Watch the Bait and Switch Campaign
Staff editorial

A volley of angry emails came from Councilman Frank Ury’s camp just before the June 6 Primary Election. When Ury threw a party and no one came, one of his henchmen lashed out at almost everyone. A few bullies who surround Ury attack community members on his command. He rewards their loyalty by voting against their pleas on almost every issue.

Ury tried to organize a precinct walk on Sat., June 3, supposedly to campaign for a candidate who was running in the June 6 Primary Election. The last-minute gesture failed for several reasons. For openers, volunteers can work for a candidate without a middleman who wants to look good. One of them wrote in an email, “I don’t need Ury taking credit for what I do.”

Ury recently got himself appointed as “Mission Viejo Republican Deputy” by the county for this year’s election. It’s not the first time he’ll have the opportunity to impose his own agenda. His tack was similar in 2004 when he was a city council candidate and in prior elections as far back as the 1990s. Volunteers in 2004 went to Ury’s residence, expecting to pick up campaign literature for the official city precinct walk. Why were they also given flyers to promote Ury as a council candidate when he received no official Republican Party endorsement?

As an additional problem with the unofficial flyer, it contained no “paid for” information or tax ID number as required by the Fair Political Practices Commission. While the 2004 precinct walk was sporadic at best, some homeowners who received the flyer promoting Ury asked who paid for it.

One volunteer who lives off Jeronimo Road implied the 2004 experience was a bait and switch. She said, “I would be willing to work for the Republican Party, but not for an opportunist. I won’t be pushed into another candidate’s campaign.”

Ury came up short on June 3 when he failed to attract the Primary Election candidate’s support group – or anyone else, for that matter. Many of those Ury invited had already been campaigning for the candidate. Others said they didn’t want to go over to his house and then be roped into a campaign for his own council candidates. In a variety of ways, Ury is reaping what he’s sown.