The Buzz

An editorial in this issue discusses the early days of city blogging, but it doesn’t mention Mission Viejo blogfather Carl Schulthess as founder of the Mission Viejo news blog. Carl conceived of a city news blog and talked with community activists to get it started in 2005. He took the first steps by pulling articles together and designing a format. Carl continues to serve as the blog’s editor-in-chief.

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Carl became a well-known community activist in Mission Viejo by serving as city chair in one of the initiatives to stop the El Toro commercial airport. Several longtime city activists met each other while fighting the airport, and they continue working together on community issues. The anti-airport group was a ragtag army of citizens fighting a well-organized, well-funded campaign by developers, contractors and government officials who stood to gain if the airport were built. The fight went on for more than 10 years, and four citizen’s initiatives were launched during the process of stopping the airport.

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The OC Register has tried quite a few things to save money. A June 19 article in OC Weekly addresses rumors the Register will cut costs by outsourcing to the Indian subcontinent its copy editing of the San Clemente Sun-Post. OC Weekly’s Nick Schou zings the Register in his Naval Gazing column, “Gunga Din, Bring Copy!” Schou wonders if those speaking English as a second language would do the best job of editing. He concludes, “Blogging customers of the Navel Gazings, please to be keeping your eyelids fixed on our websites for future updates of this matter of highmost importancy.”

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The U.S. Commerce Dept. has scheduled the hearing for the proposal to complete a 16-mile extension of the Foothill South toll road. Those opposing the extension celebrated the California Coastal Commission’s rejection of the proposal in February. The Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency appealed the decision, and a hearing has been scheduled for July25 at the Bren Events Center at UC Irvine.

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Forwarded by a blog reader: R obin Everett of the Sierra Club is organizing volunteers for the Foothill South toll road hearing. “A meeting will be held Mon., June 30, at the San Clemente Senior Center, 242 Avenida Del Mar, San Clemente, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., and pizza will be provided. The purpose of the meeting is to mobilize volunteers. Guest speaker Michael Fitts, a staff attorney for Endangered Habitats League, will present smarter transportation solutions for south Orange County than the Foothill-South toll road. Those wanting to attend the meeting should RSVP to robin.everett@sierraclub.org or 949-361-7534.”

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Blog readers and other community members supporting the Mission Viejo Right-To-Vote Initiative are fired up to get signatures. The signature drive has been held up with finalizing the petition. A blog staffer said, “I was hopeful we’d have it by mid-June. I learned last week that its author, Dale Tyler, had to revise the petition to allow for the possibility of triggering a special election, depending on how quickly the signature drive can be completed.” The revision could take another week or two because the city attorney must review the new text.

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Only two Fleming-era trustees remain on the CUSD board following the June 24 recall of old-guard Trustees Marlene Draper and Sheila Benecke. The Registrar of Voters certified the results on Friday, and the two candidates running on a reform platform, Sue Palazzo and Ken Maddox, will be sworn in at a special meeting on July 1. A parent posted a humorous thought on an Internet discussion board following the successful recall of the old trustees: paper shredders are running full blast at the administration center.

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A constituent of the Saddleback Valley school district recently emailed about the lack of coverage on this blog, saying Capo USD received nearly all the attention. It’s true, bad news in Capo has overshadowed news of any kind in SVUSD. The reader pointed out that Capo isn’t the only district with a foundation. From SVUSD’s Website: “The Saddleback Valley Educational Foundation (SVEF) is a non-political, non-profit, community-based volunteer organization established to help maintain and improve the quality of public education in the Saddleback Valley and to ensure continued academic growth.” The site gives contact information, phillipsellen28@cox.net.

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Councilwoman Trish Kelley commented about city blogs in the June 27 Saddleback paper, calling one of them “vicious.” Perhaps Kelley wishes to confuse readers. Blogs report Kelley’s behavior, particularly behind the scenes, which would correctly be described as vicious. Her ongoing battle with Councilwoman Gail Reavis is approaching its sixth anniversary. If anyone thinks Kelley displayed ruthless behavior trying to dethrone Reavis in her 2004 reelection bid, that was nothing compared to bloodbath in store for the November 2008 campaign.