The Buzz

A Buzz contributor sent an update following the report of easels trashed on city property adjacent to the corporate yard off La Paz Road. “On April 26, I went down to the Oso Trail, a/k/a Mission Viejo dump, and took photos. When you Google city employee Keith Rattay, you'll find plaudits for his ‘work’ on the trail. He certainly deserves something but not praise.” As pointed out on another blog, Rattay has been a key figure in the city’s spending a fortune to build, maintain and upgrade the trail. The blog contributor’s photos show trash, broken concrete from tennis courts, other construction debris and discarded paper products.

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Idea forwarded by a blog reader: “Regarding foreclosures and property values, the mayor of an Iowa city started a voluntary process to connect local homeowners in foreclosure with their banks and/or investors to negotiate deals to get these properties off the market.” The writer added that foreclosed properties have a negative effect on everyone and wondered about the likelihood of Mission Viejo's city officials envisioning such a project.

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The Capo school district hired a law firm, Bergman and Dacey, to investigate but would not publicly discuss a high-pressure gas pipeline near the campus. Currently, CUSD is in violation of the law preventing a school campus within 1,500 feet of such a pipeline. A parent suggested on a discussion board that the D.A. could have investigated the matter for free. Another writer posted that CUSD needed a law firm outside its usual crony-picked firm, Ratan and Tucker, to avoid a conflict. Bergman and Dacey are members of C.A.S.H. (Coalition for Adequate School Housing), the same organization former CUSD administrator Dave Doomey was involved in. Residents should ask if Bergman and Dacey can objectively represent the public in an investigation. Will the D.A. or feds next be called to investigate the investigation?

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CUSD Supt. Woodrow Carter is in an enviable position: problems are not his fault. Any issue that began prior to his arrival six months ago was “before his time.” If it happened on his watch, it’s the state’s fault for running out of money. Blame the “wheel of misfortune,” which, according to Carter, impersonally dispenses bad luck to schoolchildren, teachers, parents, classified employees and the entire community.

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Anyone wanting to participate in an online O.C. Register poll about completion of the Foothill-South Toll Road can access http://www.ocregister.com/news/should-news-extension-2024321-be-built.

The Register asks readers if the federal government should overrule the California Coastal Commission and allow completion of the road. The Transportation Corridor Agency has requested that the Secretary of Commerce overrule the recent Coastal Commission’s decision to disallow a six-lane road to run through San Onofre State Beach. As of this writing, the results of the poll were 36 percent wanting the decision overruled and 64 percent wanting the Coastal Commission’s decision to stand, with 1,400 readers responding to the poll.