Mansoor wants to step down as mayor

Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor wants to “give someone else the opportunity to be mayor,” City Manager Allan Roeder said Thursday. The mayor, whose crackdown on illegal immigrants in Costa Mesa has earned him both kudos and criticism, will step down in January, a year into his second two-year term as mayor, officials said Thursday.

“The position does carry with it additional demands on an individual ... It takes a lot of time and energy, and Allan is one of those people who puts in the extra time and effort to do the best job possible,” Roeder said.

Mansoor, who will remain on city council, contacted Roeder recently and asked him to put the selection of a new mayor and possibly a new mayor pro tem on the Jan. 2 council meeting agenda.

“He simply said he felt that serving as mayor for three years was plenty of time for him to be mayor, and he would like to give someone else the opportunity,” Roeder said.

Efforts to reach Mansoor by telephone and e-mail were unsuccessful Thursday. Roeder said the mayor is on vacation for the holidays and will be unavailable for public comment until Monday.

Mansoor gained national media attention in 2005 when he advocated having local police enforce immigration laws.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement official later took up residence in the Costa Mesa jail with the support of Mansoor and other members of the council.

The program nabbed 520 immigrants who were eligible for deportation since its inception a year ago and 360 of those immigrants have been kicked out of the country.

In 2006, Costa Mesa closed its day labor center, largely at the urging of Mansoor. The mayor said the center, which was subsidized by the city, cost taxpayers too much money, when private job placement services could serve day laborers.

Critics called the closure anti-immigrant — the center mostly served Latino laborers in search of work.

“It’s a surprise to me,” Councilwoman Katrina Foley said. “I can’t imagine why he would want to step down — he seems to enjoy being the mayor.”

Mansoor’s term as mayor is set to expire in November 2008, and he is up for reelection to the council in 2010.

The council will pick a new mayor from among their ranks, and the appointment is usually based on seniority. Councilman Eric Bever and Councilwoman Katrina Foley both were elected to the council in 2004. In addition to her current term won in 2004, Councilwoman Linda Dixon also sat on the council from 1998-2002 and served a term as mayor in 2002.

Councilwoman Wendy Leece is the most recent addition to the council, she was elected in November 2006.

If the council votes in Bever, who is mayor pro tem, as the next mayor, the council also will pick someone to fill his spot Jan. 2.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].