Letter Writer Tangles Rattay’s Web
Editorial staff

A letter to the editor in the May 30 Saddleback Valley News put a new spin on Easelgate. Letter writer Evelyn Olson claims she saw vandals on bikes damaging custom-built easels in the city’s photo display. Conflicting with Olson’s statement, residents reported to this blog that they walked the entire length of the photo display shortly before it closed, and they saw no vandalized easels. One of the residents said, “Evelyn Olson’s letter was strange. If she witnessed crimes, why didn’t she call the police?”

As another matter, Olson’s letter compromises the city’s official story. A city staff member indicated a month ago that all 500 easels could be seen stacked in rows or lined up in a staging area at the city yard. Olson’s accusation that vandals damaged the easels undermines Keith Rattay’s May 2 statement that 250 easels were stored and 250 were destined to be donated to schools and churches. He mentioned no vandalism – implying all 500 easels were going to be reused. By the time his quote hit Saddleback Valley News, up to 200 easels had already been spotted at a county dump. If Olson’s story and Rattay’s story aren’t both false, they are at least incompatible.

Should Ms. Olson have first identified herself as a friend of someone in city hall? Such a relationship would explain a lot of things, including Olson’s flowery compliments to the city council. A Mission Viejo resident who knows Olson commented after seeing the letter, “I think she didn’t know what she was getting into.”

Here are a few problems for Ms. Olson. Many residents saw the easels, and no one else claimed that up to 200 easels were vandalized while the display was still standing. Did anyone ever contact the police? Several city officials had numerous opportunities to tell activists and a newspaper reporter about vandalism. Until Olson wrote her letter, why did no one mention that all the easels taken to the dump were damaged by vandals?

Activists are already following up to determine if Ms. Olson, a city employee or a council member ever called the police about vandalism. Did Ms. Olson have no sense of duty when she allegedly saw vandals breaking easels and tearing photographs – thousands of dollars in damage? Her May 30 letter demonstrated her clear sense of duty in defending the city staff and complimenting the council for their contributions of general wonderfulness.

The city staff created another problem for itself in the May 23 SVN. City administrator Keith Rattay claimed the cost of the easels was “about $15 each.” Residents who estimated the price based on materials and labor guessed a minimum of $50 per easel.

An activist said, “After pointing to steeply rising construction costs of the community center, how did Rattay roll back prices to the 1970s?” The city recently claimed that the cost of expanding the community center – which tripled to $15 million before it was finished – was largely due to the rising cost of materials.

Perhaps Ms. Olson intended to help Rattay by trying to create an excuse for city employees to take approximately 200 easels to a county dump. Instead, she kept the city’s snafu in the spotlight and tangled Rattay’s web.