Mayor defends his comments

Faced with mounting criticism of comments he made after Wednesday’s fatal shooting, Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor on Monday expressed sympathy for the victims while continuing to defend his opinion that the violence was a result of “job centers, soup kitchens and a high concentration of downscale rental units.”

Costa Mesa needs to “remove the welcome mat,” Mansoor said a day after 23-year-old Israel Maciel was killed and four others injured in a drive-by shooting in the 1300 block of West Baker Street.

Police have not determined whether the shooting was gang-related and have not ruled out any motive.

“The families of the victims have my deepest sympathy, but clearly my comments were directed at the criminals that were involved in this incident,” Mansoor said.

“In speaking with parents and families in the community, they clearly want us to remove the welcome mat in terms of crime and criminals. And, yes, we need to remove the welcome mat for the gang members and other criminals,” he said.

Mansoor’s comments have drawn support from some in the community and anger from others, notably a 17-year-old boy wounded in the attack.

Recovering from a gunshot wound that pierced his back, passed through his neck and clipped his ear, Raul Lopez said Mansoor is wrong about his apartment complex.

“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Raul Lopez said of the mayor’s reference to “downscale rental units.”

“If he lived here, he would get the scene,” Lopez continued. “If he lived here he would understand. If he came, he would see that there are a lot of hardworking people and no gang members.”

Several other residents at the complex who had read or heard about Mansoor’s comments also were critical.

“He wants to get re-elected, and he wants to keep the groups that are against illegal immigrants happy so they’ll vote for him,” said Hector Rodriguez, who has lived in the city since the 1970s.

Added resident Armando Guevara: “He’s talking about soup kitchens. What does that have to do with what happened here?”

Mansoor, who is running for reelection for the council in November, said he has received many supportive calls.

Ned McCune, a 30-year resident of Costa Mesa, said he wants equal frankness from other council candidates.

“I want to know from each of the candidates for council this November what they plan to do to ensure that Costa Mesa does not become an extension of Santa Ana,” McCune said. “The mayor has a strategy to counter this threat. I will not be satisfied until all candidates for council are as frank as the mayor. Specifically, will the candidates reopen the job center?”

Parks and Recreation Commissioner Wendy Leece, who also is running for a seat on the council, said she supports Mansoor’s comments.

“Parents like me are concerned when we read about drive-by shootings and sex offenders,” Leece said. “There’s no reason that these people should come to Costa Mesa. We need to enforce our laws and put these gang members on notice that they are not welcome in Costa Mesa.”

When Councilman Eric Bever was asked about Mansoor’s remarks, he said, “I don’t read the Daily Pilot anymore so I can’t comment.” Bever, who voted with Mansoor to close the job center and train local police to enforce federal immigration laws, did not respond after being e-mailed a copy of the article containing Mansoor’s remarks.

Parks and Recreation Commissioner Byron de Arakal was one of dozens expressing anger over Mansoor’s comments.

“I found [them] insensitive and very disappointing. I don’t think a reasonable citizen expects their mayor to use a tragic event such as this to trumpet his political platform,” de Arakal said.

“I spoke with a dozen people that I know, and both the men and women were appalled by the comments ? not just the lack of conveying any sympathy to Israel’s family, but also the assumption about the circumstances of the crime and then making a connection between those circumstances and the soup kitchen and job center, and the downscale, as he called it, apartment units in Costa Mesa.”

Natalia Lopez said she and her family rallied around the families of the shooting victims. Last Saturday, she attended a carwash fund-raiser held to raise money for Maciel’s funeral expenses. Since the shooting, she said she has resented outsiders saying there are gang problems in the apartment complex.

Lopez said the apartment complex is across from a predominantly white neighborhood.

“If there was a gang problem and crime here, the people that live across the street would have made noise by now and complained,” Lopez said.