The Buzz column, December 15

Former Mayor Lance MacLean was quoted in the Dec. 15 Saddleback Valley News: “I want residents to trust me to listen to their thoughts and issues.” Isn’t it a little late for that? MacLean announced from the dais shortly after his first win in 2002 that he would use his own ideas despite what residents tell him. He did admit in the recent SVN story that the recent election was a wakeup call for him. Mission Viejo has 59,563 voters, and only 8,574 of them voted for MacLean.

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Councilwoman Gail Reavis, who became mayor on Dec. 4, was also quoted in the Dec. 15 SVN. Among her puzzling remarks, she mentioned revisiting the issue of burying power lines. If voters agreed on undergrounding the lines, Diane Greenwood could have been elected on Nov. 7 as a one-issue candidate who wants to bury the lines. Anyone who would like to discuss the issue in a responsible manner should first identify the source of funding – up to $100 million – to bury the lines. To pretend Santa Claus or the power-line fairy will pay for it is ludicrous. Homeowners in north Mission Viejo were asked in 2004 if they’d like to pay for the project as a special assessment district, and they said no. The California Public Utilities Commission also decided in 2004 that ratepayers don’t have to foot the bill. What’s left – having the city pay for it? Put it on the ballot.

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As a legal matter, ballot measures require specific statements of cost and who will pay. Power lines not only run across north Mission Viejo, a second string cuts across the south part of town and a third runs through Aegean Hills. If Mission Viejo has representative government, let the people decide. If the cost and who will pay are publicized, the issue would abruptly end. That’s precisely what happened in 2004 when north Mission Viejo homeowners rejected the special assessment district with 84 percent against and 16 percent in favor.

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The Winter 2006/2007 issue of the city newsletter, “City Outlook,” contained yet another puff-piece update on the Mission Viejo Community Foundation. The organization held a golf-outing fundraiser on Sept. 11 but failed to disclose financial information beyond “$54,000 in gross revenues.” With two months to figure it out, someone should have had time to subtract expenses from $54,000 to report the difference. As an ongoing problem, the foundation counts as revenue any in-kind donation of goods and services, as well as city grants, thus far approximately $400,000 in taxpayer dollars. If the foundation is unable to cover operational expenses including its overpaid executive director, the city must stop subsidizing this organization.

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The “Outlook” also contained an article about coyotes. Ironically, “Living with Coyotes” appears alongside “Share Our Love of Animals.” Are residents aware coyotes are being shot in Mission Viejo? Meanwhile, the rabbit population is thriving in some neighborhoods. With the balance of nature upset by the selective elimination of natural predators, is anyone surprised at the abundance of rabbits? Rather than involving homeowner associations and city government to control the rabbit population, why not let the coyotes handle it?

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Missing from news coverage is the number of drug houses thriving in Mission Viejo. Numerous residents have reported information to the blog – dealing, marijuana farms, traffic in otherwise quiet neighborhoods and greenhouses in yards and attics. Except for the large operation discovered adjacent to Stoneridge Homeowners Association near Olympiad and Alicia, no one is minding the farm, so to speak.