Independence Day in Mission Viejo

On July 4, thousands of Mission Viejo residents attended the city’s Street Faire, participated in a political protest and/or watched the fireworks display. The tax protest was sponsored by Saddleback Republican Assembly, which is a local unit of the California Republican Assembly.

At SRA’s tables at the east and west ends of the Faire, hundreds of people signed two letters of protest and a petition to recall Mission Viejo Councilman Lance MacLean. Citizens added their names to letters opposing socialized healthcare and the Cap and Trade initiative. Copies of the letters will be mailed to key elected officials. Recall supporters said hundreds of Mission Viejo voters signed the recall petition on July 4.

To hold a TEA Party, members of SRA said they successfully cleared the city’s hurdles. A week ago, SRA President Matt Corrigan received a call from a police officer. The message wasn’t about public safety or law enforcement. City administrators, by way of the Sheriff’s Dept., said SRA would not be allowed to set up a table between the driveway to the lake and Marguerite Parkway. The strip along Olympiad Road near Marguerite Parkway appears to be either public property or lake property. Despite the city closing off an adjacent portion of Olympiad for the Street Faire, such closing has no impact on the rights of citizens or the nature of public or private property.

As another attempt to thwart the TEA Party, city officials demanded that SRA get a permit for a special event. The city said such an event on public property required a permit because a vocalist would provide amplified live music. An attorney associated with CRA said no such permit is needed to have a public event on public property.

Because SRA learned of the city’s demands days prior to the event, its representatives decided to pay the $25 fee for a permit instead of arguing about principle. As soon as SRA agreed to pay, a city employee told the group it would need insurance for the event. The Republican Party of California provided proof of insurance for SRA and endorsed the city of Mission Viejo so the singer could use a microphone.

An SRA member emailed other TEA party participants: “The demands were inconsistent. This is our third TEA Party in four months, and the Sheriff’s Dept. has told us three times we don’t need a permit. Note the city administrators’ lack of communication with our group. When they had the police relay a message that had nothing to do with police business, what was their intent besides intimidation?”

During the TEA Party, emcee Jeff Morrow of Aliso Viejo frequently shared the microphone with participants. Many of them made spirited remarks, saying government is headed in the wrong direction. Tina Neukirch read an original poem she composed for the TEA Party. Among speakers were Council Members Cathy Schlicht and John Paul Ledesma, SRA President Matt Corrigan, former SRA President Larry Gilbert and CRA Vice President Karl Heft.

Somebody Else's Money
by Dale Tyler

Mission Viejo, as a city, has a number of parks, a library, community center and other facilities that are freely available for public use at no charge to the user. All citizens of Mission Viejo pay taxes to fund these facilities that they may use or not as they choose. There are other facilities, namely the “Rec Centers” and the “Tennis Club” that require a fee be paid, either daily or monthly, in order for anyone to use those facilities. The Rec Centers are publicly financed health clubs while the Tennis Club features a number of tournament-sized courts and changing rooms throughout the city. The Rec Centers and Tennis Club were deeded to the city by the Mission Viejo Company after the company ceased marketing new housing in the city. The city, through taxes collected from all of the residents, has paid millions of dollars to operate and improve these facilities since that time.

At our most recent city council meeting, the City Budget Workshop, a select group of citizens came to lobby for improvements to their favorite government-funded benefit, the Mission Viejo Tennis Club. This followed their performances at the Mission Viejo Community Service Commission meetings, where the commissioners voted 6-1 (Brian Skalsky voted no) to approve a $7.5M addition to the Tennis Complex on Marguerite near Trabuco. The council agreed and approved the plan as requested by the Tennis Club members, city staff and the commission.

However, there are many questions about why the citizens of Mission Viejo should support the private recreational activities of a very small number of people, some of whom are not Mission Viejo residents. While the members of the Tennis Club pay a fee for the use of the facilities, that fee covers only a small portion of the costs associated with maintaining the Tennis Club facilities. The rest of the money, including the $7.5 million to $20 million that the improvements will cost, will be paid by the city (after accounting for the 200-percent budget overruns that are typical of city projects).

For example, why shouldn't the Tennis Club fees pay the full cost of maintaining the facility? In talking to some of the members after the recent Community Service Commission meeting, I came away with an overwhelming feeling that they think they are entitled to their Tennis Club. They are convinced that the citizens of Mission Viejo owe them top-grade facilities, regardless of the cost, that they would use for their own enjoyment. The fact that their fees did not even cover the costs, let alone the millions needed to improve the Tennis Club to their standards, did not concern most of them in the slightest. One did allow that he could see how I thought it was wrong for me to pay for their fun. Most simply said they were entitled to continue to use the Tennis Club and that the city, not they, should pay to operate and improve it.

This sense of entitlement is, of course, the height of arrogance and selfishness. I would expect better from those who describe themselves as personally fiscally responsible. They claim that their pet project increases home values throughout the city as justification for their demand that the city spend great sums on their private entertainment. Yet, there is no evidence whatever supporting this claim. For this to be true, there would be higher resale values closer to the Tennis Club locations and less effect the farther away the house was from the facility. It is hard to imagine how the presence or absence of a facility that is used by a tiny number of residents would have any affect on a buyer's willingness to pay more for a house, unless the buyer has a tennis player in the household. In fact, because Mission Vijo taxpayers are forced to subsidize the Tennis Club which allows out of city players to use the facility, it would be more likely that houses out of town would be more valuable because they don't have to pay the taxes. In short, this is all about spending taxpayer money for the entertainment of a few, without the slightest justification.

It is instructive that the people supporting the Tennis Club expansion at the Council Meetings think so little of the rest of us that they are willing to have us sacrifice improvements and maintenance in other city facilities so that they can have their fun. During the Budget Workshop, not one said that city park maintenance was more important than their precious tennis courts. It is also interesting to note that the MacLean, Ury, Kelley trio on the city council feel that the needs of certain Tennis Club members are more important than the needs of the rest of the citizens. For proof of these assertions, one only has to look at the directions given to staff at the Budget Workshop.

The Tennis Club fiasco is, in many ways similar to what is happening in the State of California. A small group of individuals feels that the city (or state) owes them a certain benefit and they could care less about the rest of us. Most of us in Mission Viejo believe that small government is the key to maintaining our freedoms, because that type of government spends little and thus taxes the same way. Mission Viejo, through the efforts of City Staff, some members of the City Council and small groups of self-important individuals is becoming a welfare state for the well to do. The rest of us need to stand up and say “Enough! Stop wasting our money on foolish projects”. I'm sure there are members of the Tennis Club who do not support this boondoggle. I'd like to hear them speak out against waste and reject this project publicly. For the rest of the Tennis Club: Stop spending somebody else's money!

Recall Update

The signature drive to recall Councilman Lance MacLean is nearing completion. The weekly report from proponents hasn’t changed from last week. They say they’ll continue to get signatures while verifying those collected since the effort’s March 18 beginning. They need approximately 9,300 valid ones by Aug. 25.

Will MacLean engage his Newport Beach political consultant to help him fight off the recall? Thus far, MacLean has focused on harassing volunteers at storefronts and using air time during council meetings to campaign for himself. He’s lately improved his demeanor at meetings, changing from combative to polite.

MacLean’s consultant in his 2002 and 2006 campaigns is the same one who managed the failed effort of Richard Atkinson. Atkinson ran for a council seat in November 2008 and lost after outspending nearly all other candidates. His campaign focused on slick mailers and slate brochures in which he presented himself as a Republican-Democrat-Independent. He also appeared on a Vietnamese slate, just in case his ancestry might be mistaken as Vietnamese.

The only MacLean sighting during the past week occurred on July 4 when members of Saddleback Republican Assembly arrived to set up a table outside the city’s Street Faire. SRA members unloaded signs and other materials near the Faire and left briefly to find a parking place. While two of them drove away, two others observed MacLean go over to the stack of materials and rifle through them.

With signature gathering nearing an end, MacLean’s handful of supporters may have thrown in the towel. After trying unsuccessfully for three months to derail the recall, they’ve had no effect. Volunteers continue to exhibit energy and tenacity while MacLean has predicted to news reporters that he expects to be recalled.

Mission Viejo’s 4th of July TEA Party
Posted by Larry Gilbert on OrangeJuiceBlog.com

Yesterday marked the third 2009 anti-tax TEA Party organized by the local Saddleback Republican Assembly, SRA, a chartered unit of the statewide CRA.

At this event they added two new petitions which one of the event organizers informed me would be sent to our elected officials in Washington, DC. The title of one states “Reject Universal Health Care.” The brief text reads “We reject medical decisions being made by government bureaucrats, and we demand to keep our own insurance and protect the privacy of medical data. We strongly oppose socialized, government-run, universal healthcare.”

The second petition is entitled: “We, the undersigned, Oppose the Cap and Trade Initiative!” Its text reads: “This national energy [tax] is likely to be the biggest tax in American history. Remember, it isn’t just about energy, it’s about American jobs!”

Having spent a few hours in one of the two booths I noticed voters from as far away as Fallbrook to Fullerton signing in support of these protest documents. A third petition, getting favorable citywide support, was the RECALL of councilman Lance MacLean that I will address at the end of this post.

Some angry taxpayers arrived hours prior to the 7 p.m. start time carrying homemade signs with a wide list of anti-tax and government waste grievances.

As a former president of this SRA unit I was asked to address the gathering which, at that time, totaled around 100 citizens.

As a member of the California chapter of “Americans for Prosperity” I opened with a brief remark on our delivering around 20,000 petitions to Sacramento last year protesting any tax increase. I then mentioned the colonial activists in Boston who triggered the push back to taxation proposed by Great Britain’s Prime Minister Grenville over 200 years ago.

We shall continue in the footsteps of the Loyal Nine, who later became known as the “Sons of Liberty”, to carry our message to every elected official who promotes oppressive tax policies and loss of our freedoms.

My closing comment was based on our Nov 5, 2002 Sample Ballot where I quoted from Mission Viejo council candidate Lance MacLean’s text, read by our 50,000 registered voters, which read in part: “Oppose all tax increases or special assessments.” As I paused the crowd began to applaud.

 Note: Based on his “thank you” notes to those of us who campaigned for him we were snookered. Then I provided the rest of the story as I read from the 2004 Ballot where Lance (and council member Trish Kelley) promoted a TOT tax increase called Measure K.

Anyone following the financial status of Orange County cities have read of program and staff reductions due to the recessions while at the same time we hear Lance MacLean and councilman Frank Ury boasting about how much money we have in our reserves. If that be true then perhaps Mr. MacLean can justify his closing Argument in Favor of Measure K which read. “we urge you to approve a 10% TOT rate by voting “YES”.

When questioned, Lance replies: “I didn’t promote a tax increase. We were only giving the voters an opportunity to decide if they wish to tax themselves.”  This action is but one of the grievances listed on the Petition for his removal by the RECALL process.

As I departed prior to the fireworks and SRA booth closing I do not have a count of the signatures on any of the petitions.

As one of the 50 plus signers of the RECALL application I want to be fully transparent in writing about this volunteer activity.

The Buzz

Following a year of city propaganda, readers of Saddleback Valley News are lately enjoying a local paper covering Mission Viejo’s community-generated news. For the third consecutive week, SVN included none of city hall’s self-promotional drivel. Kudos to SVN reporter Niyaz Pirani and his editors for resisting Kool-Aid infusions.

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Look who’s signing Councilman Lance MacLean’s recall. On July 4, Mission Viejo voters associated with various city commissions and committees either signed the petition or expressed their support for the recall election. An exception at the Street Faire’s gates was Councilwoman Trish Kelley’s appointee to the Community Services Commission. He approached the volunteers’ tables as if on a reconnaissance mission but didn’t sign anything. This is the same person who was defending MacLean to a recall volunteer at a storefront, and he said MacLean had done “a lot of good for the city.” When asked for an example, the commissioner couldn’t think of anything. A volunteer said, “He identified himself as a commissioner, but he was extremely confused about city history.”

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First Amendment rights and the California Constitution provide for signature gathering in public places. Storefronts are a logical place to find voters, and solicitors are legally permitted to work at storefronts. Store proprietors may not disallow such activity as long as solicitors are not breaking any law. Stores that provide public access must give access to everyone, including signature gatherers. Target pressed the issue several years ago by disallowing the Salvation Army a presence at Christmastime. In Mission Viejo, the Target store on Alicia may not prevent solicitation because Target’s area is shared by other businesses. Target personnel acknowledged last week that they will allow signature gathering for MacLean’s recall.

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As residents are learning about the grotesque graphics to be installed on Crown Valley’s pillars, the outrage is growing. A blog reader emailed: “I know why this project is on Crown Valley. When drivers O.D. on bad art, they’ll be close to the hospital.”

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Is a city official obsessed with “frames”? In the city’s April 2008 fiasco with 500 custom-built easels, city administrator Keith Rattay referred to the easels as “frames.” More than a year ago, he indicated to news reporters and in city memos that the easels would be used for years to come in various city events. The easels are nowhere to be seen. A few were left on the ground to deteriorate near the city yard, but where are they today? Rattay now refers to the pillars along Crown Valley as “frames.” Unlike deposed council members who merely wanted their names on city facilities, Rattay is making his mark in stone.