Mission Viejo Early Voter Guide
Staff editorial

Ten candidates will vie for three council seats on Nov. 7, including incumbents John Paul Ledesma, Trish Kelley and Lance MacLean. Challengers are Jim Woodin, Michael Ferrall, Bill Barker, Neil Lonsinger, Brian Skalsky, Diane Greenwood and Justin McCusker.

Candidates unworthy of review are Bill Barker, Justin McCusker, Brian Skalsky and Neil Lonsinger. As an example, Barker’s candidate statement claims “fiscal conservative policies” but advocates “solutions for congested streets by establishing a separate proactive traffic commission.” Beyond the contradiction, how does another layer of bureaucracy fix anything? McCusker is Councilman Frank Ury’s hand-picked lackey who has yet to attend a city council meeting, and his only campaign contributors of record are from out of town. Brian Skalsky and Neil Lonsinger are unlikely to attract many votes.

Diane Greenwood’s candidacy sends up red flags – lots of them. Just like former Councilwoman Susan Withrow, Diane denounced her own political party, switching from Democrat to Republicrat – a common tactic to dupe the voters. Diane appears to have two public personas: Campaign Diane, who writes letters to the editor about goldfish and reads storybooks at the public microphone, and The Real Diane, whose public comments range from vitriolic personal attacks to alarmist tirades about electromagnetic fields.

One of Diane’s ballot statement goals is to “defend residents against oppressive power rate increases.” An ambitious task for a city council member, solutions might be to increase the global fuel supply or control the weather. But wait, there’s more. Lobbyist John Lewis of Orange is not only helping Diane get on a few pricey slate mailers, he just happens to represent an independent power company. Given Ury’s connection to Lewis, the intent is clear. Both of Ury’s puppets (McCusker and Greenwood) talk about power prices and burying utility lines in their ballot statements. When residents of north Mission Viejo realized in 2004 that homeowners near the lines would have to share the cost of $7 million to bury only three new lines, they voted against burying the lines by 84 percent to 16 percent. Residents can get all the lines in town buried at any time – all they have to do is pay for it.

The relatively new owner of the Unisys property recently attended a political event at Diane Greenwood’s house. He’s a member of the $$ Lincoln Club $$, and he was apparently quite disappointed when Steadfast’s affordable housing mess was scaled back to a few affordable units with a Target store planned between his property and the affordable housing. If Ury succeeds in getting two votes on the council (McCusker and Greenwood), consider the domino effect with affordable apartments where Unisys now stands. Ury voted for two affordable housing projects along Los Alisos, and he advocates a large, affordable housing apartment complex in Mission Viejo. Watch for out-of-town donations (independent power companies, Lincoln Club members and friends of John Lewis) funneled into McCusker and Greenwood’s campaigns. In past elections, out-of-towners funded hit pieces under the name “Friends of Mission Viejo,” controlled by Lewis and signed by a Mission Viejo shill.

Of the three incumbents, John Paul Ledesma is the most likely survivor. His voting record isn’t perfect, but he usually opposes bureaucracy, special interest and wacky ideas. The city’s youngest council member, he’s also the most diplomatic. He supported Christmastime religious displays at the Four Corners and Internet filters on library computers. He recently initiated an audit of tax dollars going to the Capo schools, which Ury and MacLean opposed.

Trish Kelley is much like the queens she helped depose – Susan Withrow and Sherri Butterfield. Kelley claims the city has $37 million in reserves. The city’s unencumbered balance – total funds that aren’t already obligated to pay the bills – is approximately $1 million according to Asst. City Mgr. Irwin Bornstein. Kelley appears incapable of comprehending any financial data or participating in meaningful discussions of city finance. Just like Butterfield and Withrow, Kelley claims credit for everything positive about Mission Viejo and denies the realities of traffic congestion, overcrowding, overspending and the city’s growing bureaucracy. After promising to bring peace to the council, she started a civil war with vicious attacks against Gail Reavis, and she led the charge in destroying the city’s best-ever Planning Commission. No one should be fooled by Kelley’s public demeanor of “acting nice.” Although genuine diplomacy would help, the real need on the council is for responsible, intelligent adults, and Kelley has demonstrated for four years she isn’t one of them.

Lance MacLean as a big-government, big-spending socialist warrants a big, fat “no” at the ballot box. He proposed the city’s first-ever tax increase, argued for a garish electronic sign at La Paz and Marguerite, advocated for developers, voted for affordable housing projects, took thousands of dollars from Steadfast, jumped into the school boundaries dispute, led the charge for corporate welfare and called Mission Viejo residents “elitists” and “racists.” As a positive sign of voter awareness, MacLean appears to have no support among Mission Viejo residents.

Fortunately, two responsible adults are running for city council: Jim Woodin and Michael Ferrall. These two are part of no group, and they’re funding their own campaigns. They’re not running as a slate, but they hold similar beliefs about small government and defending the city’s Master Plan. Ferrall is a business owner, and Woodin is a former bank vice-president and trust officer. In what might be the No. 1 issue among residents, both Ferrall and Woodin strongly oppose any new housing development or welfare affordable housing. Neither one has ties to special interest or the good ol’ boys who run the county’s political circus.

In a war, who’s right is not as important as who’s left. If MacLean and Kelley are left on the council, Mission Viejo’s march toward urbanization and decline will continue. In this race, residents have a chance to dump MacLean and Kelley and elect Woodin and Ferrall. Despite a field of 10 candidates, all other choices (Greenwood, Barker, Lonsinger, Skalsky and McCusker) have little to offer the city or its residents.