Thread: Costa Mesa Voters Face a National Issue Turned Local: Immigr

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DANA PARSONS / ORANGE COUNTY
Costa Mesa Voters Face a National Issue Turned Local: Immigration
Opposing camps contain members that may surprise some people. The outcome will affect the city's image for some time.
Dana Parsons

September 26, 2006

My guess is, Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor thought he had a surefire winner when he took on illegal immigration in his town.

And maybe he does. Nobody I've ever talked to is in favor of illegal immigration, even those softhearted, softheaded liberals that conservatives pity. It's just that lots of Americans think trying to stop illegal entry is a fool's errand and that the contributions illegal immigrants make somewhat dilute the arguments against their presence.

Other issues come into play at the local level, and on Nov. 7 Costa Mesa voters will give us all an updated scorecard of how a community feels about illegal immigration.

Mansoor is on the ballot and finds himself opposed by a potentially influential group of local business people, citizens, political forces and, more recently, the police and firefighter associations.

The immigration issue isn't abstract there. It's been a budding debate for much of the last 10 to 15 years at least, with all kinds of visible signs on the streets and in the shops and schools of the emerging Latino presence, some of them no doubt illegal residents.

Earlier this year, Mansoor spearheaded an effort to enlist Costa Mesa police in the anti-illegal immigration movement. That would require some officers to receive additional training in immigration-related matters and, according to Mansoor and his supporters, help get rid of serious felons in the country illegally.

I figured it would be popular with the masses, but my thoughts now drift back to Costa Mesa council meetings of nearly a year ago when many people — Anglo and Latino alike — suggested Mansoor find a new pony to ride.

That's what makes the election so interesting: We'll find out whether a majority of voters wants to ride Mansoor out of City Hall.

A veteran cop in another Orange County city, with no stake in the Costa Mesa election, explained why police likely wouldn't like Mansoor's immigration proposal. "No. 1, people have been coming to the country illegally for many, many years," he said. "Now people want the problem fixed. It is not a job that we [police] can fix. We have our plate full with calls for service on a day-to-day basis."

So why not add illegal immigration to the list? "There are federal agents to deal with that," the cop said.

"I think it's pretty much felt by many in the law enforcement community," he said, "that we deal with victims and criminals. We need to have that close relationship with the public so they're not fearful in coming in and talking with us."

You mean illegal residents who might report crimes? Yes, he said.

I asked if cops privately curse the illegal immigration situation around the cop shop. "I don't think so," he said. "My take is the majority of police officers just want to go out and keep the public safe and deal with crime and not get into the immigration battle. It's just not an issue that comes up. Our guys are more concentrated on the people doing criminal activity and preying on others."

Mansoor has said the cops are paying him back for other political reasons. He could be right; there's no way to read their private thoughts.

As interesting as the police opposition to him is, so is the business opposition. You'd think merchants would rebel against illegal immigration if they thought it was leading the city to ruination.

Instead, the group opposing Mansoor — which includes the owners of South Coast Plaza — is calling itself Return to Reason. No hidden meaning there.

One of its members is former mayor and councilman Joe Erickson, a 24-year resident of the city.

I asked if he thought he had his ear to the ground on the immigration issue and is confident of ousting Mansoor.

"I'm just very hopeful that our side is going to win," Erickson said. "I've lived here a long time, have a lot of friends, hear a lot of things on the street, and I think people want the city to be known for what it is," which he described as a place with good neighborhoods and businesses.

Erickson said he felt "real good" about the election outcome but would not predict victory.

That puts him where I am — genuinely curious what message Costa Mesa voters will send on what clearly will be the decisive issue in the campaign.

I asked Erickson what he'd do if his side loses. Implying that the issue won't have gone away by 2008, he said, "I'm going to have to work harder two years from now."

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Dana Parsons' column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. He can be reached at (714) 966-7821 or at dana.parsons@latimes.com. An archive of his recent columns is at http://www.latimes.com/parsons .


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A veteran cop in another Orange County city, with no stake in the Costa Mesa election, explained why police likely wouldn't like Mansoor's immigration proposal. "No. 1, people have been coming to the country illegally for many, many years," he said. "Now people want the problem fixed. It is not a job that we [police] can fix. We have our plate full with calls for service on a day-to-day basis."

Translation: We're to damn lazy to check the immigration status of suspected illegal immigrants and we certainly don't want to go through the effort of calling ICE.

It's a fact, people are resistant to change. The cops of Orange County city have a routine, and like cities thoughout the country, won't willing embrace change or anything else that will potentially make their job tougher.