The Buzz column, April 10

A rumor circulated in February that a Target store would never be built next to Unisys (Jeronimo / Los Alisos Blvd.). The phantom-store hype was allegedly a Steadfast trick to get its “ride-along” housing plan approved. To counter the rumor, Target representative Kareem Ali said during the Feb. 20 council meeting the store would open in October. Ali also said Starbucks would locate inside the Target store. A call to Starbucks headquarters last week discovered no plan for Starbucks inside a Target store at Jeronimo and Los Alisos. The only Starbucks on the drawing boards in Mission Viejo is at Oso and the I-5.

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Is it true that 99 percent of attorneys give the rest of them a bad name? City Attorney Bill Curley during the April 3 council meeting said he would start “fixing” the city’s policy manual where it’s outdated and inconsistent. When did the council direct him to do so, and when did they approve the cost? One should consider the city’s ill-fated legal challenge of an insurance company regarding fire damage at the Marguerite aquatics facility. The city’s legal firm charged $659,000 to collect $400,000 following fire damage of more than $1.2 million. The net loss was $1,459,000. The city can’t afford its attorney’s fixes.

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How has it become Saddleback Valley News reporter Maria Hsin’s job to create news instead of reporting it? Each of her articles supports plopping a large complex of affordable apartments in Mission Viejo. While a majority of residents at city meetings have spoken against more housing of any kind, Hsin interviews those who want more housing. Someone who asked Hsin where she lives said she commutes from Los Angeles County. That explains a lot of things but not why her editor permits calling opinion pieces news reporting.

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An example of Hsin’s “reporting” about Mission Viejo and Irvine appeared in the April 9 Orange County Register, “Affordable housing, why two cities diverge.” The story claims workers with such essential jobs as teachers, policemen and firemen need affordable housing. Teachers, policemen and firemen make too much money to qualify for affordable housing in South County. Perhaps Hsin would be quite a bit happier if the Register were to reassign her to covering the People’s Republic of Irvine instead of changing Mission Viejo to her liking.

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The Registrar of Voters is still in hot water. Another snafu recently surfaced when signature-gatherers for a Newport Beach initiative purchased a CD of registered voters to validate signatures. The RoV allegedly knew it had a software problem that prevented registered voters from showing up on the rolls. As conspiracy theories go, petitioners are asking if the RoV is going out of its way to prevent special elections. Check out the news video about the Capo school district recall and the Newport Beach initiative:

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Frank Ury continues to bring his laptop to council meetings, opening it on the desk in front of him. Voters elected Ury to pay attention during council meetings and listen to testimony being given, not to work on his laptop. This is a good reason not to have wasted more than a quarter million dollars on a wireless system for the council members' use.

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A pollster is at it again, causing Mission Viejo residents to put telemarketers on hold. Questions include: 1) Is a basketball gym a high priority for the city? 2) Is a dog park a high priority? 3) How serious are the city’s traffic problems? 4) Does the city need a performing arts center? The calls might be the city’s $20,200 poll being conducted by True North Research. One resident receiving a call said it sounded more like a political pollster, e.g., Faubel or Probolsky.

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Some of the parents who initiated the recall of CUSD trustees filed a Writ of Mandate in Orange County Superior Court on April 7 to get the recall certified. The group, Capo for Better Representation, is asking the court to validate signatures it claims were erroneously thrown out. The group’s lawyer anticipates a judicial review will be complete within 30 days. The Registrar of Voters announced on Dec. 23 that the recall group had failed to gather enough valid signatures to trigger a special election. Approximately 35 percent of the signatures were deemed unqualified during the verification process.