City Sues Two Council Challengers
Staff editorial

Why were two council candidates – Neil Lonsinger and Cathy Schlicht – challenged in court last week for the wording of their ballot statements? It should come as no surprise that Councilman Lance MacLean initiated the lawsuits against them.

Months ago when Councilwoman Gail Reavis was planning to run for reelection, three council members began working together to remove her from office. The three – Lance MacLean, Frank Ury and Trish Kelley – bragged to out-of-towners that Reavis would lose. First, they recruited Rich Atkinson to run against her. Then, they planned a smear campaign against her while hiding their names behind a Political Action Committee.

Ury’s buddy, political consultant Paul Glaab, requested public records from city hall about Reavis’ $10-million claim. Glaab barely got started on the negative campaign when Reavis announced she wouldn’t run.

The council trio was armed with stink bombs but had no target. Without Reavis to beat up, their focus switched to council candidates Neil Lonsinger and Cathy Schlicht, who were emerging as grassroots favorites. Activists learned that Schlict received notice on Aug. 23 that she was being sued by the city clerk for information in her ballot statement. Lonsinger was served the following day regarding his ballot statement.

In court, the lawsuits seemed trivial. Schlicht agreed to remove a reference to her membership in the Saddleback Republican Assembly. Lonsinger agreed to revise a statement about the amount the city wasted on easels in the 20th anniversary photo display. In summary, both candidates had to hire an attorney and spend time and money they could have used on their campaigns.

On another city blog, information came out that Ury’s ballot statement contained more questionable material than Schlicht and Lonsinger’s. Ury gave his occupation as mayor pro-tem, which is disallowed. Instead of MacLean initiating a lawsuit against him, the city clerk made the change without ado. Ury was unaffected – no attorney fees, no distraction from his campaign and no newspaper stories. Ury also says in his ballot statement that the Crown Valley Parkway project has been completed. Is he delusional?

As another false claim, Ury told the Saddleback Valley News that his occupation is “engineer.” He appears to be unemployed after being fired from his sales job at Intel in 2007. Perhaps his designation of engineer refers to the ethical train wreck in city hall.

What motivated MacLean, Ury and Kelley to work together for a change? MacLean still wants his basketball gymnasium, Ury wants to be mayor, and Kelley’s goal for years has been to dethrone her arch-enemy Gail Reavis. All it takes is three votes, and almost anything can happen in city hall.

Two council seats are open in the Nov. 4 city election. Voters can decide if they want to continue enabling the majority of Ury, Kelley and MacLean by reelecting Frank Ury and replacing Reavis with the trio’s anointed candidate, Rich Atkinson. The answer should be a resounding “NO.”