City council race – lowdown on the showdown
Staff editorial, May 2

The November council race is shaping up early. If candidates establish themselves quickly, latecomers who file at the midsummer deadline will be eating dust.

Jim Woodin, a 35-year resident, was the first to announce his intention to run. He’s not part of any political clique, which could be an advantage, and he appears to have a better grasp of the city’s finances than some of the council members.

Second to jump in was Councilwoman Trish Kelley, who said in 2002 she’d serve only one term. She’s broken all her other campaign promises, and counting isn’t her strong suit. The city can do without Kelley’s hypocritical “word of the month,” and the word for November should be “goodbye.”

Diane Greenwood, who is closely tied to Councilman Frank Ury, was third to announce. Greenwood brings comic relief to the city circus. As a leader of the failed attempt to give the new power lines a decent burial, Greenwood should have buried the hatchet and gone home. Instead, she’s donned a tinfoil hat and joined the brigade of barking moonbats. Her important mission seems to be lambasting Southern California Edison and everyone else but Ury.

Who’s next? Most palatable of the incumbents up for reelection is John Paul Ledesma and least palatable is Lance MacLean. Ledesma opposes high-density affordable apartments, and MacLean wants more housing – an issue that could become the litmus test in this election. Ledesma pushed for protection of residents from eminent domain and an audit of taxes going to Capistrano Unified School District while MacLean argued both were unnecessary.

Potential candidates appearing regularly at council meetings include Bill Barker (friend of Ury) and Steven Guess, a throwback to the old regime of former City Manager Dan Joseph. Neither Barker nor Guess is likely to attract much of a following. Barker tried unsuccessfully for years to get an appointment to a city commission. In 2002, he worked briefly in MacLean’s campaign – long enough that MacLean after winning a council seat appointed him to the Community Services Commission. Barker would be running against the only person who would appoint him to a commission and taking a chance both he and MacLean could lose.

Steven Guess is the former Saddleback College student who seemed to idolize Dan Joseph. Back then, some said Guess was related to the Josephs – the nephew of either Dan or Ivy. When Dan Joseph left City Hall, Guess disappeared … until lately. If Guess runs, perhaps he’ll get advice (and cash) from Uncle Dan, who came in last – even behind Nancy Howell – in the 2004 council race.

The mention of Nancy Howell gives chills to some residents, particularly members of the Oso Valley Greenbelt Association. Howell and her husband Hamid Tavakolian are blamed for a great deal of the HOA’s turmoil and legal expense. Her 2004 campaign cost $42,000, a modest amount considering she had a bazillion signs. She might have enough signs left over to run again.

At last report, former Councilman Bill Craycraft was still conducting his listening tour while covering his ears and loudly singing, “La la la la la – I can’t hear you!”

Ury, who can’t get a second to his motions favoring special interest, has stated his intent to “knock out all three incumbents” – Ledesma, Kelley and MacLean. He’s got Greenwood and Barker, sort of, and appears a bit desperate. At political events last week, Ury was introducing a 20-something political hopeful as a city council candidate. The young man piped up, “Mission Viejo needs new blood.”

If Ury were to succeed in getting three votes on the council, Mission Viejo would need a transfusion.