ON THE TOWN:

The fuss about Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor’s lack of compassion, after a resident in a nice neighborhood was gunned down, would be amusing if it weren’t so predictable.

Are we really that surprised that the mayor used the death of Israel Maciel to promote his political agenda, instead of pausing for a moment to show some sense of sadness or to vow that the city would not rest until his killer was brought to justice?

Why on Earth would we expect even an ounce of compassion from a man who led the charge to eliminate the city’s human relations committee, which cost a whopping $1,800 a year to operate, or who cannot see for a moment the tragedy of his handling of the illegal immigrants living in the city?

The mayor is unable to show any heart, and it is unfair to expect it of him.

And while we’re on the subject, it is important to note, again, that Mansoor has not acted in a vacuum. Councilmen Eric Bever and Gary Monahan have voted with Mansoor to make the changes that have caused too much turmoil.

To make matters worse, a few members of the City Council have decided that instead of talking to each other about resolving these important issues — or at least resolving to discuss them in a civil manner — they are going to use this newspaper as their chief means of communication.

I understand Councilwoman Linda Dixon’s frustration with the mayor. But lashing out against him in the Daily Pilot was not the best forum, as good reading as it was. And I repeat that the mayor has had help. If we are going to criticize his positions, it is only fair that we also criticize his enablers, Bever and Monahan.

This City Council does not talk to each other enough, other than to pass an occasional note during a public meeting, which is a stark contrast to another local body that has the appearance of talking to each other too much.

That body, the Newport-Mesa Unified School District board, has been almost completely absent from these pages for many years. In fact, the only commentary I can recall in the last 10 years was written not long ago by trustee Tom Egan, who bravely broke ranks to discuss school issues.

All of the other news has been reported by the Daily Pilot newsroom or by official district spokespeople, who never seem to have anything negative to report. Everything in the district always seems to be sunshine and rainbows.

During the fun days when Wendy Leece was on the school board, there were many 6-1 votes, with Leece dissenting. Many of us wondered how the board could vote so consistently when the public discussions were often limited to barely any comments during their official meetings.

The possibility of violations of the Ralph M. Brown Act, which prohibits private discussions of most public matters, were raised to me several times, but those violations are hard to prove.

The City Council talks too much to the Daily Pilot, and the school board talks far too little. Clearly, some fresh faces are desperately needed in both bodies. Until November then, some balance is in order.

Fortunately, these are communications issues, an area in which I have decades of experience.

My first suggestion to the City Council is to communicate more directly to each other and less through the Daily Pilot. That doesn’t mean that they should not communicate at all with the paper, but that those messages should just be updates on the progress of issues, without mentioning each other by name.

Since text messaging seems to work so well these days for our children, I am offering some shorthand messages they can type on their Blackberries before, during or after meetings.

When someone says something you don’t like, type in, “U R A DOPE.”

When someone keeps repeating the same tired lines over and over again, you type in, “U R STUPID.”

When someone criticizes you or calls you a name, type in, “YO MAMA.” Be careful here that you don’t type in, “YO YO MA,” the cellist. If you do, someone may think you are offering them free tickets to the Performing Arts Center, which may be perceived as bribe.

But when someone does or says something you like or agree with, you type in, “IS THIS A TRICK? I KNOW U R UP 2 SOMETHING. SPILL IT B4 I TELL EVERYONE ABOUT YUR BARRY MANILOW COLLECTION.”

Yes, sir, there is nothing like clear, direct, open communication to solve most problems.