Queen Needs Reality Check
Staff editorial

Saddleback Valley News ran an article on Jan. 11, “New leader.” It was an ironic title for a story about the city council, which has no leadership. Councilwoman Trish Kelley is the mayor, not the leader. The city staff leads, council members follow.

Kelley’s statements in the Jan. 11 article are worthy of review.

About traffic, she said, “We are aggressively tackling Crown Valley Parkway, followed by Oso.”

The city has made a mess of Crown Valley Parkway, and aware residents avoid the street if possible. Crown Valley is a two-yearlong testament to the city’s inability to manage any project, including road widening. The city will next make a mess of Oso Parkway.

About running for council, Kelley said, “[The Sierra Rec Center issue in 2002] put me over and got me to run.”

Kelley either has a short memory or doesn’t choose to remember that city activist Bo Klein recruited her to run. She didn’t run on her own volition. Activists had gone through a long list of potential candidates, and none of them would run. When Klein told others he’d get Kelley to run, activists weren’t thrilled. She was beyond anyone’s last choice. Kelley should have acknowledged Klein for recruiting her, but she hasn’t mentioned his name in awhile. In 2005, she publicly embarrassed Klein and Dorothy Wedel – two stellar Planning Commissioners – by voting to remove them from the commission after they supported Kelley’s arch-rival, Gail Reavis, in the 2004 city election.

Answering a question about personal values in the Jan. 11 article, Kelley said, “I have always had a goal to be a person of integrity and to promote good character … .”

Oh, really? Mission Viejo’s Community of Character program was spawned by Kelley and Mission Viejo resident Bill Klimek. An interesting account of these two characters reveals why this city-funded program is such a farce.

In the city election of 2004, Kelley wasn’t up for reelection. However, she let everyone know she intended to be an aggressive participant by knocking out Reavis, who was running to keep her seat.

In October 2004, Kelley campaigned against Reavis by showing up at all the Back-To-School nights, handing out campaign literature for Reavis’ opponents. At Capo High’s event, Kelley positioned herself on school property – knowing full well the school district doesn’t allow political campaigning on campus. Kelley placed Klimek in the school parking lot distributing the same political flyers.

When a family of five greeted Kelley on campus, she mistakenly thought they had arrived to help her distribute flyers. When she discovered they instead intended to distribute flyers for Reavis, she reacted strongly. Kelley marched into the school building and told administrators a family was illegally distributing political flyers on school property. School employees jumped on their golf cart and attempted to stop the family from campaigning on campus – chasing down the parents and their children, threatening them with arrest. The youngest child was clearly frightened and upset with threats of going to jail.

Meanwhile, the queen and king of character – Trish Kelley and Bill Klimek – continued illegally distributing political flyers on school property.

In a prior election, Kelley bragged about “getting away with” campaigning on school grounds, flaunting her relationships with school officials. Her high regard for former administrators James Fleming, David Doomey and the old-guard trustees was widely known.

Following the Jan. 11 publication of the newspaper article, Mission Viejo residents sent remarks to this blog:

One resident said, “Kelley’s comments made me ill. Isn’t this the woman who promised she would be on the council only one term?”

Another resident emailed, “There's a difference between having character and being a character. Being a petty character in a small-town sit-com is nothing to be proud of.”

Polfit offers special education support

Special education advocate Teri Morelli forwarded information about an event for parents and caregivers of physically disabled children. Polfit Wellness is sponsoring a support group meeting where families can share ideas and experiences. A guest speaker will talk about specialized programs with goals of reaching huge milestones in short time periods.

The event will be held Sat., Jan. 26, 1 to 3 p.m. at 2563 W. Woodland Drive in Anaheim. RSVP by calling (714) 828-1293.

Fun With Chalk announces benefit party

A fundraising event to benefit Fun With Chalk / The Children’s Creative Festival will be held Sat., Feb. 9, from 7 to 11 p.m. With a theme of “Hearts and Flowers,” Joyce and Al Hicks will host “Fun With Chips” at their lakefront home in Mission Viejo. The party will mark its fourth year as an annual benefit.

Enjoy delicious hors d’oeuvres, desserts and a choice of beverage. Cover charge of $40 per person or $45 per couple also includes a starter pack of casino chips for blackjack, craps and the opportunity to win prizes. Other entertainment includes music, an auction and door prizes.

For more information, please call (877) 932-4255. Those wanting to attend should make reservations by Feb. 4.

CUSD Update
Editorial staff

In a Jan. 11 news release, the Capistrano Dispatch published the following information [with corrected figures]:

At first blush, it looks like state budget cuts will cost Capistrano Unified School District about $15 million, or 7 percent of its annual budget, Superintendent A. Woodrow Carter said during a community forum at Metro Java on Friday. Those cuts will follow two years of budget reductions at the district, which was in a pattern of deficit spending for four of the last six years. "This is a lose-lose," Carter said. "There is no win-win ... this is do less with less." He said before- and after-school programs are likely first on the block, and school officials are looking at possible cuts to electives such as PE and art.

The OC Register [“Schools brace for major cuts,” Jan. 13] put the CUSD deficit at $15 million to $20 million.

Parents in the Capo district reacted by noting this is an additional $15-million to $20-million deficit, topping the current $18-million CUSD shortfall. Some asked why administrators look first at cutting services – making reductions in programs and classes that directly affect students – instead of trimming administrative costs. Selling the partially vacant Taj Mahal administration center immediately comes to mind as a cost-cutting remedy.

Some reform-minded parents started telling the district to sell the administration center even before it was finished. Among other suggestions is to close San Juan Hills High School and reopen it at a time when it makes sense. Such a time would be when it has enough students to warrant opening the doors. Built to accommodate future homebuilding by The Ranch, families helping to populate the new high school won’t start moving in until at least two years from now. Parents of SJHHS students have joined the tug-of-war, trying to get their school finished while other schools lack such basic necessities as adequate numbers of restrooms. Increasingly, the debate is about spending money the district doesn’t have.

The OC Register article said about CUSD, “ … [the] district is optimistic that midyear cuts won’t have to be made.” A district perpetually in the red can apparently operate on hope rather than cash. School districts throughout the state that have adequate reserves might not have to make cuts, but CUSD isn’t one of them.

The outcome is predictable. Instead of cutting administrative costs (which would add up quickly to $15 million), the district will cut education, which has been trimmed to the bone. Many of the programs mentioned by administrators are already funded, at least in part, by parents.

If the new superintendent truly wants to clean house, let him deflect blame by saying, “The state budget crisis made me do it.”

Parents point to a category in the district budget, support services, where the number of employees doubled during a period of five years from 2001 to 2005. It remained approximately the same in 2006. This category alone – adding 500 employees – could be costing the district approximately $30 million annually. When the number of teachers didn’t increase during this same period, why did the district go hog wild adding administrative personnel? An example of this category is the secretary (with an annual salary of $100,000) who reported to former superintendent James Fleming. Fleming’s interim replacement made a statement to the grand jury that he didn’t know what her job entails. She’s still there.

The happy talk about optimism should have ended long ago.

The Buzz column, Jan. 12

Last week’s mention of noise from air traffic over Mission Viejo drew several comments from readers. Most of those responding believe the increased noise is from military aircraft. One person added, “The noise from a military plane is quite different from the noise of a commercial airliner.” Another said the increase dates back to Sept. 11, 2001. Several commented about South County winning the 10-year battle to defeat a commercial airport at El Toro, saying they had anticipated quieter skies. Even small planes flying over north Mission Viejo got a mention: “I don’t know if it’s the same plane circling the city, but it’s a single-engine that reminds me of a gnat.”

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A Mission Viejo resident reported learning how the FBI becomes “invisible” on the street. An unknown man accidentally left his cell phone in a business place, and the owner of the business examined the phone to determine its owner. When he saw photos in the cell phone – someone outfitted like a suicide bomber – he instead called the Sheriff’s Dept. When the Sheriff’s Dept. saw the photos, Homeland Security and the FBI became involved. By the time the cell phone owner got a call to pick up his phone at the place of business, quite a group was present to pick him up. Delivery trucks, workers on the street and other passersby quickly appeared to surround the place. According to the resident reporting the story, no mention of the incident appeared in the Sheriff’s blotter.

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A writer on a county blog questioned whether Councilman Frank Ury has a conflict of interest. After Ury and Intel had a parting of ways, he apparently formed a WiFi consulting business called Viejo Technology Group. Ury was the one promoting citywide WiFi, and he aggressively pushed for WiFi at the civic center. On the city Website, Ury continues to list Intel as his employer. Is there some reason he doesn’t want people to know what he does for a living? Is it true he has a new job with the Building Industry Association of Orange County, working with developers who might have an interest in future housing projects in Mission Viejo?

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Feedback on the city’s electronic sign is unanimous on at least one point. The lettering, (which is hard to read) and the sign itself (which contributes to the visual noise at the corner), do little if anything to provide Mission Viejo residents with “important” information. Residents are fairly bombarded with the same announcements in newspapers, newsletters, the city Website, MVTV, etc.

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A former campaign worker forwarded a flyer to The Buzz that Councilwoman Trish Kelley used in her 2002 campaign, noting things have changed. Printed on the flyer: “Kelley favors maintenance of parks and recreation centers for children and families; she supports measures to provide safe intersections and less traffic congestion.” It should now read, “Children and families will have to share parks with cell phone towers and antennas.” What traffic measures has Kelley supported while in office for more than five years? Perhaps the argument can be made that intersections are safer when traffic is at a standstill.