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Where Do Residents Get Their News?
City activists began polling shoppers at storefronts last week, asking residents how they find out “what’s happening in Mission Viejo.” Five categories are emerging thus far:
- Newspapers: primarily OC Register and Saddleback Valley News = 43 percent
- Combination of sources, including newspapers and online = 26 percent
- Online, including OCR online = 17 percent
- Miscellaneous (school news, HOA news, attending meetings, talking with friends, listening to radio) = 8 percent
- “I don’t follow local news” = 6 percent
Activists conducting the survey didn’t suggest answers, and participants could list any source by specific name or general category. Those polled were at least 18 years old.
The OC Register should be thrilled with the storefront findings. In one form or another, newspapers still dominate local news. As another noteworthy discovery, participants’ answers at storefronts don’t align with results of city surveys conducted by True North Research in 2006 and 2008.
According to True North, residents rely heavily on city hall for local information (numbers below are summarized in a Dec. 11 article on OrangeJuiceBlog.com, http://orangejuiceblog.com/2008/12/true-north-survey-of-mission-viejo-residents-where-do-we-get-our-news/ After True North was contracted by the city (and paid by the city for its findings), it “discovered” 54% of residents get their news from city government, with city hall sweeping two of the top three categories. Here are the top five according to True North:
- The City Outlook newsletter [city hall’s quarterly magazine] = 39%
- The Internet in general = 25%
- City Website = 15%
- Saddleback Valley News = 14%
- Orange County Register = 14%
Did anyone notice that the first five categories alone add up to more than 100 percent?
True North’s results are true hogwash. Not one person at a storefront mentioned the City Outlook newsletter for the obvious reason: it’s not where residents get their news. For anyone to suggest that 39 percent of residents can remember the name of the city’s publication is laughable. It becomes clear that True North fed participants a contrived list of answers. As a quarterly publication that looks like junk mail, the City Outlook likely ends up in the recycle bin very soon after it is delivered.
City staffers who are supposed to focus on things like infrastructure and basic city services are apparently so confused they think they’re supposed to compete with (and surpass) newspapers at reporting local news. Instead of newspaper reporters covering city business, the city has its own skewed version of what “is.” City staffers selectively write about other city staffers who rarely venture out into the community except to set up 500 easels or foist a $360,000 float on taxpayers. Did the city’s $12-million deficit last year have anything to do with an excessive number of city employees who don’t understand the purpose of city government?
There’s also a message in all this for the OC Register. Quite a few residents still turn to newspapers in search of local news. If members of the public wanted to read a reprint of the bilge pumped by city hall, they’d actually read the City Outlook, which they’re not doing.
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Letter to CUSD Trustees
by Kim Lefner
Put an End to Mob Rule
In the Dec. 18 words of Supt. Woodrow Carter to the trustees: "you have mortally wounded the position of superintendent in this District. You have shown a clear contempt and disregard for the office, have violated civility and courtesies, and done so in a classless manner... Your actions have undermined my authority and ability to run this district. Dead man walking comes to mind...”
The disrespect, clear contempt and disregard shown to you as trustees by your employees, starting with and perpetuated by Carter, was breathtaking in its sheer audacity.
Had I ever spoken to a manager the way Carter spoke to you on Dec. 18, in public no less, I would have been terminated so fast my head would spin. And I cannot believe that you thought people shouting down the Board president and any speakers who disagreed with them (to the point that no one could hear) was acceptable on any level.
Carter is the one who told the mob and the media that you were out to fire him; that's what that whole display was about yesterday, and it gave him the opportunity to "warn" you about what he intends to do if you cross him (italicized words are directly from his prepared speech): "...since you have chosen to discredit the position and me in the process, and to tarnish my reputation as well as my ability to pursue my passion to be a superintendent, I now respectfully request you honor my contract and other reasonable requests that I will make to minimize the damages I will suffer."
I'm curious to see what those "reasonable requests" will be to minimize what he considers his "damages"; more money? More power? He already has plenty of both, thanks to a board that will take no action against him. And if that shameful display of mob rule at the Dec. 18 meeting proved anything, it proved that Carter, not the Board of Trustees, is in charge of this district. He already knows it – he was just letting you know it. This is quickly becoming a dictatorship worse than the one created by ex-Supt. Jim Fleming.
Is this the way you want this district run? I know I don't. And I don't believe that the majority of the voters who put you in office want this dictatorship either. Remember, the people who were lambasting you at that debacle of a meeting did not vote for you - they voted against you (as several of them stated during oral communications). The union president was shaking hands with and congratulating people for lambasting you, telling them "good job" as they walked from the podium. In fact, I saw her laughing and smiling while people shouted at you and called you names. This is the woman who orchestrated and ran the campaign against you. Carter is working with her - not you.
The public at large had no reason to attend the Dec. 18 meeting; they trust that you will represent them. In fact, many of the attendees who were shouting and disrupting the meeting (including your own employees who were on the clock) were the same ones who gave Jim Fleming a standing ovation on the eve of his indictment on multiple felony charges. These are the same people who said Jim Fleming was a "man of integrity" who was all "about the kids," too.
You have an opportunity to put a stop to this division in the community, and to Carter’s attempt to completely take over the district, by terminating his contract so we can begin the long road toward healing. It's clear that no healing will take place as long as Carter is playing “divide and conquer” with the community, as he is demonstrating he can do so effectively. The slings and arrows you will suffer by terminating his contract for cause will be far less than what you will suffer if he is allowed to remain and continue to create this kind of controversy any time you disagree with him.
Please put a stop to this fiasco as soon as possible.
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Tangled Web, Part Two
The taxpayer-funded Easelgate fiasco hit newspapers and city blogs on April 22, 2008. City administrator Keith Rattay fabricated one story after another regarding a city-sponsored photo gallery involving 500 easels.
Was it Rattay who initially envisioned a photo display of record-breaking length as part of the city’s yearlong 20th anniversary party? A community activist photographed hundreds of custom-built easels from the event trashed on city property. To dodge accusations that the city had wasted money on easels, Rattay said “120 volunteers donated more than 800 hours building them.” City records showed that a contractor built all the easels. After activists found up to 200 discarded easels in a county dump, Rattay continued to claim all 500 were either “stored for future use” or they’d been donated to schools.
Before Rattay could spin his way out of Easelgate, the city staff was fully engaged in another taxpayer-funded fiasco. In January 2008, Councilman Lance MacLean had pushed for a city-funded Rose Parade float, and the council approved spending $300,000 (with a 4-1 vote; Reavis dissenting).
As with phony claims of community participation in the easel project, city officials now state that “thousands” of residents have worked “thousands” of hours on the wildly popular float. The number of volunteers is highly questionable, and the community-at-large decries the wasteful project.
The extent of misinformation about the float has grown beyond all attempts to get the truth out. The Dec. 27 OC Register printed yet another city-generated article with no attribution, saying the cost is $30,000 and the float’s tub (“lake”) contains 10 tons of water. The dimensions of the pool have changed numerous times, and the depth was recently reduced to a maximum of 5 feet. Such a shallow pool would preclude the diving exhibition that’s been advertised from day one. A reader sent this blog notice that the city’s initial specs had underestimated the weight of the float by 64 tons. After this blog published the city’s error, the tub’s width and depth were scaled back.
On Jan. 1, Mission Viejo’s financial boondoggle will slosh along the parade route. Beyond leaving a bad taste, the float will leave a substantial hole in the city’s shrinking bank account. The acknowledged figure of $360,000 doesn’t include six months of staff time or the enormous costs that will likely be hidden as recreation and maintenance expenses.
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CUSD Update
Supt. Woodrow Carter’s supporters and critics alike predicted his job would be on the line after the Nov. 4 election when the last Fleming-era trustee (Duane Stiff) was removed from office. At the well-attended Dec. 18 board meeting, Carter made a 10-minute speech about his anticipated dismissal.
Few people in the room were neutral about the superintendent. An attendee forwarded a copy of Carter’s speech to this blog, along with an “analysis” of the content. Here are excerpts from the speech and commentary, which demonstrate the deep split among Carter and his critics:
Carter: “To those who have shown up this afternoon to support me, I apologize for my shortcomings, for my inability to harmonize this group of trustees into a cohesive unit that will support student achievement. The administrators present today will remember my caveat at our professional development retreat in August this year … “adult-centered issues will continue.” Little did I know how prophetic those words would become. In an era of statewide, nationwide and even worldwide economic crises, you trustees have chosen to create yet another crisis, in a personnel matter that is totally unnecessary.”
Analysis: “This whole paragraph would be insubordinate if it were not true. Mr. Carter has many shortcomings. It is not his role to harmonize the trustees into a cohesive unit. It is not the trustees who have created another crisis but, in fact, Mr. Carter and his supporters who have done so. As the most senior executive in CUSD, he should be ashamed.”
To read the entire text of Carter’s speech and the commentary, click here.
Following the 4 1/2-hour meeting to determine whether or not Carter would be fired, school board President Ellen Addonizio announced that no action had been taken during the closed-session portion of the meeting.
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The Buzz
To view the listing of the parcel next to the Target Store at Los Alisos and Jeronimo, go to
http://www.cbre.com/USA/US/CA/Newport+Beach/Property/MVMultiFamilyLand . CB Richard Ellis has the listing for the 7.4-acre property. The price is $20 million, and a plan for 144 attached condominiums has been approved. This was the hotly contested housing project that activists began opposing in 2003 when Steadfast was the owner. Initially, Steadfast wanted to build 800 affordable apartments on a 23-acre parcel, which was zoned for commercial use. Steadfast then partnered with Target. Steadfast took on the community and got the property rezoned to housing (approved 5-0 by the council in 2006) but couldn’t start building because of the affordable housing lawsuit. By the time the lawsuit was settled, the housing market began to decline. Steadfast tried to get the property rezoned back to commercial, but the effort failed. Target now owns the property.
When the former council catered to Steadfast and rezoned the commercial property for housing, it destroyed opportunities for jobs for residents and sales-tax revenue for the city. Remaining members of that council (MacLean, Ury, Kelley and Ledesma) discussed the need for an economic development plan during their Dec. 15 Strategic Workshop. Between throwing away business opportunities and burning Other People’s Money, their economic development strategy is already well established.
Reader response: “I saw the city manager’s explanation that the cast-iron tree on the float is supposed to be the city’s 20th anniversary logo. I laughed when someone said the cast-iron tree with the fiery-looking background looks like the gates of hell. Instead of calling the float ‘Making a Splash,’ just call it ‘Hell on Wheels.’”
Mission Viejo blogger Larry Gilbert has a post on the county blog http://OrangeJuiceblog.com , regarding the Dec. 27 OC Register article about Mission Viejo’s float. The OC Register states, “A webcam lets you watch thousands of volunteers bring Mission Viejo’s first-ever Rose Parade float to life.” Thousands of volunteers? Here’s Larry’s response: “I just went to the webcam to see the work in process. Let’s assume that what we are seeing is the Mission Viejo float. By my estimate there may be two dozen people working. You simply cannot have thousands of people surrounding the float. There may be other MV volunteers off camera, but I will stick with my allegation of spin by our staff to the local media on this story.” Read the entire post at http://orangejuiceblog.com/2008/12/check-out-mission-viejos-rose-parade-float-on-the-city-webcam-today/#more-15832
The front page of the Dec. 26 Saddleback Valley News is a picture of the back of someone’s head. Perhaps it’s symbolic of the paper turning its back on the community, but the headlines, “Looking back at 2008,” are misleading. SVN demonstrates that it can’t present 2008 in review because it didn’t adequately cover news as it happened. SVN’s review consists of three photos from the Nov. 4 election, two Nadadores pictures and two others that aren’t identifiable. The story mentions the opening of the community center expansion but fails to state the real news: the construction project was severly mismanaged and ran three times over budget. Instead of a reference to turmoil in the Capistrano school district grabbing national attention, SVN mentioned Trabuco High School students who had to retake their Advanced Placement tests because of cheating and protocol violations. The float got yet another mention after three months of press releases dumped into the paper by the city staff.
A correction is order following the publication of false information in SVN’s review of 2008 (Page 3). Fact: The Casta del Sol Golf Course is still for sale and vulnerable to any housing developer wanting to rezone the parcel. SVN reporter Lindsey Baguio writes, “In February, the city council approved a 45-day moratorium on all zoning changes amid residents’ concerns of development on the golf course. The law prevented developers from submitting projects that would require rezoning from recreational or open space to residential.” A moratorium isn’t a law; it’s a delay. And it doesn’t prevent a developer from submitting projects. The council’s moratorium (which has been extended) has a loophole benefiting developers, and it prevents nothing.
Those gathering signatures for the Mission Viejo Right-To-Vote Initiative should get their petitions in to Dale Tyler. To arrange for pickup of signed petitions, call (949) 837-1997. Signatures will be given to the Registrar of Voters well ahead of the Jan. 26 deadline. Those still wanting to sign should call (949) 837-1997.
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