EDITORIALS:Mayor Mansoor still owes his city an apology

Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor owes his city an apology.

His week-old comments following the shooting of five men, including one fatally, in an alley off Baker Street were nothing less than callous, absurd and inexcusable. In his first reaction to a Daily Pilot reporter’s asking for his response, the mayor said: “It shows we still have work to do, but it takes time to remove the welcome mat … When you have job centers, soup kitchens and a high concentration of downscale rental units, it drives the city down, and I favor a multi-faceted approach to include stronger gang enforcement and overlay-zone revitalization, and I also think a social worker holding the hand of a hardened gang member has not worked in other cities.”

As many readers have said, Mansoor’s first comments should have been along the lines of: “My thoughts and best wishes are with the victims and their families, especially Israel Maciel’s. I know our police are doing all they can to find the shooter and bring him to justice. As a community, we will rally around these families and try to bring them as much comfort as possible in this tragic time.”

Whether such comments offer much succor, they are expected from political leaders and, at the least, do not bring further hurt in such times.

But Mansoor’s comments added to the pain. His words took the shooting and turned it into a political play for his reelection. Worst of all, he implied that Maciel, the one man killed in the shooting, and the other four victims has gang ties. Absolutely not true, one of those four told the Pilot: “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” 17-year-old Raul Lopez said. “If he lived here, he would get the scene. 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.”

But Mansoor did not understand. He showed no compassion and no leadership. Even allowing for an initial slip of the tongue, Mansoor’s words are unacceptable. And in his opportunity to make up for his initial comments, he did no better.

He claimed to have spoken to parents and community members, but judging from Raul Lopez’s comments, the mayor failed to get to where this terrible attack happened. He didn’t talk to the right people, clearly.

Mansoor had an opportunity to rise to a level of true leadership and show that he is capable of being a member of the City Council. He had a chance to earn the residents’ trust that he can make compassionate and proper decisions about the future of this city.

Mansoor failed to do so. Voters should remember his words come November.