City Campaign Update
Staff editorial

It was another busy week for Diane Greenwood’s campaign manager, who continues to dig through 30, 40 and 50 years in his attempt to smear other council candidates. Despite his effort, the controversy around Greenwood was a lot more interesting.

Greenwood managed to get herself endorsed by a pro-abortion group, National Women’s Political Caucus of Orange County. A city council candidate flaunting her pro-abortion stance to troll for votes appears desperate when most other candidates are focused on city issues. Greenwood seems to lack a platform beyond the power line issue that died two years ago. Her claims about “quality of life” conflict with her dream of putting affordable apartments on top of retail stores at La Paz and Marguerite. Residents have decried any such plan, based in part on other Mission Viejo neighborhoods where high-density housing contributes to crime and decline.

Greenwood’s endorsement from NWPC additionally points to the hypocrisy of her supporters, including Frank Ury and her campaign manager, who claim to be model social conservatives. Diane’s campaign manager has for months touted her as a “conservative Democrat,” which is inconsistent with the endorsement. Given other conflicting descriptions, Diane is a Democrat, Republican, pro-life and pro-abortion candidate who has Ury’s support unless the firemen ask her about it. As another demonstration of deceit during the week prior, Greenwood attempted to charge $100/person to attend her fundraiser that was actually another political candidate’s free party.

The city’s real political news of the week developed during a meeting where Diane was appropriately absent. When the Saddleback Republican Assembly met on Sept. 21, its members endorsed council candidates Jim Woodin, Councilman John Paul Ledesma and Michael Ferrall in one vote. With eight candidates vying for three endorsements, one would at least expect some pushing and shoving.

At the beginning of the SRA meeting, an uninvited Greenwood promoter was attempting to distribute documents. An SRA member reported, “She was trying to give people copies of emails that were of no interest to anyone. The only excitement of the evening was someone tearing up the copies and handing them back to her.”

The documents may be part of the negative campaign orchestrated by Ury in his effort to get Greenwood and Justin McCusker on the council. Greenwood’s campaign manager has for weeks been sending daily email blasts against Greenwood’s opponents. A recipient said, “It’s nasty, but we’re dealing with deviant personalities, so this isn’t a surprise. We’re getting emails with all the usual attacks they make during council meetings.”

Based on the vote at the Sept. 21 meeting, SRA members were undaunted by the distraction.