CUSD Recall Petitions Approved
News Release, Aug 22, 2007

Trustees Sheila Benecke and Marlene Draper will face recall

The CUSD Recall Committee received confirmation the Orange County Registrar of Voters approved the Petition to Recall Capistrano Unified School District Trustees Sheila Benecke and Marlene Draper. Recall proponents may now formally begin the process of collecting signatures from 10 percent of the registered voters in the Capistrano Unified School District to qualify the recall election. They have 160 days to circulate and submit petitions.

Grounds for the recall read as follows:

You have permitted a culture of corruption to infect our school district.

You permitted district personnel to use scarce district resources to create unlawful lists of your political “enemies” – including children. You engaged in illegal closed-session meetings where district business was conducted in secret. You and your staff repeatedly provided false information to the public regarding district finances. You failed to effectively control your staff – even giving your former superintendent (now indicted for multiple felonies) a standing ovation and lucrative retirement package just hours after police investigators armed with search warrants raided his office.

You grossly mismanaged district finances.

You are recklessly spending $52,000,000 on an administration building and over $140,000,000 for a single high school next to a dump – while our schools are in dire need of repairs and students are crammed into substandard portable classrooms with non-functioning restrooms. Your reckless deficit spending has created a self-inflicted, multi-million dollar budget crisis that has put our children at risk and resulted in massive program cutbacks – overcrowding classrooms and severely diminishing the quality of education.

You have arrogantly disregarded the public by repeatedly ignoring problems until they become crises.

You have broken the public’s trust.

Petitions may be obtained by contacting the CUSD Recall Committee Website at www.cusdrecall.com.

CUSD Update, August 24

Those driving by Newhart Middle School this week saw an interesting sight in the parking lot adjacent to La Paz Road. Neighbors said the parking lot was being used to assemble the new modular building – a two-story portable. Workmen were putting the framework together, and passersby were excited about activity of any kind. One person said, “Maybe they’re working on the portables or painting them.” When a new coat of paint causes excitement, it says a lot about the condition of the school.

In progress this week is moving the first story of the modular building into place and stacking the second story on top of it. The structure will likely be coated with a stucco-like material to make it look more like a permanent building. Other portables had to be moved to the playground area to make room for the two-story portable.

As it turns out, these “portable” units aren’t so portable after all. Quite a few of the Newhart “portables” destined to be moved a matter of yards couldn’t withstand the trip. They fell apart and had to be hauled off. Consider that these crumbling portables were classrooms a couple months ago.

CUSD officials say the student population at Newhart will be reduced this coming school year because some students will attend Hankey. With Newhart so overcrowded, going from 1,800-plus to 1,600-plus still won’t be a reasonable number.

Those who attended the CUSD board meeting on Aug. 13 continue to remark about some of the public comments during the agenda item on whether or not the district would pay the legal fees of former administrators James Fleming and Susan McGill.

One of the parents on Aug. 13 said from the public microphone the old trustees couldn’t be trusted. She said one of the new trustees, Anna Bryson, also couldn’t be trusted because she voted with the old ones on controversial issues, including passing a budget with a negative impact on students. Bryson was so flustered after being publicly criticized that she spent five minutes defending herself instead of discussing the agenda item.

A parent later said, “She was the first trustee who had the opportunity to speak after public comments, and she could have made the motion against the legal fees. She could have gotten her name in the paper for carrying the ball, but Larry Christianson made the motion after she spent all her time going on about herself.”

And what was she saying about herself? She talked at length about the school board meeting she attended prior to the November 2006 election. Perhaps she said it just in case anyone might think she had never attended a school board meeting. One person at the Aug. 13 meeting said, “No one can remember seeing her at a school board meeting prior to the time she got into the race – a couple months before the election – likely because she’d never been to one before running. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that this new trustee fits in well with the old ones, except they seem to know what they’re talking about at times.”

Congressman Miller Visits Mission Viejo Aug. 30
News Brief

Congressman Gary Miller will speak in Mission Viejo at Atria del Sol on Thurs., Aug. 30, beginning at 5 p.m. His topic will be "What's really happening in Washington, D.C." Saddleback Republican Assembly will host the event and serve refreshments.

Congressman Miller has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1998, representing California's 42nd Congressional District, including Orange County cities of Anaheim, Brea, La Habra, Mission Viejo, Placentia, Rancho Santa Margarita and Yorba Linda, as well as portions of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

Atria del Sol is located at 23792 Marguerite Parkway. The event is free, and everyone is welcome to attend. For more information, call Michael Ferrall at (949) 874-3422 or Dale Tyler at (949) 360-1717.

 Where to Live After Retirement

Forwarded by blogmeister Kathy Miramontes
In case you were considering moving somewhere else, here's the scoop.      

You can live in Phoenix where ...

1.  You are willing to park three blocks away because you found shade.
2.  You can drive for four hours in one direction and never leave town.
3.  You have more than 100 recipes for Mexican food.
4.  You know that "dry heat" is comparable to what hits you in the face when you open your oven door.
5.  The four seasons are: tolerable, hot, really hot and Holy Hell!!!

You can Live in California where ...

1.  You make over $250,000 annually and you still can't afford to buy a house.
2.  The fastest part of your commute is going down your driveway.
3.  You know how to eat an artichoke.
4.  You drive your rented Mercedes to your neighborhood block party.
5.  When someone asks you how far something is, you tell them how long it will take to get there.
6.  The four seasons are: Fire, Flood, Mud, and Drought

You can live in New York City where ...

1.  You say "the city" and expect everyone to know you mean Manhattan.
2.  You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Columbus Circle to Battery Park, but can't find Wisconsin on a map.
3.  You think Central Park is "nature."
4.  You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multi-lingual.
5.  You've worn out a car horn.
6.  You think eye contact is an act of aggression.

You can live in Maine where...

1.  You only have four spices: salt, pepper, ketchup and Tabasco.
2.  Halloween costumes fit over parkas.
3.  You have more than one recipe for moose.
4.  Sexy lingerie is anything made of flannel with fewer than eight buttons.
5.  The four seasons are: winter, still winter, almost winter and construction.

You can live in the Deep South where ...

1.  You can rent a movie and buy bait in the same store.
2.  "Y'all" is singular and "all y'all" is plural.
3.  "He needed killin" is a valid defense.
4.  Everyone has two first names: Billy Bob, Jimmy Bob, Mary Sue, Betty Jean, etc.

You can live in Colorado where ...

1.  You carry your $3,000 mountain bike atop your $500 car.
2.  You tell your husband to pick up Granola on his way home and he stops at the daycare center.
3.  A pass doesn’t involve a football or dating.
4.  The top of your head is bald, but you still have a pony tail.

You can live in the Midwest where ...

1.  You've never met any celebrities, but the mayor knows your name.
2.  Your idea of a traffic jam is 10 cars waiting to pass a tractor.
3.  You have had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" on the same day.
4.  You end sentences with a preposition, such as, "Where's my coat at?"
5.  When asked how your trip was to any exotic place, you say, "It was different."

And you can live in Florida where ...

1.  You eat dinner at 3:15 in the afternoon.
2.  All purchases include a coupon of some kind, even for houses and cars.
3.  Everyone can recommend an excellent dermatologist.
4.  Road construction never ends anywhere in the state.
5.  Cars in front of you often appear to be driven by headless people.

Aug. 20 Council Meeting Summary
Editorial staff

Playing to a nearly empty room, the council accomplished little despite prolonging the meeting for more than four hours. Councilman Frank Ury was absent.

Anyone wanting to watch the online video of the meeting might notice a substantial portion is gone. Public comments aren't on the tape, and the agenda order is so mixed up, it's hard to tell what's missing.

Obviously missing is any sign of leadership on the council. Nearly all of the agenda items were approved 4-0 as part of the consent calendar. Gone are the days of any council member pretending to be a watchdog, pulling items for debate or scrutinizing the check register. The city staff is running the show, and council members are rubberstamping the predetermined outcome during meetings.

Preempting public comments at the beginning of the open session, four items were pulled forward regarding the 2005-2009 Implementation Plan for the Community Development Project Area. No member of the public spoke, and the review, update and adoption of the plan were rubberstamped 4-0. Related CDA agenda items with regard to eliminating time limits on the establishment of loans, advances and indebtedness or the repayment of indebtedness were also rubberstamped 4-0.

One meeting observer said the Community Development Area will endure even if the entire city is under water after falling into the sea.

Residents of a neighborhood near Capo Valley High School asked for measures to reduce school-related traffic and parking problems on their streets. The council denied their request for a no-stopping, no-parking permit program on Oso Rojo Lane, La Quilla Lane, De La Luna Drive, Consuelo Place, Boleada Drive, Oliva Place, Poco Place, Jacinto Drive and Mirar Vista Drive.

An observer reported, “The council decided to continue the matter and directed the city manager to write a letter to CUSD requesting a proctor on Oso Rojo Lane. What a joke. They had the opportunity to establish a no-stopping and no-parking zone whereby cars could be ticketed and the problem would abruptly end. The school district recently reduced spending on classroom needs by millions of dollars because it has no money. Now it’s supposed to send out a politeness proctor to enforce the city’s nonexistent rules.”

The council next reviewed the city’s Lawful Hiring Compliance Ordinance (which prevents the city from hiring illegal workers or contracting with firms that employ illegal aliens). MacLean said he was “on the fence” and gave an example of a software vendor that might have an employee in India providing technical assistance to a computer operator in city hall.

An observer commented, “Can anyone on this council come up with language to distinguish an illegal alien living in the United States from someone who lives in India?”

Toward the end of the meeting, Reavis had several agenda items under her council comments. First, the matter of widening Ortega Highway, which is under the control of Caltrans – an agency ready to steamroll the city of San Juan Capistrano and any lawsuits in its way. Second, she talked about receiving complaints regarding boats and RVs parked in front of homes. The city has clear and enforceable code to handle this without grandstanding during a council meeting. Third, she discussed her “concern” with the proliferation of boarding homes. An example of such a home is the one she recently voted to approve on Calle Hogar despite strong opposition from the neighborhood. Are residents paying attention?

Council Reaches New Lows
Staff editorial

A Mission Viejo resident emailed the blog: “I watched part of the Aug. 20 council meeting. The topic was traffic around Newhart Middle School, and this council is worthless. The traffic has been studied to death for years, and nothing has been done. People who live near Newhart are demanding that the council put a stop to all the student drop-offs in adjacent neighborhoods. The council comes up with lame excuses or more studies. They won’t pay attention to residents who have solutions, but they pay thousands to traffic consultants. Nothing changes.”

This council’s greatest advantage is that almost no one is attending or watching the meetings to observe their incompetence. Even the watchdogs (the real ones, not the gadflies) walked away in disgust. As good news for residents, voter awareness had already reached the level required to dump incumbents in November 2006. Challengers amassed more votes than incumbents in the last election, but Kelley, Ledesma and MacLean survived because seven challengers split the vote.

Perhaps the 2008 city election will align better with the revolution of 2002. Two incumbents back then – former councilwomen Sherri Butterfield and Susan Withrow – were inept and unpopular. They were well supplied with vendor cash, endorsements and name recognition, but they lost by a wide margin because voters were fed up with them.

Those who defeated Butterfield and Withrow in 2002 – Trish Kelley and Lance MacLean – weren’t widely known or well-funded, but they didn’t come across as nasty or deranged. The incumbents were obnoxious, and the winning challengers worked hard and kept their deficiencies and oddball leanings under wraps.

The reader’s comment above is correct. This council is likely the worst in the city’s history, and it can’t solve the simplest problem. With regard to traffic issues near schools, the city owns the streets and controls where people drive and park. The city can either curtail or prevent cars from cutting through, parking, waiting for or dropping off kids in a neighborhood adjacent to a school, particularly after receiving demands from homeowners. This city is bending over backwards for school districts, and it pays for school expenses that are well outside municipal responsibility. Meanwhile, residents put up with ridiculous traffic problems.

How did the confusion develop about who controls traffic near schools? In the Capo district, the area surrounding Newhart became one of the worst problems when the school grew to 1,800 students. A former neighborhood school, it now takes in students who live too far away to walk, including some who live in San Juan Capistrano. Instead of drawing a line in the sand, Kelley as a councilwoman couldn’t say no to anything CUSD did. Newhart declined to the level of a trailer park surrounded by snarled traffic while Kelley played up to former administrators James Fleming and David Doomey (DO-me). They took her – and the city of Mission Viejo – to the cleaners.

At the Aug. 20 city meeting, the council also said no to those who live near Capo Valley High School. Neighbors asked for relief from problems similar to the area near Newhart, and the council denied establishing a “no stopping and no parking” permit program.

Awhile back, Mission Viejo High School finally got a degree of relief with restricted parking in some neighborhoods after years of complaints. Residents should be astounded with the inconsistent handling of similar problems within the same city.

Challengers are already lining up to run for council seats, giving the impression they sense vulnerability in incumbents. In 2008, Council Members Frank Ury and Gail Reavis are up for reelection. They’ll have plenty of vendor cash and little grassroots support, just like Butterfield and Withrow in the 2002 election. If challengers work hard (like the winners did in 2002), and they don’t come across as nasty and deranged (like some of the losers in 2006), the incumbents are quite beatable.

The Buzz column, Aug. 25

Hey! Who stole the wheels off my house? Earlier this month, San Juan Capistrano residents who live in a mobile home park urged their city council not to bring affordable housing near their neighborhood. The parcel being discussed, Lower Rosan Ranch, will likely be used for RV and boat storage for the near term and mixed-use in the future. City councils shouldn’t be surprised that no one wants an affordable housing project next door.

***

The Mission Viejo council on Aug. 20 approved zone changes for three parcels following an affordable housing debate that went on for years. The rezoned parcels are 1) near Mission Foothill Marketplace on east Los Alisos, 2) on Oso near to the country club and 3) next to the animal shelter. At the Aug. 20 meeting, a staff member made reference to the state’s demands or mandates. That’s the short version. The city had years to address the state’s affordable housing goal before it became a demand. Instead, all five members of the current council did nothing until the state stepped in and demanded that the city rezone property.

***

A staff member also announced at the Aug. 20 meeting that the city’s housing element is now in compliance, as required by state law. The housing element would never have been out of compliance if council members had acted responsibly years ago. Creating an additional problem, Council Members Frank Ury, Lance MacLean and Trish Kelley voted in 2005 to throw away the city’s affordable housing plan when the state required only a plan – not a requirement to build anything. Statements by a few confused residents at the public microphone during the rezoning discussions several months ago indicate the council has been somewhat effective in diverting blame from its own botching of the matter. A subsequent lawsuit over affordable housing cost the city more than $1 million.

***

The city attorney, Bill Curley, asked the council at the end of the last meeting if he could be of service by providing a brief report on any issues of public interest at future meetings. Well, no, particularly when the public is paying for it. Public sentiment about Mr. Curley is that his rambling makes no sense, and he is incapable of being brief.

***

The United States Postal Service has decided against building a processing center on 75 acres in northwest San Juan. Residents who live near the proposed site, along with the cities of SJC, Mission Viejo, Dana Point and Laguna Niguel, mounted opposition upon hearing of the plans. By the time SJC officials learned about the proposed project, the USPS reportedly had the property in escrow, with a projected completion date of April 2008 for the facility. The USPS owns a 25-acre parcel in Aliso Viejo, at 50 Liberty Road, which is now under consideration for the processing center.

***

A parent in the Capo school district remarked about the appearance of Newhart Middle School, saying, “Take a tour of the school and you’ll see what a mess it is.” Blog staffers would like to know if the new modular building will be complete prior to the beginning of school and if additional portables can be found to replace the ones that fell apart last week when workers tried to move them. The district has had the school’s summer vacation to work on Newhart, and it seems odd to wait until the last minute to get started. The parent responded, “That’s the way this district does things.”

***

The fall 2007 issue of “The City Outlook” newsletter arrived in mailboxes over the weekend. Don’t forget that Councilman Frank Ury said the new electronic sign to be built at La Paz and Marguerite could replace this 32-page collection of drivel. As expected, this quarter’s issue includes a story about the Mission Viejo Community Foundation’s latest “fundraising” effort. The state gave the city a $285,000 grant and for unknown reasons ran it through the foundation. When public tax dollars pay for it, it’s not fundraising. The state’s $285,000 in tax dollars will go to educational signage for the Oso Creek Trail. Can no one think of a better use for $285,000? Are these signs going to include the names of council members like the ones on roads and slopes? Meanwhile, the council approved $140,019 during Monday’s meeting – yet another construction price “adjustment” for the community center expansion. The expansion was the stated purpose of the foundation’s fund-raising focus.

***

A Mission Viejo resident reported some unusual signature-gathering in front of Trader Joe’s on Aug. 24. “Some kids had a table set up, and they were asking shoppers to sign their papers. I thought it was probably for an initiative. Then, one of them asked me, ‘Would you sign the petition to recall Dick Cheney?’ I said, ‘Are you Crazy??!!’” Perhaps the exuberance for recalls has trickled down to those who don’t yet have the knowledge of how things work.