The Buzz column, Dec. 27

California absentee ballots will be mailed to voters on Jan. 7. According to USA Today, nearly half the state’s electorate will vote by absentee ballot in the California presidential primary, which will be held Tues., Feb. 5. The election will also include seven ballot measures related to transportation, education funding, legislative term limits and tribal casinos.

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In last week’s blog, a Mission Viejo resident sent humorous suggestions, including a new city logo with 20 cars backed up at a stoplight. He inspired another reader to email updated lyrics for “Downtown,” Petula Clark’s 1964 hit, beginning with “When you’re alone and life is making you lonely, you can always go sit in traffic.”

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Brad Morton reported news in his Mission Viejo Dispatch of the Planning Commission’s Dec. 10 selection of a chairman and vice chair. Rick Sandzimier was elected by his commission peers as chairman for 2008, and Mynette Beauchamp was elected as vice-chair. Commissioner Dave Leckness nominated himself for chair and vice-chair, but no one seconded his motions.

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The Buzz suspects Commissioner Leckness was merely following Councilwoman Trish Kelley’s Dec. 3 example when she elbowed her way to the front of the line to become the city’s 2008 mayor. The council on Dec. 3 also “updated” the city’s image to include the words “gracious, esteemed and harmonious.” The gracious, esteemed and harmonious practice applied by Kelley used to be called shameless self-promotion.

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A Buzz reader sent his take on the council’s benevolent attitude toward developers: “All five council members did everything they could to help their financier, Steadfast, ruin the neighborhoods near Jeronimo and Los Alisos. What Steadfast didn’t know is that this council screws up everything it touches. The council only ‘helped’ the developer toward financial ruin. I’m reading that Steadfast allegedly wants out of its deal with the city and is trying to get the property zoned back to commercial in order to unload it. How nice of the council to use its magic, turning everything it touches into [bleep].”

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A reader followed up on comments in The Buzz regarding the city staff’s attempt to unravel the Master Plan: “The city staff is real focused on the area around city hall at Marguerite and La Paz. It’s as if these out-of-town city employees have never ventured more than a block from where they work. I can imagine them going out for lunch and griping about pizza and sandwiches. No wonder they are talking about “pedestrian traffic” when residents are driving cars. In the meantime, the commercial area along Los Alisos is declining, and more graffiti is showing up along the street. No one ever talks about other retail centers. What about the business consultant the council hired six months ago? Why don’t we hear anything about results? Considering the council is using the same consultant as Lake Forest, this sounds like the so-called regional plan of the South County Chamber of Commerce, which the council also supports. This council and the city staff are clueless.”