The Buzz column, August 2

Reader request: “I agree that the current city council members are just like the old ones, trying to put their names on everything. The large signs on slopes and roadways with all the council members’ names are outrageous. If the council members want to put their names on something, what about putting them on the blue plastic bags available in parks for people walking their dogs?”

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Most of Mission Viejo’s problems are manmade. To be specific, its biggest problems are council-made. Here are a few of the recent ones caused by the council: 1) The affordable housing debacle resulted in two future slums and triggered a lawsuit against the city costing more than $1 million; 2) The council approved an electronic sign for no apparent reason, despite public outcry; 3) The council is meddling in private property rights at the retail center at La Paz and Marguerite and planning apartments on top of stores; 4) The council unanimously approved the contract for a consultant to create a Wireless Master Plan with a bonus to put unneeded cell towers in public parks.

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Residents haven’t forgotten Councilman Frank Ury’s remarks when he talked about the fabricated advantages of the new electronic sign, “We can get rid of The City Outlook magazine.” Actually, they could get rid of the magazine at any time – who would notice except the city’s fluff-writers and the contractors who publish it?

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Widening of Ortega Highway would alleviate some of the traffic problems in Mission Viejo, particularly with regard to future housing developments to the east. Caltrans recently released its plan to widen Ortega from two to four lanes between Calle Entradero and Antonio Parkway. The plan is being challenged by San Juan Capistrano. SJC homeowner associations have already protested against an alternative link from the 241 to the 73. A Mission Viejo activist has said San Juan Capistrano will try to avoid widening Ortega by extending Avery and/or rerouting Ortega traffic via an extension of Cow Camp Road, which would dead-end the traffic onto Antonio Parkway – north to Crown Valley to the I-5. The city of SJC is lining up legal help to challenge Caltrans’ plan. View the initial study at
http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist12/74_widening/index.htm

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Not everyone has time to read 1,300 pages of grand jury testimony regarding the Capistrano Unified School District. An excellent sampling was penned by Jonathan Volzke of the Capistrano Dispatch,

http://www.cusdrecall.com/page11/page45/files/07-0713%20TCD%20Volzke.pdf
It doesn’t cover the entire range of issues, but it reveals top school officials claiming they have no knowledge of important business, policy, facilities, real estate or financial matters. Administrators testify they are either clueless or rely entirely on CUSD’s consultants or legal advisors to call the shots. The district is apparently run by self-proclaimed know-nothings.

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Reading between the lies: A blog staffer who reviewed the transcripts noted that when Fleming appeared before the grand jury on April 26, 2007, he refused to answer every substantive question, based on his Fifth Amendment rights. Fleming’s next appearance in court will be on Friday, Aug. 10.

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Forwarded by Editor-in-Chief Carl Schulthess. (Under age 40? You won't understand.)
My mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the same cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to get food poisoning. Our school sandwiches were wrapped in waxed paper in a brown paper bag, not in icepack coolers, but I can't remember getting E. coli.

We took gym, not PE, and risked permanent injury with a pair of high-top Keds (only worn in gym) instead of having cross-training athletic shoes with air-cushion soles and built-in light reflectors. I can't recall any injuries, but they must have happened because they tell us how much safer we are now.

In school, we all said prayers and sang the national anthem, and staying in detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention.

I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was allowed to be proud of myself.

I recall a kid from next door coming over and doing his tricks on the front stoop, just before he fell off. Little did his mom know that she could have owned our house. Instead, she picked him up and swatted him for being such a goof. It was a neighborhood run amok.