Residents initiate MacLean’s recall

Mission Viejo, CA, Feb. 2, 2009 A Notice of Intent to Circulate Recall Petition was served to Councilman Lance MacLean at 6 p.m. on Feb. 2 at the Mission Viejo City Council meeting. More than 50 Mission Viejo residents signed papers as proponents or supporters to initiate the recall. Jim Snyder, a 30-year Mission Viejo resident, was the process server. 

The notice reads: To the Honorable Lance MacLean: Pursuant to Section 11020, California Elections Code, the undersigned registered qualified voters of Mission Viejo, in the State of California, hereby give notice that we are proponents of a recall petition and that we intend to seek your recall and removal from the office of Member of the City Council, in Mission Viejo, California, and to demand election of a successor in that office.

The grounds for the recall are as follows:

• You violated your responsibilities to voters, showing yourself unfit to serve as a City Council member by exhibiting Violence when you were arrested by Police for assault and battery on a co-worker.
• Anger and incivility when you ordered a Mission Viejo councilwoman to “SHUT UP” in closed session.
• Hatred and disrespect when you called residents racists and elitists in a LA Times interview.
• Self-dealing when you voted to double your council salary during our current economic crisis.
• Greed and corrupt priorities when you voted to give yourself lifetime medical benefits at taxpayer expense after only 12 years of part-time council service.
• Financial mismanagement when you voted for budget items leading to $11.8 million in deficit spending.
• A tax increase when you authored and promoted Measure K, which was rejected by Mission Viejo voters.
• False promises when you voted to increase housing density leading to more traffic congestion.

Many of those signing the recall notice helped MacLean win a council seat in 2002. They said he championed principles of open government and fiscal responsibility but abandoned his platform after the election. Other recall supporters represent a cross-section of residents, newcomers to city politics as well as longtime city activists.

http://www.missionviejoca.org , a city news blog, summed up the momentum to recall MacLean in a Jan. 31 post: “MacLean has offended entire neighborhoods and angered groups of residents. He’s been at odds with homeowners over power lines, cell antennas, school-related parking and cut-through traffic, school district issues, special interest issues, sweetheart-deal contracts, allegations of Brown Act violations, dismantling of the city’s best-ever planning commission, throwing away the city’s affordable housing plan (which led to huge problems and enormous costs), bringing in more housing and traffic, favoring housing on the Casta golf course, favoring apartments on top of stores at La Paz and Marguerite, and the list goes on.” 

MacLean often votes with Council Members Frank Ury and Trish Kelley as the council majority. Recent examples of the trioG€™s alliance include lifetime medical benefits after 12 years of part-time service and doubling their council stipend at a time when community members are experiencing financial strain and loss of jobs. 

Longtime city activist Joe Holtzman said the recall is necessary, adding, “MacLean has proven to be an embarrassment for both the council and the community.” Holtzman is among the proponents who initiated the recall 

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For more information, call Connie Lee, (949) 837-1997, 22796 Orense Mission Viejo, CA 92691, or email conniesco@aol.com.