City may have a less charitable future

Lolita Harper

It won’t happen overnight, but changes are inevitable for the

Westside.

City Councilman-elect Allan Mansoor made that pledge throughout

his campaign and it’s a promise he intends to keep.

Some residents, however, won’t be disappointed if goes back on his

word. Supporters of the city-funded Job Center and some charities

have already begun analyzing the possible consequences of having

another councilman poised to butcher their organizations.

Mansoor campaigned on limiting or closing the Job Center and

ending public funding of private charities because, he says, the

establishments tend to attract an undesirable element to the city.

Homeless people wandering down the street to the bread line and

illegal immigrants looking for work on city corners don’t give Costa

Mesa a good image, Mansoor has said. In the coming council term, he

plans to work with other council members and the community on

possible solutions to those problems.

“If people think I have an agenda at least it will be out in the

open for the public to see and there will be good public discussion

on it,” said Mansoor, an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy. “I can’t say

how others are going to react but it’s going to be interesting.”

Councilman Chris Steel, who campaigned in 2000 to close the Job

Center for the betterment of the Westside, said he was very happy

with Mansoor’s victory. Mansoor received the second most votes in

Tuesday’s election, behind incumbent Gary Monahan. Mayor Linda Dixon

narrowly trailed Mansoor.

Steel had looked to Mansoor to provide sorely lacking support to

remove the “magnets,” such as the city’s employment hub and various

charities, which Steel contends attract impoverished residents to an

otherwise affluent city.

“Obviously we want to clean up the city and move along on the

issues,” Steel said. “Hopefully Allan will be helpful on that but it

remains to be seen.”

Bill Turpit, a different kind of Westside activist and founder of

Friends for the Job Center, said he can’t help but keep the

worst-case scenario in the back of his mind.

“We are only three days after the election and he isn’t in office

yet,” Turpit said. “The Friends of the Job Center are concerned but

there hasn’t been any action yet.”

Any effort made at the council level to close the Job Center will

be met with great opposition, Turpit said, as many business and

community leaders tout it as a great benefit to the city.

The low-income conditions that Steel and Mansoor object to were

not caused by the Job Center, but by a lack of quality housing and

the high demand for cheap labor, he argues.

“It would be extremely short-sighted to try to close it without

addressing the pertinent long-term conditions,” Turpit said.

Jean Forbath, who founded Share Our Selves on Superior Avenue in

Costa Mesa, said her organization is somewhat removed from the city’s

control because it owns its own land and building. Forbath said Share

Our Selves -- the county’s largest charity -- didn’t even apply for

public funds this year because the amount was such a small portion of

their multi-million dollar budget, which comes mostly from private

donations.

She acknowledged, however, that an uncooperative City Council

could make it difficult for charities who may need to pull permits

for projects, such as medical or dental aid centers, remodels or

expansions.

“I would love to have a City Council that is supportive of the

city’s social programs,” Forbath said. “This is not something we

would chose but it is certainly something we can live with.”

Forbath said she is more concerned about the future of the Job

Center than her own organization, but hopes Monahan will provide a

voice of reason.

“With Gary being an astute businessman, he can certainly

understand the community’s need for labor,” Forbath said.

Monahan said he has never supported closing the Job Center but

does not agree that public funds should be used for it. He was in

favor of increasing fees for those who employ the day laborers, in an

effort to make the center self-sufficient. But the majority of the

council, including Steel, was not in favor of it.

“From past votes on the job center I really can’t tell you where

Chris is on that issue,” Monahan said.

As far as the charities are concerned, Monahan stays true to his

belief in individual property rights. He pointed out that Share Our

Selves and the Soup Kitchen own their own land and can operate as

they see fit as long as they do not become a public nuisance.

“If anyone is worried about something drastic happening in the

first month, I don’t see it happening,” Monahan said. “I need to sit

down and talk with Allan -- and everybody for that matter -- about

what their individual goals might be.”

Mansoor does not expect any of his City Council votes to be hasty

or one-sided. He said he encourages good, open dialogue and refuses

to close his mind to any possibility.

But all of that is yet to come, Mansoor said, as he still has a

month before he is sworn in and years to live up to his campaign

assurances.

“Real changes will come when we have the next budget approval and

when we start to [put these items on the agenda] ,” Mansoor said.

“That’s when you’ll see the real fireworks.”

* LOLITA HARPER covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.