The Buzz column, Feb. 23

What if Councilman Frank Ury threw a party and no one came. Wait – that was last summer when he was supposed to organize Republicans to walk precincts in Mission Viejo. Mission Viejo didn’t have a Republican Get Out The Vote campaign for the November election after Ury volunteered to be the city chairman. Almost everyone knows it was a washout except the bigwigs at the county level. They sent personalized thank-you notes to Mission Viejo residents who didn’t participate.

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Ury recently threw another party – his annual birthday fund-raiser – and almost no one came. A few of his political friends from other cities were probably comped instead of having to pay $200 to attend, but why wasn’t his Mission Viejo fan club at the party? As a show of his true feelings about Mission Viejo, he chose a restaurant in another city for his event. As a show of his true feelings about those worked hardest to get him elected, he apparently didn’t comp them. More likely, they weren’t even invited.

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When a blogger asked why Ury is having a fund-raiser, a city hall insider offered an opinion. “He was running money through his campaign treasury to support losing candidates Diane Greenwood, Bill Barker and Justin McCusker in the 2006 city election. When potential donors – city vendors – objected to supporting his candidates, Frank asked them to write a check to his campaign.” Trying to fund Greenwood, Barker and McCusker may have lowered Ury’s campaign balance, despite all the cash streaming in from out of town.

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Anyone attending an event where Councilwoman Trish Kelley is present should expect to be approached. Ms. Kelley cannot get enough attention by having her presence announced from the microphone, so she interrupts every conversation in the room, forcing each person to acknowledge her. She’s become the Blanche DuBois of Mission Viejo, depending on the kindness of strangers not telling her to knock it off. Of Mission Viejo’s 60,000 registered voters, approximately 48,000 didn’t vote for Ms. Kelley in the last election, which she apparently doesn’t comprehend.

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Results of the 2006 city election should be compared with other recent elections. In 2000, winners received at least 14,355 votes. In 2002, winners received at least 15,114 votes, and in 2004, winners received at least 14,441.The incumbents’ totals in 2006 (Kelley 12,191, Ledesma 10,763, MacLean
8,574) were nothing to brag about. In 2004, unsuccessful challenger Brad Morton surpassed Kelley’s 2006 total when he received 12,299 votes. What if he had run again in 2006? Morton distinguished himself throughout 2005-2006 with exemplary service on the planning commission, where he opposed slumlord developers, cell towers in neighborhood parks and destruction of commercial zones. Meanwhile, Kelley is b-a-a-a-a-a-ck, already in full campaign mode with her next reelection bid only 1,300 or so days away.