Historic Decision in the Making
by Dale Tyler

On April 6, 2009, the Mission Viejo City Council will decide whether or not to allow the people of Mission Viejo to take control of major land use decisions in the city. After gathering nearly 11,000 signatures, the proponents, including myself, delivered and had certified enough valid signatures to cause a vote at the next regularly scheduled election in June 2010.

Per the Election Code, section 9215, the City council must either a) adopt the ordinance as written without making any changes or b) set the matter for an election. It would seem obvious that the council should listen to the people and do one or the other. However, it appears that there is some consideration being given to do neither, but instead to challenge the people of Mission Viejo's right to decide for themselves how the people feel the city should be developed.

As a part of the report to the city council requested by the Council at their March 16, 2009 meeting, the city attorney, who is no friend of the people of Mission Viejo, put forth two other options besides those that would lead to the people deciding. He suggests that the council simply refuse to adopt the ordinance or to actively work to overturn the people's right to vote by seeking a preemptive court ruling as to the law's consistency with state law. Either of these two approaches is unfortunate and does not reflect the will of the majority of the citizens. It remains to be seen if the council, three of whom either campaigned on or supported the right of the people to directly vote on land use issues.

I hope that all of the council members give careful consideration to the reasons for the citizens' demands that they have a final say in any major land use decisions that occur in our city. The initiative process is a time honored tradition in California and is intended to give the people a voice when the legislative body fails to act in what the people perceive is their interest. This time, the five mebers of the city council can show that understand the meaning of “of the people, by the people, for the people”.

Here is my statement, presented before the March 16, 2009 city council meeting:

Council Members, Citizens of Mission Viejo

First, let me thank the thousands of citizens of Mission Viejo who signed the Mission Viejo Right to Vote petition in a effort to make this city a better place to live.

The Right to Vote initiative was born more than 10 years ago when the city, over the objections of local residents, rezoned land from Commercial to very high density residential housing, Over 700 apartments were built on the rezoned. This resulted in higher crime, worsened traffic and generally brought the character of the area down. One the current council members helped gather more than 7,000 signatures, which were rejected by the city.

Forward to a few years ago, when the same story repeated itself. The ex-KMart and Steadfast properties were rezoned from Commercial to high density residential housing. Again the neighbors complained, and again the city actively worked to ignore their concerns and give a valuable gift to the developers. A draft of the Right to Vote was circulated.

Finally, the last straw was when another developer proposed turning a recreational area into more high density housing. A number of the neighbors were incensed and the Right to Vote came into being. The courageous seniors in Casta Del Sol joined with activists in the city to circulate the petition and gathered over 11,000 signatures.

Tonight, you will likely ask staff to provide you with a summary of the effects of passing this initiative into law. I support this idea. When the summary comes back to you at the April 6 meeting, I ask you to immediately adopt this item. There are three council members who either ran on a promise to give the people a voice on land use issues or who have supported a similar idea since being elected. I ask you each to remember the core principles that got you elected and give the people of Mission Viejo what they want, a real voice in how this city moves into the future.