Monday, December 31, 2007

CM PRESS # 264


LATINO GANG WRITES 'KILL WHITES' ON VIETNAM WAR MEMORIAL

Here's a story that we found peculiar. Note that all the outrage is about the fact that this Latino gang wrote their message on a Vietnam War Memorial.

There's not a word of outrage in the story that the gang wrote "kill whites." LINK

Additional LINK

Don't get it? Turn it around. What if someone wrote "Kill Latinos," or what if someone just put a noose hanging off the memorial. You know the outrage would be about the sentiment and not the fact that it was on a memorial.

You also know that this would be big news on TV and in all the newspapers. So, why did you have to read about this on this obscure little blog? Hmmmmm? We live in a mad age, dear friends. It is an age where double standards are the norm and it is a time when the brain pithed many don't even understand the nature of these double standards.

One self-loathing jerk quoted in the article even said "They have the right to say what they want to say." Well, yes, people do have a right to say what they want to say, you jerk, but they don't have a right to call for killing people or to put their messages on public property.

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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Friday, December 28, 2007

CM PRESS # 262


3 IN '08

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Thanks for reading the CM PRESS. Together, we can turn back the evil witch and her flying monkeys and make Costa Mesa the great city that it should be.
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Thursday, December 27, 2007

CM PRESS # 261

MAYOR MANSOOR TO STEP DOWN AS MAYOR
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Thanks for reading the CM PRESS

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

CM PRESS # 260


SANTA ANA LOOKING FOR A REVITALIZATION
We write the OC REGISTER about their editorial today


Editor OC Register

Re: Editorial, 12/26/07--Urban renewal by any other name. LINK

You wrote:
"The style of neighborhoods and the types of businesses that exist are up to the people who live there, not the government."

Actually, under our representative form of government, it should be up to the voting citizens who live there, but not as individuals with complete freedom to do whatever they want on the piece of land they own. Complete freedom for one, might mean oppression for another. And, it might lead to pig farms next to daycare centers next to plating plants next to porno theaters next to grade schools next to chicken rendering plants.

In a built out society, people on both sides of the fence have rights and responsibilities. Humans discovered a long time ago that we can't always count on our neighbor on the other side of the fence to do the right thing by our lights.

To give everyone as much individual freedom to do as they want with their property and not harm their neighbors, government (composed of the people) must make reasonable rules for land use.

And, over time, needs and land uses change, and rules must be changed.

These days, neighbors of the OC Register can't put in pig farms all around your building or around the tony homes of the pure thinking editors and upper management of the paper.

Ideologically pure libertarianism, which seems to get a lot of mouth service by the Reg--if not actually lived by those who work there--is problematic in a crowded world with every piece of land owned by someone.

Reasonable people of a libertarian bent (and I'm both, I believe) understand that we have to give up some of our freedoms to live in a society with others. The less we have to give up, the better; especially as our freedoms relate to our thought and speech.

Now, as to the case at bar--the revitalization of Santa Ana. Most will agree that the city needs it. So, what do the libertarian purists at the Reg, who probably mostly don't live in Santa Ana, suggest as a reasonable way to handle matters?

Before answering, here's a suggestion. Why don't all of you folks in upper management and especially on the editorial board at the Reg, actually move to Santa Ana? Come on down from your ivory towers and actually live in the neighborhoods in question.

Live what you preach before getting too preachy about how others should live.

CM PRESS
Costa Mesa

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OUR TRIP TO TIJUANA--LIBERTARIAN THINKING AND ITS DISCONTENTS

Not long ago, the CM PRESS was in Tijuana. There, we saw an example of "it's my land and I'll do what I want with it," thinking.

About 30 feet directly behind a large factory, was a row of ramshackle small homes identical to what you see in some older Santa Ana neighborhoods. The front doors and porches actually faced the back of the massive tilt-up concrete back wall of the factory. There was a small unpaved muddy road in front of the homes about the width of one car.

On the other side of this small muddy road, was property that was apparently owned by the factory. However, there was no fence to separate the homes from the factory's land. Directly next to the muddy road on the factory's land was a large muddy shallow pool of water with a metallic sheen floating on the surface of the water. In about the center of the pool of water was a steaming slag heap about 4 feet high and 15 feet in
circumference with fresh tire tracks leading from it through the mud to the factory.

Playing in the water were three little kids. The oldest appeared to be about nine-years-old. Two were up to their knees in the water and mud while the youngest one was "swimming" by pulling himself along by his hands in the mud below him. No doubt, the kids were pleased to live in such a great place with a wonderful pool of water right in front of their home where they could swim and play each day.

Your guess is as good as mine about how many of these kids will come down with cancer and other ailments as a result of playing in the water.

We wonder if the pure souls at the
OC Register would argue that the factory owners have a right to dump their waste products on their land--hey, they own it--even when it impacts the health and safety of those living in the homes on adjacent pieces of land.

Libertarian thinking must be guided by the principle: Your right to swing your arm, stops where my nose begins.
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If you think the above two articles don't relate to Costa Mesa, you haven't been paying attention.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.


Sunday, December 23, 2007

CM PRESS # 259


WILL COSTA MESA GET SMART BEFORE ONE OF OUR COPS IS KILLED BY AN ILLEGAL ALIEN?

After a cop was killed in the city of Scottsdale, Arizona, by an illegal alien, the city started a policy of asking everyone they stop about their citizenship status. Those who are suspected of being illegal aliens are turned over to ICE.

By asking everyone the same questions, the city is avoiding charges of profiling people because of their race or ethnicity.

Costa Mesa City Council, how about protecting our cops before there's a similar tragedy here?

How about taking the reasonable and responsible actions of Scottsdale?

Here's a LINK to the AP article about this.
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SANTA ANA WANTS IMPROVEMENT?


Over at the Register, Steven Greenhut is upset that citizens (laugh out loud) of Santa Ana aren't upset about a plan to improve the city's central core that is full of industrial buildings.

Here are a few of our thoughts about this:

1. Does Greenhut even live in Santa Ana? Probably not. If he did, he might want the city improved. There are almost nightly killings in Santa Ana and the schools are at Third World levels.

The only thing keeping Santa Ana alive is the fact that it is the county seat and has government buildings there. In fact, you can find many of the "gentry" in these government buildings during working hours. In the evening, the gentry leave and take their money and buying power with them to safer communities. Santa Ana apparently wants to find a way to keep the gentry in the city.

2. To be clear. Why aren't there more "citizens" upset? Ah, because there aren't many citizens still living in Santa Ana, and those that are still there are probably all for improving their city. Maybe, Greenhut's column should have asked why more illegal aliens in Santa Ana aren't upset about this plan that will impact them. The answer, of course, is that most of them don't want to come forward and possibly be deported.

3. Santa Ana, unlike Costa Mesa, does not have upscale Newport Beach and the ocean right next door which will help Costa Mesa improve. Being inland, Santa Ana's plan may fail all on its own. Would you want to live in Santa Ana? Would you want your kids in school there? Would you want to be shopping after dark there?

Here's the LINK to Greenhut's column.
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Friday, December 21, 2007

CM PRESS # 258


15-YEAR-OLD GIRL ESCAPES LATINO KIDNAPPERS IN KATRINA FOLEY'S MESA DEL MAR NEIGHBORHOOD!

According to the DAILY PILOT, two Latino men tried to kidnap a 15-year-old girl on Presidio Square behind Davis Elementary School yesterday (Thursday, 12/20).

The men grabbed the girl's hair but she escaped and ran away.

It was lucky that these men tried to abduct a girl who was old enough and strong enough to escape. Davis Elementary School, which backs up to Presidio Square, has kids as young as 8-years-old who leave the school on Presidio Square at about the same time as this attempted kidnapping.

This is in Katrina Foley's Mesa Del Mar neighborhood where there is also a major illegal alien slum apartment complex that has seen constant crime, including murders and gang activity. Maybe the cops should check there first for these two creeps who tried to kidnap this girl.

Readers may recall that Foley had a hug-a-thon in the slum a couple of months ago where she and some of her goody-two-shoes crew planted flowers in front of the slum buildings.

Somehow, the flowers haven't seemed to stop crime in the area. But, they probably made the illegals and gang members feel very welcome when they saw City Councilmember Katrina Foley out front putting in plants and repairing fences.

Here's the description from the Daily Pilot of the two men who tried to kidnap the girl:

Suspect One: Latino, about 45 years old, 5-foot-6, weighing about 145 pounds. He was wearing a faded red baseball cap, a black leather jacket and baggy blue jeans.

Suspect Two: Latino, also about 45 years old, and is 5-foot-6 and weighs about 145 pounds. He was last seen wearing a white beanie cap, a blue and yellow flannel jacket with a gray hood and baggy blue jeans, police said.

Here's the Pilot LINK.

Your vote for City Council candidates matters. We don't need any more squishes on the City Council such as Katrina Foley! We need people who are tough, and who won't appease the criminals. We need people who will keep our children safe when they walk home from school.

Thank God we have some adults on the City Council who are working to make our kids safer. Give thanks to Mayor Mansoor, Mayor Pro Tem Bever and Councilperson Leece for any safety that we still do have.

Foley can't even keep kids in her own neighborhood safe from criminals!

Do we sound pissed off? You bet we are. We got active in this city after someone close to us was attacked by a gang of suspected illegal aliens in that very neighborhood! Get rid of those damn slums! They're a habitat for criminals.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.
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Stay informed, the CM PRESS puts out new issues just about every day--sometimes more than one a day, when news and views move--Bookmark our permanent link and come back often:
http://cmpress.blogspot.com
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Thursday, December 20, 2007

CM PRESS # 257


GOOD GRIEF, FOLEY WRIGGLES INTO YET ANOTHER DAILY PILOT STORY

Looks like the folks at the Daily Pilot and Katrina Foley are up to their old tricks of trying to work Foley's name into just about every story.

How else can we explain how Foley ended up in a story about the closing of a spa at South Coast Plaza? LINK

How could the writer at the DP possibly know that Foley's mother-in-law used this spa? Hmmmmmmm?

Well, maybe the Pilot was the innocent party in this.

We imagine one possibility...

One ringy dingy, two ringy dingy..."Hello Daily Pilot (says Foley in a false voice), have you heard that the wonderfully compassionate Costa Mesa City Councilperson Katrina Foley has a personal interest angle to the closing of a spa in South Coast Plaza? If I were you, I'd give her a call to get some of her wonderful comments about this matter."
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

CM PRESS # 256

LAID OFF IN THE SUB-PRIME MORTGAGE DEBACLE?

HAVE FUN AND MAKE BIG MONEY IN COSTA MESA WITH YOUR VERY OWN NON-PROFIT CORPORATION!


Join others who have discovered this hidden secret of wealth. Find romance, make friends, be a pillar of the community.

For as little as $37. 49 you can learn to set up your very own 501(c)(3) corporation by buying a book from your local bookstore or on line.

With your very own non-profit corporation, you will be able to apply for free money from the City of Costa Mesa and private citizens. Money that you will never have to pay back! And, once you get your IRS Tax free status, people who donate to you can get tax deductions.

Remember, "non-profit" doesn't mean that you, personally, don't make any money.

You can write yourself a hefty salary and have your new BMW paid for as part of your legitimate business expenses.

Costa Mesa is a great place for a non-profit mogul to make a killing.

Here's why:

**There is a ready supply of needy illegal aliens in the city. (You don't have to ask if your clients are legally in the country or not.)

**You may be able to get free rent in a tax-payer owned building. (It helps if your non-profit has a "kid" angle to it.)

**The local newspaper is non-profit friendly and will gladly publish news about your non-profit. (Send the paper your press releases about fund raising events, awards you give and receive, and more.)

**There are a number of other non-profits in the city that will help you and that will share clients with you.

Don't have any ideas about the hottest non-profit to start?

In Costa Mesa, your best bet might be to start one that helps kids with their homework or teaches them English or tries to keep them out of gangs.

Anything with "kids" in it is HOT, HOT, HOT and is sure to help you get money from at least two City Councilmembers and their pals.

If you want more ideas on what type of non-profit to start, just call the Costa Mesa Community Development/HCD office at City Hall (714) 754-5635, and ask for their latest HUD Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) list of non-profits applying for free money. Read what other successful non-profits are doing and just copy what looks good to you! It's as easy as that.

When you call the above number, also get an application for a HUD CDBG grant. Once a year your application will be reviewed by the 3R Committee. Don't worry, there are usually people who are involved with non-profits on the 3R Committee. They'll treat you with kid gloves.

And, guess what? You will never have to prove that your non-profit actually succeeds with what you say it's doing! You just have to have nice sounding intentions.

If some citizens say that you're not making a dent in whatever the social problem is that you say you're trying to solve, you can simply say that there's no proof that you're not helping solve the problem and that you know, in your heart of hearts, that you're making a big difference in the lives of needy young people.

Then, you can trot out a few smiling kids who will tell people that but for you and your non-profit, they would: be doing drugs, be in gangs, be pregnant, be failing in school, be hungry, be unwashed, not speak English, be doing graffiti, be a burden on society, be stealing hubcaps, be stealing lunch money, not have any shoes.

Do it right, and your non-profit can be a perpetual money making machine for you.

Worried you won't find enough clients? Perish the thought. You know all those non-English speaking people who bought homes from you or whose loans you funded who you knew couldn't afford those homes? Well, just give them a call!

If that doesn't work, just put fliers advertising your free services in laundromats on the Westside. Also, hand out fliers (in Spanish, of course) to day workers loitering on the Westside.

HOW TO STAY ON EASY STREET

In order to keep your non-profit successful, you will need to have some political clout. In Costa Mesa, that means you have to elect your friends to the City Council.

Remember, that while your non-profit can't get involved in politics, you can. And, since you will be making a hefty salary from your non-profit--thanks to all that free money--you, personally, can donate some of your salary to non-profit friendly candidates. You can also use your kind and compassionate reputation to back City Council candidates who are to your liking.

If your non-profit friendly candidate gets elected to the Costa Mesa City Council, he or she will be able to repay you by voting to give you CDBG funds each year.

NOW, GET OUT THERE AND MAKE SOME REAL MONEY!
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The above is satire. You shouldn't really start a non-profit unless you are as kind and compassionate as those who are already in the non-profit business. You can find such people in their expensive homes in some of the best neighborhoods in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach when they aren't busy helping humanity on the Westside.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

CM PRESS # 255

JIM FISLER

As we reported in CM PRESS # 250, Planning Commissioner Jim Fisler seems to be serious about running for the City Council.

We think Jim wants to improve Costa Mesa. If so, we like that.

We here at the CM PRESS are totally dedicated to improving Costa Mesa and we have been since we began publication in 2000.

But, "improvement" is a broad term and it can mean all sorts of things, so we further define that term to mean that we want Costa Mesa to be as nice as our surrounding coastal cities.

By this, we mean we want our vital statistics that indicate low crime, good schools, a high quality of life, etc. to be on a par with upscale cities.

Long time readers know that the CM PRESS has done much more than just talk. Talk is cheap. We attend most city meetings and we don't just report on them after the fact, we take part in them and posit ideas that we believe will help our city. Some have called us relentless.

To take the ambiguity out of the word "improvement" and to have a reasonably objective device for measuring how Costa Mesa is doing, the CM PRESS invented the "ring of cities" concept for taking our vital signs.

What we do is compare our statistics--from crime, to home prices, to school scores to you name it--with the five cities that surround Costa Mesa and which touch some part of our land.

The ring of cities is composed of: Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Irvine and Santa Ana.

Of the cities in the ring of cities, Newport Beach is almost always at the top as the best in everything and Santa Ana is almost always at the bottom.

Unfortunately, Costa Mesa is often right next to Santa Ana in far too many things.

The CM PRESS believes, due to our geography (close to the ocean), and our historic ties to Newport Beach, along with our business/tax advantages (South Coast Metro, primarily), that Costa Mesa should actually be in the top three, not in the bottom two in the ring of cities. We want to help make this a reality.

We also believe that the key to improving all of Costa Mesa is the Westside and in particular the 60 acres of the Westside that are the overly industrialized Westside Bluffs.

Fix the Westside and the rest of Costa Mesa will fall in place. Don't fix it, and it'll be a cancer that will kill our city.

ABOUT BEING ON THE CITY COUNCIL

We understand the human psychology of being on the City Council. Once there, you're pulled in many different directions. Big developers and industrialists and assorted important people, who wouldn't give you the time of day before, are now treating you like their best friend as they try to curry favor with you. We also understand that you have to rely on staff to help you understand and manage the volumes of information that come before you.

It takes an extraordinary person to not have his or her head turned by all the attention of the Big Suits and even of staff and to stay focused on what is important.

The CM PRESS believes the best way to stay true to improvement goals is to simply ask of all things: "Would this be acceptable in Newport Beach?"

Thus, one must ask in a general sense:

Would Newport Beach allow 60 acres of industrial buildings on the bluffs in Corona del Mar?

Would Newport Beach allow slum apartment buildings to exist in that city?

Would Newport Beach allow the city to become an illegal alien sanctuary city?

But, these larger policy questions also trickle down to the smaller nitty gritty things that come before the Council all the time, such as...

"Would Newport Beach allow condos to be built that have inadequate parking?"

"Would Newport Beach keep giving tax money to charities that support illegal aliens?"

It is the cumulative effect of many bad small decisions that has brought Costa Mesa down to the level of Santa Ana. These small decisions are important and citizens have to stay on top of them and speak out when they see the Council getting ready to approve bad "small" things.

IF JIM FISLER GETS ELECTED, WILL HE REALLY HELP IMPROVE COSTA MESA?

We're seeing Jim starting to take public stands on issues--most notably illegal immigration. That's no surprise. He's against illegal immigration and has been for many years.

While the general subject of illegal immigration is the most important issue in Costa Mesa, we want to hear more from Mr. Fisler about specific proposals to get Costa Mesa out of the illegal alien sanctuary business and be more like our coastal neighbors.

We want to know if he'll support more housing on the over industrialized Westside Bluffs.

We want to know what he'll do to rid our city of flophouses for illegal aliens.

We want to know what he'll do to beef up our city codes to stop illegal aliens from endangering themselves and others by soliciting work from passing motorists.

We want to know if he'll work to help find an alternate airport to take the pressure off the continuous expansion of John Wayne.

We want to know if he'll work to get a tunnel or some other solution to the 55 Freeway mess in our downtown.

We want to know his position on Banning Ranch and on parks and open space.

We want to know that he's solidly focused on the improvement of Costa Mesa and won't sell his soul to out of town industrialists in order to raise money for the election.

We want to know that he's a fighter and not a shrinking violet who will pee his pants the first time someone calls him a name and that he won't side with the mostly out of town industrialists who want to keep the Westside Bluffs mired in industrial buildings forever.

And, that's just for starters.

The CM PRESS has often said that we have no friends in politics. We mean it. Again, we are totally focused on improving Costa Mesa. We do not vote for personalities. We want to see good people on the City Council who will make our city the great place it can be.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

Monday, December 17, 2007

CM PRESS # 254


READ ALL ABOUT "THE RACE" DANCING IN THE DAILY PILOT!

Here's the LINK.

They only come here to dance.
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O.C REGISTER TRIES TO MINIMIZE ICE RESULTS IN COSTA MESA

December 17, 2007--The OC REGISTER has a long article in the paper today that attempts to minimize the ICE results in Costa Mesa.

Note the crappy headline on the piece: "Deportation splits city with a heart."

Splits Costa Mesa? Nonsense. The main comment in the article about splitting our community came from Jean Forbath who lives in Mesa Verde far from the Share Our Selves charity that she founded on the Westside which gives free medical and dental care, bags of groceries and even money to a mostly Spanish speaking clientele.

Many citizens of Costa Mesa believe that SOS is one of the major magnets that draws illegal aliens to Costa Mesa and which then causes them to stay here near the free services that they get.

"It's fracturing the community. The future of Costa Mesa and Orange County and all America is to accept each other. This program does not create communities," said Forbath.

Ahh, Ms. Forbath, the program is intended to get criminals off our streets. It's not supposed to be a group hug.

Also, Ms. Forbath, it is not fracturing our community at all. Our community is composed of legal residents of the U.S.

Our community is not composed of citizens of Mexico and other countries who break the first law they come to in our country by crossing the border illegally. They are outside of "our community," no matter how much you and your friends at Return to Reason want to make us all think that they are part of our community.

They're also not stakeholders or non-citizen citizens or undocumented workers. They are illegal aliens. They broke the law by coming here illegally and they continue to break the law in an ongoing trespass by staying here. They should be sent back to their own countries where their own citizens can give them freebies.

The best quote in the article came from James Hayes, Los Angeles director of Detention and Removal for U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who said that small offenses lead to bigger crimes.

"They're going to go from not being licensed to not having insurance, to getting into accidents, to not being able to find a job, because of all those factors combined, because they're dependent on drugs, they're dependent on alcohol, and they're going to be thieves, then they're going to be rapists, then they're going to be murdered. That's the progression," said Hayes.

Besides Forbath, other Return to Reasoners quoted in the article (yawn) are Citycouncilbumpon alog Katrina Foley (who lives in Mesa del Mar) and former police chief Dave Snowden (who lives in Newport Beach and works in Beverly Hills). As might be expected, Foley and Snowden don't think Costa Mesa has much of a problem with illegal aliens.

You can bet that conditions tolerated in Costa Mesa would not be acceptable in Newport Beach or Beverly Hills.

Yes, dear friends, it is sad but true. Newport Beach and Beverly Hills are not cities with hearts. They are full of meanies who don't want their cities overrun with illegal aliens like Costa Mesa. They are cities that don't want to be illegal alien sanctuaries and which work to keep from being so.

But, some of the folks who live and work in those communities don't mind trying to keep Costa Mesa full of illegal aliens and they don't mind calling Costa Mesans names when the citizens of our city want Costa Mesa to be as crime free and have schools just as good as those in Newport and Beverly Hills.

Here's the LINK .
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"MR. MILLARD"

There's someone who posts on the Daily Pilot blog that is using the name "Mr. Millard." That's not me, folks.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

CM PRESS # 253


ILLEGAL GARAGE APARTMENTS AND OVERCROWDED FLOPHOUSES IN COSTA MESA HAVE TO GO!

On Friday (12/14/07), a fire roared through a garage in Long Beach that had been converted to living space, killing Stephanie Aviles, 6, and her sister Jasmine 10.

U-P-D-A-T-E--Sunday, 12/16--A third sister, age 7, has now died from her injuries from the fire. Officials now say that the cause of the fire is directly related to the cheap spaceheater.

The garage was uninsulated as temperatures dipped into the 40's. Authorities are not sure if the fire was caused by an inexpensive space heater plugged into a power strip or whether an electrical short was the fire's cause.

According to press reports, a man who lives in the home in front of the garage said the family in back was just spending the night in a sleepover. However, city officials say that they were living there.

Although the legal status of those involved was not reported, using garages--and every other bit of roofed space--for living quarters, is common in illegal alien neighborhoods.

When you see a city, such as Costa Mesa, with many charities that serve illegal aliens, and with many day workers looking for casual work, have you ever asked yourself where the illegal aliens and day workers live or how they can afford to pay high rents?

The answer is that they're often living in unsafe garages or are living like sardines in unsafe and unsanitary apartments and single family homes. Rent of a thousand bucks a month for a garage isn't so bad if you split it ten ways. A couple of days of stoop labor and you've got a roof over your head for a month.

The Costa Mesa City Council should get rid of the illegal and unsafe garage living quarters in our city before we have a tragedy such as we saw in Long Beach.

How do you spot possible overcrowded and unsafe living conditions?

Drive through any slum neighborhood in Costa Mesa, especially those with barracks style apartments, about six or seven in the evening on a warm night. Do you see small groups of men sitting outside the apartments or garages?

If you're one of Katrina Foley's supporters you may think they're just relaxing and talking to friends. And, that may be the case.

But maybe, as is often the case, they all live in the garage or in an overcrowded apartment with many other unrelated people and are outside so they won't bother others who are inside sleeping.
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ANTI-IMPROVER KATRINA FOLEY IS RUNNING FOR REELECTION

Katrina Foley is soliciting donations on her Website for her reelection campaign in 2008.

Will Improvement minded citizens send her packing this year or will she be able to fool enough voters into voting for her because of her smarmy and intelligence insulting bake sale level of local involvement that seldom seems to be about improving Costa Mesa?

First, she had her brother's unit of Army mechanics adopted by the city. Then, she collected blankets for fire victims in South County. Now, she's offering a $ 500 scholarship for a school essay.

Okay, so these all sound nice in an Aunt Bee sort of way. But, who the hell does she think she is, the Queen of Planet PTA? Come on, what do these things have to do with making Costa Mesa a nicer place for us and our families? Nothing. Foley doesn't seem to know that she's on the Costa Mesa City Council.

Was it our imagination or did Foley sound tight jawed when the Daily Pilot asked for Foley's view on the ICE enforcement program that has resulted in 520 illegal alien criminals being deported? LINK

“I think the police would be the only ones to know if the program is effective,” said Foley.

Huh?

That would be like saying, "I think that weathermen are the only ones to know if rain is wet."

Look, Ms. Foley, this really isn't very difficult. Any time you take any criminals off our streets and deport them, you have an effective program. You don't need an expert to tell you that. Well, in your case, maybe you do.

Say, Ms. Foley, correct us if we're wrong. Didn't you speak through a translator to a group of suspected illegal alien day workers last year at the Costa Mesa Senior Center and reassure them that you're on their side?

Also, Ms. Foley, weren't you opposed to closing down the job center?
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

Friday, December 14, 2007

CM PRESS # 252




BOOT 'EM!

Between December '06, when the ICE agent was put in the CM police station and the end of November of this year, ICE reports that they have identified 520 illegal alien criminals who can be deported among the 5,369 people arrested by the CMPD.

The number of illegals identified is thus approximately 9.7% of the total arrestees.

In looking at data from other cities with similar demographics to Costa Mesa, we find that approximately 11% of their arrestees are found to be illegal aliens.

If Costa Mesa were at the 11% figure, we would have found 590 illegal aliens instead of the actual 520. Still, the 9.7% figure is within a reasonable range of 11% so there is probably no reason for concern.

However, if Costa Mesa's figures drop much below where they are now, i.e. if we suddenly show that we're only finding 8% or less of our arrestees to be illegal aliens, then someone on the City Council should ask some questions. If they don't, the CM PRESS will.

And, if the figures do drop to 8% or lower, then what possible explanations could there be for this?

Three immediately come to mind:

1. Some street officers might have a personal don't ask, don't tell policy and not arrest those they think may be illegal.

2. The ICE Agent is not screening all possible illegal aliens.

3. There are fewer illegal aliens in Costa Mesa or the remaining illegal aliens are not breaking additional laws that bring them to the attention of the CMPD.

It'll be interesting to see if the new CMPD organization reported in CM PRESS # 251 will cause any changes in the number of illegal aliens discovered by ICE.

As you may recall, there will be two Area Commanders who will be responsible for all crime/quality of life issues in their areas.

Lt. Paul Dondero will be the Commander of Area 1 which is all of the Westside below Wilson Street and all of the Eastside below 22nd Street.

Lt. Marty Carver will be the Commander of Area 2 which is all the rest of the city above Wilson Street on the West and 22nd Street on the East.

In addition, Lt. Clay Epperson (Return to Reason) will be responsible for, among other things, the Special Enforcement Detail, Gang Detail, School Resource Officers, Park Rangers.

All three lieutenants will thus be involved in duties that will bring them into contact with suspected illegal aliens.

Will we see different trends in the number of illegal aliens discovered and deported under the new organization?

The CM PRESS plans to keep track of these numbers. To this end we have requested that we receive the same reports that the CMPD gives to the City Council and City Staff showing the numbers of illegals arrested each month.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.



Wednesday, December 12, 2007

CM PRESS # 251


MORE ON THE CMPD REORGANIZATION

As reported in CM PRESS # 249, Chief Shawkey and Captain Gogerty made a presentation at the City Council Study Session yesterday about a reorganization of the CMPD. We were there.

PRESENT SYSTEM

The CMPD is presently using a Watch Commander system with the city being split up into three areas for administrative and reporting purposes. In the three areas are a number of beats that are patrolled by officers for the shifts that they work.

When one of the three shifts is over, other officers replace them. Under this system, individual officers generally patrol the city as a whole and do not concentrate in any of the areas or beats except during their assigned shift. An officer might report for his or her shift and be assigned to the Westside on Monday but be on the Eastside on Tuesday and in the north part of the city on Wednesday depending on where the Watch Commander feels there is a need.


NEW SYSTEM

The new system is a combination of Team Policing and Area Commands. The city will be split into two areas with everything south of Wilson on the Westside and 22nd Street on the Eastside being part of Area 1 and everything north of that in Area 2 (this corrects the statement in CM PRESS # 249 listing Victoria as the dividing line).

While Area 2 is geographically about twice the size of Area 1, the number of service calls including major service calls in Area 1, warrants the size difference. According to the report, the number of service calls (the report is not clear if this was one year's calls or an average) was 33,092 in Area 1 and in Area 2 it was 36,496.

Officers assigned to an area will constantly work that area so that they get to know it and the people living there. Every six months there will be a shift change, where the officers can request a different time shift, but they will still remain in their assigned area.

If there are problems in one area requiring more police officers, they will be called in from the other area.

It appears that there is a good deal of flexibility in the new system to cover any contingencies while at the same time putting officers in an area where they will soon learn to identify people and things out of place that may indicate impending problems.

To the CM PRESS, this looks like a good change. Now, we'll all have to wait and see if it works to make Costa Mesa a nicer and safer place. The proof is always in the pudding.
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WE ASK ABOUT ICE

At the Study Session, the CM PRESS asked if there might be an easier way for the public to get monthly ICE detainer figures. City Manager Allan Roeder said that it might be possible for the City to put them on the City's Website. Hopefully, this will be the case.

We also suggested to the Council that they may want to prepare a back-up plan in case the ICE agent is removed from our jail.

Frankly, aside from the fact that such a back-up plan would help keep the deportation of dangerous criminals out of our city on track, we're also interested in seeing whether there is resistance from some in the CMPD (as there was in the past) to having some of our officers cross-trained to check for immigration status.

In our view, if such resistance does emerge, it's a sure sign that more needs to be done to get the CMPD working for the best interests of the citizens of Costa Mesa.
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HERE'S SOMETHING WE GRABBED OFF THE INTERNET ABOUT TAXES

This is too true to be very funny

The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.


While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division. Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number, what does it mean?

A. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you each get $516,528.

B. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787.

C. Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D.C... HELLO!!! ... Are all your calculators broken??
Tax his land,
Tax his wage,
Tax his bed in which he lays.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes is the rule.
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.

Tax his ties,
Tax his shirts,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he tries to think.

Tax his booze,
Tax his beers,
If he cries,
Tax his tears.

Tax his bills,
Tax his gas,
Tax his notes,
Tax his cash.

Tax him good and let him know
That after taxes, he has no dough.

If he hollers,
Tax him more,
Tax him until he's good and sore.

Tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in which he lays.
Put these words upon his tomb,
'Taxes drove me to my doom!'

And when he's gone,
We won't relax,
We'll still be after the inheritance TAX!!

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Perm it Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax),
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax),
Liquor Tax,
Luxury Tax,
Marriage License Tax,
Medicare Tax,
Property Tax,
Real Estate Tax,
Service charge taxes,
Social Security Tax,
Road Usage Tax (Truckers),
Sales Taxes,
Recreational Vehicle Tax,
School Tax,
State Income Tax,
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA),
Telephone Federal Excise Tax,
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fe e Tax,
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax,
Telephone State and Local Tax,
Telephone Usage Charge Tax,
Utility Tax,
Vehicle License Registration Tax,
Vehicle Sales Tax,
Watercraft Registration Tax,
Well Permit Tax,
Workers Compensation Tax.

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago,
and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened? Can you spell 'politicians??'

And I still have to press 1 for English.

I hope this goes around THE USA at least 100 times
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

CM PRESS # 250


OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD

Planning Commissioner and long time improvement activist Jim Fisler filed his Candidate's Intention Form 501 with the City Clerk yesterday declaring his intention to run for the Costa Mesa City Council.



"When all the world is a hopeless jumble
And the raindrops tumble all around
Heaven opens a magic lane
When all the clouds darken up the skyway
There's a rainbow highway to be found
Leading from your window pane
To a place behind the sun
Just a step beyond the rain."
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

Monday, December 10, 2007

CM PRESS # 249



CMPD REORGANIZING?

At Tuesday's City Council Study Session, the CMPD will present a power point presentation with the title "Police Department Deployment Model."

Since there is no introduction to this presentation that we could find on the City's Web site, we're not completely sure why this is being presented or what the Council will be asked to do. We're not even sure how much of this is really new since there are no before and after comparisons of the organizational structures discussed.

However, it appears, from our cursory reading of the power point presentation, that the City will be split into two Areas with a north/south split instead of the present three areas.

Area 1, which appears from the map in the presentation to be roughly all of the City from Victoria Street south to the Newport Beach border, will be commanded by Lt. Paul Dondero

Area 2, which appears to include everything north of Area 1, will be commanded by Lt.Marty Carver.

Lt. Clay Epperson (Return to Reason supporter in the last election who went door to door handing out literature supporting Mansoor and Leece's opponents) will be the Special Operations Lieutenant and, will be "Accountable/Responsible for all specialty assignments and responsibilities including: Special Enforcement Detail, Gang Detail, School Resource Officers, Park Rangers, S.W.A.T., Research/Development pertaining to Pole Cameras, CCTV and other video surveillance system technology, Tactical Event Planning/Mobile Field Force.

Lt. Bob Ciszek will be the Administrative Lieutenant and will handle things such as training, scheduling and most back room matters at the CMPD.

Here's the LINK to the power point presentation.

The CM PRESS will try to be at the meeting to get additional information/corrections and we'll report what we learn late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

As with most citizens of this city, we want the most effective police organization that will help rid our city of the gangs (which are overwhelmingly Latino) and the illegal alien criminals who enable them.

This means that we need officers who understand the true nature of the problem and who don't have personal agendas and biases that blind them to the real problem.

In this "seeing the real problem" category, you may recall that several months ago, the CMPD presented a report on gangs to the City Council in which there was no mention that most of the gangs in the City are Latino.

In fact, the only ethnicity that was mentioned was "whites" as the report veered off into a discussion of white prison gangs, even though the report itself said that white gangs are not a problem in the city. It would have made as much sense to discuss the Japanese Yakuza, Russian Mafia or Chinese Tongs.

Some observers believe that mentioning white prison gangs that aren't a problem in Costa Mesa, while not even once using the terms "Latino," "Hispanic," or "illegal aliens" in connection with gangs and gang members that are a problem, was an attempt to make it appear to a casual reader as though gangs in Costa Mesa are equal opportunity employers, when that is not the case at all. Again, most gangs and gang members in Costa Mesa are Latino and many have links to illegal aliens.

If you want to solve a problem, you first have to correctly identify what the problem is.

One word that jumped out at us from the power point presentation is "stakeholders." Yup, that liberal term that, in Costa Mesa, is so often used to lump illegal aliens in with citizens, appears in the power point presentation.
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LOFTS ON BAKER STREET

The no-Planning Commission is expected to approve 22 lofts on Baker Street west of Bristol at its meeting tonight. Here's the LINK.
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MORE GRAFFITI IN PAULARINO PARK

Remember the CM PRESS report about the graffiti that was carved into a tree in Paularino Park and how an officer with the CMPD gang detail tried to deny the tipster a reward when the perp was arrested?

Well, there's more graffiti now carved into that very same tree just below the old graffiti which, of course, is still there and very much visible, and will be for many years.

It's the broken window syndrome. Like begets like.

No doubt, any tipsters who saw this new graffiti being carved into the tree may not want to go through all the trouble it takes to report this to the CMPD.
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CROSS TRAIN CMPD FOR ICE FUNCTIONS

The CM PRESS still believes that the City Council should have the CMPD cross train some officers to interview suspected illegal aliens.

We understand that the ICE agent in charge of the LA office who put the ICE agent in the CMPD jail has been or is about to be transferred to a different jurisdiction.

Will the new agent in charge pull the ICE agent from our jail? Does the City have a backup plan to keep getting the illegal alien criminals off our streets?
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

Friday, December 7, 2007

CM PRESS # 248


NEWPORT NOT BUILDING ENOUGH CHEAP HOUSING

The DAILY PILOT is reporting today that the state is telling Newport Beach that it has to build more housing for low income people.

What's missing from the report is what happens if Newport Beach doesn't do it. The answer? Nothing.

The fact is that many in Newport Beach have long considered Costa Mesa to be the location for Newport's low income housing requirements and also the place to put whatever else they don't want in Newport Beach.

Costa Mesa is the reason that Newport Beach doesn't have a bad part of town.

In fact, Costa Mesa is the bad part of town for Newport Beach. And, isn't that wonderful, boys and girls? Newporters don't have to pay for their bad part of town, and their bad part of town doesn't pull down their property values--because it's another town altogether!

Costa Mesa is to Newport Beach what the tunnels below Disneyland are to that pristine park. All the dirty stuff takes place out of sight.

Of course, there are some in Costa Mesa who believe that our city should be almost as nice as Newport Beach and other coastal communities and who don't want Costa Mesa to remain as the bad part of town for any other city.

These people who want a nicer Costa Mesa are the Improvers and they've been working to improve all of Costa Mesa-- starting with the Westside.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

CM PRESS # 247



FOLEY LOSES BIKE TRAIL FIGHT

Citycouncilbumponalog Katrina Foley pedaled hard at the City Council meeting last night to have the Council approve a plan to put in a bike trail in a flood control channel that runs partly behind Foley's own Mesa del Mar neighborhood.

Unfortunately, for Ms. Foley, many of her neighbors didn't like the plan and asked the Council to turn it down. Maybe they didn't want to look out their back windows to see Foley bicycling along back there.

Foley and her pal Linda Dixon voted to approve the plan, and Mansoor, Bever and Leece voted against it.

Leece told Foley that since it was her plan and her neighborhood, that Foley should have been more in touch with her neighbors before having the plan come before the Council.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

CM PRESS # 246


MANSOOR ENDORSES RON PAUL FOR PRESIDENT

According to the DAILY PILOT, Mayor Mansoor is endorsing Ron Paul as the Republican candidate for president.

Here's a LINK to Ron Paul's website.


Paul has strong libertarian leanings. He opposes the neocons and their wars, wants an end to illegal immigration and wants to get America back on the right track.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

 http://frankspeech.com/