Unlearned Lessons Are Perpetual

The council majority of Lance MacLean, Frank Ury and Trish Kelley may have mistaken the Nov. 4 city election as a mandate to continue running amok. However, Ury’s reelection alone doesn’t convey the voters’ message. With Cathy Schlicht, Neil Lonsinger, Judy Rackauckas and Michael Williamson all running against the status quo, the result should be viewed as a mandate to change the council’s direction.

With only 12,757 uncounted votes remaining for all of Orange County in the Nov. 4 election, the Registrar of Voters posted new totals on Nov. 21:

FRANK URY        16,877 24.9%
CATHY SCHLICHT   13,681 20.2%
NEIL LONSINGER   12,933 19.1%
RICH ATKINSON      9,884 14.6%
JUDY RACKAUCKAS    7,229 10.7%
MICHAEL WILLIAMSON 7,046 10.4%

The uncounted votes, spread countywide, are not likely to alter the outcome in Mission Viejo, as the percentage for each candidate has been stable throughout the count.

Reviewing Schlicht and Lonsinger’s respective totals should be a wakeup call for the current majority. Both Schlicht and Lonsinger exceeded the 2006 totals of Kelley (12,191), Ledesma (10,763) and MacLean (8,574), who campaigned like maniacs to retain their seats in the 2006 city race.

A message to future council candidates can also be found in the 2008 results. While any number of residents can run for a council seat, Rackauckas and Williamson demonstrated why most of them shouldn’t. Neither Rackauckas nor Williamson had grassroots backing, activist support, a network of volunteers or adequate funding, and neither demonstrated the ability to organize a campaign or attract workers. However, this pair’s combined 14,000-plus total may have thwarted the very reform voters wanted. Uninformed voters may have chosen Rackauckas and Williamson by accident, but informed ones likely made a deliberate choice to reject Ury and the council majority’s flunky, Richard Atkinson.

The unlearned lesson lives on. In the 2006 city election, seven challengers split the vote against three incumbents, which determined that no council member – regardless of unpopularity – would be unseated.

Some activists are looking ahead, wondering how to oust Kelley and MacLean in 2010 when Ledesma will term out. With three seats in play, numerous wannabe candidates, many with the same shortcomings of Rackauckas and Williamson, are already posturing. Fueled primarily by personal ambition, they’re designing future failed campaigns with easy wins for incumbents.