A Failure of Leadership
by Dale Tyler

On July 20, 2009, the Mission Viejo City Council passed a budget resolution for Fiscal Year 2009-2010 that will result in the further depletion of the reserves the city maintains to replace aging equipment, resurface roads and maintain parks and other city facilities. The budget resolution passed 4-1, with Council Member Schlicht voting no. This result, while somewhat expected, is further evidence of the lack of leadership by most of the Council. Mission Viejo, in the heart of conservative Orange County, should be setting an example of careful fiscal stewardship instead of engaging in deficit spending like the State of California.

While I have criticized city staff for their part in the orgy of spending this Council has endorsed, the staff provided the Council a plan that would have cut spending and avoided the need to deplete our reserves. On page 10 of the Budget Report, the staff lists cuts in the budget (Exhibit I-B) that would balance the city's budget. This list ranges from cutting $23,000 from the city's gift to the Chamber of Commerce to a $62,000 Lobbyist to a $700,000 cut in Kids Factory after-school and summer programs, Bunny Days and Hometown Halloween. Some of these cuts are painful for residents, like the $700K cut in after-school programs, while others, like the $23K for the Chamber of Commerce are long overdue. The staff should be commended for coming up with a list of cuts and reductions and providing the council with the ability to lead by example.

Unfortunately, the Council under the so-called leadership of Frank Ury was unable to avoid continuing to spend down of our reserves as has been happening over the last few years. Even during the good times, when the real estate bubble provided the city with double-digit increases in property tax revenues, the City Council managed to spend money faster than it came in. Contrast this with Laguna Niguel, which refuses to go into debt to build their city hall.

At one point in the meeting, Ury told the audience that “there will always be those who complain about spending money.” What he doesn't want to admit is that the Council is unable to make projects come in on time and within budget. Spending money wisely and carefully on projects that benefit the entire community is what the City Council should be doing. The Council should keep a careful eye on city staff and control spending to ensure that when we do spend money it is no more than we originally agreed to spend. Yet, under Ury, Kelly and MacLean, (MUK) every city project has cost more than double the original estimates. The Community Center and the Rec Centers are the two most recent examples of this. Couple that with such boondoggles as the Rose Parade Float and it is clear Ury, Kelly and MacLean know nothing about fiscal responsibility.

We should expect more from our so-called leaders. MUK remind me of the circus in Sacramento. Just like the state government, MUK refuse to match spending with income. What's worse, they insist on spending up to $7 million on a facility that is used by only 0.2 percent of the city's residents. They also are putting their heads in the sand when the state confiscates some of the taxes the city is depending on.

Work is progressing on removing one of the three, Lance MacLean. Once that is accomplished, perhaps the reconstituted City Council can bring the city's finances under control.

The Real Trish Kelley

When county blogger Larry Gilbert described the recall incident about Commissioner Leslie Sykes with a post on OrangeJuiceBlog.com last week, the article drew quick feedback that Councilwoman Trish Kelley had directed Sykes’ performance. A reader commented, “Trish Kelley has two different sides. In public, she’s friendly and chatty. Privately, she’s cunning and manipulative. Her clueless followers take the heat, and she doesn’t get her hands dirty. Sykes is in his 80s and appears to have mental health problems. Kelley uses naive moms, old people and her church members who have no idea they’re jumping into the wood chipper.”

Two weeks ago, Kelley began sending emails to persuade her followers not to support the recall of MacLean. Isn’t it interesting she asked moms of young children to overlook MacLean’s anger issues? One of MacLean’s neighbors told recall volunteers that MacLean had become angry with her children and chased them down the street while wielding a shovel.

Kelley tries to defend MacLean’s behavior by claiming assault and battery charges against him at UCI are untrue. Here are the links to news stories from UCI’s campus newspaper and the Orange County Register:

Assault and battery charges: http://www.newu.uci.edu/main/article?slug=former_asuci_director_charged55

MacLean hid his identity when a reporter asked him about the charges:
http://www.ocregister.com/news/maclean-uci-court-1981830-rackauckas-attorney

Kelley often leans on community members who don’t follow politics. She attends every city function, school meeting and business mixer – every happening in town if she finds out about it. Some community members note her presence, mistakenly thinking she is either representative of them or she will represent them with her council votes. For example, Kelley presents herself as an advocate for schoolchildren. Throughout the Capo school district turmoil from 2002 to 2006, Kelley was an ardent fan of former CUSD administrators James Fleming and David Do-Me (Doomey). Fleming has been charged with felonies, and Do-Me headed the facilities department while such campuses as Newhart Middle School deteriorated. As a specific example of Kelley’s true nature, she attempted to get a family kicked off a school campus during the 2004 council campaign because they supported her opponent. CUSD officials got on a golf cart and chased the family around, threatening them with arrest while Kelley and her cohort, Bill Klimek, continued campaigning on school property.

Kelley’s emails about MacLean cite him as a benevolent do-gooder. Residents who watched a recent council meeting saw MacLean launch a brutal verbal attack against a community volunteer who asked the city to support an antiques show. A UCI employee surfaced last week at a recall table – the second in 10 days – giving more information about MacLean’s stormy job history prior to his abrupt departure from UCI after the assault and battery charges.

The incident with Sykes underlines the real Trish Kelley, who uses her followers and then throws them under the bus. After community activist Bo Klein paved the way for Kelley’s council candidacy in 2002, she publicly humiliated him by orchestrating his dismissal as a city planning commissioner. Klein had defied Kelley’s directives by supporting her archrival, former councilwoman Gail Reavis.

When Sykes revealed on July 30 that he had been sent by someone from city hall to interfere in the recall, some people concluded that Kelley sent him. The presumption is likely but not necessarily correct. If City Manager Dennis Wilberg directed a female staff member to send Sykes into battle, then Wilberg can be charged with misappropriation of public resources.

Recall Update

The incident with City Commissioner Leslie Sykes on Thursday took center stage of Councilman Lance MacLean’s effort last week to survive the recall. A press release can be found in today’s edition of the blog.

On Wed., July 29, MacLean made an appearance at a storefront to harass recall workers, but they said he didn’t stay. A volunteer said, “We had six storefront locations on Wednesday, so MacLean’s half-dozen supporters would have been tapped out covering all of them.”

Recall proponents are noting a strong trend among residents. One of the proponents commented, “There’s a sentiment among voters that most elected officials should be thrown out of office, and MacLean is the No. 1 example in Mission Viejo. If we’re gauging correctly from voter reaction at storefronts, MacLean isn’t just going to be removed from office in the recall election, he’s going to get trounced.”

Very few residents comment about the cost of a special election when they sign the recall petition. Perhaps they believe it’s worth the price to make a statement about corrupt officials who enrich themselves and spit in the face of their constituents. The city staff is finally admitting that city revenues and reserves are down, and officials are cutting back on services and maintenance. Somehow, there was plenty of money for killer pillars and gory graphics along Crown Valley Parkway, but residents will have to do without library materials, road repair and other essentials.

If MacLean’s fan club wants to decry the cost of a special election during hard economic times, they should persuade MacLean to resign. The MUK majority members (MacLean, Ury and Kelley) have already added to the city’s election costs by refusing to enact the Right To Vote initiative into law. Approximately 11,000 residents signed the R-T-V petition to protect land use, including preservation of the Casta del Sol Golf Course. The MUKsters had the option of accepting the overwhelming popularity of the initiative, but they instead voted to put it on the ballot. Now, they lament about the cost of voting on it.

Recall proponents had planned to end the signature drive in July. Councilwoman Trish Kelley has been working against the recall, prompting volunteers to decide they’ll add thousands of signatures to go well over the minimum. The signature drive will continue for three weeks until the deadline.

Commissioner Dives into Recall
Press Release

Mission Viejo, CA, July 31, 2009 – Community Services Commissioner Leslie Sykes used his official position to interfere with the effort to recall Councilman Lance MacLean. The July 30 confrontation at a popular storefront was captured in a dozen photographs and on two videos when Sykes harassed and attempted to intimidate recall workers. On one of the videos, Sykes can be heard admitting he earlier in the day was yelling at recall workers from his car.

When Sykes walked up to the signature gatherers on Thursday afternoon, he was observed and photographed by an activist. The activist reported that Sykes flashed his city-issued commission credential to the signature gatherers, and he presented himself as a city official opposing the recall. He was wearing a taxpayer-funded golf shirt emblazoned with “City of Mission Viejo Community Services Commission.”

The activist said, “He tried to intimidate the workers. After they ignored him, he stood a few feet away and attempted to block passersby from signing the recall.” A recall proponent who had been summoned to the storefront took photographs and a second video of Sykes interfering with signature gathering.

As a particularly odd technique of blocking, Sykes held up a fan that was printed with information about a city program. As the recall workers asked residents to sign the recall, Sykes tried to engage them by talking about the program. Two residents who were shopping at the store said Sykes tried to engage them by talking about the program when they were near the recall table. The activist who was at the storefront to observe signature gathering spoke with the couple and emailed the following report:

The woman said, “We asked him [Sykes] what he was doing, and he said he didn't know anything about the program he was supposed to be touting. He had a fan with a printed announcement on it or something similar in his hand. When I asked him about the fan, he said it was just a prop that 'she' wanted him to hold when 'she' sent him over to Trader Joe's." The woman indicated that Sykes pointed at city hall when he said ‘she.’ The shoppers said Sykes would mention the program and then mix in pro-MacLean statements.”

A report of the incident was quickly posted on Orange County’s premiere blog. View the article and comments at http://orangejuiceblog.com/2009/07/panic-sets-in-as-the-sun-goes-down-on-mission-viejo-councilman-lance-maclean/#comments

Those commenting on the post concluded the person in city hall who had directed Sykes to confront the recall workers is Councilwoman Trish Kelley. Sykes is Frank Ury’s appointee to the Community Services Commission.

As reported on this blog and OrangeJuiceBlog.com, activists discovered on March 27 that Kelley had called the store manager and told him to make the recall workers leave the storefront. Such an act would have been a violation of the volunteers’ First Amendment rights. A store employee said Kelley told the manager that a pro-MacLean group could show up at the store, and the employee seemed worried about such a scene being disruptive to business.

Proponents of the recall expect the July 30 incident involving Sykes’ attempt to intimidate workers by presenting himself as a city official will first be addressed by the city attorney. The use of city resources to interfere with an election or recall is prohibited by law.

The Buzz

City Manager Dennis Wilberg sent out one page for his July 31 “The Week That Was.” He wrote a paragraph about a new Microsoft store opening in The Shops this fall. He says the business will take over the spot formerly occupied by The Limited clothing store. Wilberg’s second paragraph introduces Baby Cakes Bakery, which opened last week at The Shops. Wilberg’s only city hall news for the week was a workshop for various committee members hosted by Recreation and Community Services staff members.

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A community activist jokingly circulated an email stating that the city staff will next build a pyramid to occupy the city employees’ time. How are 150-plus city employees spending their days in a built-out city with virtually no new homes or other development requiring engineering or planning?

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The focus of activists getting recall signatures at the library has resulted in an ongoing survey indicating the Mission Viejo library is a regional facility. Recall workers are asking all people entering the library if they’re Mission Viejo residents. The results indicate more than half of the library patrons don’t live here.

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Recall target Councilman Lance MacLean is telling his supporters he’s going to fight the recall, and he’s indicated “the campaign will get ugly.” How much uglier could it get than MacLean’s behavior for the past six years? He apparently believes residents’ level of disgust toward him will diminish if he stuffs voters’ mailboxes with attacks funded by his out-of-town developer friends against Mission Viejo residents.

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MacLean’s camp seems confused about who is recalling him. At first, his supporters said gadflies and failed council candidates were in back of the recall. The 51 proponents comprise a significant number of newcomers, and an impressive number of young people (surfers, golfers and college students, age 25 or younger) have each gathered at least one page of signatures. Republicans and Democrats alike are signing on to recall MacLean.