The Buzz column, June 27

Turnover at Saddleback Valley News has been rapid for city editors and reporters. As good news, Maria Hsin, the affordable housing advocate pretending to be a news reporter, left SVN. Those who chatted with Hsin at City Hall said she lives in L.A. County, which would shed light on a lot of things, including her apparent disdain for master-planned communities.

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A Mission Viejo resident is among candidates emerging for the Capo school board election this November. While she probably wouldn’t like an early release of her name in the Buzz, the excitement is difficult to contain over a viable candidate with a business background.

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Residents who attended Councilwoman Trish Kelley’s recent campaign fundraiser said the turnout wasn’t impressive. Despite a donation from the infamous developer, Steadfast, the total may have been below expectations. Because Kelley’s grass-roots supporters have steeply fallen off, she’ll need cash to compensate with mailers and campaign collaterals. Kelley’s political consultant, Donna Varner, is apparently no longer associated with the campaign, which could be an indication fundraising didn’t go well.

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Council candidate Diane Greenwood filed her intent to run for city council, but is she still in? Her would-be supporters say maybe not. Greenwood carried Councilman Frank Ury around on her shoulders throughout his 2004 campaign. When she started a community group (No Overhead Powerlines by Edison), he put his name on it as “co-president.” And how did Ury repay Greenwood’s tireless campaigning and loyalty? As soon as she filed her intent to run, he recruited someone else, essentially running for the same seat. Ury has been leading his new pup, Justin McCusker, around to political events to get endorsements from good ol’ boys. Watch for mailers paid for by special interest in San Diego County.

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What’s happened to Ury’s fan club? A year ago, four people were praising him at every council meeting. Ury was the “leader who would take the city to the next level with his business acumen.” Just what was “the next level”? With Ury’s leadership genius, he and fellow-genius Lance MacLean led the city straight into a lawsuit after putting themselves on an ad hoc housing committee and voting for Steadfast’s high-density housing project.

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David Smollar, Capistrano Unified School District’s director of communications, finally received an overdue mention that he’s no longer at CUSD. Smollar vanished, and all references to his name were immediately removed from the district’s Web site. His five years of service – whatever that entailed – were mentioned on June 26 with the announcement of his departure.

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All did not go well for the Registrar of Voters on June 27 at the ex parte demurrer before Orange County Superior Court Judge Michael Brenner to review the CUSD recall findings. The RoV’s attorney argued the non-profit group of CUSD parents filing the suit didn’t have legal standing to file. The judge disagreed and denied the RoV’s demurrer. The writ of mandate hearing is on, although the date has been delayed from July 6 to July 11. 

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Among other problems for the RoV during the June 27 hearing, the attorney for the recall group mentioned that RoV employees informed signature collectors they could fill in part of the information (address, city) for those signing the recall petition. According to the RoV on June 27, it didn’t happen. Here’s the problem: numerous signature gatherers called the RoV and got the same information … and they’re back, telling names, dates and exact quotations. One such person said after the hearing, “When the Registrar of Voters starts its defense with an obvious lie, it’s going to be interesting.”