What’s Wrong?
Staff editorial

The council spent $20,000 of taxpayer dough in 2006 for a push-poll city survey to show that residents are happy about where they live. The survey consultant – True North Research – found similar results elsewhere, regardless of which city it was paid to assess. Rather than a unique statement about the fabulous job the Mission Viejo city staff and council are doing, perhaps it’s more a conclusion that people make a deliberate choice about where they live.

This blog has vigorously defended the city’s Master Plan and the California Promise that drew residents to Mission Viejo. Blog staffers each week publish evidence the city staff and council are chipping away at the city’s foundation of a planned community comprised of hardworking, law-abiding residents. Staff members who disdain the Master Plan relentlessly proceed to destroy it each time they get three votes on the council to inflict their will. Frequently, Councilmen Frank Ury and Lance MacLean immediately sign on, and getting a third vote is usually no problem.

This blog on June 10, 2006, published a representative sampling of a councilman’s role, which hasn’t changed:

Ury continues to criticize his fellow council members. At the June 5 [2006] meeting, he said, ‘This council doesn't understand its roles and responsibilities.’ What has his role been on the council? Ury tried to give a $1-million city park to his homeowner's association. He voted to dismantle the former Planning Commission and dump progress toward a state-required affordable-housing plan. His vote for Steadfast's housing project resulted in a lawsuit against the city. Ury also promoted the $200,000 contract for what turned out to be a cell-tower lobbyist, who could receive up to $2 million in commissions. Some residents describe Ury's role as the biggest threat to the city.

Mission Viejo’s primary problem – perhaps its only major liability – is city hall. City staffers are strident in changing the city, and the council is comprised of five enablers who lack initiative, except for enriching developers and their lobbyist friends. All five long ago abandoned their campaign promises to residents. The California Promise has been broken, largely because the city’s elected officials can’t keep their word.

Occasionally, a blog reader asks, “Why do blog staffers write about negative aspects when the city has so many positives?” Readers who want only “good” news can find it in another publication, The Mission Viejo News (free copies are available in the city library), which publishes only positive articles. Is it a surprise Mission Viejo News includes nothing about city hall or council members? This news blog dwells on the council and city staff to raise awareness of real problems and solutions. Only voters can change the direction by casting out incumbents who refuse to lead on behalf of residents.

Brad Morton recently revived his Mission Viejo Dispatch (http://missionviejodispatch.com), which aligns to a remarkable degree with this blog. A county blog (http://www.theorangejuice.com) occasionally conveys the same message. A recent example can be found in the latter’s revelation of lies offered by Mission Viejo city staffers regarding the destruction of the city’s manual message board at La Paz and Marguerite. With a 3-2 vote, the council approved wasting $147,000 on an electronic sign that residents oppose. As usual, Ury, MacLean and Trish Kelley promoted the city staff’s recommendation. City staff, first lying to the public that no volunteers were available to change the manual board, added another whopper that the manual board had to be taken down because of its “condition.” Volunteers – who were willing and able to continue updating the manual board – challenged both claims.
The Saddleback Valley News, which long ago abandoned investigative reporting, publishes press releases written by city hall staff members. Such articles neither rely on truth nor are they representative of city issues. Whole truth is left to city blogs, which receive no pay whatsoever from advertisers or subscribers.

During an otherwise quiet week when city hall is shut down to celebrate its politically correct version of the holidays – Ramahanikwanzmas or whatever they want to call it – residents can read the plastic (vinyl) banner that partially obscures the monument sign reserved for civic organizations on the northwest corner of La Paz and Marguerite. Thanks to the banner erected by city staffers, residents can still stay abreast of the city’s hypocritical word of the month until staffers complete the construction of their electronic propaganda board across the street.