Councilwoman Trish Kelley allegedly tried to pressure Councilman John Paul Ledesma into bringing back the joint-use gymnasium at Newhart Intermediate School. He put the item on the agenda and then pulled it. While the school gymnasium is clearly CUSD’s responsibility, gyms are springing up all over. Saddleback Valley USD is adding two gyms at intermediate schools with the use of bond money. As an aside, members of Saddleback Church say their church is also adding sports facilities, including gymnasiums. The numerous outdoor basketball courts throughout the city are largely unused by community members.

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Is it true Councilman Frank Ury told elected officials in other cities that he’ll endorse Kelley and MacLean in the November election? Insiders say he is also supporting his appointee to the planning commission, Chandra Krout, as the candidate to knock out Ledesma. Don’t forget that Krout in the L.A. Times called Mission Viejo residents elitists for not agreeing with her affection for affordable housing projects.

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A closed-session item on the Feb. 20 council agenda is the discussion of a real estate deal. Those watching carefully believe the city is now considering getting into the real estate business by buying acreage in the deeply troubled retail center next to the former Kmart site. Will this become the affordable housing project that MacLean and Ury have been pushing?

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Why is Ury meeting with developers behind the scenes? Keep in mind Anaheim Mayor Kurt Pringle was lobbying for UDR/Pacific’s housing project next to the former Kmart site. Pringle’s disappearance from the project may have coincided with UDR/Pacific’s belief three council votes were lined up in favor of rezoning and approval of high-density housing on the site. UDR/Pacific appears now to be wriggling out of its affordable housing component (“undesirable and unprofitable”), instead paying an in-lieu fee the city could use toward buying the acreage next to the former Kmart site. If anyone is questioning why Ury is meeting with Kurt Pringle, follow the dots to former assemblyman-turned-lobbyist John Lewis. Lewis, who lives in Orange, funneled $50,000 into Mission Viejo’s council race in 2002, raised cash for Ury in 2004, and he’s a Pringle associate.

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Guess which developer Ury is meeting with regarding the potential affordable housing site next to the Kmart property? That would be Kurt Pringle’s client, UDR/Pacific. Pringle sat in the audience in support of UDR/Pacific when the project came before the planning commission – it’s no secret.

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Remember the blog’s statement that the Palmia HOA president’s words might come back to bite him regarding the UDR/Pacific project across the street? Without checking with residents in his community, he said Palmia didn’t object to the zone change and high-density project. If he likes high-density housing, he’s going to love the affordable housing project right next door. Palmia residents need to ask why the HOA president is pretending to represent them.