Reader Feedback: Queen of Character

A series of blog articles about Councilwoman Trish Kelley’s abuse of power jogged the memory of a reader. This blog broke the story of Councilwoman Trish Kelley’s attempt to thwart the effort to recall Councilman Lance MacLean. The following paragraph was first published several weeks ago and reiterated last week:

Councilwoman Trish Kelley has been working behind the scenes to thwart the recall of Councilman Lance MacLean. On March 27, recall supporters learned that Kelley had called a store manager near the area where residents were signing the recall petition. Kelley identified herself to the manager as the former mayor of Mission Viejo and directed him to tell signature gatherers to leave.

Last week’s blog cited another incident documenting Kelley’s true nature:

This isn’t the first time Ms. Kelley has used her clout as a councilwoman against residents. As another example, she was campaigning several years ago on a school campus (which the district prohibits) when she spotted two parents with a child handing out flyers for Kelley’s archrival, then-councilwoman Gail Reavis. Kelley went into the school building and, within minutes, school officials came out riding a golf cart and chased the family down. They threatened the parents with arrest and frightened their daughter. Meanwhile, Kelley and her king of character, Bill Klimek, continued distributing political flyers for Kelley’s candidates on school property.

Following are excerpts from an April 23 reader response about Kelley:

“I can remember numerous times when the Queen of Character was vindictive toward residents who disagreed with her. Homeowners who make improvements to their property without proper permits can either have the book thrown at them (if Kelley is a friend of the person making the complaint) or they can get a pass for doing things that are far worse. When a supporter of Kelley complained about unauthorized work on a home, Kelley led the way in demanding an immediate remedy. By contrast, look at the example in Mission Ridge of a homeowner doing a remodel that has taken years.

“I had a direct experience with Kelley’s wrath two years ago during her council campaign. I was working in a Street Faire booth on July 4th that had names of its sponsors inside the booth, council challengers Michael Ferrall and Jim Woodin. The Street Faire committee had approved the posting of the names of candidates well before the event. On July 4th, Kelley was promoting herself at the Faire, going to every booth with her relentless campaigning. She walked by the booth with names of those running against her, and soon thereafter a committee person came over and said the signs had to come down. Those who paid for the booth opted to get a refund from the committee for breach of contract. Has everyone not had enough of this council queen?”