The fact that the same law firm was chosen as city attorney after more than 12 months of closed-session meetings is a charade for the taxpayers of Mission Viejo. The meter is always running, and I know that regardless of the reasons, the indecisiveness costs the city thousands of dollars.

In addition to this, I have attended council meetings for more than a year with probably only one absence, yet not once have I heard the unfunded pension liability of CalPERS mentioned or agendized except obliquely during the semi-annual budget review in May or June of 2005. There has been no public discussion at council meetings of the approximately $3.8-million liability or how it is to be resolved. Maybe it will just go away or the stock market will bail you out. I submit this is not going to happen. The majority members on this council – you know who you are – persist in ignoring the most critical budget item for our city. Which moniker applies here? Shall it be "asleep at the wheel" or shall it be simply "indifference"?

The rudderless ship has been drifting. On which beach will it run aground? As a taxpayer, I submit that it will rest upon the taxpayer's beach, much to the dissatisfaction of everyone.

James Edward Woodin
Mission Viejo