Mission Viejo NewsBlog

Dedicated to keeping The California Promise

Carl Schulthess, Editor in Chief
Dale Tyler, Publisher

Front Page

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The goal of the Mission Viejo NewsBlog is to share with our neighbors the knowledge of issues and events that will affect our quality of life and our property values. We will keep an open mind and report only the important news in a fair, balanced and transparent manner. We will endeavor to do this weekly.

Put another way, our agenda is to help make Mission Viejo ALL IT CAN BE.

You can contribute by attending City Council Meetings and voicing your opinion. Take a look at the Calender of City Meetings to see what is happening in our City.

Issue No. 7 will cover the City Council meeting on Monday, November 7, 2005 and related issues.

First the BUZZ,An ecclectic collection of News about Town

http://www.missionviejoca.org/News/2005_11_12/06buzz/06buzz.html

How to Avoid asking yourself “What do I do now?”
By someone who lived through it.

The recent hurricane catastrophes in the Gulf Coast regions should serve as a reminder to each of us that we are also vulnerable here in the southland to great natural catastrophes. We should all consider just how prepared our families are and how prepared our city is, should a major disaster strike here. In the spirit of opening up a community discussion regarding disaster preparedness, I’d like to offer the following comments on weathering a major disaster like an earthquake.

Click Here for details
http://www.missionviejoca.org/News/2005_11_12/08report/08report.html

Report on Council meeting, November 7
Possibly because of an oversight on the part of the city staff and city attorney, the joint-use gymnasium reappeared on the Nov. 7 council agenda. The gym had already been voted down by a 3-2 vote (Reavis, Ury, Ledesma against; Kelley and MacLean for) on Oct. 17, which should have ended the discussion of a joint venture between the city and the Capistrano Unified School District. Only those on the prevailing side (Reavis, Ury and/or Ledesma) could have brought back the joint-use gym for reconsideration, and the deadline for such a reversal was Mon., Oct. 31. The deadline had passed uneventfully.

For the rest of this Report, Click on;
http://www.missionviejoca.org/News/2005_11_12/01report/01report.html

Editorial Comment: CUSD Trustees appear at City Council meeting
It probably wasn't a coincidence for CUSD Trustees Marlene Draper and Mike Darnold to show up at the Nov. 7 council meeting when recall organizers on the same night were counting signatures on petitions to remove them from office.
For the rest of this Editorial, Click on;
http://www.missionviejoca.org/News/2005_11_12/02editorial/02editorial.html

CUSD Recall Issue

CUSD – Recall Group Editorial www.cusdrecall.com
At $130 million dollars and climbing, San Juan Hills High School, now being built in the Whispering Hills section of San Juan Capistrano, will be the second most expensive high school in California, according to figures from the Office of Public School Construction. The soaring costs of the high school are a central issue in a recall initiated against all seven members of the Capistrano Unified School District Board of Trustees “For the rest of this report, Click on;
 http://www.missionviejoca.org/News/2005_11_12/03editorial/03editorial.html

CUSD – How Much did that cost?????
As you know, I have related that the Capistrano Unified School District has installed artificial turf on their football fields at Capo Valley High School, San Clemente High School and Dan Hills High School. My estimate of costs was about $600,000 per school (based on UNLV football field costs), or a total of $1.8 million for the three schools.  I WAS WRONG –YES, WRONG
For the rest of this letter, Click on;
http://www.missionviejoca.org/News/2005_11_12/04letter/04letter.html

An Open Letter to;
Dr. James A. Fleming, Superintendent
Capistrano Unified School District

Deputy Supt. David A. Doomey and Board of Trustees President Marlene Draper alternated in representing the Capistrano Unified School District at the past two Mission Viejo City Council meetings. The council chamber was "standing-room only," as parents and children pleaded with the council to enter into the joint-use agreement that would build a gymnasium at Newhart Middle School. Mayor Kelley announced that we had an overflow crowd of interested citizens in the Emergency Operations Room located at the edge of the city hall facility.
For the rest of this letter, Click on;
http://www.missionviejoca.org/News/2005_11_12/09letter/09letter.html

Below you will note an editorial subject called Electeds’ Point of View. This is an opportunity for elected officials to explain their motives for a vote on a topic discussed in a previous NewsBlog opinion. If they choose NOT to explain their vote, then it is a fair assumption that they are voting their “campaign contributions.”

During the elections, we will provide FREE space to the candidates to answer pertinent questions and to express their views, provided that they renounce contributions from special interest groups.

Good News Department
The City of Mission Viejo has many ”Points of Light” ranging from city-sponsored events to individual accomplishments of our citizens. The city’s website does a good job of informing us about these “Points of Light.” Click on http://cityofmissionviejo.org/news/index.html for the details.

Many opinion letters have been ignored by the Saddleback Valley News and have not been published. We promise to publish all pertinent opinions and not stifle any voices.

As the Mission Viejo NewsBlog matures, we will add more editorial subjects as listed below. If you have thoughts as to important subjects, please let us know.

We invite you to contribute to the Mission Viejo NewsBlog by either reporting news or writing your opinion about any subject related to Mission Viejo that is near and dear to your heart. (Note that ALL contributors to this NewsBlog WILL publish their email addresses with their contribution.)

Please forward this NewsBlog via email to ALL your friends and neighbors in Mission Viejo, but also print as many copies as you wish to share with your non-computer friends.

This NewsBlog is operated entirely by volunteers and is distributed weekly at no charge to ALL Mission Viejo citizens via email. At some time in the future, we will add sources of revenue (NO special interests) that will permit some of the staff to be paid for their services.

If you do not want to receive this citizen-operated NewsBlog, please tell the person who sent you this email.

Please consider it your civic duty to let your elected city council members know how you feel about the decisions they are making on your behalf. It is not an accident that their names appear prominently in this NewsBlog. Their votes are key to keeping The California Promise. Only YOU can influence their vote.

Your Elected City Council Members

Trish Kelleytkelley@cityofmissionviejo.org
Gail Reavis greavis@cityofmissionviejo.org
John Paul Ledesma jpledesma@cityofmissionviejo.org
Lance MacLean lmaclean@cityofmissionviejo.org
Frank Ury fury@cityofmissionviejo.org

The council as a group may be called at (949) 470-3050 or emailed as a group at cityadmin@cityofmissionviejo.org

Again, please let your elected council members know how you feel about their actions. Remember, they are accountable ONLY to YOU, a citizen of Mission Viejo. You elect them to office to represent YOU and YOU pay their salary.

The Mission Viejo character word for the month of November is

                        Thankfulness.

We need to show our Thankfulness to the soldiers who are currently fighting to protect us from the Darkness of IslamoTerrorism AND for the Soldiers that fought and died from the very beginning of our Republic. It is only their sacrifices that permit us to have a say in how we are governed without fear for our lives.

Honor our veterans by participating in your government. Let your elected officials know what they are doing right and wrong.

Honor them by observing Veterans Day events, Friday, November 11, 2005

If you get this in time, there is a Veterans Day Ceremony at the Norman Murray Community Center Friday, November 11 at 2PM

If you want to express your opinion to any of your elected officials, contact them directly at; (The websites listed bring you directly to a feedback form in their website)

US Senator Dianne Feinstein 619/231-9712
http://feinstein.senate.gov/contact.html

US Senator Barbara Boxer (619) 239-3884
http://boxer.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm

US Congressman Gary Miller 949-470-8484
gary.miller@mail.house.gov

State Senator Dick Ackerman (714) 573-1853
http://republican.sen.ca.gov/web/33/feed.asp

State Assemblyman Todd Spitzer (714) 998- 0980
http://republican.assembly.ca.gov/members/index.asp?Dist=71&Lang=1&Body=SendConcerns

County Supervisor Tom Wilson (949) 249-5228
Thomas.Wilson@ocgov.com

Table of Planned Editorial Content

1. Thought of the week from the Federalist Patriot Carl Schulthess, Editor
2. City Outlook from the Left
3. City Outlook from the Right
4. Mission Viejo Buzz
5. Electeds’ Point of View
6. City Council
7. Planning Commission
8. Budget and Fiscal Issues Dale Tyler, Editor
9. Good News
10. Capistrano Unified School District
11. Saddleback Valley Unified School District
12. Home Owners Associations
13. Seniors
14. Lake Mission Viejo
15. Regional Issues related to Mission Viejo

We invite YOU to participate in the creation of this NewsBlog as an editor or contributor for any of the above subjects.

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We are forwarding the following information to those of you in California who we believe may be interested in the California Border Police Initiative and solving the illegal alien problem. You can find additional information online at http://www.calborderpolice.com/

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Carl Schulthess
Carl.s@cox.net