Everyone deserves a chance, and after 14 months in office, Councilman Frank Ury has had a chance. Ury in his 2004 campaign said he would apply his business background to city government. Ury says he’s an engineer, but how has that helped the city? Ury replaced former Councilman Bill Craycraft, who was in sales. With Bill, customers at least knew what he was selling.

One of Ury’s 2004 campaign mailers claimed 1) He would force Edison to bury its lines; 2) He would streamline government and cut wasteful spending; 3) He was on the front lines to stop the El Toro airport; 4) He was instrumental in supporting the expansion of the community center.

1) Did Ury force Edison to bury its lines? The decision not to bury the lines had likely been made before Ury began campaigning. Despite his campaign rhetoric, Ury’s personal emails early on indicated his awareness of the hopeless plight.

2) Has Ury streamlined government? For 14 months, he’s tried to expand government and bureaucracy, including his failed attempt to create a separate traffic commission. Has he cut spending and waste? No, and his costly yearlong push to dump the city attorney – only to renew the same firm’s contract – was ridiculously wasteful. He tried to give a gift of public funds to his HOA for a city park on private property, and that’s illegal.

What else is on record for this councilman who ran as a fiscal conservative? Ury proposed reinstating Lance MacLean's $148K electronic sign in the budget. During his council campaign, Ury was silent on the first-ever proposed tax increase, Measure K. He proposed a pay increase for council members. He proposed expanding the city’s after-school program at a number of schools - a blatant social program – and he now appears to support building high-density, government-subsidized apartments for those with very low income. 

3) Ury’s claim as an El Toro Airport fighter is bogus. As another whopper, he engaged Or. Co. Supv. Chris Norby to record a campaign phone message in which Norby stated “Frank Ury fought the El Toro airport from the beginning.” Ury wasn’t a participant, and the real heroes who fought the airport from the beginning had never heard of Frank Ury. Mere days before Measure W passed, Ury did acquiesce in allowing a group of activists into his Stoneridge gates to plead their case to the HOA. Measure W passed without help from Ury or his HOA.

4) Ury’s claim that he made any difference in supporting the completion of the community center prior to running for council is too vague to measure. Was he “instrumental”? Residents who attended Community Services meetings say absolutely not. He asked trivial questions about the design of the building and then voted as a commissioner in the 7-0 recommendation to move forward.

Ury’s mailer also stated “Frank’s Priorities:” 1) fix traffic problems, 2) complete the senior center, 3) put powerlines underground, 4) audit city spending. Except for item 2, Ury has struck out. He could claim partial credit for item 2, as the council voted 5-0 to move forward with the community center expansion. With partial credit for one item, his performance on the council is not a perfect failure. No one is perfect.