Mansoor returns as mayor

Allan Mansoor is the new mayor of Costa Mesa, after being unanimously elected by the City Council on Tuesday night.

The issue was decided quickly and quietly with not a single word of debate from any of the council members or public comment.

Mansoor was the last regularly elected mayor of the city, but stepped down half way through his term and yielded the position to Eric Bever, saying that the time commitment was too much for him.

This time around he says he’s able and ready to spend the necessary time, but declined to comment on what has changed since he ceded the position.

“A year has passed since then. I’m willing to make the commitment,” Mansoor said.

As mayor, Mansoor’s main responsibility will be presiding over the biweekly meetings and acting as the face of the community at events. He said efficiency and fairness are his goals for the term.

Councilwoman Wendy Leece was elected mayor pro tem, also unanimously.

Before Tuesday’s meeting Councilwoman Katrina Foley said that she deserved to be mayor because the position is supposed to be rotated among the council members without consideration of politics and she felt she was next in line. As far back as she can remember no council member has ever served two terms without a stint as mayor, she said.

Foley also cited her frequent attendance of community events as a qualification.

Nobody nominated her though, and she voted along with the rest of the council for Mansoor and Leece.

“We have a lot of work to do, and I’m ready to move on and get to work,” Foley said.

Newly elected Councilman Gary Monahan and Bever both disagreed with Foley that the mayoral seat should be rotated.

“It hasn’t worked that way. The transitions have been irregular over the last four years, so I don’t think there’s really an order to things,” Bever said.

Bever said that Mansoor’s willingness to invest the time it takes to be mayor separated him from the other candidates.

All three of the council members that won seats in the recent election and were sworn in Tuesday — Monahan, Foley and Bever — have served on the council before. City Manager Allan Roeder looked at that with optimism.

“We’ve worked with you all before, so there’s no question in our minds that you’ll be successful,” he said.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].