Staff Editorial

Money for the Capistrano Valley High School modernization was granted by the state of California on May 25, 2005. However, CUSD has to come up with matching funds and have the contracts to do the work in place. Why hasn’t CUSD picked up the state money to modernize Capo High School?
Click here: Office of Public School Construction (Click on Capo Valley High School.)

Also, money to modernize Hankey was granted on May 25, 2005.

In June 2004, seven schools had modernization money approved. It wasn't until October 2005 that CUSD picked up the money. A school district has only 18 months to retrieve funding after it has been approved by the state. It was just six weeks before CUSD would have lost the money when the district finally picked it up. Meanwhile, the district picked up the checks to go forward with the “dumpsite high school” in San Juan Capistrano ($60 million) and the one for Arroyo Vista. It shows where the priorities are.

A very simple question to ask CUSD: when is the district planning to apply for the modernization checks approved on May 25, 2005, by the state of California for Hankey, Capo High School and Barcelona? (Check the above site and click on these three schools to see how much money was approved.)

The administration’s focus has been on San Juan Hills High School, Arroyo Vista’s K-8 conversion and, of course, the new administration building.

Tibor Machan in the Register’s Orange Grove column ("Sorry, Mr. President, we won't shut up", Nov. 21) states the Libertarian case against the war in Iraq. The issues raised by President Bush in his complaints about Democrats' rewriting history are ignored by Machan, but we are used to that. I am not a Libertarian (with a capital L) because they seem to believe that if we just mind our own business and don't antagonize anyone, we will be left alone to accumulate wealth and live in peace. The fact is, there is no international law and no international police force. This nation's first war began with the statement, "Millions for defense; not one cent for tribute." That was 1801. I assume that Mr. Machan would have opposed that war, as well.

The complaint made by the administration, and ignored by Mr. Machan, is that Democrats voted for the war (a few quibble that they voted to go to the United Nations, but read the debates and that is shown to be phony), and now they want to quit and go home. If they had opposed the administration in the vote, they would have a better case, and we would not have invaded Iraq. They try to justify their demand to surrender, for that is what it would be, by alleging the administration lied. Bush's failure to rebut this canard has given it credence and diminished his reputation for truth-telling. If the critics would be honest in their criticism, no one would tell them to "shut up."

Michael Kennedy, M.D.
Mission Viejo

A large majority of Mission Viejo children are involved in some kind of sports activity. I started to list a few (15) and decided that, aside from sports, there are other activities that children are involved in as well. When you subtract time for school attendance, homework, family time, church, the Internet, TV/radio and sleep, the 24-hour day seems to be to short. 

If a city gymnasium were to be built, there would be kids at the gym, but not enough to justify the millions spent to build the facility. When you add building maintenance, support staff, janitorial services, supplies, repairs, security, insurance (fire, liability), utilities and costs resulting from vandalism, the city council majority made the right choice by voting against the project. 

The school district is a separate entity from the city. This seems to be an attempt by Council Members Trish Kelley and Lance MacLean to ensure their reelection next year.  Councilman MacLean stated that he made his decision based on the 140 emails he received. 

We already have an After School Care Center at our library, and we do not need another.

Joe Chavez
Mission Viejo

During the last election, several candidates claimed improving traffic in the city was a priority. A very common and simple improvement would be to synchronize the lights on our major roads to improve traffic flow. Having triggered lights at every small intersection totally defeats this.

A retired expert in traffic control wrote a letter in the Saddleback Valley News awhile back, explaining how cost effective and relatively simple a solution this would be to significantly improve our traffic flow.

For years now we've heard lip service about improving traffic, but this simple fix never gets implemented. Can anyone tell me WHY NOT?

Dan O'Connor
Mission Viejo

Item 28 on the Nov. 21, 2005, council agenda asked the council to supply the city manager with recommended action on parking restrictions for our neighborhoods and the possible placement of street sweeping signs. The council correctly took the action to inform our citizens by notes, etc., on cars that are blocking the street sweepers.

Can you imagine the cost at $200 per sign, not including installation labor, to place signs on all the streets of Mission Viejo! Additionally, think of the job security for the graffiti removers. In some cities, the largest part of their job is removing graffiti from signs. Can you imagine the blight of having two or three signs per block in order to enforce the ticketing process for such a ridiculous endeavor? Our streets would look like Santa Ana or Garden Grove in order to clean up a few leaves.

The cost and blight of signs to our wonderful city is commonly called overkill. As with the trash pickup and recycling efforts, our citizens learn quickly and are smart enough to work with the city on this issue.

James Edward Woodin
Mission Viejo

By Kevin Murphy, recall organizer

(Edited text from speech upon turning in petition signatures to the Registrar of Voters)

To place the Capistrano Unified School District Recall on the ballot, South Orange County residents faced the daunting task of gathering approximately 145,000 signatures. Thankfully, when presented with the disturbing pictures and hard facts, thousands of people lined up to sign the Recall petitions.

 All of the required signatures have now been obtained! Thanks to the incredible hard work, dedication and total commitment shown by hundreds of parents and taxpayers from all across South Orange County, the people are one step closer to removing a corrupt School Board and administration, and one step closer to restoring honesty, integrity and accountability into our public school system. Like never before, parents, taxpayers and teachers in South Orange County have come to realize just how serious the problems are at CUSD.

By the thousands, voters are embracing the core message of the recall campaign -- the CUSD Trustees have squandered millions of taxpayer dollars and broken the public trust, and by so doing they have relegated the children into overcrowded and substandard conditions.

The time for special interest politics and backroom deals is over – now is the time for fair, honest and open local government. Please help us fight back -- for the taxpayers, for our schools and for our kids' future!

The time is now! Please support the CUSD Recall campaign.

Contrary to the impression given by Councilman Lance MacLean at the Nov. 21 council meeting, Mission Viejo residents don’t need the council’s approval to ask school districts about use of their facilities. Anyone can call Saddleback Valley USD (or any other district) to ask about individual use, group use or any question concerning joint use between the city and the district. It has always been that way. Additionally, residents have never needed an intervention of the city or a councilman to rent or negotiate use of space for individual or group needs.

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Parents of special children in Capo USD are forming a support group. One parent said, “We’re discovering our strength in numbers and learning from others who have children with special needs. The district would rather fight parents with a lawsuit than provide special education.” The special ed. group, Parent to Parent Support Group, will meet on Sat., Dec. 17, 9 a.m., at the Dana Point Community Center, 34052 Del Obispo, Dana Point. Children are welcome. For more information, call (949) 249-0629.

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Steadfast is coming back with its housing plan for the parcel next to Unisys – 10.5 acres at Jeronimo Road and Los Alisos Blvd. The next showdown is Mon., Dec. 12, 7 p.m., when Steadfast presents its Draft Environmental Impact Report to the Planning Commission in city hall council chambers.

Steadfast has been quiet but not idle since its last attempt to force housing into the commercial zone. As part of its “public relations,” Steadfast sent mailers into nearby neighborhoods, offering a “free” lunch to anyone who would listen to a one-sided sales pitch. Some neighbors dubbed the meetings “lunch and lies.” A few residents took the bait, including two who wrote remarkably similar letters to Saddleback Valley News. Steadfast’s housing project would be costly – more traffic, overcrowding, demand on city services and destruction of what should be a prime commercial zone. All residents should rail against the intrusion of more high-density housing. Steadfast has been rejected by planning commission and council majorities for two years. What has changed? Steadfast has given thousands of dollars in “campaign donations” to some council members.

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What's the basis of the flap over the city project of painting addresses on curbs? The city manager "exercised his authority" by approving a contract with a curb painting company at $1.60 per address. But wait, that would cover only about 9,000 of the city's 33,000 dwellings under the city manager’s $15,000 contract authority. Evidently, the contractor would paint 9,000 curbs . A contract to cover all the city's homes, whether it runs for one, two or more years, would exceed the city manager's limit of $15,000. In addition to the appearance of deception, the curb-painting project avoided the city's competitive bidding process. Any contract could be brought in, without bids, "under the city manager's $15,000 limit" with a similar approach, e.g., $500,000 for street paving, 100 feet at a time. The function of city staff is not to do end runs around policy and/or the council.

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A seemingly objective visitor from out of town attended the Oct. 17 council meeting. His observation: “Trish Kelley and Lance MacLean have absolutely no business sense.” Many residents share the visitor’s view of Kelley and MacLean as the city’s weakest links. Kelley’s approach as mayor has been to appoint ad hoc committees for practically everything, often appointing herself and MacLean.

The ad hoc committees – two council members at a time – go off to meet, gather info and decide on an outcome. The outcome, not the process or alternative choices, is then presented to the council as a recommendation. This practice shuts out the public from the process, creating closed government and diminishing accountability. The outcome of the ad hoc process is a decision but not necessarily a solution. The traffic mess along Crown Valley is an example where ad hoc committees paved the way. The result was a decision that inadequately addresses the current problem, and the worst is yet to come with additional housing development from the ranch.

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Look out for the “Outlook.” Is this city newsletter a source of information or propaganda? An Outlook article months ago said the city foundation had raised $400,000. Wasn’t the $400,000 a two-year grant given by the city to fund the foundation’s startup? In the fall issue, the Outlook states, “… almost $200,000 has been collected to date.” This amount refers to the same $400,000 grant from the city, with $200,000 being half of the two-year grant. In the winter issue of the Outlook, the foundation made no claim about raising money, and the grant was finally mentioned. Residents need a translation of the director’s compensation (more than $9,000 a month, plus expenses) – how many hours does he work, and what does he do? A resident at the Nov. 21 council meeting asked for an update on the foundation. The city should provide meaningful, truthful updates without anyone having to ask.