Just Wondering
by Lisa De Paul-Snyder

Mission Viejo Director of Public Services Keith Rattay initially claimed that volunteers put in 800 hours of work for the MyMV Art Walk display during the 20th Anniversary observance in April 2008. Later, Rattay claimed that due to rain, some of the volunteer work parties had to be cancelled, and contract labor constructed, erected and removed the 500-easel display. If the volunteers were to spend 800 hours on this project, how much contract labor time did the city end up paying for to put on the display? 

Invoices prove the city paid Jamey Clark, Inc., $45.00 an hour for woodwork and $38.50 an hour for setting up and relocating the easels. Each easel required numerous pieces of wood. Each piece required measuring, cutting and sanding as well as painting and assembly. Under ideal circumstances, a highly efficient woodshop would take 2.5 to 3 hours to build an easel from raw materials. That would come to $112.50 to $135.00 per easel in labor costs alone. And, due to a basic design flaw, sandbags had to be placed at the base of each easel to prevent it from tipping over. 

I'm just wondering how Keith Rattay was able to:

• Initially claim to OC Register reporter Lindsey Baguio that each easel cost only $15.00;
• Later clarify in a memo to City Manager Dennis Wilberg that the cost of materials was $12.00 per easel;
• File public documents estimating the total cost at $40.00 per easel, including labor costs;
• Assert that although kids destroyed 93 easels, not one of the 500 to 1,000 people who allegedly walked the trail daily reported anything to the city;
• Convince a few gullible community members, weeks after the Easelgate story broke, to submit letters to SVN stating that they witnessed the vandalism and did nothing at all about it; but they think the city administration is absolutely superb.

The most charitable explanation for these facts is that Keith Rattay has a disability which prevents him from understanding the value of a dollar or he is a compulsive liar. Those less inclined to become disoriented by the spin might perceive Rattay as a less-than-gifted embezzler.

Is Keith Rattay an individual who should have the authority to spend even a nickel of city funds? While every individual is entitled to his own opinion, each is not entitled to his own facts. The city must examine the factual evidence and take appropriate action.