I spoke to Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor this morning, when he surprised me with a phone call. He wanted to explain his position regarding the Benito Acosta trial. He contends that he asked Minuteman Jim Gilchrist to stop when he tried to ask his supporters to stand up at the Council meeting where Acosta was arrested.
I took a look at the video in question. Gilchrist said, as he looked at the audience, that he was going to ask the Minutemen to stand up at the end of his comments. Mansoor then interrupted him and asked him not to do that. But their exchange never failed to be polite and friendly. And Gilchrist was allowed to finish his comments.
Mansoor said that Acosta disrupted the meeting by addressing the people in the audience instead of the City Council and the Mayor. I viewed the Council video and saw that Acosta pointed to the audience at one point and quoted Mansoor as saying that “the focus of this enforcement (ICE) is to remove violent criminals to make the streets safer. I don’t see how anyone can protest against that. “
Acosta then made several additional comments about how the ICE regulation is an attempt to gentrify Costa Mesa and change the demographics. He said that he and his fellow activists were going to “fight this to the end” and that they were “not going to let it pass.” Then Acosta looked to the audience and said “if anyone else in this room agrees with this please stand up.”
At that point Mansoor interrupted angrily and said “no I’m not gonna do that.” And Mansoor called for a break, even though Acosta had time left to speak. Then Mansoor said, “As a matter of fact, his time is up.” But it wasn’t, according to Acosta.
You can see what happened at that point on YouTube, at this link.
The contrast between the way Mansoor handled Gilchrist and the way he handled Acosta was stunning.
Mansoor said that Acosta broke the rules when he looked at the audience and told his supporters to stand up. But Gilchrist did the same thing, in essence. And Mansoor handled him with kid gloves.
I asked Mansoor how Acosta should have known that this was not allowed, and Mansoor pointed me to the meeting agenda, which did spell out the rules of conduct.
Here are a few excerpts from the Costa Mesa City Council meeting agenda:
In accordance with Costa Mesa Municipal Code, Sec. 2-64 (1): No person in the audience shall
Mansoor can lie to the teeth all he wants, but when the jury sees the rest of the evidence, they’ll come back with a big fat “NOT GUILTY” verdict for Acosta.
“Decorum”…..this is a tough word
sometimes in the heat of battle.’
Those that sit on Dias sometimes
“lose their cool” and fail the
“Decorum Test”. When a citizen,
who lacks the power of elected
office assails the power structure
for whatever reason…it is always
necessary to go above and beyond
to allow the speaker “their say”!
However, there are caveats to this
process. The greatest of all time
at this was: Sid Soffer of Costa
Mesa/Newport Beach. Sid was indeed
the first to call members of the
Newport Beach City Council “NAZI
Facists”…way back in the 70’s!
It took literally years, but eventually those in power got even
with Sid by closing down his property as “condemned”! They
literally ran him out of town….
when he refused to show up and
be put in jail for Contempt of
Court!
Back to “Decorum”. By the second
time Acosta showed up at Costa
Mesa Council Chambers…he should
have gotten the message: that
poor conduct would require his
immediate removal from Council
Chambers…by force or by the
Costa Mesa Police! Those that
believe strongly in Civil Disobedience…know exactly how
to do it. Rational people would
be hard pressed to believe that
Acosta didn’t know the extent of
his actions or what could happen
if he continued.
Sadly, our emotions can take us
when common sense should aim all
of us in the right direction.
Acosta should get a slapp on the
wrist for this one…but with certainty..be put on notice that any further unbecoming behavior will be met with impunity!
Name calling of Public Officials
is virtually the same as calling
every citizen that name – Remember:
We have a Representative Goverment!
If you have a problem with an elected: Write a blog, write the
Newspaper or hold a meeting! Or,
you can stand on a corner with a
sign! That is; if they give you
a permit to do so!
Perhaps the CM PD should be taught the Spanish translation of “Don’t TAZE me, bro!” to prevent future situations.
Better yet, Mayor Allan Mansoor and the Costa Mesa police should be given a copy of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to read….
However you feel about Mayor Mansoor and his policies, he is open with the public and speaks his mind. You always know where he is coming from, and a large number of Costa Mesans agree with his views. I am curious as to why neither you nor the Mayor mentioned the prior Council meeting, where Acosta called Mansoor a “f*****g racist pig” from the podium. To me, that automatically means he gets an extremely short leash during any subsequent appearance at public comments. Unlike Acosta, Gilchrist did not have a well-documented history of disrupting a Council meeting with violently spewed profanity. I think that Mansoor did exactly the right thing, and I hope that Acosta is found guilty.
Let’s address another aspect of this issue. A good reason Latinos feared this measure was because of Acosta’s fear-mongering in the community. He proudly recounted his intention to “educate” the Latino community in Costa Mesa about the CMPD’s “real” intent. This despite strenuous efforts by Chief Hensley to reassure the Latino community that no sweeps or targeted enforcement would occur. Acosta was sowing fear and mistrust in his own community and taking advantage of his status as a Latino to gain trust and entry into homes. Acosta is a complete scumbag, and it is about time the legitimate Latino community stands up and repudiates his type of racist fear-mongering. Latinos didn’t stay home and stop going to stores and school because of the Costa Mesa Police Dept., they did it because Acosta scared them with lies and misrepresentation.
Anon 9:12
We will condemn Acosta the second you, Mansoor, and every single westside improver publicly denounces Martin Millard and repudiates everything he believes in and apologizes for ever socializing with such a sick racist pig.
I am not holding my breath.
Contrary to what Mr. Pedroza says, Mayor Mansoor did NOT tell Mr. Gilchrist or his followers they could not stand. That absolutely did not happen. Our own account of the trial will be out soon at http://www.ocvoice.com
Sincerely,
John Earl
Orange Coast Voice
John Earl,
I wrote that “I took a look at the video in question. Gilchrist said, as he looked at the audience, that he was going to ask the Minutemen to stand up at the end of his comments. Mansoor then interrupted him and asked him not to do that.”
I did not say that Mansoor told Gilchrist and his followers not to stand. I slowed down the video and watched it a dozen times. Mansoor interrupted Gilchrist. Mansoor did not want the Minutemen to stand up.
However, Mansoor was very nice to Gilchrist…he was not so nice to Acosta. That is the key point here.
I do look forward to your account. Maybe you watched the video more than I did, in which case I feel bad for you…it was not much fun after the first few times.
Claudio,
Millard is a clown, with little influence in Costa Mesa anymore. His comical musings and implied threats against other bloggers have revealed his true nature – court jester. Fortunately for Costa Mesa, the Court is longer paying any attention to his antics.
So there is no reason to repudiate him, he has done that for us.
Art Pedroza wrote:
“I wrote that “I took a look at the video in question. Gilchrist said, as he looked at the audience, that he was going to ask the Minutemen to stand up at the end of his comments. Mansoor then interrupted him and asked him not to do that.”
I am simply saying that, the Mayor did NOT ask Gilchrist not to do that. That simply did not happen. So you could not have seen or heard that on the video. He never indicated at all from the mayor that Gilchrist should not do that. In fact, he thanked Gilchrist and his followers.
Sincerely,
John Earl
OC Voice
Art, just to clarify a bit further..the mayor did not indicate in any way shape or form, directly or indirectly, that he did not want Gilchrist to stand.
JE
John,
I never said that Mansoor told Gilchrist not to stand.
I watched that video many, many times. In slow motion even. Mansoor interrupted Gilchrist when he was saying that he was going to have his people stand. But he did so quite politely and Gilchrist was able to finish his remarks.
This stands in stark contrast to the way Mansoor dealt with Acosta.
Mansoor did thank Gilchrist and his followers afterwards, as we both seem to agree.
For me, the bottom line is that Mansoor committed an injustice against Acosta, and I believe that he and the City will end up having to pay Acosta quite a bit when this is all over.
Local elected officials need to learn that free speech DOES matter.