Costa Mesa City Council needs to learn that not everyone shares their prejudiced views. Our county is changing, and Costa Mesa needs to figure that out. One example of the change is the ratings for the May sweeps have come out and Univision is the leader in prime-time viewers 18-49, second in 6 PM news and first in 11 PM news. Costa Mesa City Council has not gotten that memo yet.
Latino lawmakers in Sacramento are threatening to block the legislation allowing the sale of the property to Costa Mesa and Facilities Management West. This action is needed to send a strong message to the City that their actions are unacceptable in this day and age.
In May 2010, lead by Allan Mansoor, City Council voted unanimously to make Costa Mesa a "Rule of Law" city. This was one of a continuing string of actions targeting specific groups within the City, which is unacceptable. One way of getting this message across is to not let Costa Mesa buy the Orange County Fairgrounds. The "Rule of Law" resolution was above and beyond what City Council has already done. Previously, Mansoor pushed for and got harder local enforcement of immigration laws, costing the City money and police resources that could be better used to protect residents and local businesses from actual crime. Mansoor has said that the "Rule of Law" is just the beginning of what he wants to do. City Council shows no signs of stopping him from doing this. Another example is the prosecution of Benito Acosta. Costa Mesa attempted to prosecute Benito Acosta (who also goes by Coyotl Tezcatlipoca) for disturbing a City Council meeting. That criminal prosecution cost the City about $32,000 and ended when the charges were dropped. Acosta later sued in Federal court over civil rights violations and lost. That suit cost the City at least $500,000 and some reports have the figure at about $600,000. How many kids could have had afterschool programs with $632,000? Another example is forcing an established business to change their name in order to do business in Costa Mesa. In July 2009, Councilmember Eric Bever filed an appeal of a Parks Commission decision to allow Liga Azteca/Aztec Basketball League to rent the gym at the Downtown Recreation Center. Liga Azteca wanted to pay to use the gym for their well-established basketball league. City staff estimated that about $40,000 would be received from the activity. In the end, Liga Azteca/Aztec Basketball League was allowed to use the gym but only if they changed their name to Costa Mesa Weekend Basketball League. Selling the Fairgrounds to Costa Mesa now that they have instituted "Rule of Law" would be seen by many as rewarding them for being prejudiced. The City Council hasn't learned their lesson after wasting $632,000 on lawsuits that didn't need to happen and forcing a well-established business to change their name. This is a teachable moment, let's use it. For the record, I am no longer associated with the Orange County Fairgrounds Preservation Society.
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