The Buzz, Nov. 1

To keep everyone laughing, an email circulated on Wednesday, describing what drivers may have seen that morning en route to the freeway. A Mission Viejo resident reported, "When I was driving to work today [Oct. 28], I saw an obese man holding up a Ury sign at a busy intersection. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and he looked like a homeless person who was being paid to hold Ury’s sign. He was on the wrong corner – faced the wrong way – waving at drivers who don't live here." As it turns out, it wasn’t a homeless man. It was Ury’s running mate, Richard “Wrong Way” Atkinson.

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Two challengers in the council race, Cathy Schlicht and Neil Lonsinger, have anticipated for several weeks that Ury would launch a negative campaign against them. Before Councilwoman Gail Reavis announced on Aug. 8 that she wouldn’t seek reelection, Lance MacLean, Frank Ury and Trish Kelley were involved in raising funds to zap Reavis. Either the funds didn’t materialize or the trio dropped plans. No negative mailers were needed against Reavis, and voters have seen no hits against Schlicht and Lonsinger. Either Ury hasn’t polled voters (to find out how unpopular he is) or he doesn’t have funds to thwart the challenge from Schlicht and Lonsinger.

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Calling all Mission Viejo residents – anyone who is supporting Schlicht and/or Lonsinger is invited to a rally on Monday. Activists will spend the last day prior to the election raising awareness of Mission Viejo voters. Join the team by rallying for Cathy and Neil at La Paz/Marguerite beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.

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Several months ago, this blog received information about the final resting place for the last of the 500-plus custom-made easels. Shortly after Easelgate erupted, city hall was shamed into giving some of the easels away to schools and church groups. Prior to that time, approximately 180 easels were carelessly handled by a city contractor, piled on a hillside and then taken to a county dump. Others vanished during a period of three months. An insider sent a tip, “Some day when no one is watching, the remaining easels will disappear.” As a problem for city hall, activists have never stopped watching. On Sat., Oct. 25, a worker showed up with a truck near the short stack of easels still on the ground near the water treatment facility. The stack is now gone, and activists have pictures that are stunning. Look for a follow-up report next week.

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Watch for an update next week about Dumpgate, the piles of dirt and debris in Lower Curtis Park, which continue to accumulate. City Manager Dennis Wilberg claimed in an August SVN interview that piles of soil dumped at Lower Curtis were coming from the Crown Valley Parkway project. Last week, residents followed a fully loaded truck, and it didn’t come from Crown Valley. Insiders say miscellaneous contractors not connected to the road widening project are using city property as a dumpsite.

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On Nov. 4, vote for Cathy Schlicht and Neil Lonsinger for Mission Viejo City Council.