The Buzz Column, May 16, 2006

Fun With Chalk is being celebrated this weekend, May 20-21, at the Norman P. Murray Community Center, 24932 Veterans Way (off LaPaz Road), 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free admission and free parking. Festival-goers can enjoy the street-painting, fine art exhibit, music, food and art workshops.

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The May 15 council meeting wasn’t one of the calmest after all – it just had a long fuse. Copies of abrasive emails between a resident and Mayor Lance MacLean appeared the next day. During public comments about Measure M, the resident was cut short on his three minutes of speaking time. The timer apparently was started while he was handing the city clerk copies of papers. In the resident’s email to the mayor, he demanded an explanation. The Buzz can help. If the mayor agrees with the person who is speaking, time limits are suspended until someone in the audience starts yelling about it.

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A closed mouth gathers no feet. Councilwoman Trish Kelley is saying less and less at each council meeting. This is an improvement over recent meetings when she and MacLean lavished compliments on each other. The technique is reminiscent of Sherri Butterfield and Susan Withrow’s performances before they were deposed in November 2002, commenting on each other’s brilliance, sweetness and gift for public speaking.

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Councilman Frank Ury spoke at the May 15 council meeting regarding a position for Mission Viejo on the Orange County Transportation Authority’s board of directors. Ury watchers have long suspected he’s maneuvering to get the position for himself. His quote: “The largest city in South County should be represented on the OCTA board.” Translation: the largest ego in South County is impatient to move up the ladder. Being on the OCTA board would enable Ury to move among county bigwigs and contractors who vie for multimillion-dollar projects.

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An announcement in the Casta del Sol “Courier” heralded MacLean’s May 17 talk at the Casta Republican Club. The fawning over MacLean in the announcement was balanced by written questions from the audience. The mayor was fairly hammered on affordable housing, unpopular zone changes, accepting campaign donations from developers and why the city doesn’t pay down the debt if it’s rolling in the dough. As an example of MacLean’s “forthrightness,” he said he didn’t know how much money Steadfast had given him.

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On May 18 Mission Viejo resident Jim Woodin was elected as president of the Saddleback Republican Assembly. Current SRA President Phil Steinhauer has served two terms and will remain on the club’s board of directors as past-president.