Mayor says Costa Mesa is healthy

When Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor was a young boy his mother gave him an important piece of advice.

“You better stay in school or you’ll end up being a politician,” Mansoor said, repeating his mother’s warning to about 90 people at a Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce breakfast on Thursday.

Mansoor stayed in school, earned an associate in arts degree in general education ? and still became a politician.

And as a prominent local politician, it’s part of his job to speak to the public about the state of the city, which is what he did on Thursday.

Reading from a prepared speech, Mansoor spoke briefly about crime, development, business and the illegal immigration plan the City Council approved in December to train police to enforce federal immigration laws.

From a financial perspective, Costa Mesa is in good shape, Mansoor said. The city’s hotel business, which took a dive after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has recovered, he said.

South Coast Plaza, the most successful mall in the world, Mansoor said, made $1.2 billion last year.

The mayor also mentioned a proposed high-rise condominium project that would be within walking distance of South Coast Plaza if it is approved and built.

As for public safety, Mansoor said serious crimes are down 10% for the first quarter of the year compared to the first quarter of 2005. Burglaries are down 29%, theft is down 17% and auto theft is down 15%, he said.

Continuing on public safety, Mansoor said the illegal immigration enforcement plan will focus on serious illegal immigrant criminals, and not on illegal immigration sweeps. He said police officers from the department’s gang detail unit will be trained in immigration enforcement.

After his short talk, he took questions from the audience.

The first question was from Steve Dzida, a spokesman for the political action group Return to Reason that has formed to change the make-up of the council. .

“In my 20 years living in Costa Mesa, I have never seen our community so divided over how our city is governed. What plans do you have to address this serious problem?” Dzida asked the mayor.

Mansoor said: “I plan to reach out to the public to let them know the facts. [The illegal immigration plan] will not focus on victims or sweeps. But we will be focusing on major offenders. Our primary responsibility as public officials is to ensure public safety.”

Three people asked questions about the proposed high-rise condominium project, which is not yet named. One was concerned about the height of the 25-story buildings. Another asked about fire response time to condominiums.

The mayor responded by saying that it is only a proposed project now and that the city is under no obligation to approve it. Right now, the proposed development is in the screening process with the city.

After the meeting, Dzida said the mayor did not answer his question regarding division of the community.

“Nowhere did I mention immigration. He immediately assumed that this is what I was getting at,” Dzida said. “His plan seems to be to continue the aggressive, high-handed approach to issues that has caused the division in our community in the first place.”

Dzida’s group Return to Reason is not supporting Mansoor for reelection and recently announced their endorsement of former Councilman Mike Scheafer and planning Commissioner Bruce Garlich for the two open council seats in the November election.