The Buzz column, Aug. 30

On Monday the Planning Commission denied, 3-2, the application by Nine Star skateboard shop for an outdoor demonstration area at the Kaleidoscope Center. The denial was based primarily on concerns about security after the Aug. 13 OC Register’s expos‚ about the Center becoming a teen hangout and following complaints expressed by other Kaleidoscope merchants.

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Nine Star planned a concert last Saturday by the band Unwritten Law in the common area of the Center, but last-minute security concerns led to a denial of a permit for the concert. Nine Star promoted the grand opening concert on its Website: "Wanna win a chance to meet the dudes from Unwritten Law? We know you're not gay – you're just curious. Or you ARE gay and just like good music. Or you're a chick and you want them guys bad.” That’s not all – it got worse. 

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The Commission left the door open for Nine Star to reapply if the store and Kaleidoscope management can show security problems have been resolved. The management company for Kaleidoscope plans to install surveillance cameras throughout the Center that can be monitored by its security staff and viewed by the public over the Internet. The city council will review the security issue at its meeting next Monday.

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Blog readers continue to ask about the city budget, particularly after seeing the misleading story in the Aug. 25 Saddleback Valley News. Contrary to the story, the city did not find an extra $16.6 million. City budget data released Aug. 21 showed the total amount in the General Fund at approximately $20 million. Nearly all the money is appropriated or otherwise needed to run the city. The balance remaining for discretionary use is less than $1 million, which is the amount of unappropriated, unencumbered cash left over – not $16.6 million.

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Council candidate Diane Greenwood had another puff-piece letter to the editor in the Sept. 1 Saddleback Valley News. Her advisors have apparently told her not to mention her agenda to put affordable apartments on top of stores at La Paz and Marguerite and to let an independent power company take over the city. When “real” Diane speaks at the public microphone during council meetings, those watching say she comes across as a very angry woman. She’s angry about power lines, she’s angry at the council, she’s angry at the city – that’s us. Voters need to remove – not add – people from the council who want to punish or run over someone else.

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Councilwoman Trish Kelley apparently didn’t like the blog’s editorial last week, comparing her with former CUSD Supt. James Fleming. Fleming’s son got a job with a CUSD plumbing contractor, who appeared to charge the district excessive amounts. One of Kelley’s sons got a job with the city’s ambulance contractor, Medix, and her other son worked for a competitor vying for the city’s ambulance contract. The blog reports, voters decide.

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Where was the tinfoil hat brigade at the Aug. 21 council meeting when citywide wi-fi was discussed? No one stood at the public microphone to rail about rays. Greenwood lost her credibility as the city’s No. 1 concerned citizen regarding Electromagnet Field issues. Perhaps the tinfoil mad hatters make a distinction between friendly EMF and unfriendly EMF. Councilman Frank Ury is promoting both the citywide wi-fi and Greenwood’s council candidacy (friendly EMF), and Councilman Lance MacLean (frequently attacked by the mad hatters) can be blamed for any unfriendly EMF.

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At a break during the Aug. 21 meeting, Ury ran outside to console the Earthlink representative who was pacing in front of city hall while awaiting the council’s reaction to his proposal. Earthlink’s proposal was highly favorable to Earthlink and highly unfavorable to the city and its residents. The council decided to “receive and file” the report and invite other wi-fi providers to submit proposals. Such proposals are not in response to any request from residents or based on any determination of need.

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Incredibly, council candidate Justin McCusker (Ury’s hand-picked puppet) has still never attended a city council meeting during his entire city residency (of three years?). According to McCusker’s ballot statement, he stopped the El Toro airport. No one in Mission Viejo and none of The Buzz’s contacts in other South County cities know of McCusker’s participation in the anti-airport fight. McCusker also wasn’t in the database of anti-airport volunteers. Ury made the same phony claim in his 2004 campaign, saying he “was on the front lines fighting the airport from the beginning.” Like father, like puppet.