Mayor Lance MacLean during the Jan. 3 meeting said he’d like entertainment in council chambers prior to the meetings. If the council circus needs a warm-up act, a food-fight would be a nice touch. On the big screen, show news clips of the real professionals – the North Korean parliament – where fistfights and massive brawls break out between votes.

***

Remember Nancy Howell, the 2004 council candidate who seemed to have a campaign sign on every corner? Nancy and her husband, Hamid Tavakolian, have been mixing it up with their homeowners association, Oso Valley Greenbelt Association. During one of the HOA meetings last year, police were called to remove Howell and Tavakolian from the meeting, at which time the pair were hauled out, and Tavakolian allegedly threw a punch at a policeman. In the most recent folderol, the HOA claims Howell and Tavakolian challenged the results of a board election and attempted to form a separate board of directors (HOA document). HOA assets have been frozen until lawyers sort it out.

***

Councilman Frank Ury’s attempt to upstage MacLean with a PowerPoint presentation at the Jan. 3 meeting went flat. During Ury’s first year on the council, he neither led nor built consensus. His attempted takeover is not unlike that of MacLean shortly after the 2002 election, when MacLean proclaimed that he was “the city’s unofficial mayor.” Does it not bother Ury’s supporters to see him aligning with MacLean in bringing yet another large apartment complex to south Mission Viejo?

One of Ury’s ideas – straight from the Anaheim playbook – was to provide a wireless-fidelity network (Wi-Fi) in City Hall “for the benefit of residents” who attend meetings. When has Ury been concerned with anything to benefit residents? His votes align remarkably with either self-interest or special interest. The Orange County Register on Jan. 9 published a relevant editorial asking “What is the compelling societal need requiring government involvement in this burgeoning [Internet] industry?” Did any resident actually complain about being disenfranchised for lack Internet access while sitting in a meeting?

***

Taxpayers are treating their elected officials to a “free” weekend at Lake Arrowhead from Jan. 13-15. Cost of the Orange County Leadership Symposium: $375 to $535 per VIP. Mayor Lance MacLean will be the only one attending from Mission Viejo. Steve Greenhut in the Jan. 8 Register commented about the weekend of nonsense: “… navel-gazing of public officials, a loss of focus on the taxpayers and a willingness to squander public dollars … .