Mayor needs to uphold the constitutions

On Tuesday, Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor took the opportunity to read from the dais the oath of office that he and all other City Council members took when they were sworn in. In that oath he swore that he would uphold and protect the constitutions of California and the United States.

Given the mayor’s behavior from the dais, one might wonder if he ever actually read or understood the constitutions he has sworn to uphold.

The U.S. Constitution guarantees to all the right to speak freely and to petition our government. Mansoor is supposed to uphold and protect that right.

Instead he often tramples it.

Mansoor has continually cut off members of the public who speak against his initiatives. He often thanks public speakers who give him compliments. He often turns away from and visibly indicates that he is uninterested in what his opponents have to say. He has even rudely interrupted other members of the City Council when they are explaining their reasons for opposing his views.

Our mayor needs to understand that when he is on the dais, he is not el jefe, the boss. The position of mayor is not a position of privilege, it is a position of servitude. The mayor’s failure to grasp this distinction has lead to council meetings that seem more like unruly basketball games than the exercise of constitutional democracy.

One of the unfortunate aspects of being an elected public official is that the public is constitutionally entitled to trash talk you. As an elected official, the mayor may have the constitutional right to trash talk back.

A wiser mayor would simply listen attentively and respond rationally. However our mayor must understand that he is not entitled to squelch public comment or arbitrarily cut off people who speak against him or his proposals.

Because the mayor either doesn’t understand this principle or is too immature or emotional to apply it, he has gotten himself and our city sued. A judge and jury will eventually pass on the merits of that suit, but in the meantime, we residents of Costa Mesa will foot the bill for the mayor’s legal defense.

We all must demand better leadership now and make sure that we get it come election time.

CHRIS BLANK

Costa Mesa