Just Desserts for a Council Member
Staff editorial

The Nov. 7 city council election results may have disappointed a majority of Mission Viejo residents, including most of those who voted. Seven council challengers and a wide range of residents are among the disappointed. No one, however, should feel more flattened than Councilman Frank Ury, who unsuccessfully tried to orchestrate dumping Council Members Trish Kelley, John Paul Ledesma and Lance MacLean.

Ever since his Nov. 2004 election, Ury has been on a slash-and-burn mission to jettison other council members, including Gail Reavis, who is not up for reelection until 2008. Ury’s status as the council pariah is, perhaps, the only point of agreement among the other four. Ury has publicly implied Councilwoman Trish Kelley is inept. He frequently insults Councilmen John Paul Ledesma and Lance MacLean. Ury appears to take sadistic pleasure in upsetting Councilwoman Gail Reavis. During the past year as he sat to MacLean’s left on the dais, he’d lean over, whisper something to MacLean, and they’d both break out laughing. It’s as if Ury had whispered, “Watch me set her off.” Immediately thereafter, Ury would insult Reavis, often bringing up her feud with former City Manager Dan Joseph or the legal claims that followed. If Ury “worked with” anyone on the council, it was to demean others – aligning with Kelley to malign Reavis or with Reavis to insult Kelley.

Ury’s reputation as a schoolyard bully isn’t limited to the council battlefield. Between council meetings, Ury has found time to display his ill will against others at Saddleback Republican Assembly and Orange County Central Committee meetings. At an SRA meeting last spring, FU asked to be on the program and spent an hour trashing his council peers, admitting that he couldn’t work with any of them.

The Republican Central Committee meetings are rarely attended by the common folk, and Republicans at large might mistakenly think the meetings are held to promote Republican ideals. Those who witnessed the Central Committee’s endorsing process in September had a rude awakening. The purpose of the meeting was allegedly to interview and find the best Republican representatives in elections throughout Orange County.

Somehow, the Republican Central Committee became highly confused and decided to meddle in nonpartisan races, including city council elections. Mission Viejo’s city election had 10 candidates – all Republicans after lifelong Democrat Diane Greenwood switched parties. The committee’s discussion of the Mission Viejo race started with Ury’s introduction of his so-called find, Justin McCusker.

Ury’s rambling presentation began, “County Chairman Scott Baugh asked me to find a credible Republican candidate for Mission Viejo City Council.” One should ask why Scott Baugh, a Huntington Beach resident, thinks he should interfere with a Mission Viejo city election. As another issue, nine other Republicans (including eight real ones) were already campaigning prior to McCusker’s entering the race. One should keep in mind the Republican Central Committee is controlled by three lobbyists who raise enormous amounts of cash to grease the wheels for their business contacts. It has nothing whatsoever to do with Republican ideals or what’s best for anyone else except the business of lobbying. Until this problem is addressed by county Republicans at large, the county organization is broken.

Despite the effort by the county party, several lobbyists, Ury’s dysfunctional fan club of four members and a whole lot of money raised by lobbyists for McCusker, “their” prot‚g‚ came in near the bottom. McCusker surpassed only Brian Skalsky (a 20-something newcomer) and Jim Woodin, an otherwise viable candidate who had to stop campaigning in July because of major health issues, including a broken back.

The county GOP election effort was an epic failure. As an example, the county turnout was approximately 50 percent – even below the state’s turnout. The county GOP’s so-called city chairman in Mission Viejo was Frank Ury. No one can cite any activity – phone banking, precinct work, etc. – generated by Ury. Even those connected with the Republican Party said he did nothing except to thwart the effort of others who usually help. Ultimately, Ury was out on the street corner the day prior to the election, campaigning with a lifelong Democrat (Diane Greenwood), who lost while running as a pseudo-Republican.

As further testimony to Ury’s lack of leadership, his council peers decided at the Dec. 4 meeting that Ury should be bypassed as Mission Viejo’s mayor for 2007, although it’s his turn in the rotation.

The sleeping circus at city hall awakened for a moment, brushed the debris aside and will now go back to sleep.