The Buzz

A reader alerted this blog to the newest addition of taxpayer-purchased junk on the sidewalks. Approximately twenty 8-foot-tall signboards are sitting along curbs in the library/city hall parking lot. Weights at the base – box-type planters with shrubs – are needed to prevent the unsightly behemoths from falling over. As described above in a “reader reaction,” banners hang from the frames. Is a city hall administrator obsessed with enriching city contractor Jamey Clark by ordering MORE custom-made wooden junk? All structures are painted with the city’s signature cow-dung color.

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Readers are asking why the city is paying Jamey Clark tens of thousands of dollars each month for doing odd jobs. Along with building 500 easels for the 20th anniversary photo display, Clark picked up four truckloads of broken ones from public property near Michaels craft store and took them to the county dump on April 25. A blogger responded: “Clark is probably the one who’s been taking city hall’s secrets to the dump for years. He knows enough that he can get paid $45 an hour to assemble easels, haul trash, take campaign signs off the street and count traffic cones. Why does he get $45 an hour for manual labor? I’d guess his fees are $8 an hour as minimum wage and $37 an hour for keeping his mouth shut.”

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As speculated by The Buzz several weeks ago, the city launched its own blog on July 11. Go to http://missionviejolife.org to look at the same type of fluff residents see in the City Outlook Magazine. Various activists are predicting that the city’s endeavor will be short-lived. Censoring of posted remarks would infringe on freedom of speech, and city administrators probably won’t tolerate the barrage of criticism they’re going to receive for things like the Rose Parade float, blowing $15 million on the senior-center expansion, Easelgate, Firegate and the newest catch-all, Rattgate.

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Mission Viejo resident Evelyn Olson had a letter in the July 9 SVN, her second in six weeks. Her May 30 SVN screed included a laughable claim that “vandals” broke the easels city staffers dumped on a hillside. In her July 9 letter, she denied she had been recruited by city staffers to write a letter praising them. But she indicated she likes to go to Mayor Trish Kelley with any problem she has. Oh, really? A blog contributor said upon seeing the May 30 letter that Olson is a Kelley supporter. Thanks for the insight about who inspired Olson’s flowery description of wonderful city staffers and the brilliant city council. By the way, a resident called Kelley about the pile of easels after seeing them dumped on a hillside and didn’t get an answer.

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Reader comment: “I read on the blog several months ago about planes flying over the city. During the October fires, I was noticing a lot more air traffic, and I thought planes were being diverted because of the smoke. The blog instead said the planes, particularly after 11 p.m., are military aircraft. Well, they’re increasing again after a few months of relative quiet. Some of them seem to be flying at low altitudes, and the engine noise is pretty weird. If anyone can comment on this, I would like to know.”