Let the process run its course

LINDA DIXON

It is interesting that Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor has chosen to

utilize the Daily Pilot as a public forum to explain away his actions

relative to the Ralph M. Brown Act open-meeting safeguards rather

than just letting the process move through the sanctioned discovery

steps (“Note intended nothing untoward,” June 23).

But then, that mayor often uses this forum to explain his actions

while choosing not to explain them in person from the dais.

Under the Brown Act, meetings of public bodies -- for example,

city councils -- must be open and public. This means that secret

communication -- for example, the exchanging of written notes among a

majority of the members regarding items on the agenda -- constitutes

a violation. It will be the role of an independent body to decide if

in fact a violation occurred in this situation.

To reiterate my claim:

1. Councilman Eric Bever passed a note addressed to the mayor and

Councilman Gary Monahan.

2. Monahan thereupon withdrew a substitute motion.

3. Bever, when asked, indicated to me that the note requested

Mansoor and Monahan to allow the vote to fund the historical

preservation committee and the Home Ranch homestead to go forward and

to bring up funding Angel’s park in the next action.

4. As questions about the note were being raised, the mayor

crumpled the note and threw it away. When asked about the note, the

mayor said it was a personal note.

Now, let the process run its course.

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Linda Dixon is a Costa Mesa City Councilwoman.