Update, Right-To-Vote Initiative

Signature gatherers continue to work toward qualifying the Mission Viejo Right-To-Vote Initiative for the ballot. Volunteers have begun verifying signatures with the aid of a CD of Registrar of Voters data, reporting a validity rate of 85 percent to 90 percent. The largest category for disqualification is signatures of non-Mission Viejo residents. In order to count toward the requirement of 6,100, those signing the petition must be registered to vote in Mission Viejo. To qualify for a special election (including the statewide election on either March 3 or more likely June 3), the initiative must have 9,150 valid signatures. The deadline to turn in signatures is Jan. 25, 2009.

Volunteers working at storefronts say that they qualify each person wanting to sign, making sure they are Mission Viejo residents who are registered to vote. A volunteer said, “People sometimes start signing before we get a chance to ask. Residents of nearby communities want to help protect the Casta del Sol Golf Course. We like their moral support, but non-residents’ signatures don’t get us closer to the required number.”

Two false rumors have been perpetuated by those who have – or should have – a vested interest in preserving the Casta golf course. At least one employee of the golf course told golfers that the danger of losing the course has passed, and he’s wrong. The course is still for sale, and no one knows whether Sunrise will return or another housing developer will make an offer. If the danger isn’t imminent, the decline of the housing market has merely delayed the threat. Incredibly, the other false rumor has been promoted by a Casta resident who groundlessly stated at a council candidate forum in October that the initiative either failed or it had been abandoned. From the public microphone at the Dec. 1 council meeting, she thanked council members for “saving the golf course” with their moratorium. The moratorium was a meaningless political gesture with a loophole to allow developers to proceed with rezoning the property from recreation to housing.

Volunteers will continue gathering signatures until the end of December to reach the 9,150 threshold. Despite the work to pre-verify signatures before petitions are submitted to the Registrar of Voters, those at the RoV could decide to throw out whatever they choose. The failed 2005 CUSD recall of seven trustees was a stunning surprise when nearly one-third of 177,000 signatures were deemed unqualified by Registrar Neal Kelley. Recall proponents decried Kelley’s actions, saying he threw out valid signatures to derail the recall when it should have gone on the ballot.

All initiative volunteers are encouraged to make a final push to get signatures during December. Proponents hope to give the RoV ample time to put the initiative on the March 3 or June 3 state ballot.