http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2006 ... game13.txt

Published Thursday, October 12, 2006 10:09 PM PDT
Columns
FAIR GAME:
Two distinct choices in Costa Mesa
By TOM JOHNSON

So where did we last leave off? That's right, politics.

If you haven't noticed that we're in the middle of the political season, then I would argue that you're not cleaning out your mailbox daily. To me, it seems that the stack of mail gets higher and higher with all of the political paraphernalia included.

Sometimes it's hard to tell who sent you what without looking for the small disclaimer buried somewhere inside the piece.

Here's the easy way to tell. If the flier has a bad picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger, meaning it's out of focus or shot from a bad angle, chances are it's a pro-Phil Angelides piece. And vice versa.

And, although I've never been accused of appearing in a beauty pageant myself, I would argue that it's more difficult to judge a good picture of Angelides from a bad picture of Angelides. But that's a different story.

Locally there's lots up for grabs.

In Costa Mesa it's a choice between Return to Reason or keep the insanity. Or that's what they might have you believe.

I actually did something last week that I'm ashamed to say I'd never done before. Mayor Allan Mansoor and I met for lunch.

Now I'd like to tell you otherwise and say what a rotten guy he was, but he impressed me as a well-spoken, well-thought-out individual.

Now the mayor and I are not lock step in our views of what's best for Costa Mesa. But sitting down with him, I truly sensed that he feels his approach to the city is right, and I was assured that it doesn't come with another, perhaps deep-seated, dislike for a certain group of people.

Mansoor told me in fact that he never had a desire to get involved in politics. It was only after he felt that he wasn't getting answers to a sound issue in his neighborhood that he began addressing the City Council on a regular basis.

Once there, he became involved. The rest is history.

Mansoor's big issue is illegal immigration. His believes enforcing it has to start locally because no one is doing anything about it nationally.

His opposition, myself included, would argue that we need to address the issue on a larger scale.

There are local racial hate mongers, whom the mayor assures me he's not connected to. If that's true, and I'm assuming it is, that's reassuring.

So while Mansoor runs for reelection, the real race comes down to the other seat. The one being vacating by longtime City Councilman and former multi-term Mayor Gary Monahan.

Assuming Mansoor wins — and some would argue that that is no sure thing — the council would have Eric Bever and Mansoor on one-side of the issues and Linda Dixon and Katrina Foley on the other.

So what does the crystal ball say?

Return to Reason has put two candidates up, Bruce Garlich and Mike Scheafer. Either or both would aid the Dixon-Foley side.

I asked Garlich and Scheafer about some of the controversial issues implemented by the "other side" in the last few years.

Although both would modify the illegal-immigration stance, neither would re-implement the job center with city funds. Both, too, would work at strengthening our local law enforcement to make the community safer.

A vote for Wendy Leece lines up strength in the Mansoor-Bever camp. Policies similar to the last few years will continue.

For those in my newsroom, Leece becomes an exciting candidate. One only has to remember her outspoken times as a Newport-Mesa Unified School District board member and the great news stories she supplied to our reporters.

Pretty much lost in the shuffle for the council race are Mirna Burciaga and Chris Bunyan.

Burciaga is a fabulous advocate for the Latino community and would be a great voice for that large segment of our community.

Bunyan, who doesn't appear to have the name recognition to win, is perhaps the most intriguing potential candidate. He is a young, articulate visionary who has his goals set on an eventual office in Sacramento.

There's a lot to happen between now and election day. The questions that need to be answered are these: Do you like the way Costa Mesa is heading? Is illegal immigration a city issue or a larger issue? Is the community safer today under the current leadership than it was several years ago? What is the vision for the Westside?

If you look into and answer these questions, your vote should be easy.