Mensa Metamorphosis?

"YOUR NEIGHBOR" REDUX
You all know the high regard I have for our old buddy, "Your Neighbor" (The Mouth From Mesa North), or as he has referred to himself in the past, "Mr. U. Know-Who". I've written many, many times about him and his insidious influence on our city and his warped "if-it-ain't-white-it-ain't-right" philosophy.

THE BRAIN WHO ATE COSTA MESA
I've written that I thought he has a prodigious intellect, but that it's been wasted on his attempts to sway public opinion against those who are not white. I've acknowledged that he's one smart fella, ( He purports to be a member of Mensa, among other things) but that his views are twisted by his obvious racial bias. He and I seldom agree on much. In fact, back when our local newspaper of record, The Daily Pilot, was publishing his submissions they would occasionally publish our separate views juxtaposed on the same page. That was fun.

SPEWING VENOM
Our old pal continues to stand before our city council and other public bodies and spew his venom about whatever his cause du jour happens to be. And, it appears, he does continue to influence a few folks around town, including some elected and appointed officials. It's sad..

METAMORPHOSIS
Lately our pal seems to be undergoing a metamorphosis. You know that word, right? One definition of that word is, "A change in an animal as it grows, particularly a radical change, such as the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly." In my view, though, this metamorphosis is more likely to result in a cockroach than a butterfly.

SHIFTING GEARS
Our old buddy seems to be shifting gears these days. His pathetic blog, the CM Press, has become a kind of Drudge Report wannabe - an aggregator of "news". Except our buddy has chosen to insert radical racial articles that support his warped view of the world into his aggregations. Rather than focus on local news he's taken to trying to solve the world's problems as a blog poster.

"OUR WAY FOR OURSELVES ALONE"
Even more interesting is a site I discovered that he's been authoring for many months. Here's a link to it. Before you go visit this site, understand that it appears to be a "work in progress" - well over 40,000 words so far, and counting! I visit it every now and then and it seems to be in a constant state of flux. My take on this lengthy bit of propaganda is that our pal has finally gone off the deep end and now actually believes he's a deity! Yep, God, himself!

NOT THE "GOD" YOU HOPED FOR
Of course, that explains a lot of what he writes and says. Except, he's not the benevolent "God" one hopes for - he's an impatient deity, who suffers no fools. That must make it tough for him, because he apparently views every other human being to be inferior to him. As he stands before the city council, for example, he will frequently refer to them using such terms as "stupid", and other terms of endearment.

WHY WRITE ABOUT HIM?
So why, Potstirrer, do you write about this guy? Glad you asked. Under most circumstances I would simply ignore his perverted pontifications. I wouldn't give a hoot that David Duke, former head of the KKK, thinks he's a great writer - which he does, according to his web site. I wouldn't care about the hundreds of essays he's had published online on sites like the New Nation News web site, HERE, and many others over the past decade. I wouldn't give a second thought to the fact that the Southern Poverty Law Center considers him a dangerous fellow and has developed a sizable file on him and his writings. After all, he's just one pathetic, misguided guy, wasting his prodigious intellect trying to spread hate in the world.

HIS INTIMIDATING INFLUENCE IS SIGNIFICANT
Except - and that's a BIG EXCEPT - his vile pronunciations contaminates my city. When he growls like an angry gorilla before our city council about issues using all his skills developed as an actor - which are not much, believe me - he does influence decisions made by our leaders. When he was appointed by his sycophants on the council to the powerful 3R Committee he was able to manipulate the process used to distribute government funds to charities in our city to the detriment of those that serve our large Latino population.

PAULARINO PARK
When he decided that he didn't want hard-working Latino men kicking a soccer ball around a neighborhood park near his home he raised the specter of children being injured by errant balls, adult men defecating in the bushes, etc. Sure enough, even there was no evidence that this was happening, he frightened enough people that he successfully had the park turned into a passive park - where no one can actually go to engage in active recreation. If you want to go sit and watch grass grow, Paularino Park is the place for you.

ORANGE COAST COLLEGE SWAP MEET
Several years ago he was almost successful in his move to abolish the Orange Coast College Swap Meet - a weekend venue of low-end commerce frequented by many of our Latino neighbors. He painted a picture of invading hoards of terrible Santa Ana residents, driving on our streets and wearing them out. It almost worked until wiser minds prevailed and his move, championed on the city council by then-rookie councilman Allan Mansoor, went down in flames.

AZTEC BASKETBALL LEAGUE
More recently his bleating before the Parks and Recreation Commission about a contract with the Santa Ana-based Aztec Basketball League in which he painted a similar picture for them of gang-bangers and ex-cons invading our Downtown area every Sunday, terrorizing our women and children caused the commission to turn to stone when it came time to vote on the contract. Only after much community outcry did the commission re-hear the issue and the contract was approved. That only happened after the issue was passed upstream to the City Council and Mansoor required the owner of the league to change the name of his business to eliminate the offensive "Aztec" reference. Such is his influence over some of our weak-minded leaders.

THE REASONS FOR HIS HATE?
Those are just a few of the reasons I've written this little essay. I could write about many, many more - and may do so one day. I don't know why "Your Neighbor" has such a strong, deeply-rooted hatred for people of color, but his actions clearly tell us he does. Perhaps he or a member of his family has had a bad experience with a member of a minority group and that has caused him to spew his hatred for so many years. Perhaps he views Costa Mesa as a place where insufficient intellectual horsepower is found in our elected leaders, which makes it easy for him to sew his seeds of intolerance. Maybe it's all of the above and more.

STAND UP TO HIM!
Whatever the reasons for his actions, it is my opinion that his ongoing presence in municipal matters is an insidious influence on our city. It does not serve the residents of our city well. I can only hope that the current council - at least a majority on the council - will finally have the intestinal fortitude to stand up to this bully, and that future elected leaders will do the same.

Hensley's Comments Highlight Mansoor's Faults

SERNA'S REPORT WORTH READING
Daily Pilot crime reporter Joseph Serna has a very informative article in that newspaper Thursday entitled, "Report: Chief against ICE". You can read it HERE and I encourage you to do so.

HENSLEY IGNORED BY MANSOOR AND BEVER
In it Serna quotes former Costa Mesa Police Chief John Hensley, testifying under oath, admit that not only did he not support then-Mayor Allan Mansoor's plan to cross-designate every Costa Mesa police officer as immigration screeners, but that he told Mansoor and Eric Bever as much at the time. According to Serna's report, "most if not everyone in the department opposed the idea with Hensley taking the argument to Mansoor and Bever." According to Serna's quote of Hensley, Mansoor and Bever "respectfully disagreed".

NOT THE ONLY TIME
This admission comes as no surprise to those of us who were paying attention to those events at the time. This was not the only time the Mansoor-led majority ignored the wise counsel of their top law enforcement officers on important issues in this city. This disregard for the best professional advice available to them demonstrates an arrogance that certainly does not serve this city well.

MANSOOR'S POOR JUDGMENT
Mansoor, a sworn law enforcement officer with now some 15 years as a Deputy Sheriff, not only ignores the guidance we pay for in our chiefs of police, but he also exercises exceptionally poor judgment as he carries out his duties for our city - as witnessed by his biased application of the rules in the Benito Acosta case - which may end up costing the city a pile of money once the civil trial is resolved.

"RRIP"PING OFF THE TAX PAYERS
Another perfect example of this arrogance is the current plan to implement the fee waiver plan for the Residential Remodeling Incentive Program (RRIP) and the Build Green Incentive Program (BGIP). As anyone able to suck in a breath in this city knows, the State of California is still juggling it's budget woes - nearly 80 days since it was due. As part of this juggling, the current proposal will require our city, through it's Redevelopment Agency, to fork over some major cash. Additionally, it was reported recently that Costa Mesa will also have to do without more than $300,000 in state funds earmarked for street improvements already planned.

POOR FISCAL MANAGEMENT DEMONSTRATED
At this time of extreme municipal fiscal distress, it shows terribly bad judgment to waive fees for these two programs now. Yes, three previous years RRIP programs have been successful - if you measure success by the amount of residential improvements accomplished - some $36 million. However, during that same time the city coffers were deprived of well over $1 million in fee revenue. It is not unlikely that implementation of the RRIP and BGIP this fall will cost the city something in the area of $500,000 in revenue - at a time when every single penny counts.

CONSIDER JUDGMENT WHEN VOTING
When voters begin to seriously consider how they will mark their ballots on November 4th, among the things to consider is the judgment demonstrated by incumbents. Fortunately, we do have a record of their performance to go by when we make these very important choices.

Mansoor and The Three Amigos

IRONIC JUXTAPOSITIONING
In an amazing twist of irony, Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Allan Mansoor's commentary in the Daily Pilot on September 11, 2008, "Three candidates will continue changes", HERE, appears in the same edition as the article by Joseph Serna entitled, "Costa Mesa loses appeal in Acosta case", HERE.

LEGAL GAFFE AFFIRMED
According to Serna, the Orange County Appellate Court upheld the lower courts decision to dismiss the criminal charges against Benito Acosta because the prosecutor from Jones & Mayer had not been sworn in as a public prosecutor - an oversight that turned out to be a major gaffe.

PUNITIVE CHARGES
Acosta was charged with the crimes involved only after he filed a civil action against the city for the events that occurred January 3, 2006, when he was dragged bodily from the courtroom by members of the Costa Mesa Police Department after he protested then-Mayor Mansoor's decision to forbid his friends from standing to show their support for Acosta after having given Minuteman Grand Pooba Jim Gilchrist permission to do that very thing earlier.

MANSOOR'S TO BLAME
I'm not happy that the city had to spend precious resources on this whole Acosta affair - the civil trial is still pending - and lay the blame directly at the feet of Allan Mansoor for his decision to attempt to cross-designate every Costa Mesa police officer as an immigration screener. That move turned this city upside down and pitted Mansoor's supporters, including Gilchrist and other outside agitators, against the Latino population - roughly one-third of our residents. It also made Mansoor the poster boy for the anti-immigrant movement in this country and even got him anointed as an honorary Minuteman by Gilchrist and his mob. That notoriety made Costa Mesa look to outsiders like a teeming cesspool of illegal immigrants - not the kind of image one expects the mayor of your city to project to others.

LATINOS WALK IN FEAR
Today this is a very different city than it was just three years ago. Because of Mansoor and his ilk, Latinos in our community walk the streets of this city in fear. Today we have men riding to work being stopped by the CMPD for riding an unlicensed bicycle and, if unable to provide identification, are hauled off to the jail and screened by the ICE representative for deportation. Three years ago this kind of stop was unheard of.

THE THREE AMIGOS
Now Mansoor, in his commentary, touts his three buddies in the city council race, Jim Righeimer, Eric Bever and Gary Monahan, as men who will "continue the change". Just what we need - more anti-immigrant moves fostered by the radical right!

CARPETBAGGER RIGGY
Righeimer - a smart and very politically connected fella - moved to Costa Mesa at the beginning of Mansoor's re-election campaign just over two years ago and was given a plum assignment on the Planning Commission by Mansoor after residing in our city for seven months as pure political payback for the support Righeimer's buddy, Congressman Dana Rohrabacker, gave to Mansoor and Leece during their campaigns. Righeimer is Rohrabacker's campaign manager this year.

ARROGANT BEVER
Mansoor stepped aside as mayor early so his buddy, Bever, could assume that high-profile position to facilitate his re-election campaign. During Bever's tenure he has demonstrated that he's not big enough for the job many times over, including some precarious dances with Brown Act violations.

RE-TREAD MONAHAN
Monahan, to his credit, headed off Mansoor's original immigration screening debacle, but later supported his moves that have gotten us into this fix now. He and the Latino demonstrators have gone toe-to-toe at Monahan's restaurant not too long ago. If his bored, lack-luster performance at the first candidate forum is any indication, Monahan is simply trying to shove his way back to the municipal trough. His responses at the forum were half-hearted at best and more than a few of them showed that he was focused on two-year-old issues, not the current problems the city faces.

DENIGRATING THE OPPOSITION
In his commentary Mansoor goes on to denigrate councilwomen Katrina Foley and Linda Dixon - the two highest vote-getters in the election four years ago who the Mansoor-majority literally shoved aside on the dais by juggling the seating arrangement to put them completely out of the picture when issues are discussed. Dixon, of course, has chosen not to run again this year. Foley, though, is running to retain her seat and certainly poses a great threat to Mansoor's pals in this election.

SLAMMING THE NEWBIES
Mansoor also chose to disparage candidates Bill Sneen and Lisa Reedy. Mansoor must think Sneen - a business leader with strong community service credentials who has been working hard since filing his papers to get up to speed on the important issues facing us all - presents a threat to the stranglehold he plans to impose on our municipal government by getting his three amigos elected to join him and Wendy Leece to form a de facto junta.

Similarly, he mis-characterizes the position Lisa Reedy holds on important issues. Reedy, president of the Mesa Del Mar homeowners association, has long been a community activist and has exceptional business and leadership skills. Again, these are threats to his favored troika on the ballot.

DIRTY TRICKS A WAY OF LIFE
As the election season now swings into high gear you can expect Mansoor and his cronies to attempt to discredit any and all candidates by hook or crook - just as they did two years ago with Bruce Garlich and Mike Scheafer.

WHAT'S IN IT FOR MANSOOR?
Each voter should ask themselves what Mansoor has to gain with his commentary. His term expires in two years, at which time his buddies in the OC GOP hierarchy may have big plans for him - something that might pry him out of his cushy job in the Orange County Jail.



FORMING A JUNTA
If Mansoor and his pals are successful in achieving a 4 (or 5) person majority on the council they will have absolute control of the city. It won't be a council, it will be a junta. With four members in it's pocket will have a super-majority - the votes necessary to cast aside previously appointed commissioners, for example, and fill those slots with cronies.

VOTERS BEWARE!
The voters of our city deserve to have a city not controlled by the Orange County Republican Party, as will certainly be the case if any of Mansoor's pals are elected, much less all of them. The voters of this city owe it to themselves to make an informed choice when they step into the voting booth on November 4th.

DAILY PILOT?
I submitted a nearly identical commentary to the Daily Pilot the night I read Mansoor's, but I doubt it will see print. It's too long and too true...

Mansoor and Leece Jump the Gun - Name Choices

PREDICTABLE NEWS
This morning, in their online version, HERE, the Daily Pilot reports that Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Allan Mansoor and his campaign barnacle two years ago, council woman Wendy Leece, have announced their choices for the three contested seats in the November election.

NO SURPRISES
To no one's surprise, they didn't choose Katrina Foley as one of their favorites. They did choose Mayor Eric Bever, former Mayor Gary Monahan and the carpet-bagger, Jim Righeimer.

JUMPING THE GUN
Of even greater interest is the fact that they chose to make this announcement before the filing period has officially closed. Because Linda Dixon chose to "leave her seat open" ( a very unfortunate bit of headline writing on the part of the Daily Pilot), the filing deadline was extended until Wednesday at 5 p.m. It is still quite possible for other interested parties to pull papers, acquire the required signatures, fill out the forms and return them.

SUPPORTING HIS BUDDY
It was a given that Mansoor and Leece support Bever for re-election. Mansoor stepped aside so Bever could become mayor during this re-election year, providing him with a more visible platform from which to display his limited stand-up routine.

NO ROOM AT THE TROUGH FOR MONAHAN
I'm also not surprised that they will support Monahan's quest for yet another turn at the trough. In the last couple years of his last and hopefully final term he shifted gears and joined Mansoor and Bever to form an unsavory majority. Gary has demonstrated more than once that he's in it for himself first, most recently when he proposed that the city directly elect the position of mayor. We assume he saw himself akin to Idi Amin Dada - Mayor For Life. Re-electing Monahan would not be in the best interests of the people of Costa Mesa although it would certainly enhance his pension and benefit package. You will recall that he's the only council member to ever qualify for a pension.

THE CARPETBAGGING OPPORTUNIST
And then there's Riggy... This one was a slam dunk for Mansoor and Leece. Two years ago Congressman Dana Rhorabacher and OC GOP honcho Scott Baugh provided tons of support for Mansoor's candidacy and he dragged Leece along for the ride. She ran virtually no stand-alone campaign of her own. Mansoor began the payback process when he appointed Righeimer - who had lived in Costa Mesa only a few months - to the Planning Commission, rejecting long-time "improver" foot soldier Paul Bunney three times. Supporting Righeimer - Rhorabacher's re-election campaign chairman, by the way - for a council seat is just more payback for the support that got them into office.

EMINENT DOMAIN GUARANTEED
Electing Bever, Monahan and Righeimer to the council along with incumbents Mansoor and Leece would be disastrous for our city. There would be no divergent viewpoints on the dais - no way to keep them honest. I firmly believe that, before Mansoor and Leece's terms expire in 2010, we would see eminent domain imposed to grease the skids of redevelopment on the Westside, despite the fact that Mansoor has adamantly proclaimed he was against it many times. No, an absolute majority of "improvers" would turn our city into one governed by a virtual junta and guided, at least in part, by the ravings of a White Supremacist cave-dweller from the north part of town.

FIRST CANDIDATE FORUM NEXT WEEK
On that happy note, I will remind you that the first of what is expected to be several candidate forums is scheduled to occur next week. Mesa Verde Community, Inc., the Mesa Verde Homeowner's Association, will again host what has historically been the first and best of the forums on Thursday, August 21st at the Neighborhood Community Center at Lions Park near the library. The event begins at 6:00 with a brief "meet and greet" opportunity, with the formal program beginning at 7:00. This will be your first chance to meet with the candidates and to see them as they present their platforms for your consideration. Unlike Mansoor and Leece, I'm eager to hear what ALL the candidates have to say before anointing any of them. As they say, be there or be square.

No "TOT" Increase - Elections Cloud Judgment

GUTLESS "RECEIVE AND FILE"
Tuesday night the Costa Mesa City Council voted unanimously to simply "receive and file" Linda Dixon's request and accompanying staff report requesting that an increase in the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) be placed on the November ballot. That means no further action will be taken on this subject this time around - again. That motion was made by Allan Mansoor and seconded by Eric Bever.

BYRON NAILS IT - AGAIN
Byron de Arakal, in his column today on this subject, really nailed it. You can read it HERE.


BRIEF RE-HASH
I won't go into the details of this issue - I covered it in my previous entry and many people chose to provide their comments on it - except to observe that the staff presentation was a shorthand version of the discussion held at the Study Session last week. I doubt that audience members not previously privy to the details of this subject would have understood what this was all about from tonight's presentation.

THE MAJORITY IGNORES THE PROFESSIONALS - AGAIN
Once again, the majority on the City Council have chosen to ignore the wise counsel of their senior city staff, including City Manager Allan Roeder and Finance Director Marc Puckett, on an issue that will have a long-term impact on the future of our city. Roeder and Puckett and their staffs have, for decades, effectively played a shell game with the city's finances, using the Fund Balance from the previous year's budget to balance the new one. Don't get me wrong - that's not a criticism, it's a statement of admiration. It's hard for me to imagine a municipal budget being more effectively managed.

DECLINING REVENUES REQUIRE ACTION
However, with the decline in sales tax revenue and the uncertainty of the property tax revenue stream because of the current worsening loan crisis, it is clear from all indicators that those two segments of our municipal revenue stream will fall well short of their budgeted levels. The two segments combined make up 70% of our municipal revenue stream.

TOT INCREASE WOULD HAVE EASED THE IMPACT
The proposal by Dixon, which was heartily supported by Roeder and his staff, to place before the voters a modest increase in the TOT in November would have - if approved - dovetailed nicely in the spring with the anticipated decline in revenues. The TOT is a tax felt only by visitors to our city and ours is currently the lowest in the county.

POLITICS FIRST
When it was clear that the Bever-led majority was not about to approve placing a TOT increase on the ballot, nor were they interested in tinkering with the business license fees, Katrina Foley and Dixon voted with the majority to blow off this plan. It is an election year, after all... I find it very curious that the city council had such low regard for the opinions of the voters that they wouldn't trust them to make a wise decision on this tax increase in November, so they just refused to place the question before them.

CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST IN THE SPRING
Next spring, as the city begins preparing it's next budget, the chickens will come home to roost. It will be very interesting to see what kind of a waltz our elected leaders do to shrug off the responsibility for the difficult financial times ahead. I'll remind you of their vote tonight when the time is appropriate. As Allan Roeder reminded the council tonight, when revenues fail to materialize it won't be a matter of simply tightening the municipal belt - that's the way he and the staff run our city in the normal course of doing business. No, it will mean deciding which services and improvements will not get done. When unfilled potholes begin occurring on your street, remember this vote.

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...

Election, Predictability, Cows, Budgets, Heart and Gas Attacks

ELECTION? WHAT ELECTION?
Well, in case you hadn't noticed, yesterday there was an election in these parts. I say it that way because, according to the the final returns today by the Orange County Registrar of Voters, of the 1,566,951 registered voters in this county only 274,541 (17.5%) chose to exercise that precious opportunity and of those 172,525 (62.8%) chose to vote by mail. The remainder of you just blew off this election.

SO WHAT?!
"So what?", you say. "The Presidential Primary was held months ago, so what's the big deal?"

WHY YOU SHOULD HAVE VOTED
Well, for one thing, this election gave you a chance to express your views on Propositions 98 and 99, which took separate stabs at what I've referred to in the past as the sledgehammer of eminent domain. According to recent news reports, it looks like Prop. 98 was crushed and Prop. 99 will probably carry. If you didn't vote I don't care what your opinion was on these measures. In Orange County it looks like Prop. 98 carried by a thin 3,000 vote margin, while Prop. 99 held a greater than 30,000 vote margin affirmatively.

ANOTHER JOB FOR MANSOOR
If you didn't vote you missed the chance to have a say in which judges will be seated. If you didn't vote you missed the chance to be one of the 7,489 votes cast for Allan Mansoor for a seat on the Republican Central Committee. You Democrats should be giggling - and we Republicans should be shuddering - at the specter of Mansoor having a voice at the table deciding the future of the Orange County Republican Party. Who would have thought that he could ride this far on the backs of brown-skinned immigrants?

A "DON'T BLINK" COUNCIL MEETING
Last night's Costa Mesa City Council meeting was almost over before it began. About a third of the meeting was spent on proclamations and presentations - all well-deserved. They had to do a tap dance for a few minutes, stalling until the magic hour of 7:00 arrived so they could begin with public hearings. The whole thing lasted about 90 minutes.

MESA NORTH WHINER WAS PREDICTABLE
As predicted, one local guy stood before the council and yapped about what a bad idea it would be to place one of the new red-light cameras at the intersection of Harbor and Baker. Apparently he makes several runs each day through that intersection - I wonder how many times he blows the light? - and thought it would be unsafe for there to be a red-light camera placed in that location. Well, my friend, what's good for the goose.... What a cry-baby! I was pleased to see that the council ignored him on that issue.

MANSOOR ALSO PREDICTABLE
Curiously, in yet another example of him ignoring the recommendations of senior law enforcement staff, Mayor Pro Tem Mansoor voted against the motion to place the new cameras. I guess he might have been distracted about the election and the possibility of winning the seat on the Central Committee.

WORRIED ABOUT HIS "DAY JOB"?
Or, maybe, he was worried about his future with the Orange County Sheriff's Department. News earlier in the day told us that the Board of Supervisors had just distilled the candidates for our new Sheriff down to two candidates - Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters and retired Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Division Chief Sandra Hutchens. Both these candidates know that the situation with the Orange County Jails is a nightmare and needs prompt, decisive action. Mansoor and his brother have been growing mold in their jobs as jailers for several years. I suspect Mansoor is worried about actually having to go out into the field and, for the first time in his 14+ year career, actually be a law enforcement officer.

MORE MOO COWS COMIN' THIS YEAR!
On the positive side, we found out that we will be having another cattle drive in conjunction with this year's Orange County Fair. The route was announced - it's the same one as last year.

BUDGET WORKSHOPS NEXT WEEK
Just a reminder, next week the City Council will hear the presentation of the new city budget at their study session on Tuesday, June 10th at 4:30 in Conference Room 1A. Public attendance and comment is invited. Later that week, on Thursday, June 12th at 6:00 a public budget workshop will be held in the same venue, but without the attendance of the council. I've attended these presentations for the past several years - I've been among the two or three of us who did so. It's a great way to get some understanding about how "your" money is being managed. In years past the excellent city staff - they've got a whole trophy case full of awards for their budget presentations in past years - has patiently gone through their presentation and, because of the small size of the group, answered any and all questions. We really do have a chance to influence the budget process in this workshop - the final budget will be voted on during the City Council meeting on Tuesday, June 17th. Put the workshop on your calendar. I'll remind you again next week.

THIS JUST IN! PUBLIC ACCESS DEFIBRILLATION PROGRAM
In case you don't subscribe to the Press Releases from the City of Costa Mesa, here's a link to one that just came in over the transom regarding the city's new Public Access Defibrillation Program. I won't re-state the information - it's clearly presented if read the release, HERE.

THIS JUST IN! (PART 2) EL CAMINO CENTER DEMOLITION HALTED!
The Daily Pilot online is reporting this afternoon that the much-delayed demolition at El Camino Center in Mesa Del Mar was halted today when a demolition worker punctured a natural gas line. Several neighboring homes were evacuated for fear of an explosion. Geez, will we ever get that place leveled?! Check the Daily Pilot for updates.

RIGGY'S WRONG - AGAIN

RIGGY'S TAKE ON THE SHERIFF JOB
In his Daily Pilot column May 24th, "Martin has advantage of sheriff", HERE, Orange County Republican activist and carpetbagging Costa Mesa Planning Commissioner Jim Righeimer presents us with his views on the selection process for the position of Sheriff-Coroner of Orange County. As I type this the Board of Supervisors is going through an exhaustive interview process today with the final nine candidates - eight men and one woman - who made it through the initial cuts from the original 48 people who tossed their hats in the ring. They are now in the midst of a dinner break and will interview the final two candidates this evening.

PEGGY LOWE ON THE BALL
Peggy Lowe, co-blogger at the Orange County Register's Total Buzz blog has been doing a masterful job of covering the interviews and providing an almost real-time report on the blog. You can read it HERE.

POSERS LONG GONE
Long gone are such luminaries as the electrician from Garden Grove, the police chief from Duck, North Carolina and the Executive Director of INTERPOL. Also not making the final cut is Orange County Deputy Sheriff Erik Mansoor, brother of our Mayor Pro Tem, Allan Mansoor. I'm curious why he thought he could make the jump from jailer to sheriff. Another example of that "Mansoor judgment" in action, I guess. Eclectic doesn't even begin to describe the group from which our next Sheriff will have been chosen.

POLITICS VS. COMPETENCE?
In his column Riggy makes some good points as he sorts the final candidates for us, distilling them down to a Final Four - apparently an homage to the recently completed college basketball season. Primary in his reasoning for his ultimate selection is that the person chosen by the supervisors to replace the disgraced and indicted Mike Carona must be able to be elected in 2010. He tells us that, in a contest between his final two, Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters and Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Commander Ralph Martin, the nod goes to Martin because he has been a lifelong Republican and Walters has shown some ambivalence about his party affiliation in recent years. As Riggy says, "This is an elected position, and politics matters. The supervisors do not want to have a sheriff with political trouble in two years. Therefore, in handicapping this pick, the advantage goes to Ralph Martin."

I'M TICKED-OFF
I'm trying to decide whether I'm angry at the system that creates this dilemma or at Righeimer for so clearly demonstrating why it's a problem, or both. I don't necessarily think it's bad that Walters, for example, has shown displeasure with his affiliation with the Republican Party. Who could blame him - except those in charge of the party itself.

SHERIFF'S BEHOLDEN TO US, NOT THEM
The position of Sheriff-Coroner of our county is an elected position so the holder of that office will not be under the thumb of the Board of Supervisors - he will be beholden only to the voters of this county. I'm comfortable with that arrangement. However, in this situation, Riggy would have the supervisors select a person who passes muster with the hacks that currently control the Orange County Republican Party. He conveniently neglects to mention that Carona was one of "their guys", too.

SUPERVISORS SHOULD PICK THE BEST COP
In my view, the Board of Supervisors has a unique opportunity before them next week - one that transcends "politics as usual". From the remaining pool of candidates they may be able to select a person with impeccable credentials in law enforcement leadership - a person with a background of exemplary performance leading large law enforcement organizations - the kind of person with the command presence and leadership needed to rebuild the morale and reputation of our Sheriff's Department. And, they can do this without worrying about an election more than two years away.

LEADERSHIP, NOT A LACKEY, NEEDED
The new sheriff will have more than 24 months to demonstrate that he or she is the right person for the job. Just as interim sheriff Jack Anderson has done in his few months holding that "temporary" job, the new sheriff can jump in immediately and begin making the reforms so necessary to "fix" the department. This job requires a top cop, not a politically connected back-slapper who will immediately begin to ingratiate himself with the political movers and shakers in this county.

SEVERAL GOOD CHOICES AVAILABLE
I read through all the application material available online for each of the candidates and was impressed by many of them. As a recruiter for most of my working life, I know that information is just the starting point, and that the interviews today will be the deciding factor in the process. Based on what we see in their background information, most of the remaining candidates could probably do the job. Deciding which one will be able to do it best is up to the supervisors.

PERFORMANCE, NOT BOOT-LICKING, WILL COUNT MOST
The new sheriff will be under intense scrutiny, so his or her performance in the next two years will be much more important to the electorate than whose boots he or she is willing to lick to get elected in 2010. Regardless what Riggy and his pals in the Orange County Republican Party think, the supervisors should do the job we elected them to do and give us the best law enforcement leader available for the job of Sheriff-Coroner of Orange County. If they do that, and the person selected demonstrates the right skills over the next two years, the 2010 election will take care of itself.

Something Smells Funny At City Hall

(photo courtesy of Daily Pilot)

Here's something to gnaw on this Memorial Day weekend.

EL CAMINO PLAZA DISCUSSION
Last Tuesday, May 20th, saw our City Council consider a request from the current owners of the derelict El Camino Plaza to extend for another year their entitlements to redevelop that blighted block smack in the middle of Mesa Del Mar. Their spokesperson was a sharp gentleman named Steve Sheldon, President of The Sheldon Group.

EXTENSION APPROVED, DEMOLITION TO PROCEED
I watched the exchange of questions and answers and the public comments. I noticed that Mayor Eric Bever and Mayor Pro Tem Allan Mansoor were taking the lead in support of the request. I didn't give that too much thought, although I do recall thinking that Mansoor was taking a pretty soft position on a project that has been plagued by delays for years. Eventually, after Sheldon promised that the structures on the site would be completely demolished by June 19th, the council agreed to the staff recommendations.

(A quick circumnavigation of that block late this afternoon showed all the structures still in place, but the entire block is surrounded with chain link fence draped with green tarp material to mitigate the view of the blighted area during the demolition. This will be a short month because of the holiday, so one can only hope the developer is as good as his word.)

SOMETHING FISHY GOING ON?
But something kept nagging me - it just didn't smell right - so I did some research and find that Sheldon's organization was a major participant in Mansoor's reelection campaign two years ago. If fact, just a year ago they helped him put on an event which was disguised as a fund-raiser for the Veteran's Memorial Project but was, in fact, a fund-raiser for Mansoor. I wrote about that in a post on this blog on May 30, 2007, which is still available for viewing in the archives over on the right side of this page.

Further nosing around has led me to some sources that indicate The Sheldon Group may be an active member of Eric Bever's re-election campaign.

IS THERE A CONFLICT?
Here's my question for you: Is it appropriate for a consultant, who supported (that means he was paid to support) Mansoor's re-election effort and subsequent fund-raising and may be currently involved in Bever's campaign, to stand before the council as a paid spokesperson for a project with lots of money to lose if the vote goes the wrong way? I know this probably doesn't meet the threshold for conflict of interest violations under our municipal code, but it sure does have a peculiar odor to it - especially when you consider the subterfuge of Mansoor's fund raiser last year. It seems to me that Mansoor and Bever should have excused themselves from the discussions and vote because they have a financial relationship with The Sheldon Group. What do you think?