Mansoor Calls Press Conference On Immigration Tomorrow

HE'S GOING TO DISCUSS IMMIGRATION
Well, how's that for a bit of fortuitous timing? One minute past the close of business today, at 5:01 p.m., and not too long after I posted my last entry, I received a press release from the City of Costa Mesa announcing that Mayor Allan Mansoor has called a press conference at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, April 28th in the City Council Chambers to discuss immigration.

ARIZONA LAW A CAMPAIGN BOOST
In a campaign year when he's trying to take the big step to Sacramento, I guess the recent new law in Arizona has given him just the boost he needed to dredge up his favorite subject.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
According to the press release, Mansoor will provide an "overview the success of the City’s ICE program and outline additional proposals he will be bringing before the City Council for discussion and consideration." The press conference will be open to the public.

"ICE" SUCCESS AND NEW "OPPORTUNITIES"
Mansoor is quoted as saying, "I believe our City has set the example for communities nation-wide in terms of our commitment to support the upholding of immigration laws at the local level. The results of our efforts speak for themselves although there is much more that can and should be done. The purpose of this Press Conference is to highlight the successes, identify opportunities for more effective enforcement, and to highlight additional measures that I will be proposing to my fellow City Council members for further review and discussion."

BAD NEWS FOR LATINOS IN COSTA MESA
I expect there may be a packed house tomorrow because it seems he's going to thump himself on the chest about his "great accomplishments" with "his" ICE program. Of course, it really isn't the program he wanted - it's one he had to settle for. One never knows what he has up his sleeve, but when he tells us he's going to "identify opportunities for more effective enforcement" and that he will "highlight additional measures", you know this isn't going to be good news for the Latinos in our community.

A NEW COSTA MESA IMMIGRATION LAW?
I wouldn't be surprised if he will attempt to propose a new municipal ordinance along the lines of Arizona's state law that will permit Costa Mesa cops to stop anyone they choose to ask about their status in this country. Suffice it to say that we will make every attempt to attend this press conference to hear exactly what Mayor Mansoor has on his mind.

DOVETAILS NICELY WITH CCIR MEETING
And, of course, this dovetails nicely into his fund raiser at the California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR) meeting tomorrow night. Nobody ever said he wasn't an opportunist!

White Gangs, Aliens on Bikes and a Windbag

OOPS, THERE REALLY ARE WHITE GANGS IN COSTA MESA!
Despite what you hear from certain venues in the north side of our town, there really are white gangs in our town. One local blogger - an obnoxious windbag who does his literary pontificating from a cave in Mesa North - specifically ignores that fact during his many frequent rants about gangs in our city. I wonder why that is?

VICIOUS BUFFOONS
Daily Pilot reporter Joseph Serna wrote a fascinating story yesterday, HERE, in which he tells us about the arrest of three purported members of Public Enemy Number 1 (PEN1) following an unprovoked attack on a Latino man who was driving along Bristol Street. I'll let you read the story yourself - it's very amusing - particularly the part about how the woman in the trio was apprehended. Obviously, gangsters are not rocket scientists.

IGNORE THE LYING WINDBAG
The point here is that this is just one of many examples of the existence of predatory, vicious white gangs in our city, despite what the windbag says. You will recall that we've written a few times about the county-wide sweep a couple years ago that landed 20 White Supremacists at 17 locations in Costa Mesa. That sweep snagged nearly sixty White Supremacists county-wide. That a third of them were found in our city is very relevant.

MORE "DANGEROUS CRIMINALS" OFF THE STREETS
Further on the law enforcement front, Orange County Register reporter Niyaz Pirani, in his periodic police report, tells us that at 5:20 a.m. on Saturday, July 12th a 37-year-old gentleman named Gerardo Cardenas of Costa Mesa was arrested on suspicion of a traffic violation and riding without a bicycle headlight on Paularino Avenue and is currently being held on an ICE hold.

Looking further in the summary of crimes in Costa Mesa we found Mario Munoz-Tonix, 26, also of Costa Mesa, arrested at 8:40 a.m. on July 9th under suspicion of riding a bicycle without a license and is on an ICE hold.

We also found that 36 year-old Sergio Estrada Estrada was arrested at 10:20 a.m on July 11th on suspicion of riding a bicycle without a license and is currently on an ICE hold.

And, I'm sure we all recall the first "dangerous bike rider", the Sunday School teacher who was snatched up for riding his bike the wrong way on a residential street, taken to the jail and deported.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE "DANGEROUS ALIEN FELONS"?
You will recall the hoopla by then-mayor Allan Mansoor a couple years ago when he told us his ICE proposal was intended to remove dangerous alien felons from our streets. You may also recall that I told you at the time that his proposal was just a smoke screen to expunge brown skins from our city. Well?.....

DO YOU FEEL SAFER NOW?
Let me ask you... do you feel a whole lot safer tonight knowing that those dangerous bicycle riders, Cardenas, Estrada and Munoz-Tonix, are off the streets? Will you now be able to walk the streets safely with those men - who were likely riding the bikes to their jobs - incarcerated and awaiting deportation?

WHAT ARE THE CMPD'S MARCHING ORDERS NOW?
I find myself wondering just what the marching orders are that the good men and women of the Costa Mesa Police Department are working under that would prompt them to snatch up bicycle riders? And, are they looking at every bicycle being ridden through our city for licensing violations? Do they stop the kids on the way to Newport Harbor High School or Horace Ensign Middle School? I think we know the answer to that question.

POLICE STATE ESTABLISHED
As I predicted, the so-called "improver" majority - Mansoor, Bever and Leece - have permitted this city to become a de facto police state. They, through their actions, have polarized members of he Latino community in our city - egged on by the windbag mentioned above. I'm not proud of the course being followed in our city. I'm not proud that it's been turned into a bastion of intolerance.

***

PROFESSOR WINDBAG BELCHES
As I was about to publish this entry I notice that the windbag mentioned above has posted another rant on his blog. This time he's instructing the Daily Pilot on how to run their business. This "wisdom" was obviously gleaned from his wonderful experience playing - quite badly, by the way - an anonymous reporter in a mid-70s cult movie that sold five or six tickets and may be had for two bucks at Amazon.com.

SELF-SERVING HYPOCRITE
Scattered through his list of suggestions to the management of the Daily Pilot are a few that are quite obviously self-serving. He suggests, for example, that the editors accept "short, anonymous comments" on their articles. Ever since the Pilot began requiring registration this guy - apparently unwilling to be identified with his comments - lost a forum for his vicious, irrelevant mini-rants which he would post under many "pen names", sometimes on the same comment thread, in an attempt to fool readers into thinking his views were widely held.

WANTING IT BOTH WAYS
After embracing anonymity, in the next suggestion he turns around and complains about the Pilot linking to Community Blogs that are published anonymously. These, of course, have been very critical of him and his blog. He can't have it both ways...

DEMANDING "ICE" COVERAGE
And, in his last suggestion, he would require the Pilot to provide more ICE and immigration coverage - no surprise there.

OH, YEAH!
I'm sure the editors of the Daily Pilot will give his suggestions all the attention they deserve...

Post-Thanksgiving Musings

I'M BAAACK!
Ten days ago I left you with my Thanksgiving message - a tome of sad memories recalled and encouragement to be thankful for your blessings. I hope your holiday found you close to family and friends and that you did, indeed, take a moment to contemplate those things and people for which you are grateful - I did. As you can tell from my photo, I did what many of you probably did - ate too much. URP! Excuse me!

Returning from a little holiday vacation I found that not too much had changed, although there were a few noteworthy events to think about.

BEVER BUFFOONERY ABOUNDS
For starters, our municipal court jester, Mayor Pro Tem Eric Bever, displayed both petulance and bad judgment in one clumsy move. He apparently was so angry at the result of the now notorious Lion's Park/Fairview Park Skate Park issue - both were turned down as possibilities - that his hissy fit continued for two weeks. He had an item placed on the agenda to revisit the Lion's Park issue, then for some unknown reason, had the item withdrawn. I'd like to think he thought again about it and used good judgment, but I doubt that's the case. More likely is that someone pointed out to him that his reasoning was flawed and that he would only look more ridiculous if he persisted. In a perfect bit if timing, Daily Pilot columnist Jim DeBoom presented his annual Turkey of the Year award and reminded us that Bever had been a recipient not too long ago. Just as leopards don't change their spots, apparently turkeys don't change their feathers either. I really am looking forward to next year's council race when Bever is expected to run for re-election.

COSTA MESA GOING VERTICAL
At that same council meeting a renovation of an existing hotel was given the go-ahead. This move, combined with other planned developments, means that before too long the north part of our city will soon look like an asparagus patch, with residential towers in excess of 20 stories popping up like that vegetable over night. If memory serves, there will now be nine new towers in that location. Yikes!

MANSOOR DEFENDS ICE USING FAULTY MEMORY
Then, as I read my accumulated Orange County Register newspapers I found that our young jailer/mayor, Allan Mansoor, had penned a pathetic response to an earlier editorial regarding ICE accomplishments. In his missive he blathers on and on, trying to justify the actions he took two years ago that fractured Costa Mesa. At one point he asks, "The Register also said that 'those here illegally will be reluctant to report crimes or cooperate with investigators in criminal investigations.' Where is the evidence to support this claim?" Well, he conveniently forgets that three of the last four chiefs of police in Costa Mesa advised the council on that subject and each concluded the same thing - that the bridges of communication between the CMPD and the Latino community would be severely damaged by his proposal and that victims of crimes would be reluctant to come forward fearing deportation. I don't recall any position the current chief, Chris Shawkey, has taken on this issue. Of course, Mansoor doesn't care - he consistently ignores the advice of his senior law enforcement officials. One might think that he, an underachiever in his career, has issues with those in authority.

SARA HARRIS - SPEED + BOOZE + DRUGS = CRASH & DEATH
Also during our absence the blood tests for Sara Harris were announced. You will recall that Harris crashed her Audi in Mesa Verde as she played games with her boyfriend, dodging in and out of traffic. It turns out that her blood alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit and traces of marijuana were also found. As sad is this case is, with a young, vibrant woman killed through her own bad judgment, it could have been much, much worse. She and her irresponsible boyfriend could have taken others with them as they played games in heavy traffic on one our most crowded streets. There is nothing good in this situation, but perhaps her death can be used as a lesson for other young, careless drivers before they kill themselves and others.

MORE "DIRECTION" TO THE COUNCIL
And, finally, I returned to find a commentary in the Daily Pilot by a man who can be most generously described as an "influential activist" in Costa Mesa - a man about whom I've written much in the past, but nothing recently. He bemoaned the condition of several defunct businesses and/or homes throughout our city and demanded that the city council create an ordinance to prohibit such conditions. While I agree with him about the proliferation of such places - even a stopped clock is right twice a day - this is dangerous ground for the council. I urge them to use caution before they begin creating such draconian ordinances. The next thing you know they will be creating an ordinance to penalize your neighbor for not mowing his lawn every week.

MOVING FORWARD
So, off we go toward Christmas and then a new year.