MacLean Takes the Fifth

On Feb. 2, Councilman Lance MacLean was served with notice he’s being recalled. He had seven days to respond following the official filing of recall documents with the city clerk. On Feb. 12, he handed his rebuttal to Councilman John Paul Ledesma, one of the recall’s 51 proponents and supporters. Describing MacLean’s response, Mission Viejo resident Larry Gilbert commented on a county blog that MacLean took the Fifth Amendment. Here’s the link:
http://orangejuiceblog.com/2009/02/mission-viejo-city-councilman-lance-maclean-takes-the-5th-amendment/#more-18006

MacLean would like to change the subject instead of refuting the claims against him, which include serious allegations of violence, self-dealing and financial mismanagement. He wants residents to recall what he’s done for them instead of recalling him.

Most folks don’t need a reminder of MacLean’s record, but here’s a small sampling:

• MacLean told parents of Newhart students to stop whining when they asked the council’s help in addressing the facility’s maintenance and cleanliness issues.
• When neighbors near Valpariso and Via San Gil objected to the blight of cellular antennas next to their homes, he said the antennas were too ugly to put on streets.
• Residents in the northeast portion of the city wanted new power lines buried, but MacLean told them they weren’t very smart to buy homes in that part of town.
• MacLean initiated the idea of a Rose Parade float and pushed it forward during an economic crisis.
• When neighbors objected to turning single-family homes into nursing homes and other forms of boardinghouses, he ignored their rights as property owners.
• His voting history shows approval of no-bid contracts, multiple change orders on projects that increased the price and sweetheart deals to enrich his buddies.
• He tried to raise taxes with Measure K and then wrote the ballot argument favoring the tax despite his claim that the city had plenty of cash in reserves.
• He voted yes at every turn for the “Audi deal” after his campaign literature denounced handing out redevelopment dollars as corporate welfare.
• He voted for every rezoning decision to favor developers and other outsiders who have financed his campaign treasury.
• He ran to the L.A. Times to denounce residents who objected to more high-density housing in their neighborhoods, calling them elitists and racists.
• He has openly stated from the dais that he wants more housing in Mission Viejo, and he blatantly supports housing on the Casta del Sol golf course.
• He spit in the face of those fighting to keep O’Neill school open by refusing to sign the city’s letter of support for the school.

And that’s just the beginning. In his recall rebuttal, MacLean’s “defense” is that he had help: it took at least three votes to approve most of the abominations he either pushed or supported. He’s got that part right. Voters can change the majority by removing MacLean. Reducing MUK (MacLean, Ury and Kelley) to UK would not only remove him as a public embarrassment, it would make Kelley and Ury the bookends.

Recall – What’s Next?

Supporters of the effort to recall Councilman Lance MacLean published a legal notice in the Feb. 13 OC Register. They’ll next provide the proof of publication to the city clerk, along with two copies of the recall petition for gathering signatures. When the clerk approves it, they’ll have 160 days to get approximately 9,350 signatures to qualify the recall for the ballot.

On Feb. 12, MacLean responded to the eight grounds for recall. His statement was published in the OC Register:

"I have been honored to represent you since 2002 and I am proud of my verifiable accomplishments. In conjunction with ALL my City of Mission Viejo council colleagues Kelley, Ury, Ledesma and Schlicht, I have delivered on my promise to improve our quality of life: safest city in the nation, balanced budget with $28,000,000 reserves, expanded Murray senior/community center, improved traffic with signal coordination and street widening, renovated recreation centers, parks and medians. The proponents of this recall want to GUT our quality of life. They have no problem frivolously spending $250,000 taxpayer dollars for this special election. Led by five failed council candidates, this petition is a cruel personalized character assassination using fabrications to attempt a political coup to promote their previous unsuccessful agendas: firing city staff, establishing business license taxes, destroying cell phone coverage by removing antennae's, closing the Animal Shelter and choking traffic with unworkable roundabouts on major arterials. Despite these unwarranted personal attacks, I have been a consistent advocate for residents resulting in lower taxes, safer neighborhoods, schools and parks. Send a message to reject their dirty political change by voting NO RECALL and return hope for our city's future. For more information go to www.lancemaclean.org

MacLean mentions “choking traffic,” but he apparently forgot to deny that he was in court about a year ago for choking a fellow employee at UCI. When asked about it by a Register reporter, he lied about his name and age – as if it were some other Lance MacLean who was charged with assault and battery.

Following publication of MacLean’s Feb. 12 response to the recall, readers posted online remarks to the article in the Orange County Register
http://www.ocregister.com including the following excerpts:

The Marine wrote: “Recalling MacLean will be one of the best things concerned citizens can do for our city. Mission Viejo politics needs to be cleaned up, and MacLean is one of the dirtiest of the bunch. MacLean does not serve the residents of Mission Viejo; He is a self-serving politician who voted for a 100% increase in council members’ monthly stipend and voted for giving LIFETIME medical insurance to council members who manage to sit for 12 years. This is ridiculous, council positions are NOT EVEN JOBS, let alone full-time jobs! In most communities, MacLean’s actions and subsequent arrest at UCI would have gotten him removed from office. MacLean, with his uncontrolled juvenile behavior, tantrum throwing, and violent outbursts, is a major liability for Mission Viejo. Who knows what will happen the next time he goes off? He could cost the city millions of dollars in a lawsuit stemming from one of his rampages.”

lopedevega wrote: “MacLean does not deserve lifetime medical benefits and a doubling in salary because he has shown himself to be a vindictive, self-serving politician with a history of poor judgment, poor impulse control and acts of aggression. Why hasn't the City of Mission Viejo acted in the same responsible manner that UCI did in terminating MacLean? Every single one of his statements reads like the excuses of a child and the lying and avoidance of responsibility of a sociopath.”

caldad wrote: “Don’t forget that two successful council members stood tall and signed as part of the 51 proponents. None of these council candidates initiated the recall, which was done by grassroots citizens, but they know well about MacLean's self-serving, big spending, anti-resident, promise-breaking ways. Not to mention the embarrassment and huge potential liability to the city from another act of anger.”

CUSD Update

The Capo school board met on Feb. 9 and quickly got down to business. In sharp contrast to several recent meetings, the union had apparently not summoned its disruptive members and hecklers. The board had no action to report from closed session, which included discussion of Supt. Woodrow Carter, who is on paid administrative leave.

A PowerPoint presentation by CUSD staff told of $12.5 million in mid-year cuts and ways of trimming substantially from the 2009-2010 budget. The visuals sent shock waves through the audience, although staff made no recommendations. An article about the list also appeared in the Feb. 10 Or. Co. Register.

Following are some of the categories discussed in the presentation.

• Eliminating Kindergarten would save $9.4 million a year
• Eliminating all district and school administrators would save $22 million
• Eliminating 20:1 class sizes in grades 1 through 3 would save $2.4 million
• Eliminating high school sports would save $2 million
• Rolling back all district salaries 1 percent would save $3 million, and 2.5 percent rollbacks would save $7.4 million
• A one-day district furlough would save $1.5 million, while a three-day furlough would save $4.4 million

The board agreed to suspend a policy indefinitely that required parent volunteers to submit to and pay for criminal background checks and tuberculosis testing. Board members said they hoped the decision would encourage more volunteerism.

Several Mission Viejo residents attended the meeting, and one sent the email below regarding the board’s decision not to hire any firm to manage its cell-antenna leases. With a 7-0 vote, the board rejected CityScape, which was the staff’s recommended firm. The board then rejected an overture by a trustee (Anna Bryson) to act on Councilman Frank Ury’s lobbying effort for ATS to manage the leases.

“At the beginning of the budget talks, staff member Ron Lebs quoted Albert Einstein, ‘We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.’ Some parents who weren’t writing down the budget information wrote down the quote, which is well worth remembering. The quote also applied to the attempted coup by three trustees when they tried to do Frank Ury a favor and enrich his buddy Tony Igegneri of ATS. It was disheartening to see the three – Anna Bryson, Ken Maddox and Jack Brick – slip into the old behavior that got CUSD into so much trouble. They weren’t able to explain why CUSD needed a consultant except that Ury said so. Didn’t they run on a reform platform? Constituents can breathe a sigh of relief that four trustees (Ellen Addonizio, Mike Winsten, Sue Palazzo and Larry Christensen) are keeping their promises, but a vote of 4-3 is a narrow margin of victory against special interest.”

CUSD Budget Update

A Capo parent sent the following information:

In an effort to gather input from parents, community members, and staff regarding budget cuts, CUSD has created an online survey that can be accessed at:  http://elisten.capousd.org/surveys/CommunityInput/comminput.html

Please complete this very brief survey and offer your input. Listed below is an example; feel free to incorporate and/or include your own ideas.

Page one: Please indicate your idea to INCREASE the amount of money coming into CUSD. 

1. Eliminate "deputy superintendent" positions and, where possible, combine job responsibilities to eliminate additional, redundant administrative positions.
2. Where legally feasible, eliminate all the free meals that are currently offered at several school sites year-round. This is the job of social services, not CUSD.
3. Where legally feasible, eliminate all non-essential K-12 education programs. These would include the adult education programs such as "baby yoga," "why do we have angels?" "beginning bridge," etc., classes. This would also eliminate the high cost of providing facilities for these non-essential classes and services. CUSD is supposed to be K-12 education, not baby-adulthood education.
4. Sell the facilities at which the adult education programs are located to generate revenue for the general fund to support the basic classrooms and programs that we are supposed to be funding.

What aspects of this idea do you feel are potentially positive?

The savings realized by eliminating wasteful and redundant programs such as year-round free meals for entire families and the non-essential adult education programs will result in tremendous cost savings and will directly increase the general fund.

What negative impact/disadvantages might there be if the district implemented this idea?

CUEA and CUMA members will be unhappy initially but, in this economic climate, it is not sensible or feasible to continue the status quo of automatically increasing salaries and benefits while classroom funding is decreasing at such a rapid pace.

Page two: Please indicate your idea to DECREASE spending within CUSD (which will result in savings).  

1. Immediately halt all "step and column" increases and absorption of increases to insurance premiums for CUEA and CUMA members until financial situation improves.
2. Eliminate conflicts of interest inherent in the labor negotiation process by assigning district labor negotiators who have no ties, personal or otherwise, to the CUEA and to the CUMA. CUMA benefits should not simply be "tacked on" to the negotiated CUEA benefits as has been done in the past. Rather, they should be negotiated separately and again, by a district negotiator with no ties, personal or otherwise, to the CUMA. This will eliminate the inherent conflict of interest that has existed in CUSD with respect to labor negotiations, thus leading to real savings in the area of comp and benefits, which comprise the majority of CUSD spending.
3. Resumes for all administrative positions should be collected and compared to the job description for each to ensure the employee is qualified for that position, to ensure that future hires are qualified for the position to which they have applied or are assigned and to eliminate duplication of responsibilities.

What are the potential positive impacts this idea will create? (e.g., amount of money saved, etc.)

The suggestions above will eliminate waste, redundancy and conflicts of interest at the administrative level, which will result in a substantial cost savings through holding the line on increases in comp and benefits that we cannot afford. As salaries and benefits are approximately 80% of the CUSD budget, this could result in hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in savings over the next year or two.

What negative impact/disadvantages might there be if the district implemented this idea? see answer to question #3

The Buzz

City officials reassessed the three-year-long widening of Crown Valley Parkway and decided they miscalculated its March completion. Keep in mind it’s a widening project – they didn’t start from scratch. The end of May is the latest prediction. The new date is 10 months later than Councilman Frank Ury’s campaign claim that the road was already finished in August 2008.

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City administrators and the council majority have targeted the retail center at La Paz and Marguerite for so-called urban renewal with 350 apartments constructed on top of stores. Can anyone imagine how long it would take if the city meddled in private enterprise at La Paz and Marguerite? No one living in Mission Viejo today would be living anywhere by the time it’s finished.

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If anyone wants to use the El Toro Road retail project as a model for renewal, keep in mind that the longest phase involved a few merchants hanging on in the old buildings until their leases expired. Because the buildings were slated for demolition, owners didn’t bother with maintenance and upkeep. The area declined, dovetailing nicely with gang activity developing along Rockfield in Lake Forest and spilling into Mission Viejo along Los Alisos.

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The trial of ex-Supt. James Fleming scheduled for Feb. 10 was postponed for the fourth time. Fleming’s attorney claimed he needs more time to review documents. The newest batch, 6,000 pages, was turned over by the prosecutor in October, and 15,000 pages have been subpoenaed from the district. The trial was originally scheduled for Oct. 29, 2007, and the new date is April 7. OC Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals was quoted in the OC Register, “The people think this case is older than dirt, but I’m going to give you one last shot to get ready.”

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Concurrently, two groups of parents and other CUSD constituents have filed lawsuits against the district and/or the Orange County Registrar of Voters over “enemies lists.” According to court records, the cases are moving forward with hearings this month.

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Residents who attended the city’s ad hoc committee meeting to review the check register on Feb. 13 were shocked at what they saw. They weren’t surprised at the amount of money wasted or the city’s shell games, which are business as usual. The shock was 13 high-level employees attending the meeting arranged by Councilman Frank Ury. Would anyone like to calculate the cost of having 13 top managers sitting in a meeting for an hour? Oh, that would be the same hourly cost of having them engaged in decorating a Rose Parade float as “volunteers.”

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Casta del Sol’s Republican Club celebrated its annual champagne brunch on Feb. 15 with the guest appearance of former KFI radio talk show host and documentary film producer John Ziegler. The sold-out event marked the group’s annual Lincoln Day celebration, which was held in the HOA’s Vista Room.

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Garden Grove recently opened a dog park for a cost of $85,000. Compare this with the non-progress of Mission Viejo’s proposed dog park, which has been discussed for more than 10 years. For the cost of city staff members’ time and “research,” Mission Viejo taxpayers could have had five dog parks. City staffers don’t want residents to have a dog park, and they particularly don’t want a dog park in the most obvious place, next to the animal shelter. Their alleged reason for opposing the animal shelter location is that “dogs barking in the park will disturb dogs in the shelter.” Staffers had no problem, however, with barking dogs disturbing homeowners when the potential sites were two neighborhood parks. The city staffers say the cost of a dog park in Mission Viejo would be $1 million.