knows he needs those votes in November.

FACING THE ENEMY AGAIN
Then, at the end of the meeting, his old nemesis, Dr. Humberto Caspa, rose to speak in favor of providing a fee waiver for a new soccer group in town that would provide organized soccer for Westside Costa Mesa kids. So called "Group 1 Users" traditionally have the fees waived because they provide recreation activities for a high percentage of Costa Mesa kids. This program would use school fields at three schools deep in the heart of the Westside, where mostly Latino kids go to school.

CASPA'S BOOK
I knew this issue was in trouble with Mansoor because Caspa's recent book just shredded him - correctly so. At the end Mansoor demonstrated for everyone in the audience and watching at home just why Caspa wrote the book.

CHILDISH PETULANCE
After much discussion, when it came time to vote on the issue, Mansoor didn't vote - he just sat there. After a long, pregnant pause, City Clerk Julie Folcik asked him if he had voted. He said "No". Here's the exchange:

Mansoor: Read the vote, please.

Folcik: Uh, did you vote?

Mansoor: No.

Foley: You didn't vote?

Mansoor: No.

Foley: You have to vote!

Mansoor: I do not!

Foley: You HAVE to vote!

Mansoor: I do not!

Foley: Ms. Barlow, doesn't he have to vote?

Mansoor: You've abstained from voting before.

Foley: Only if I have a conflict. You have to vote!

Mansoor: No, that's not true. You've abstained from the dais before.

Foley: Only if I have a conflict. There's never been.. Check the record. I have never abstained without a conflict.

Mansoor: Ms. Barlow..

Kim Barlow: Our code does require you to vote on any matters, unless you formally abstained.

Mansoor: OK, I'm abstaining.

Foley: Well, he can't abstain...

Mansoor: I can

Foley: On what grounds? On what grounds are you abstaining? You don't want to have a vote before the record? What grounds?

Mansoor: I've explained myself... sufficiently

Foley: Ms. Barlow, honestly, this is un.., this is not appropriate for him not to vote.

Barlow: Can I ask the council to go into a closed session. I need you to bring that item on the agenda to a closed session right now.

Foley: I would request a closed session

Mansoor: Alright. We'll go to closed session.

Barlow: I need a vote. I need a vote taken to go to closed session.

Foley: Well, but she can't close the board. She needs to record the vote that was taken.

Folcik: May I clear the board.

Barlow: She can close the board and we can re-take the vote after closed session.

Foley: But she needs to record for the minutes what happened here because otherwise it will not be reflected in the minutes.

Barlow: You can record that vote...

Foley: Can I have it read into the record, Ms. Folcik?

Folcik: That motion failed 2-2 with Council member Bever and Council member Monahan voting no and Mayor Mansoor abstaining.

Foley: Now we can clear the board for a motion to move into closed session.

Barlow: Clear the board, please. Is there a second? To the motion to have a closed session?

Leece: Second.

Bever: What are we having a closed session on?

Foley: Because it's important

Barlow: pending litigation...

Leece: Second

Mansoor: There's a motion and a second for a closed session. Call for the question.

Folcik: That motion carried 3-2 with Mayor Mansoor and Council member Monahan voting no.

MOTION CARRIED - BEVER VOTED NO
They adjourned to a closed session for about 10 - 15 minutes. When they returned Mansoor was absent. Monahan moved to approve the request which Foley seconded. It passed, 3-1, with Bever voting no and Mansoor absent.

MANSOOR A NO-SHOW
Foley asked why Mansoor was not there for the vote. Barlow said he "was unable to continue with the meeting". I had this vision of him pouting in a corner somewhere.

WHY?
I watched this train wreck and could find no reason for Mansoor to act so childishly, refusing to take a position on an issue that had been passed unanimously by the Parks & Recreation Commission EXCEPT that he just couldn't bring himself to vote in favor of ANYTHING that will provide ANY kind of benefit to the Latino children on the Westside. This soccer league was aimed directly at them.

MANSOOR PREJUDICE ON DISPLAY
This clearly demonstrates how Mansoor lets his deep-seated prejudice against the Latinos of our community interfere with exercising good judgment while managing our city. We've observed this behavior for a decade, even before he was elected to the City Council. While no surprise, it always rocks me back because he's so flagrant about it.

HOW WILL MINORITIES VIEW THIS MESS?
And now, I find myself wondering how the Vietnamese and Latino voters in the 68th Assembly district will take this show of prejudice. His bizarre behavior was the strangest of more than a few city council meetings I've observed in 10 years of paying attention. We certainly deserve better than this. You can watch the whole sordid display via streaming video HERE. Drag the scroll bar over to about 3:45:00 for all the fun.

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE
By the way, during the voting on the soccer issue Eric Bever reached around and pulled another stupid idea from some deep, dark place! He moved to deny the request for the fee waiver and, further, to yank all the fee waivers from all the Group 1 users! And who says we here in Costa Mesa don't have anything going for us. Heck, we not only have one village idiot, but two!

CANDIDATE FORUM TONIGHT
Tonight four of the five City Council candidates will debate important issues in the first forum of this campaign season. Festivities begin at 6:30 at the Mesa Verde United Methodist Church, 1701 Baker Street. See you there...

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All Mouth - No Ears

ALWAYS ON "SEND", NEVER ON "RECEIVE"
This morning in his daily rant in the CM Press, that yapping hyena, The Mouth From Mesa North, displayed for all who read his crap that he really doesn't care a whit what ANYONE else says or thinks.

NODDING OFF
As mentioned in my previous entry, at last night's brief Planning Commission meeting The Mouth must have dozed off in his seat in (appropriately) the far right rear corner of the room because he didn't jump up as usual when it was time for public comments. Instead, when he finally awoke from his stupor, he trundled on down to the speaker's podium and asked when they were going to hold public comments. What a schmuck!

FISLER ACQUIESCED
Fellow "improver",Vice Chair (for two more weeks) Jim Fisler, re-opened public comments so this bozo could rant about his view of what the city should be. Here's a hint - it should be more white. He also scolded new commissioner-in-absentia Steve Mensinger for not attending his very first meeting.

FOOT IN MOUTH
This morning in his pathetic blog he again scolds Mensinger for not being there and speculates where he might have been. If he had been paying attention last night he would have heard his buddy - fellow Mesa North neighbor and also-newby - Colin McCarthy tell the assembled throng that he'd spoken with Mensinger, who was out of the country on a vacation planned long before his appointment to the Planning Commission. As I said, The Mouth doesn't listen.

MISINFORMATION
This is typical of the kind of misinformation being foisted off on his readers and those members of the elected and appointed leadership who follow his lead on many items. The Mouth pretends to be a reporter because he played one (badly) in a truly terrible movie 35 years ago. Sadly for his readers, they don't know that he just makes up "facts" as he goes along.

YAPPING AND YAPPING AND YAPPING
The bias from the dais in his favor was evident last night when Fisler permitted him to go on and on - exceeding the 3 minute limit by nearly two minutes.

COFFEE WITH CASPA
On a happier note - one that is almost certain to make The Mouth apoplectic - I had a chance to visit with Humberto Caspa over coffee yesterday. Dr. Caspa has returned from his trip to his native Bolivia and will soon begin writing commentaries in local newspapers again. He's in the midst of researching a new project and will likely also be teaching at one of the local colleges, too.

RIGHT-WING TERRORISTS
You will recall that Caspa's book, "Terror in the Latino Barrio - The Rise of the New Right in Local Government", was published last year. It's a scathing indictment of the takeover of Costa Mesa government by right-wing factions who, according to Caspa, received their guidance from our old pal, The Mouth.

MAKING "THE MOUTH" SQUIRM
I suspect we'll see Dr. Caspa engaged in local issues once again. Did you hear that, Mouth? He's baaack!

Commissions Shuffled and The Author Returns

MIDNIGHT MANIPULATION
As I've said many times in the past, the Costa Mesa City Council shouldn't violate their rule about council meetings not going past midnight. That rule was implemented a few years ago because, almost invariably, decisions made after the witching hour turn out to be either hasty, ill-advised or both. And, parties interested in the agenda items that get stretched into the next day usually have gone home, depriving the council of their opinions, perspectives and passion. Last night was one of those nights, as the council decided to handle the final agenda item - the selection of commissioners - shortly after midnight. The meeting itself finished at 12:27, finally.

YOU WIN SOME...
As predicted HERE just before Christmas, the Costa Mesa City Council chose Colin McCarthy and Steve Mensinger from a long and impressive list of candidates for the two open slots on the Planning Commission.

POLITICS GUIDES THE CHOICES
There is no doubt that both men have solid credentials, but one gets the strong feeling that these two appointments had less to do with their qualifications than it did with their political orientation. McCarthy, a construction lawyer, is closely aligned with his very vocal Mesa North neighbor and seems to share some of his views if recent history is any indication. Mensinger will join his close business associate, Jim Righeimer, on the dais - something that will require some watching as the months move on. Both men are developers, which might normally be a good qualification. However, I'm more than a little uneasy with their business association - each runs a different arm of the same organization, the financially beleaguered Suncal Companies. On the positive side, considering the state of the economy, both Mensinger and Righeimer probably have plenty of time to spend visiting every site and do the homework necessary to perform these jobs well. We'll see...

HALL AND EGAN OUSTED
Even more disappointing is that, by making these selections, the council majority spit in the eyes of current incumbents Donn Hall and Eleanor Egan. Both Hall - a community activist for more than four decades, including a tour as mayor - and Egan have served this city for years and with distinction. Both have been active in "westside improvement" from the earliest days. It looks like the current council majority is more than willing to cast aside loyal compatriots for the sake of future political considerations.

...AND YOU LOSE SOME
I missed the call on the Parks and Recreation Commission. I had speculated that the council might select Rob Dickson, Jr. for one of the two positions. He was not even nominated. The council rejected nominations of athlete Brittany Koper and Eastsiders Marnie Primmer and Jeff Harlan and chose, instead, Jeff Mathews and Kim Pederson. Also not selected was incumbent Bob Graham and former commissioner Dave Stiller. Clearly, there is a "youth movement" afoot.

WHY THEM?
Kim Pederson is an employee of the City of Newport Beach, as is outgoing commissioner Mark Harris, and has a long history of involvement in Costa Mesa sports programs. Jeff Mathews seems to have no recreation or park management in his background, but does have strong academic credentials and what appears - on paper, at least - to be a solid management background. That will be a very welcome addition to the commission, which has been virtually leaderless in recent months. However, since I didn't really know much about Mathews, I decided to check a little further. It seems that he was Monahan's volunteer coordinator during the past election. And, both Bever - who nominated him - and Monahan - who seconded the nomination - received $1,000 campaign contributions from Mathews last summer. I guess we now know the cash value of a Parks and Recreation Commission seat.

MONAHAN'S BACK IN ACTION
With almost no one watching - at nearly 12:30 a.m. who would be? - Gary Monahan showed us that he's still a sneaky guy, willing to play fast and loose with the rules. At that late (early?) hour he asked the City Attorney if it was possible, at that time, to choose more candidates from this exceptional pool. One had the impression that he wanted to clean the slate and dump all the current commissioners and replace them with members from the group of applicants this time around. He was advised that he couldn't do that at this meeting because proper notice hadn't been made. One had the very clear impression that the days of the remaining three commissioners may be numbered - that the council may be asked to boot them all out and choose new folks very soon.

DON'T TURN YOUR BACKS...
Remember when I told you not to turn your back on these folks? This is precisely why... They will wait until almost no one is watching, then slip a "suggestion" into the works that has very significant impact on our city governance.



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HE'S COMING BAAACK!
Here's some news for you... Former Costa Mesa resident, college professor, newspaper columnist and author of "Terror in the Barrio - The Rise of the New Right in Local Government", Dr. Humberto Caspa, is returning from Bolivia soon! I announced his departure for his homeland the middle of last year, HERE. I'm sure that will make one resident, prominently featured in Dr. Caspa's book, very happy. I expect there will be a red carpet rolled out for Dr. Caspa in the north part of our city upon his return.

WILL CONTROVERSY FOLLOW?
Dr. Caspa was an extremely active and vocal advocate for the Latino population in Costa Mesa. His views were found to be controversial by some, particularly those pilloried in his book. I don't know what his plans are for the future, but I do know that his activism provoked discussion of important issues that, in all likelihood, may not have otherwise taken place.

CASPA BOLTS FOR BOLIVIA

photo courtesy of Daily Pilot

RETURNING HOME
One interesting piece of news to hit my desk recently is the departure this week of Humberto Caspa - college professor, activist, former Daily Pilot columnist and author of the controversial new book, "Terror in the Barrio: The Rise of the New Right in Local Government" - for his home country of Bolivia. According to Caspa, he's returning to his homeland for good, to make a new life for his family.

LEAVES CONTROVERSY IN HIS WAKE
Caspa, who had been the President of the Costa Mesa council of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), leaves in his wake no small amount of controversy. During the past few years he has been a frequent voice for the Latino community in Costa Mesa as he worked hard to chronicle the wrongs he perceived being suffered by that demographic group - a third of the population of Costa Mesa. His commentaries in the Daily Pilot evoked much emotion on both sides of the issues he addressed. His departure from that assignment was also clouded by controversy.

HIS BOOK ASSAILED
His book, which only recently reached wide release, received a very critical review from a source that surprised me - the OC Voice. Mainstays of that publication, John Earl and Scott Sink, took Caspa to task earlier this week for what they felt was a "flawed" job of presenting his views. Paraphrasing them, they felt he didn't support his opinions with enough facts. You can read that review for yourself HERE.

FREQUENT SPEAKER
Caspa was a frequent speaker before the Costa Mesa City Council, particularly following the arrest of Benito Acosta during a City Council meeting more than two years ago. His efforts to address and improve the plight of Latinos in our community were not without their admirers.

GRACIAS, AND ADIOS, HUMBERTO
We thank Humberto Caspa for his efforts and bid him a fond adieu. We hope he finds peace and fulfillment in his home country.