Bipartisan mayor

In between his numerous appearances on radio and TV and in print media lately, Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor found time to make some new political friends.

No, not the Minutemen, though they did make him an honorary member in January. On Sunday, it was the Orange County Libertarians who invited Mansoor to speak at their monthly meeting in Costa Mesa.

The group was looking for speakers, and Mansoor was asked because some of his ideas line up with those of Libertarians, said Bruce Cohen, the county Libertarian Party chairman.

“Essentially Libertarians don’t believe in public assistance programs,” Cohen said. “We feel that it makes social problems worse. We feel that charities should be administered privately.”

Mansoor has often said he wants to end public funding of private charities.

He said Wednesday that he thought the talk went well ? and he didn’t even mention immigration. The City Council’s controversial plan to train police to enforce immigration laws has put Mansoor in the national spotlight, but apparently no one asked about it Sunday.

Libertarians wanted Mansoor to talk about the rationale for closing the city’s job center, ending its human relations committee and approving a Westside plan that doesn’t compel redevelopment ? all issues that should be handled by the private sector, Mansoor said.

“Even though I am a Republican, I lean a fair amount toward Libertarians in the sense of wanting smaller government, so I’m in agreement with some of the things they stand for,” he said.

LIBERTARIANS LOOKING

TO GET RELEVANT

Speaking of Libertarians, Cohen’s position as chairman of the Orange County party is of recent vintage. He was elected chairman in March, and already he’s making changes he hopes will get people to consider his party a valuable part of the political process.

The Libertarian Party needs to do a better job of marketing itself, Cohen said. It’s not so much about claiming to have the better solution to a problem, because Libertarians’ positions aren’t cast in stone.

Cohen’s goal is not to recruit voters from other parties, but to work with people who want a more efficient and thus cheaper government. He attributes Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s victory to Libertarians, and he thinks the local party could have delivered enough votes to Republican 35th District Senate candidate Diane Harkey to put her over the top.

The party has 3,985 registered voters in the 35th Senate District; Harkey lost the GOP nomination for the seat to Assemblyman Tom Harman by 236 votes, and the election was an open primary, so voters were able to choose a candidate from any party.

“We definitely could have [helped Harkey], and we’re disappointed because we want to participate. We want to be relevant,” Cohen said.

He’ll also be looking for political support for himself, since he’s running ? again ? for a U.S. House seat. Cohen will make his third try for the 48th District House seat, which is now held by Rep. John Campbell.

CITY DECISIONS COST IT A BIT OF BUSINESS

The Costa Mesa City Council learned Tuesday its political decisions have cost it a vendor ? Tim Lewis, who owns Red E Rentals on Harbor Boulevard, told the council he would no longer do business with the city. The tool- and equipment-rental company has had the city as a client since 1959, Lewis said.

Over the years the city has rented landscaping equipment, skip loaders and the like. Lewis doesn’t do a huge volume of business with the city now, he said, but he wanted to make a symbolic gesture because he disagrees with the council’s decisions on ending the human relations committee, closing the job center and having police enforce immigration laws.

“It’s not going to hurt the city economically any more than it hurts me. The point was to send a message,” Lewis said, adding that he’ll also encourage other local businesses to stop working with Costa Mesa.

Mansoor said Lewis’ business is the only one he knows of that has severed its relationship with the city.

“We’ll have to find someone that’s willing to do business with the city, and I believe there are many businesses that are willing to do that,” Mansoor said.dpt.04-pol-landscape-CPhotoInfoGR1QJLTM20060504h5npfokfDAILY PILOT(LA)Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor recently spoke to Orange County Libertarians about ending public funding of charities.