Mission Viejo Buzz - 05/31/08

The Buzz, May 31

A Mission Viejo resident sent State Sen. Dick Ackerman’s phone number, (714) 573-1853, to The Buzz. She said, “I call Ackerman’s office every time I get one of his Robocalls about a political candidate, and I tell his assistant he should stop it. If they don’t get any negative feedback, we can expect more calls.”

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After the Bank of America inside Albertsons on Muirlands was robbed a week ago, a blog reader reacted, “Banks need more character posters placed at entrances and maybe a few in the parking lot. If the posters work so well, why is the city paying for deputies in the high schools when they already have character posters? Worst case, all they really need is a picture of a deputy next to a character poster.”

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Remember the speculation that Councilman Frank Ury might team up with challenger Diane Greenwood for the November 2008 city council race? If they talked about working together, things have changed. Ury’s new running mate appears to be Rich Atkinson. Atkinson is Councilwoman Trish Kelley’s appointee to the planning commission. If the prospect of Kelley aligning with Ury seems odd, they do share a common goal. Kelley tried desperately to remove her arch-rival, Gail Reavis, from the council in 2004. Reavis is up for reelection again this fall, and Kelley will try, try again. Removing Reavis is the one thing Ury and Kelley seem to agree on.

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With two incumbents up for reelection in November, Reavis and Ury, the number of candidates who are either running or talking about running stands at eight this week. Those confused residents who worked like maniacs four years ago to get Ury elected appear equally motivated to remove him from office this fall.

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How could city hall stop the stir over easels? If there were one responsible adult among the 140-plus city employees, he or she should suggest the following announcement: Dear Mission Viejo Taxpayers, After the city staff spent a king’s ransom on a photo display, we hadn’t thought about how to dispose of it. People were complaining that it looked tacky, so we were in a hurry to get it off the street. We had way more easels than we wanted, so we dumped a couple hundred on a hillside. We got real unlucky, and an activist with a camera drove by before we had a chance to take the easels to a dump. Since our lies haven’t worked out, we’ve decided to tell the truth about this.

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The city continues its non-progress of widening Crown Valley Parkway and now seems focused on building unsightly walls instead of finishing the road. A longtime resident emailed, “The street-widening projects aren’t keeping up with current needs, and they don’t begin to address the future. The traffic mess has been terrible for years in south Mission Viejo. All five council members ran on campaign promises to alleviate traffic congestion, and it is far worse than when they were elected.” While gazing at the yellowish-brown walls along Crown Valley, voters have time to contemplate the folly of electing council members who are housewives, low-level government bureaucrats and others without a record of success at accomplishing anything.

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Info forwarded by a blog reader: Not one of the following taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had no national debt, we had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What happened? Can you spell “politicians”?

Accounts Receivable Tax, Building Permit Tax , CDL License Tax , Cigarette Tax, Corporate Income Tax, Dog License Tax, Federal Income Tax, Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA), Fishing License Tax, Food License Tax, Fuel Permit Tax, Gasoline Tax, Hunting License Tax, Inheritance Tax, Inventory Tax , IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax), IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax), Liquor Tax, Luxury Tax, Marriage License Tax, Medicare Tax, Property Tax, Real Estate Tax, service charge taxes, Social Security Tax, Road Usage Tax (Truckers), Sales Taxes, Recreational Vehicle Tax, School Tax, State Income Tax, State Unemployment Tax (SUTA), Telephone Federal Excise Tax, Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax, Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax, Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax, Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax, Telephone State and  Local Tax, Telephone Usage Charge Tax, Utility Tax, Vehicle  License Registration Tax, Vehicle Sales Tax, Watercraft  Registration Tax, Well Permit Tax and Workers Compensation Tax.