All Was Not Fair at the Faire
Staff editorial

The Mission Viejo Activities Committee, host of the Mission Viejo July Fourth Street Fair, was off the mark this year. The projected crowd of 20,000 appeared to be overestimated by approximately 10,000. When vendors pay for a booth on the midway, they expect to see 20,000 faces. If the estimate includes the “other 10,000” who put blankets on the grass near the faire to watch fireworks, that’s a whole other story.

The news blog staff members have firsthand knowledge of another aspect of the event regarding policy and ethics.

Blog staffers joined with other community activists and paid for a booth inside the gates. Their primary objective was voter registration, but the Activities Committee required them to have an additional activity (craft, game or food) in order to participate. Activists reserving the booth specifically asked if they could put up a political sign or banner. The answer was, unequivocally, yes. The instruction stated, however, that no politicking or campaigning could take place at the booth or inside the gates of the faire.

On July Fourth, the activists put up their canopy in the designated spot and followed rules to the letter. They posted two 18” x 18” political signs for their choice of council candidates – not Council Members Trish Kelley and Lance MacLean. The signs were in place from 10:30 a.m. until approximately 5 p.m., when a Committee official came by with information about next year’s street faire.

The conversation went like this: Committee member: “You need to take down your political signs.” Activist: “Our signs were approved as part of our agreement for this space.” Committee member: “Political activity is prohibited at the faire.”

A short time later, a second Committee member came to the booth and suggested the activists put the signs at the back of the canopy instead of the front. The activist who had written the check for the booth said, “I’m going to ask for a refund of the booth fee, as this is a breach of our contract with you.” The Committee member said, “I’ll be right back with your refund.” The booth fee was returned almost immediately.

Meanwhile, Councilwoman Kelley, who is up for reelection, went from booth to booth, shaking hands with everyone and introducing herself. If this isn’t blatant politicking, what is it?

The situation at the faire is parallel to Kelley’s campaign in 2002 when she and activists were covering “back-to-school” nights. Kelley, because of her PTA activities, has a relationship with administrators of several Capistrano USD schools. At Newhart Middle School, the school principal told activists they couldn’t hand out political flyers on school property. The activists moved out to the street – except for Kelley. She stayed near the building, a short distance from the school’s front door. To the activists, she bragged, “They won’t ask me to leave because they know me.”

Kelley remained at the school’s entrance, handing out her flyers. School officials watched her and said nothing, but they chased out any activist who ventured near the building. In a subsequent visit to Newhart, an activist tried the same stance as Kelley, handing out flyers near the front door. The school principal called the police.

Kelley in 2002 was familiar with school district policy regarding politics. She relied on special treatment and flaunted her relationship with school employees, breaking rules without consequence.

Is this any different from the street faire, where Kelley knew the rules and broke them by politicking within the gates? Were street faire officials different from school administrators who watched Kelley and said nothing? By the time a politician has visited more than 100 vendor booths at the faire, officials are either giving her special treatment or asleep at the switch.

Several years ago, when Kelley attempted to jump in front of the line by becoming mayor before it was her turn, a resident wrote a letter to the newspaper, sarcastically calling Kelley "the Queen of Character." Why not cut the chase? Kelley is the Queen of Hypocrisy.

In certain places, such as the ethical wasteland of Capistrano USD and the street faire’s venue of smoke and stink bombs, Queen Kelley rules.