Mission Viejo Buzz - 11/25/06 - text only

The Buzz column, Nov. 22

At a Planning Commission meeting a month before the election, Planning Commissioner Brad Morton speculated about the future makeup of the commission. He said the Nov. 7 city election might bring about major changes. Because commissioners are appointed by council members, three new council members would likely mean three new commissioners. Despite all three incumbents winning (or appearing to win in the case of Lance MacLean), Morton was probably correct about major changes.

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For the benefit of those who don’t follow Planning Commission meetings, the commissioners are Brad Morton (appointed by Gail Reavis), Neil Lonsinger (Trish Kelley), Richard Schweinberg (John Paul Ledesma), Chandra Krout (Frank Ury) and Richard Sandzimier (Lance MacLean). Morton recently sent an email to the council, indicating his disinclination to continue serving on the commission. Lonsinger will likely not be reappointed by Trish Kelley because he ran against her. Krout recently resigned from the Planning Commission and will not serve out the remainder of her term.

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Krout’s resignation doesn’t surprise some of those who attend Planning Commission meetings. Krout’s disinterest has been noticeable. In recent months, she’s been frequently absent or late to arrive. She complained that the meetings were too time-consuming, and she appeared unprepared – as if she hadn’t read the agenda packet. A Mission Viejo resident of three years, Krout had no previous history of participation in city issues. Frank Ury as a self-proclaimed conservative Republican appointed Krout after she changed her voter registration from Democrat to Decline To State – likely at his urging. Will “Republican” Ury attempt to replace Krout with another lifelong Democrat – Diane Greenwood? The Republican-Democrat issue is not of great significance on the commission, but Ury seems to have pulled the wool over the eyes of his Republican brethren that he’s still in the fold.

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One of Greenwood’s campaign workers circulated yet another nasty email last week regarding campaign donations to the incumbents. Among other issues about his own choice of candidates, he failed to mention that Greenwood, Bill Barker and Justin McCusker benefited from a $5,000 donation from Steadfast to the Political Action Committee supporting them. What was the motive of Steadfast, considering the current council approved their affordable housing project by a 5-0 vote last year? Don’t forget that Steadfast tried to buy its way out of the affordable requirement with a push for an in-lieu fee. Ury and MacLean favored the in-lieu fee, but Reavis, Ledesma and Kelley voted against it. Steadfast evidently believed it could improve its odds of wriggling out of the affordable units with a vote from Greenwood, Barker or McCuster, should any of them win a council seat.

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In a rehash of the council election, blog staffers asked why anyone would vote for Greenwood, who currently trails MacLean by 96 votes while the last of the provisional ballots are being counted. Most people explained they would rather have anyone but MacLean on the council. This sentiment is stunning, considering Greenwood is likely the most contentious candidate who has ever run for Mission Viejo City Council. Residents apparently would prefer constant upheaval to MacLean’s arrogance and bad decisions.

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Problems continue in the Capistrano Unified School District. Almost immediately after the election, The Orange County Register reported the district will make major cuts this year and next. When three new board members are seated at the Dec. 11 board meeting, their first job will be “trimming” $9.4 million in midyear budget cuts. An additional $9 million in costs must be eliminated after the first of the year according to interim Supt. Charles McCully. Just in case the new board members don’t have enough challenges, the district will also revisit school boundaries. Following the recall attempt of all seven trustees in 2005, the district smoothed things over with parents through such peace offerings as maintaining reduced class size. Information emerged that the administration was trying to look good at the expense of digging into district reserves. If the sale of the administrative Taj Mahal in San Juan Capistrano is not already under serious consideration, it should be.