The Buzz

A July 13 online OC Register article described hospital layoffs, including jobs cut at Mission Hospital. Read the article at http://economy.freedomblogging.com/2009/07/13/three-oc-hospitals-lay-off-159/ The cuts follow Mission Hospital’s ambitious expansion, as well its June 30 purchase of a Laguna Beach facility, South Coast Medical Center. What happened to the hospital’s offer to fund the gruesome display of graphics on the Crown Valley pillars? Residents can wonder whether the hospital ran short on cash for the pillar project or decided it didn’t need the bad publicity

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Information about Councilman Lance MacLean’s stormy job history at UCI has emerged slowly. His sudden departure from the university (after being charged with assault and battery on a co-worker) is being referred to as “early retirement.” A UCI administrator revealed several months ago that MacLean had either sued the university or threatened a lawsuit when a black man was promoted ahead of him. A resident who signed the recall petition last week told recall volunteers that she knew MacLean when they both worked at UCI. She said she was relieved to hear MacLean left the university after the assault and battery charges. She added, “MacLean should have been fired several times, but almost no one gets fired from a university.”

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Posted July 13 by Jonathan Volzke on CapistranoDispatch.com: “Capistrano Unified trustees didn't act on a resolution concerning whether to support parents' effort to change elections to a by-area process. Trustees, many of whom supported the idea when they were running for office, said they were concerned about the cost of making such a move before a regular election - which would boost the cost from a few thousand to up to $500,000. Concern was also expressed that some families would live in one trustee area but send their children in another, meaning they may not be adequately represented.
There was talk the whole process should wait until after the results of the 2010 Census - meaning 2011 at the earliest and perhaps the 2012 election. Parents who passed a petition to get the issue before a county committee want the issue decided by 2010, when three of the seven trustee seats are up for election. The county committee, which would decide whether CUSD residents should vote on the change, is expected to take up the issue in September.”

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According to the city manager’s June 2009 newsletter, the Mission Viejo library has 127,289 registered library card holders, and 71,750 of them are Mission Viejo residents. The balance has changed, and when did it happen? The library reported less than a year ago that more than 50 percent of its card holders live outside the city. Mission Viejo’s library is a regional library, just as Mission Viejo’s community center is a regional center funded by city taxpayers.