And they’re off – really off!
Staff editorial

Three more potential city council candidates pulled papers last week: Diane Greenwood, Nancy Howell and Bill Craycraft. They join nine others: Michael Ferrall, Jim Woodin, John Paul Ledesma, Trish Kelley, Lance MacLean, Brian Skalsky, Neil Lonsinger, Bill Barker and Justin McCusker.

Greenwood, an alarmist proponent regarding electromagnetic fields, postured as a candidate earlier this year and then dropped out for a few months. Perhaps she was just busy fashioning tinfoil hats for her barking moonbat supporters. Greenwood also carries the liability of associating with Councilman Frank Ury, who stated his intention to run his own candidates and knock out all three incumbents, Ledesma, Kelley and MacLean. Residents with a distaste for Ury should consider that the three incumbents have learned not to second his motions. It took Councilwoman Kelley awhile to figure it out, but even she now gets it. While they don’t agree on anything else, the other four council members clearly cannot stand Ury.

When Howell ran for city council in 2004, she managed to stay out of last place by getting more votes than former City Manager Dan Joseph. She likely set a record of having the most signs of any candidate in the history of city elections. Incredibly, she spent more than $40,000 to lose. A lasting testimony to her campaign, some of Howell’s signs still littered the city months after the election.

When she’s not plastering the city with campaign signs, Howell likes to mix it up with her homeowners association, Oso Valley Greenbelt Association. She seems to have a highly refined ability to make other homeowners really, really angry. During one of the HOA meetings last year, police were called to remove Howell and her husband Hamid Tavakolian from the meeting. While being hauled out, Tavakolian allegedly threw a punch at a policeman. In a more recent folderol, the HOA claims Howell and Tavakolian challenged the results of a board election and attempted to form a separate board of directors. HOA assets were frozen while lawyers sorted it out.

Greenwood and Howell should run as a big-government slate. Even their personalities are similar – somewhat a combination of Sherri Butterfield and Susan Withrow. Greenwood indicated at the May 8 Town Hall meeting that she’d like to turn the La Paz / Marguerite area into a downtown so she can “have dinner in a downtown atmosphere.” According to her vision, the downtown would include affordable apartments atop retail stores. Instead of bringing New Urbanism to Mission Viejo, why doesn’t she instead drive to downtown Santa Ana for dinner and “enjoy” the atmosphere of mixed-use retail and affordable housing, graffiti and boom boxes?

Bill Craycraft might enter the race to wind up unfinished business from his longtime council career (stepping down in 2004), complete with convictions of Brown Act violations and naming city property after himself. The residents jokingly referred to “Bill’s” park as “Craycraft Regional Athletic Park” (C.R.A.P.) prior to a council majority’s removing his name altogether from the facility. Maybe Bill heard all the recent to-do about proposed $500,000 restroom facilities for Mission Viejo’s public parks and wishes to lend his name.

One of Craycraft’s few good decisions during his term ending in 2004 was to stop running for office, especially after voting with Kelley and MacLean to raise taxes on Mission Viejo residents (Measure K).