A Bad Sign
Staff editorial

The current city council consists of people who don’t listen to the residents. The example at hand is the council majority’s July 2 decision to install an electronic message board at La Paz and Marguerite.

Councilman Lance MacLean started touting an electronic sign in 2003. Councilwoman Trish Kelley chimed in, probably envisioning her name in lights. Their proposal was eventually enhanced with false claims that no volunteers wanted to change the letters on the manual sign.

A letter to Saddleback Valley News on July 20 from a member of one of the volunteer groups indicated they’d been dismissed by the city as letter-changers and never again asked to resume. Probably at considerable consternation to MacLean and Kelley, another group of volunteers came forward to change the letters. Despite their willingness to continue doing the job, why did their service end? Their statements at council meetings during public comments, plus letters to the editor from members of both groups, exposed the city’s lie that no one would update the manual board.

As an end run several years ago by the minority council members who wanted to dump the manual board, a “study” for an electronic sign made its way to the Planning Commission in 2003.

The commission back then consisted of the late Norm Murray, Jack Anderson, Dr. Michael Kennedy (who was replaced by Dorothy Wedel), Bo Klein and Mary Binning. The commission rejected the electronic sign 5-0, saying its nature and size violated city code. Beyond legal grounds for rejecting the sign, the commission was concerned with dangers of the visual distraction at a busy intersection.

Saddleback College defiantly put up glaring electronic nuisance boards on its property, claiming it had exemption as if it were a sovereign nation. Residents objected to the electronic boards, but nothing changed. The number of car wrecks near the college was already the highest of any area in the city.

A resident who attended the July 2 meeting when the council voted 3-2 to approve the sign (MacLean, Kelley and Ury in favor) commented: “I saw no leadership from Reavis and Ledesma. Ledesma only stated he was being consistent with his earlier votes. A city staff member offered a chance to delay the decision by getting additional information. Reavis as mayor didn’t pursue the opportunity, even for a delay. I didn’t see resistance from any council member, and the two who didn’t vote for the sign appeared ambivalent.”

With city signs all over town listing the five council members’ names on slopes and road projects, this council has yet another opportunity for taxpayers to subsidize political campaigns with an electronic message board.

As an attempt to brush aside residents’ overwhelming objections to the sign, Kelley claimed the glaring nuisance will be “tasteful.” As a memorable whopper, Ury stated the message board would eliminate the need for the “City Outlook” magazine.

The excuse for installing an electronic sign is and always has been a lie. As an additional slap in the face to the volunteers, a city employee was pictured in the July 13 Saddleback Valley News changing the letters. Was this to give the false impression the city has to pay for the expense of changing the message?

An activist who objected to the sign at the July 2 council meeting later commented, “It’s a matter of time before someone will crash a car at La Paz and Marguerite and file a claim against the city, whether or not an electronic sign caused the wreck. I suppose we could look on the bright side. A car crash at the intersection could take out the sign as well.”