Mayor Mansoor's Immigration Press Conference

THE MAYOR WAS LATE
As promised, I did attend Mayor Allan Mansoor's campaign event, er, press conference at City Hall this morning. It's taken me a little while to post this because I actually stayed for the entire event, including the one-on-one question and answer period with the press that followed his formal presentation. One wag in town, a guy who fancies himself a journalist, arrived late, stayed for about 10 minutes and then left early - burning rubber out of the parking lot so he could rush home and post a blog entry that said nothing. He apparently didn't want to be noticed because he came in disguise, not wearing his trademark black shirt for a change - maybe it was in the wash. But, he was seen in "his" seat - in the far, right, back corner of the auditorium.

SMALL TURNOUT
The meeting was sparsely attended. The working press outnumbered residents and other visitors about 2-1. Although I sat near the front so couldn't keep close track of the comings and goings, my occasional peeks over my shoulder revealed that, in addition to the brief stay by the guy normally in black, among those in the small audience were Councilwoman Katrina Foley, Planning Commissioner Steve Mensinger - both made brief appearances - and Benito Acosta, he of recent lawsuit fame. There were around 10 members of the working press - print, radio and television - and a couple of us bloggers, too. I think there might have been 25 people in the auditorium at the peak of attendance. It was a pretty skimpy turnout for an issue with, as we've seen in years past, the potential to generate heated passions.

LASTED ABOUT 45 MINUTES - WILL BE AVAILABLE ON VIDEO
Mansoor arrived late to the press conference, which was promised to begin "promptly" at 10:00. It did get started at around 10:15 and lasted about 45 minutes. CMTV taped the proceedings and I've been told that it will be available for viewing via streaming video at the city web site tomorrow morning. You can click on the "archived video" link on the city home page to locate it after 8:00 a.m.

WHY THE PRESS CONFERENCE?
So, what was this all about? I'll try to boil it down as much as possible. The mayor is concerned about illegal alien criminals in our city and wants to discuss new programs to address them.

FOUR ITEMS TO DISCUSS IN STUDY SESSION
Mansoor outlined four items he wants to pursue with the city staff and his peers on the council.

1- Requiring the use of E-Verify for all city contractors and the people they employ.

2 - Requiring the use of E-Verify for all businesses applying for a business license in our city to be sure that all businesses and their employees are legally able to work in our country.

3 - He "wants to have policy discussions regarding asking all who are taken into custody by the police during the normal course of their duties ask them not only their nation of origin but if they are here illegally as we have a legal right to ask that question and to notify ICE and document that this is followed up so that if they are released and commit another crime the city has at least done it's part to notify ICE." Did you follow that one? It was a direct quotation...

4 - "Have discussions toward a more clear policy on how we handle foreign nationals with a strong emphasis on proper pro-active training".

COSTA MESA NOT A "SANCTUARY CITY"
He went on to state that, "Costa Mesa is not a sanctuary and is, in fact, a "rule of law" city when it comes to upholding our immigration laws and I will ask the council to commit to make it official."

WHY NOW, MR. MAYOR?It seems our former deputy sheriff/mayor has conveniently chosen this time - a few weeks before the primary election in June - because "it's been on my mind a long time and it needs to be addressed". When the press pushed him about the timing he denied that the election had anything to do with it. When pushed further he admitted that all the turmoil in the city recently - the budget, fairgrounds purchase, ACLU lawsuit for day laborers, etc., caused him to delay presenting these issues for discussion.

I DON'T BELIEVE HIM
From my standpoint, I don't believe that for a minute. I think he is running for Assembly and is facing a strong opponent from the Vietnamese community in the primary early in June and possibly again in November so he needs an issue to hang his campaign on. As has been the case in the past, that issue is immigration, even though the resolution of immigration problems are the purview of the Federal Government, not cities. This is precisely what he did four years ago when he and Wendy Leece rode to victory on the backs of the Latino population of Costa Mesa.

MATRICULA CONSULAR AS VALID ID?
In response to a question from the media he brought up the issue of the validity of the Matricula Consular - the identification cards provided by foreign consulates to citizens of their countries. Here we're talking about Mexican citizens. This form of identification is controversial and Mansoor wants to have the city take a position on the validity or lack thereof of those instruments when "criminals" are stopped for traffic infractions and the like. He feels that anyone here legally should have a valid driver's license or passport or visa. He stated that anyone holding a Matricula Consular is probably here illegally and should be deported.

TOSSING STATISTICS LIKE POPCORN
Mansoor threw around statistics about the criminals deported by ICE in 2009 but he didn't provide anything to compare them to - if ICE had not been in the jail in Costa Mesa, for example. When the press challenged him on the issue of his promise that his ICE plan would be directed at "dangerous felons", when more than half those he's taking credit for were for lesser crimes, he dodged the issue.

MY QUESTION TO THE MAYORI did have a chance to ask Mansoor a question - the final one during the formal part of the program. I asked him, "Mr. Mayor, when you first proposed your ICE plan that issue polarized our community. This council chamber was packed meeting after meeting there were people from both sides of the issue yelling back and forth at each other. The arrest of Benito Acosta was probably the most incendiary moment. By bringing this up now are you anticipating similar kind of response from the community? Do you expect, when this is brought forward to the council for discussion in front of the public are you expecting a similar kind of reaction from the community and, if so, how do you plan to handle it?" His response was weak. He said, "I think it was unfortunate that people came to disrupt our council meeting. I want put forward calm dialogues, Mr. West, that's my goal. I think we should be responsible. I don't think we should shy away from these issues. So, it's my goal to have calm discussions on these issues. I think that's the responsible, appropriate way to handle that. I think it's wrong and irresponsible to not address these issues as well. We all know these are important concerns and, as elected officials, I think we need to address them." I thought it was nice that he addressed me by name - the only time he did all morning. :-)

HERE WE GO AGAIN!
Mayor Mansoor has ripped the scab off an issue that has festered in our city for five years. By bringing it up now he guarantees himself another term in the spotlight of national television as he makes a bid for Van Tran's 68th Assembly seat. He couldn't buy this kind of media coverage! As he spoke and answered questions I found myself thinking that this has a very familiar ring to it. If this process goes as it appears he wants it to - a request to place the issues on a study session agenda, then later to be considered by the council in open session - I can foresee more packed meetings with vocal proponents and opponents batting the issues back and forth in the same kind of atmosphere we saw in the past. Heck, we've already had Minuteman Jim Gilchrist post a comment on this site today and the ball is barely rolling! I fully expect to see Barbara Coe stumble into our council meeting in the near future.

CUDDLING UP TO THE CCIR TONIGHT
Speaking of which, tonight Mansoor will toddle off to a fund raiser hosted by that self-same Barbara Coe and her minions at the California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR) meeting at which his praises as the "savior of California" will almost certainly be sung. What's that old phrase, "You are known by the company you keep?" Well, somebody should have reminded Mansoor of that fact.

A LONG, HOT SUMMER AHEAD
I've got a feeling that it's going to be a long, long summer and that Mansoor's campaign is going to be something very interesting to watch. By proposing policies that will bring down the hammer on Costa Mesa Latinos he guarantees a busy time for the Costa Mesa Police Department until November.

Mansoor Embraces Extremists

MANSOOR ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL
While turmoil continues to swirl around Costa Mesa Councilman Eric Bever for his capricious decision to withdraw his support for the City's bid for the Orange County Fair and Events Center his (former?) pal and former Orange County Deputy Sheriff, Allan Mansoor, is on the campaign trail.


AN INTERESTING EVENT TOMORROW
My Google Alert system barfed up a little notification this morning that I thought I'd share with you. Seems Mayor Mansoor is guest of honor at a meeting of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR) tomorrow evening, Wednesday, April 28th. You can read the announcement in full HERE.

BARBARA COE AND THE CCIR
In case you don't know about the CCIR, it was founded by racist Barbara Coe more than 15 years ago. Coe, among other things, was an officer in Jim Gilchrist's Minuteman Project until they had a spat over who was running the show. You can read more about the CCIR HERE.

"MINUTEMAN MAYOR"
A few years ago, when Mansoor was being honored at another CCIR event, he was named an honorary member of the Minuteman Project. Since that time opponents of his plan to designate every single Costa Mesa police officer as an immigration screener began referring to him as "Minuteman Mayor" or "Minuteman Mansoor".

PANDERING TO EXTREMISTS
I point out Mansoor's participation at this meeting because I've recently heard some observers speculate that he might steer clear of the extremists who support him to broaden his appeal for his run for Van Tran's 68th Assembly seat this year. Obviously, that is not the case. Nope, he will continue to embrace those folks and, apparently, vice versa. He will continue to pander to the extremists among us to garner votes, just as he did when he rode the backs of Costa Mesa's immigrants to victory in his Costa Mesa council campaigns.

MANSOOR CAMPAIGN FINANCES SOON
As the campaign season moves forward we'll be addressing Mansoor in depth, including an assessment of his campaign contributors. We'll keep that for a future entry, but some of the numbers are very interesting and illuminating.

Acosta Trial Launched This Week

THE WHEELS OF JUSTICE MOVE SLOWLY
Well, I guess most of you know that the trial filed by Benito Acosta against Mayor Allan Mansoor and the City of Costa Mesa has finally launched this week, almost 4 years since the incident which resulted in Acosta being dragged from the City Council chambers and tossed in jail. You can read an account of recent events from the Daily Pilot HERE.

PAST CHIEFS TESTIFY
According to news reports, two former police chiefs, Dave Snowden and Jon Hensley, have testified in this case so far.

THE VIDEO IS CLEAR TO ME
I've watched the city feed of this event plus the video available on YouTube, below, several times. I watched the entire meeting that evening several times and have a pretty clear idea of what happened. Of course, others may view those events differently.

GILCHRIST GIVEN PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT
I saw Minuteman Jim Gilchrist stand before the council and, with the permission of Mansoor, use more than his alloted 3 minutes AND have his five dozen or so followers in the audience that night stand in a show of support for his views.

MANSOOR CUT HIM OFF EARLY
Thirty minutes later I saw Acosta take the speakers podium and speak in slow, measured tones and, about two minutes, twenty seconds into his time, ask those who agreed with him to stand to show their support - just as Gilchrist had done previously. At that point Mansoor tried to stop him, told him his time was over (even though there clearly was 30 seconds left) and subsequently called a recess. Watch the video and form your own opinion.

ACOSTA DID NOT MISBEHAVE THAT NIGHT
I know that tensions were high in the council chambers that night. At the previous meeting Acosta had behaved very badly, including cursing at Mansoor. That behavior was unacceptable, but it was nearly a month earlier. Until Acosta was dragged from the council chambers his behavior was not out of line, as you can clearly see in the video.

COULD BE COSTLY
It's going to be very interesting to see how this trial plays out. If the jury finds for Acosta it could cost our city a lot of money at a time when we cannot afford it. If it finds for the city and Mansoor it would de facto approve Mansoor's inequitable treatment of Acosta that evening.

MY PREFERENCE
In my perfect world the jury will hold for Acosta but award him a small amount of money. I understand from friends in the know that if that were the case the city would still be liable for his legal fees and court costs.

JUDGE CARTER TOUGH BUT FAIR
It's my understanding that the judge in this case, David O. Carter, is a tough, but fair, man who will be sure the law is followed. We can ask no more than that. Let's watch and see how this goes...

BENITO ACOSTA, JANUARY 3, 2006