Off and Running, Running and Off
Editorial staff

If California voters don’t pass an initiative to extend term limits on the February 2008 special ballot, Assemblyman Todd Spitzer will be termed out of office in November 2008. Mission Viejo is in Spitzer’s 71st Assembly District.

Already vying for Spitzer’s seat are Mission Viejo Councilman John Paul Ledesma, Rancho Santa Margarita Councilman Neil Blais, Irvine Councilman Steven Choi and Corona Councilman Jeff Miller. Their race will be on the June ballot unless voters decide in February to complicate matters by extending state Assembly and state Senate terms.

Who would best represent Mission Viejo residents? It should be an easy question with Ledesma in the race. He won his first Mission Viejo election in 1998 by defeating incumbent councilman Larry Smith. He was reelected in 2002 and 2006. Some of Ledesma’s votes on zoning, affordable housing and redevelopment put him at odds with his base, but he has staying-power in a city that likes to dump incumbents.

Assembly candidate Blais raided Mission Viejo recently and picked off endorsements from former councilwomen Sherri Butterfield and Susan Withrow, whom he supported in their 2002 landslide demotion to oblivion. Does that not demonstrate Blais is out of touch with a city he hopes to represent?

A city activist remarked, “Blais erred by touting his association with the deposed queens. However, their record is benign when compared with the current Mission Viejo council.”

While Butterfield and Withrow aren’t likely to stage a comeback, perhaps they’re no longer the worst elected officials in the city’s history.

For amusement if nothing else, candidate Jeff Miller’s campaign last week sent an email about Blais’ fundraising. Blais had issued numerous press releases about his early success, but Miller’s email about campaign finance reports revealed Blais is wildly popular with his own banker. Of his money raised so far, $100,000 of the “outpouring of support” has come from Blais.