WEEK IN REVIEW

COSTA MESA

Mayor to step down early; council to pick replacement

Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor will step down Wednesday, a year into his second two-year term as mayor, officials said last week.

Mansoor wants to “give someone else the opportunity to be mayor,” City Manager Allan Roeder said.

“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 the 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.

Mansoor gained national media attention in 2005 when he advocated having local police enforce immigration laws. His tough stance on immigration has earned him both praise and ire from residents.

Council members will pick a new mayor from among their ranks Wednesday, and the appointment is usually based on seniority.

Santa visits bar, gives gifts to neighborhood children

While children normally have no reason to visit a bar, on Christmas Day they had great reason to drop in to a neighborhood tavern. Santa was dropping off a bundle of gifts to neighborhood kids.

Phil Niesen, the manager at Tony’s Place, has organized the gift-giving event for seven years. He took over the duties after the previous owner, Tony Valente, passed them down to him.

More than 200 toys were given out to roughly 200 children. The line stacked up at 10 a.m. and children and their parents took pictures with Santa while they scurried around a table trying to find the perfect gift.

The money for the event was raised from community members and businesses, as well as patrons from the bar, some of whom were there early, wishing the children a merry Christmas.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Board of supervisors votes to increase traffic ticket fees

Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach cast a lone vote against a plan to increase traffic ticket fees to fund medical care for the uninsured. The board voted 4-1 to increase moving violation fees and other fines to help pay for emergency care for the uninsured. Moorlach calls the fine hike “nefarious.”

“It forces people to pay who are already paying for insurance and roads,” Moorlach said. “They shouldn’t have to pay more if they get caught in a speed trap or on a signal camera.”

Moorlach said he supports improving medical care for the uninsured in Orange County, but he thinks the funding should come from other sources.

The plan allows the county to collect an additional $2 for every $10 in fines from traffic tickets to pay for emergency medical care for the uninsured.

“Everyone should pay evenly,” Moorlach said. “Not people who are already paying.”

 A teenager was arrested Christmas Day after using his new Christmas present in an inappropriate manner.

The 15-year-old boy got a laser pointer as a gift and, unwisely, pointed it at a Skywest airplane, according to police.

When police sent a helicopter to locate the origins of the laser, the boy again pointed the laser to the sky, this time at the police helicopter, according to Newport Beach Sgt. Evan Sailor.

The boy, a Las Vegas resident in Newport with his family, was charged with a felony, but the ultimate charge will be determined by prosecutors.

BUSINESS

Sales up on Christmas Eve, but down day after Christmas

Last-minute Christmas shoppers on Christmas Eve gave a much-needed boost to some local businesses that have struggled in a slumping economic climate this past year.

Nationwide, sales reached $9.36 billion Saturday, up 7.6% from $8.7 billion the same day a year ago, according to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks sales at more than 50,000 stores.

Many holiday shoppers held out until only one shopping day remained, scrambling around town to pick up the last few presents for hard-to-shop-for parents or spouses.

People streamed in and out all day at Humanitaire, the vegan shoe and accessory shop. Many of the businesses in the SoBeCa shopping district off Bristol Street noticed a boost in business the day before Christmas. Arth, a hat shop in the Lab anti-mall, had many customers leaving with gifts for their own heads on top of their other purchases.

The upscale hat boutique offers decadent head gear ranging from straw fedoras to snake skin trucker hats.

By the day after Christmas, often the busiest shopping day of the year, the buzz wore off for retailers who largely suffered as the economy continues to sputter. Customers reported the slumping housing market and soaring gas prices kept them on the lookout for bargains.

The ports at Long Beach and Los Angeles saw a lot less traffic this year, a sign that retailers played it conservatively this year, said Eduardo Martinez, an economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, which also researches business trends in Orange County.

Orange County is especially vulnerable to the subprime mortgage problem because of a concentration of mortgage lender employees in Irvine and Orange, Martinez said.

 El Pollo Loco, the fast food chain headquartered in Costa Mesa, announced that it would open more than 50 new restaurants nationwide in 2008 after netting $45 million in equity funds.

Julie Weeks, the company’s vice president for communications, said the funding would go toward corporate needs and also toward new restaurants in the South, New England and other regions of the country.

El Pollo Loco opened its first restaurant in Mexico in 1975 and now operates more than 350 U.S. locations.

“We’re very excited to continue to expand this wonderful brand across the nation, and we look forward to the opportunity to share with more people our great food,” Weeks said.

EDUCATION

Two buyers looking into purchase of Rabbit Island

OCC’s Rabbit Island will get visits from two potential buyers early next year, OCC Foundation Executive Director Doug Bennett said Wednesday.

Bennett was admittedly surprised the college was approached this time of year. After the school nearly closed escrow in October only to have the deal fall through, Bennett said the chances of selling the island before next summer were slim.

Rabbit Island is a 36-acre island north of Vancouver at the top of the Strait of George in Canada. Yachting enthusiast Henry Wheeler donated the island to OCC in 2003.

The island’s annual maintenance proved too much of a financial drain for the school and was placed on the market earlier this year. The island is listed at $2.495 million.