Kelley’s fundraiser – the price of hypocrisy
Staff editorial

On April 5, Councilwoman Trish Kelley hosted a fundraiser for herself at Tortilla Flats restaurant at the lake. The number of Mission Viejo residents attending was low. Why didn’t Kelley invite her friends and supporters? One attendee said, “Her fundraiser was blatantly a developer-type party with pay-to-play guests.”

Ms. Kelley might lack friends to invite, and a statement she made awhile back sheds light on the reason why. In one of her hostile exchanges with Councilwoman Gail Reavis, Kelley said, “You don’t have any friends because I’ve taken them all away from you.” Any friends Kelley thought she made may have come and gone.

Most of the Mission Viejo residents in attendance fell into three camps: 1) friends of the old regime of Butterfield and Withrow, 2) friends of Reavis and/or Ledesma, and 3) friends of Frank Ury. Considering the dynamics, the Sheriff’s Dept. should have been there.

Donna Varner, a P.R. consultant who put the event together, has ties with the old regime. It explains why Roger Faubel and Bill Craycraft attended. Of course, Ralph Deppisch was there representing Steadfast. This should abruptly end Kelley’s claim of purity that she has accepted no payoffs from developers for her votes. The other four council members had the wisdom to get payment in advance. Another donor was Waste Management, whose contract with the city is up for renewal in 2008. A few others were out-of-town businessmen with an interest in future rezoning or similar business agendas of their own.

Kelley spoke briefly about what good shape the city is in without reference to her leading the way to its decline. If she deserves credit for anything, it’s the devaluation of the community with more high-density housing, traffic and overcrowding. She gave a pitch for her major accomplishment after 3 1/2 years in office – one word a month – the city of character program, but she neglected to say who she’ll try to destroy next. Missing from her speech was any reason whatsoever to keep her in office.

The hypocrisy of having Kelley on the council has come at a high price. Even those attending the event mentioned Kelley shouldn’t be reelected. Said one person in summary, “Some of the vendors may have thought of the fundraiser as an investment. On the other hand, for anyone who paid and never has to deal with her again, it was worth it.”