The Buzz column, October 12

How did the cost of a proposed Mission Viejo dog park grow to $1 million on property the city already owns? Apparently, dogs require nearly $300,000 for landscaping and $150,000 for park design. In a city that just spent half a million dollars for a toilet in a human being park, why stop now? A blog reader provided insight: “Perhaps the high cost is just to cover the signs that will need to be posted all over town to let everyone know that the wonderful, benevolent and generous city council is buying a dog park … . And of course, a bronze monument with busts of all the current council members at the site is an absolute necessity.”

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Another reader commented about term limits: “Term limits should be one term. With city council members being allowed to serve three terms, all they’re doing by the end of the first term is raising cash to run again. By that time, residents no longer support them, so big-money donors from out of town are the only ones funding re-election campaigns. If council members can’t accomplish the will of the people in one term, why should they be re-elected anyway?”

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The city council had a special meeting on Oct. 9 to grant a Conditional Use Permit to the new Target store at Jeronimo and Los Alisos for its Oct. 14 grand opening. Anyone trying to tune in to television coverage didn’t find the meeting because it wasn’t aired.

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Steadfast’s ongoing housing dilemma is causing residents to wonder what Target now thinks of Steadfast as a business partner. When Steadfast couldn’t get on a fast track with its affordable housing plans, it partnered with Target to push through a mixed-use combo of retail and high-density residential. Target purchased the entire parcel from Steadfast, while Steadfast continued to be hamstrung, first by a lawsuit over its affordable housing formula and then by a downturn in the housing market. While Target can afford to hold onto the remaining acreage for years while waiting for the housing market to turn around, why would it want a low-income housing project next door?

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Sunrise Senior Living mailed responses to some residents who returned the business reply card with negative feedback. The letters weren’t individualized, but Sunrise claimed some residents made positive comments, including those saying they wanted to live in the proposed senior housing project. Residents who attended Sunrise’s Oct. 2 open house said they heard no such comments from anyone at the event. To the contrary, responses ranged from negative to highly negative.

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Roger Faubel, deposed former city council member who owns a P.R. firm, is representing Sunrise and apparently trying to grease the wheels by donating to council members’ campaign funds. Faubel also serves on the Santa Margarita Water District as a board member. How is it that a pro-developer P.R. guy can’t seem to make the connection between endless housing projects and the “imminent” water shortage, threats of water rationing, need to raise rates and the necessity of building a reservoir?

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Senior humor, forwarded by Editor-in-Chief Carl Schulthess:
The only trouble with retirement – you never get a day off.

You know you're getting old when you throw a wild party and the neighbors don't even realize it.

Senior Campbell's Soup: alphabet soup with large letters.

The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly and lie about your age 

Experience is a wonderful thing, enabling you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

One good thing about Alzheimer’s, you get to meet new people every day.

Another good thing about Alzheimer’s: you can hide your own Easter eggs.

Retirement: twice as much husband, half as much money.

Never do anything you wouldn't want to explain to the paramedics.

Old age comes at a very bad time.

The more you complain the longer God makes you live.

Sometimes I wake up grumpy, and some days I let him sleep.

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Good idea forwarded by a blog reader:

Put your car keys beside your bed at night. If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get into your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies. Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this: it's a security alarm system that you probably already have, and it requires no installation. This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator.