The Buzz column, May 2

A reader reacted to the Pacific Law Center’s lawsuit against the city, saying it was poetic justice against Steadfast. Steadfast was the likely suspect in launching the initial complaint against Mission Viejo to the Dept. of Housing and Community Development. Other possible sources were former City Manager Dan Joseph and Councilman Lance MacLean, who were promoting Steadfast and its affordable housing project next to Unisys. Now that the city has been sued, Steadfast’s project, along with the Target store, will likely be delayed.

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As another angle, consider the relationship between Steadfast, its community resource foundation and the Pacific Law Center – they’re all connected. The underlying objective of the lawsuit might be to “force” Steadfast to build the large affordable-apartment project it’s been dreaming of for three years. The lawsuit is delaying a project that wasn’t Steadfast’s first choice. Either way, Councilman MacLean wins with more housing, and the residents lose … until November.

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MacLean had another fundraiser on Thurs., April 27, at the Mission Viejo Country Club. After using the same guest list for the third time in six months, how much more are city vendors willing to pay to spend an evening with the mayor, and what’s he selling?

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What MacLean hasn’t sold in his 3 1/2 years in office is the city of Mission Viejo. He has repeatedly run to the L.A. Times, calling residents “racists” and “elitists.” When MacLean doesn’t get his way, council members, planning commissioners, residents and the city get slammed in the newspaper.

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Neil Kelley became Orange County’s Registrar of Voters on April 25 after serving as interim registrar since August 2005. He was promoted despite complaints filed with the D.A. against his office regarding the petition drive to recall Capistrano Unified School District trustees. Recall organizers discovered a high percentage of RoV errors, including registered voters who were wrongly disqualified. Volunteers working in Newport Beach’s Greenlight Initiative also complained after purchasing RoV data to verify voters and finding a high percentage of errors. Kelley will be paid $130,000 a year for losing track of voters.

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Councilman Frank Ury came into office with no ideas, and he still has most of them. He’s lately having a hard time spitting out the name of “idea-man” Curt Pringle, Anaheim’s mayor. During the May 1 council meeting, Ury avoided mentioning Pringle’s name, referring to him as “a city official in another city” who had an idea. The Buzz has reported Ury’s pattern of putting items on the Mission Viejo council agenda, trying to do whatever Pringle does in Anaheim.

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Ury referred to the “statesmanlike” Irvine council when he criticized the Mission Viejo council in the April 9 Orange County Register. Supv. Bill Campbell commented in the May 2 OCR about the Irvine council’s recent power grab, breaking promises and taking financial control away from the Great Park’s board of directors. The Irvine council’s decision was made late at night during a long meeting without many people watching. Are these Ury’s role models?

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Councilwoman Trish Kelley’s campaign strategy should be the right to remain silent. Wanting to talk but having nothing to say, she made a strange comment May 1 during the discussion of restrooms in parks. About the complete lack of restroom facilities, she said, “I raised three children who used the parks, and my husband coached 30 teams and no one ever had to run to the [non-existent] restroom.” How many games did they win, running with their legs crossed?