Residents Continue Defending Golf Course
Staff editorial

Those who watched the March 17 council meeting again heard concerned residents speak in favor of preserving the Casta del Sol golf course. The president of the Casta del Sol HOA presented 191 additional signatures on a petition to save the golf course, bringing the total to approximately 1,400. A resident of another HOA adjacent to the golf course, Cypress Point, made comments that included the question, “Are we supposed to feel relieved by the delay [of a council decision] until after the election?” Regarding the council’s position of taking no action until the developer has officially presented a plan to the city, the speaker said, “If you need a proposal to act on, we’ll write one for you.”

No council member has publicly stated opposition to the developer building an assisted-living project at the south end of the golf course where the clubhouse now stands. Instead, some council members only want to talk about the golf course, claiming it will be preserved because the developer now has an appreciation of public opinion.

Sunrise and its PR agent, Roger Faubel, have been somewhat successful in diverting residents’ attention away from the real objective of getting council approval for the assisted-living project. Some council members are echoing the chorus and occasionally mentioning their ongoing private talks with the developer. When council members and developers are saying the same things, residents should take note.

Homeowners in all three adjacent HOAs have indicated during public meetings that they want no change – no assisted living project, no city-owned park, no increased public access to their borders and no additional traffic. Mission Viejo residents are clear on wanting to preserve the 18-hole executive golf course as is. Any negotiation with the developer would translate into a loss for residents.

If everyone will stand united and reject housing at the south end of the golf course, the developer will walk away. Sunrise has no interest in preserving a golf course, creating a park or keeping residents happy. Casta del Sol residents also point to the undeveloped land on the south side of Casta Drive, which looks like a gulch in back of the Marguerite Rec Center. They say a portion of the “gulch property” belongs to the owner of the golf course, and it is in jeopardy of development if the golf course is rezoned.

No one should make the mistake of engaging the developer in a debate over details of the housing project. Any talk about traffic, noise, security and quality of life will be summarily dismissed by “expert consultants” paid for by the developer if the plan is officially presented to the city. The best way to keep the golf course is to say no to the entire project.

Council Members Trish Kelley and Frank Ury during a previous meeting (March 3) talked at length about the merits of the council’s 45-day moratorium, which observers have correctly denounced as a sham. The moratorium contains a variance – a loophole that enables developers to proceed by paying a fee. A Casta del Sol resident who sat in the audience during the March 3 council discussion later remarked, “It sounds as if at least three council members have already made up their minds to approve the developer’s project.”

The Mission Viejo Right To Vote Initiative is proceeding, and its proponents believe it will be on the November ballot. If voters decide to pass the initiative, any future zone change would require a popular vote.

Day Laborers are a Deterrent to Business
Editorial staff

The city council on March 17 heard from speakers at the public microphone who described problems with day laborers congregating near Jeronimo and Los Alisos. They were speaking on an agenda item, “One-Year Evaluation of Trespass Ordinance 07-246 (February 19, 2007),” which evidently has not solved the problem.

Prior to comments made by speakers, the city attorney talked at length, saying everything is fine. He claimed the city’s ordinance that prohibits trespassing “has worked well,” “is working adequately,” and “when it’s been used, it’s been used effectively.” He also said he was speaking for the city’s police chief, who wasn’t present, quoting him, “It’s gone well. We’ve told people to leave, and they have. The ordinance is working.”

The discussion focused on one of the retail centers near the intersection, Silverado Plaza. According to the owner of the Montessori School in the center, the problem of day laborers has been going on for years. She said enrollment at her school is declining, and she’s hired a security guard for $2,000 a month at her own expense. She revealed the time-consuming and ineffective process required by the police to prosecute trespassers.

The Montessori proprietor also described how business owners in the center decided to cut down all trees and bushes to keep trespassers from using the property as a bathroom. She described her frustration of trying to work with the police, who let her know they could ask trespassers to leave, but the culprits would return as soon as the police left.

Four of the five council members were of no help. Councilman Lance MacLean seemed to put day laborers on par with children who set up a lemonade stand. Councilwoman Gail Reavis said she didn’t shop at the center because she was afraid to get out of her car. Councilman Frank Ury wasn’t a participant in the discussion. Councilwoman Trish Kelley offered no help and repeatedly ignored Councilman John Paul Ledesma’s requests for action. Ledesma was the only one pressing for a meeting between the chief of police, city attorney and business owners. He also asked about the illegality of drivers stopping on a thoroughfare to hire workers.

It may seem surprising to those who don’t follow council meetings, but these five council members direct the city staff, and they have the authority to make decisions. Faced with a problem clearly within their jurisdiction, only one of them demonstrated the will to take responsibility. All five have described themselves in campaign literature as pro-business and interested in fostering economic development.

Equally indifferent were city staff members. The city attorney said of the staff, “City staff hasn’t studied the issue and has no recommendation” regarding the problems at Silverado Plaza. The city manager said he frequently drives past the area, and he noted day laborers congregating in both Lake Forest and Mission Viejo, his cities of residence and employment, respectively. After hearing the March 17 complaints of trespassing, vehicles illegally stopping and parking on a busy thoroughfare, harassment of customers by the day laborers, women in fear of getting out of their cars and deterrents to business, perhaps he will become motivated to make a recommendation in the future.

No one mentioned Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). If those congregating at Los Alisos and Jeronimo are illegal aliens, ICE should pick them up, prosecute and deport them. ICE won’t charge the city, as taxpayers are already footing the bill for this agency. If the day laborers are here legally, perhaps they would avoid the area if they saw that Mission Viejo is serious about protecting the city’s businesses and individuals who support its economic base. Drivers who stop at the intersection to hire illegal aliens should also be prosecuted. As a point of good news in all the discussion was the clarification that others besides the property owner can report a problem.

After three tries to get agreement from the council, Ledesma succeeded when he asked for consensus to gather information and discuss the issue again at the next council meeting.

CUSD Update
Editorial staff

The removal of CUSD Trustees Sheila Benecke and Marlene Draper from office is shaping up, as voters will probably dump both of them in a few months. The board of trustees is meeting on Mon., March 24, to schedule the recall election on a date between June 20 and July 27.

Before anyone gets carried away about “The First 100 Days” of new trustees enacting change after the recall election, what about the old majority’s final acts of destruction? With the recall election several months away, what new havoc will they wreak during their Last 100 Days?

Mission Viejo parents have been appalled by the relentless push of the old majority (Benecke, Draper, Duane Stiff and Mike Darnold) to overspend on new projects instead of maintaining older facilities. When facing huge additional cuts because of the state budget crisis, the Fleming-era majority approved spending approximately $8 million on frills at the new high school in San Juan Capistrano. The old gang was in such a rush in December 2007 to add the amenities, they violated the Brown Act by failing to notify the public of several items they intended to vote on.

Parents who closely follow CUSD finances say the district has fallen below the minimum 2 percent reserve level. One parent said, “The reserve figures are pumped up by creative accounting, and I don’t know how much longer the district can deny it. Maybe the old trustees are delaying the bad news until they can blame everything on a new majority. At the last board meeting, Mike Darnold blamed the parents and the media for the district’s problems. The holdovers have a pattern of denial until they find someone else to blame.”

A few brave community members appear ready to put their names on the recall ballot to replace Benecke and Draper. Some of them participated in the recall efforts of 2005 and 2007, and others are well known in their communities. In the November 2006 election, the field of candidates for three seats was small, and it seemed almost no one wanted the job. Few were willing to run, and the winners became the minority, unable to bring about reform. New trustees who could win in the recall election will have bigger financial problems to address, but it would be the first opportunity for reform-minded winners to vote in the majority.

Some published accounts of the Registrar of Voters’ certification of the recall are likely incorrect. An insider says the parents group gathered a total of 66,088 signatures to put the recall on the ballot, and they had plenty of signatures to spare. When the RoV reached the minimum number to trigger a recall election (20,493 valid signatures per trustee), the count stopped. The insider said, “Counting signatures costs money, and there was no point in continuing to count after the number was reached. The newspapers didn’t understand that, and it has been incorrectly portrayed as a close call with only 10 or so signatures beyond the minimum. The parents had turned in another box of petitions that weren’t counted.”

Trustees Benecke and Draper could have resigned rather than face a recall election. If they had stepped down prior to the signatures being turned in to the Registrar of Voters, the cost of a special election would have been avoided. Instead, they’re hanging around and pointing to the $700,000-plus cost as an unnecessary expense.

The recall election is expensive but justified. A recall advocate said, “The expense is similar to lamenting the cost of water when your house is on fire.”

The Buzz

A Mission Viejo activist knew something was up when he saw five police cars going toward The Shops in a big hurry on March 9, the day a jewelry store was robbed. He said, “The armed robbery didn’t help our image as the safest city, but maybe car thieves at the mall will relocate after seeing the quick response.”

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A Buzz reader says the time is right for south Orange County cities to join together for law enforcement: “Mission Viejo currently pays more than $1 million a month to the Orange County Sheriff’s Dept. In San Juan Capistrano, they’re paying approximately a third of their annual budget to the County Sheriff. If the South County cities got out of the county system, they would bypass the pension mess and the county’s political bureaucrats. Each city has its own favorite for a chief of police. Mission Viejo could have Jack Anderson and San Clemente could have Bill Hunt.”

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Did any former Capo school district administrators benefit personally from taxpayer funds? The neighbors of a highly compensated former administrator alleged his home was remodeled and upgraded by CUSD contractors. Reports are emerging about an administrator who recently left the district whose landscaping at his new home may have been funded by the district. According to the report, district employees would clock in and then go to his house to work.

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A Capo school district constituent reacted to budget cuts: “CUSD claims to have education as its first priority. What does it say about priorities when a district first looks to firing teachers when cutting costs?” Another Capo resident commented about CUSD’s leadership: “The new superintendent, Woodrow Carter, is more diplomatic than James Fleming was, but I cannot otherwise tell the difference between the two when it comes to policies and views. It’s as if Fleming is still there.”

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A resident with eagle eyes pointed out a public notice in the Mar. 21 Saddleback Valley News. The city will hold a public hearing on Mon., Mar. 31, beginning at 5 p.m. to discuss the council’s moratorium on converting all public and/or private open space and recreational land via general plan, specific plan or zoning ordinance amendments. It’s a meaningless ordinance with an appearance that council members are protecting residents from a developer building a high-density housing project on the Casta del Sol golf course. The moratorium can be extended by the council for a period of 10 months and 15 days. It would end a couple months after the November election. Residents have predicted the developer won’t try to get the golf course property rezoned before the election. Council members apparently agree.