City Hall – Mission Viejo’s Money Pit
Staff editorial

How does Mission Viejo city hall react to a downturn in the economy – do administrators tighten their belts? Heck no! They hire more employees and talk about dipping into reserves.

City revenues are flat, and administrators during the June 30 budget meeting projected more flatness. However, numbers show a decrease of 4.3 percent in revenues – that’s not flat. Instead of cutting back, they plan to increase spending by one percent and add 3.5 full-time equivalent city employees, bringing the total to 152.3 FTE positions. Do residents know that city hall also contracts with temporary employees each month?

The revised operating budget is $59.5 million for 2008-2009.

What’s gone wrong in a contract-based city that was designed as a model of small government? This blog often compares Mission Viejo’s bloated city staff with that of Rancho Santa Margarita. RSM’s population is approximately half of Mission Viejo’s, and RSM has a city staff of twenty-some people. While RSM’s homeowners association (SAMLARC – Santa Margarita Landscape and Recreation Corporation) owns its parks, and the cities aren’t entirely comparable, readers get the idea.

Just like Mission Viejo, RSM refers to itself as a built-out, contract-based city. RSM contracts for such professionals as engineers and planners if and when they’re needed. By contrast, Mission Viejo maintains positions that should have been cut back or eliminated when the city’s infrastructure was completed and residential development and retail construction ended.

A May 23 request for public records by activist Lisa De Paul-Snyder has resulted in 59 pages of “Easelgate” documents that can be viewed online. Residents should look at how city hall staffers are throwing away money on extravagant make-work projects. After city employees compiled the documents, administrator Keith Rattay called a news reporter two days prior to De Paul-Snyder receiving the information. Reporter Lindsey Baguio of Saddleback Valley News got a copy directly from Rattay. Baguio headlined the incident “Damage Control” when she reported her conversation with Rattay in the July 4 SVN.

The “damage” is not just the black eye for city hall resulting from exposure of city administrators who threw away money and lied about it. The real damage is to taxpayers. It’s been a long time since anyone on the council deserved the title of watchdog. Perhaps residents expect the city staff to act responsibly and tell the truth about what they’ve done, but that’s not happening. Voters can raise the bar this November by electing council members who have a proven record of fiscal responsibility and some basic sense about business management.