Who’s in Charge?

According to residents who attended the city’s Strategic Workshop on Dec. 15, it wasn’t a meeting to determine priorities as advertised. The priorities, plans and strategies had previously been outlined by city employees. A consultant, Sherry Lund of Sherry Lund Associates, received $20,000-plus to moderate the meeting.

A dozen residents attended. Several remarked afterward about the room arrangement, which had all chairs facing Lund as if she were a star performer. Lund instead was the mouthpiece for city staff members who, along with council members, were seated with their backs to the audience.

Residents spoke during public comments before the workshop began, with some saying the workshop should include input from the public. Staff members apparently disagreed, as they had predetermined the format as well as the content.

The Saddleback Valley News reporter posted the six outlined goals on the OC Register Website, http://www.ocregister.com/articles/city-2259826 and asked readers to choose the most important one. Following are the categories and scores as of Dec. 20 with 45 readers responding: safety/emergency preparedness 13%, economic development 16%, public relations and communication 7 %, enhancing beauty of the city 9%, traffic flow and infrastructure 51%, green leadership 4%.

Those attending the meeting assessed it as nonproductive and wasteful. Rather than having the council set the agenda and determine goals on the basis of what residents want, the process was driven by city employees who then looped in the council majority. The city’s top administrators neither live in Mission Viejo nor do they answer to the residents.

Staff members continue coining phrases that sound palatable but have an entirely different meaning. For example, staff members (aided by Councilman Frank Ury) targeted the retail center at La Paz and Marguerite as an area in need of “upgrading.” Some residents agreed, saying the 30-year-old buildings could use a facelift. Ury invited the Urban Land Institute to conduct a “study,” which concluded the entire center should be razed and rebuilt with affordable apartments on top. Let the residents beware of endorsing any staff-driven idea.

Councilwoman Cathy Schlicht suggested during the meeting that economic development should have a lower priority than taking care of the infrastructure. Councilwoman Trish Kelley disagreed. Kelley’s promotion of economic development during the past two years has consisted of contracting with an economic development consultant who charged a retainer fee but brought in no new businesses. Whether or not the city “could” benefit isn’t the point. City employees are neither suited for nor competent at economic development.

Staff Creates Illusion of Discovery
Letter to the Editor

On Dec. 15, the city held a seven-hour workshop to formulate a strategy, but staff members had already developed it. City administrators could have presented their plans in a brief summary at a council meeting, but taxpayers instead paid a facilitator $20,000 for an illusion of discovery on Dec. 15. Adding to the cost, a dozen top administrators attended, and some literally fell asleep.

The workshop focused on city surveys of 400 residents, conducted in 2006 and 2008. Instead of building a “strategy” around the surveys’ few credible findings, (traffic issues, emergency preparedness and safety are residents’ biggest concerns), city employees have become absorbed with such superficial things as Easelgate, a Rose Parade float and the yearlong 20th anniversary celebration. As an example of the consequences, Crown Valley Parkway has taken three years to widen, and residents say they rarely see anyone working on the road.

The city staff now focuses on branding everything with its “iron tree” symbol while the council majority chips away at the Master Plan. To a resident’s suggestion on Dec. 15 about finance – that proposals should be limited to what the city can afford – the facilitator said talking about money would hamper creativity.

By the way, any inference the city is awash with cash after a yearlong spend-a-thon during a recession is a myth.

Connie Lee
Mission Viejo

Mission Viejo News Briefs

Activists Ask for Local News Coverage
On Dec. 15, a group of Mission Viejo activists met with OC Register and Saddleback Valley News employees to ask for balanced community coverage. Residents have noticed SVN is reprinting articles from the Register that are unrelated to local news. Letters to the editor of SVN are often about national and international issues. Residents who wrote letters about the Nov. 4 city election said their letters were never published. SVN officials suggested that letter writers should follow up with a phone call to make sure their letters were received.

Unisys Cuts 40 Mission Viejo Jobs
Forty workers are being laid off at Mission Viejo’s Unisys facility on Jeronimo Road. The Register carried the notice in a Dec. 19 online story. A Unisys spokesman confirmed that the layoffs resulted from the company’s worldwide effort to cut $100 million in annual expenses and remain competitive. The Mission Viejo layoffs will take place by the end of the year. The cuts followed reports of Unisys’ revenue losses as well as uncertainties in its key commercial markets.

It’s Not a Tax, It’s a ‘Fee’
The city of Mission received word of the creation of the Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund, implementing SB 1473, effective Jan. 1, 2009. The bill requires cities to collect a fee from an applicant at the time a building permit is issued. Mission Viejo will keep 10 percent of the fee, as allowed by law. The city announced it will use the money to promote green building and energy-efficient programs and produce educational materials.

It’s Not a Raise, It’s a ‘Cut’
Check out a story on Brad Morton’s blog, http://missionviejodispatch.com
regarding a 3.5 percent pay raise for the city’s 150-plus employees. Because of the city’s revenue shortfall (deficit spending of $12-million during the past year), the raise might be reduced to 2 percent. Because the raise might not be 3.5 percent as anticipated, it’s now being referred to as a “cutback” on the council agenda.

Chick-Fil-A Considers Mission Viejo
A development manager for Chic-Fil-A has met with city officials to discuss locating a 4,000-sq.-ft. restaurant with a drive-through feature at the eastern end of the Office Max building on Crown Valley Parkway. The plans are in preliminary stages.

Water District Board Raises its Pay
The Dec. 20 OC Register carried news of the Santa Margarita Water District board voting itself a pay raise. In addition to its raise, the board approved the new $210-per-meeting pay for up to 10 meetings a month. The previous limit was six per month. Members of the SMWD board are Roger Faubel, Saundra Jacobs, Betty Olson, Charley Wilson and Bill Lawson.

Commerce Department Rejects TCA Plan
by Robin Everett

On Dec. 18, the Commerce Department upheld the California Coastal Commission's denial of the Transportation Corridor Agencies' proposal to construct a 16-mile toll road at San Onofre State Beach.

This is an unbelievable victory, and it is thanks to everyone’s hard work and commitment over many, many years.

The victory was realized because we spent the last decade talking to community members, beachgoers and campers. And we spent the last decade going to hearing after hearing. And we did not give up throughout the last decade.

This may truly be the final nail in the coffin for the Transportation Corridor Agenices' plan to encumber a state park with a toll road. We will keep everyone informed of the TCA’s next move, but we have no doubt that this is a blow the TCA may not be able to overcome.

Thank you so much for everyone’s unwavering support! Without the citizens, we would have never been able to achieve this incredible victory!

Sierra Club would also like to thank our partners in the Save San Onofre Coalition, whose help was invaluable in achieving this victory. California State Parks Foundation, Surfrider Foundation, NRDC, Endangered Habitats League, Audubon Society and many more organizations and individuals worked together to help ensure the San Mateo Campground, Trestles Beach and the San Mateo Watershed will remain pristine for future generations to enjoy.

The Buzz

City Manager Dennis Wilberg reported last week that the Rose Parade float went for a “test drive” and successfully completed a fire drill. Fire drill? With up to 74 tons of water on board, how about a tsunami drill? Wilberg commented that the float is taking shape, including its “20th Anniversary logo gate.” Thanks for the clarification. A blog reader mistook the cast-iron tree with fiery-looking background as portraying the gates of hell.

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Blog cartoonist Lisa De Paul-Snyder commented, “After reading Wilberg’s float report, I wondered how far they pulled the float and at what speed. How many times did they come to a stop and resume towing it? A ‘road test’ can cover a wide range of situations. Knowing the city administration's penchant for incomplete disclosure, if not outright fictional reporting, one can only guess at the actual facts of the ‘road test.’ That said, I really do hope they tried it out and that the float will not become yet another embarrassment put forth by MV tax dollars.”

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A blog reader asked another question about MV’s Rose Parade leviathan: “What’s the carbon footprint of this green machine?” Other questions are forthcoming: how will cost overruns be hidden? Are the test drive, fire drill, water to fill the pool, heating of the water, etc., included in the $360,000 tab or is the number still rising? Will Jamey Clark’s “park inspections and repairs” double for the months of October, November, December, January (February, and so on), as they did to cover Easelgate and the city staff’s yearlong 20th anniversary party?

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Read Larry Gilbert’s post about Mission Viejo on the county blog, http://orangejuiceblog.com/2008/12/oc-register-hiring-freeze-pay-cuts-vs-city-of-mission-viejo-wage-increases/#more-15574 Larry writes about Mission Viejo’s council majority of big spenders: “Can someone please define a fiscal conservative Republican? I am embarrassed to report that many of us worked against huge odds to help these characters get elected in 2002 and again in 2004. Having discussed the above examples of fiscal insanity [the Rose Parade float, doubling of council members’ stipend and approving lifetime healthcare coverage for council members serving three terms] there are many voters in Mission Viejo who would replace Council Members Frank Ury, Lance MacLean and Trish Kelley tomorrow if given the chance.”

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Are city officials reluctant to reveal the facts about Mission Viejo’s economy? Days after the Nov. 4 election, residents learned that the city has only $5 million available for discretionary use. All the other “reserves” – regardless of what number is presented – are monies that are obligated or already spent. Last week a new number emerged, showing the amount available for discretionary use is only $3 million. With the city’s annual budget of approximately $80 million (spending an average of $1,538,461 a week), it puts $3 million into perspective.

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Impacting Mission Viejo’s financial future, the state could alleviate its budget crisis by tapping the funds of California cities. City accountants who rely on shell games might then need to explain why the inflated “reserve” figures printed in such fluff as city magazines and campaign claims of incumbent council members don’t match what’s in the bank.