Open Government in Mission Viejo – Part 1
by Dale Tyler

Open, Honest, Thrifty, Safe. Those are the words most of us would expect to describe our government. Unfortunately, government at all levels has failed to live up to these principles. The federal government, despite promises from the White House, is going trillions in debt, refuses to open the government to inspection by private citizens and hires new “czars” on an almost daily basis. Our state government is a financial train wreck, run by public employee unions for their own benefit with secrecy as their watchword. Even the Governor cannot see fit to release the reports filed by public workers about the massive waste in government. Mission Viejo follows the lead of the others and fails miserably on three of the four counts.

Last week I wrote an article on “Fiscal Responsibility.” It outlined how the city of Mission Viejo, led by three spendthrift members of the City Council, the City Manager and a number of department heads, is in the process of undermining the financial future of the city. However, that's not the only damage these people are doing. They have installed a culture of secrecy in city government, so that simple requests for information are stonewalled and delayed at every turn.

Over the years, I and others have made requests for documents that should have been easily obtainable in electronic form. Yet, in most cases, the city claimed that it would be difficult to search all of the appropriate files to satisfy the request. It seems ludicrous, given the millions of dollars we have spent on Information Technology, including fiber optic communications throughout the city, backup systems, imaging systems, file servers too numerous to count and a dedicated staff at least twice as large as a similar sized private organization would have, to be unable to produce emails, scans of memos and communications from other agencies. Yet, requests for “all documents, including internal emails” routinely produce only a handful of documents. One such request, for information of the electronic sign board, produces less than a handful of emails, even though this was a “pet project” of city staff and was frequently discussed in staff meetings.

Other requests are met with phony claims of “privilege” and various exemptions. Few, if any, of these would hold up if challenged in court, but city staff members know that citizens only have a certain amount of money and can't fight for every document. However, the point is that the citizens should not have to battle the bureaucrats of Mission Viejo for information that should be freely available.

In another case, a recording of a public meeting was requested to be made available at the city library. The staff refused, saying instead that they would only make the tape available in a room in City Hall and that anyone who wished to hear the tape would have to remain at City Hall for the entire four-hour duration of the recording instead of listening to the tape at home. Or, one could pay $40 to buy the public information. Why was the staff so opposed to the public hearing what went on at that meeting? Perhaps it was because there was pressure from certain council members whose friends were being given a $7M boondoggle.

The city does a few things right when it comes to public disclosure. It does put all of the backup agenda material online for the City Council meetings and recordings of those meetings for public viewing. However, it does not provide any recordings online for any of the subsidiary commissions, including the Planning Commission, the Investment Advisory Commission or the Community Services Commission. As stated above, if one wants to hear the details of any of these meetings, one must either pay an exorbitant fee or cool one's heels at city hall for hours.

Despite the bright spots in the city staff's handling of public disclosure, the usual pattern is to limit access whenever it would be embarrassing to city officials or the City Council. In many cases, the City Clerk's office is simply following orders given by our somewhat secretive City Attorney not to disclose documents that would put him or other management in poor light. In other cases, there is a campaign of deliberate carelessness undertaken by departments such as the Public Services department under Keith Rattay to hide information that the public wants to know. The Clerk's office can only provide what it is given by other departments, which is why so many requests have inadequate responses.

I'd like to see the Clerk's office be given the power to force disclosures on behalf of citizens, to be able to cause disciplinary actions up to and including termination for any member of the city staff who failed to keep good records and to be free of any interference by the City Attorney. I would also like the presumption be that documents are to be disclosed unless there is clear evidence that disclosure would violate a very small list of exemptions. One can dream, can't one?

Make Stonewalling Your Mission

On Wed., July 8, two recall workers said City Manager Dennis Wilberg harassed them in front of the city library. The incident occurred when two female volunteers were asking Mission Viejo residents to sign the petition to recall Councilman Lance MacLean. Wilberg and a few others, including MacLean, have either harassed volunteers or made threats of violence against those gathering signatures.

Wilberg first interfered with the recall on March 27 when he allegedly harassed a signature gatherer in front of a grocery store. On July 8, Wilberg walked near the volunteers, who were standing in front of the library. According to the workers, he sat on a bench within a few feet of them. They said he was watching them while he held what appeared to be a BlackBerry phone. The city issued a BlackBerry for his use in official city business.

Following the July 8 incident, one of the recall workers said, "He was sitting so close to me that I was uncomfortable, and he was acting like a stalker. I thought he was recording my conversation with a resident, and that's when I asked the other volunteer if we should call the police."

As a city employee, Wilberg is prohibited from involving himself in a recall or an election. Any misuse of the city-provided BlackBerry phone raises further questions about misappropriation of public funds. Recall proponents on July 9 requested public records to document Wilberg’s use of the phone and capture any text messages or recordings. Following is the response (or non-response) that proponents have thus far received from the city. If Wilberg has nothing to hide, why would the city staff need more than five weeks to find his phone records?

Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 4:57 PM
Subject: RE: Public Records Request from the City of Mission Viejo

Good afternoon,
 
This email is in response to your Public Records Request received in the City Clerk's office on July 9, 2009, concerning records pertaining to the use of City Manager Dennis Wilberg's cell phone on 7/8/09.  The City is currently reviewing and processing your request.
 
Pursuant to Government Code Section 6253(c), this email is to inform you that the City will respond to your request within fourteen days from the date of this email. A voluminous amount of separate and distinct records need to be searched and examined and multiple City departments may need to be consulted with in order to comply with the demands of your request.
 
Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
 
Thank you,
 
Robert Schick
(949) 470-3034


From: Robert Schick
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 2:07 PM
To: 'Lisa'
Subject: RE: Public Records Request from the City of Mission Viejo
Good afternoon,
 
This email is in response to your Public Records Request received in the City Clerk's office on July 9, 2009, concerning records pertaining to the use of City Manager Dennis Wilberg's cell phone on 7/8/09.  The City is currently reviewing and processing your request.
 
Pursuant to Government Code Section 6253(c), this email is to inform you that the City will respond to your request within fourteen days from the date of this email. A voluminous amount of separate and distinct records need to be searched and examined and multiple City departments may need to be consulted with in order to comply with the demands of your request.
 
Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
 
Thank you,
 
Robert Schick
(949) 470-3034


From: Robert Schick
Sent: Friday, July 17, 2009 4:46 PM
To: 'Lisa'
Subject: Public Records Request from the City of Mission Viejo
Good afternoon,
 
This email is in response to your Public Records Request received in the City Clerk's office on July 9, 2009, concerning records pertaining to the use of City Manager Dennis Wilberg's cell phone on 7/8/09.  The City is currently reviewing and processing your request.
 
Pursuant to Government Code Section 6253(c), this email is to inform you that the City will respond to your request within fourteen days from the date of this email. A voluminous amount of separate and distinct records need to be searched and examined and multiple City departments may need to be consulted with in order to comply with the demands of your request.
 
Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
 
Thank you,
 
Robert Schick
Records Management Coordinator
City of Mission Viejo
200 Civic Center
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
(949) 470-3034 -Voice
(949) 581-0983 -Fax
rschick@cityofmissionviejo.org

Recall Update

Proponents of the effort to recall Councilman Lance MacLean had another productive week of gathering signatures. A volunteer summarized the activity, “We have moments when we think everyone in town except Lance has signed the petition. Residents have another week to sign, and we have tables in front of nearly every major grocery store on a daily basis from mid-morning until it gets dark. We’ve stepped up our effort and made it easy for people to find us.”

The deadline for recall proponents to turn in signatures is Tues., Aug. 25. If the Registrar of Voters finds that approximately 9,300 registered voters have signed the petition, the recall will qualify for the ballot.

Recall volunteers report that MacLean’s few supporters have shifted their focus. Months ago, MacLean’s fans said the recall unfairly targeted him when “everyone did it.” When volunteers agreed that Councilmembers Frank Ury and Trish Kelley were also guilty of self-enrichment and wasteful spending, MacLean’s defenders began objecting to the cost of a special election. Almost no one at storefronts complains about the cost except the MacLean camp. When the council spends more than $1 million a week and claims to have $28 million in “discretionary” reserves, the city can obviously afford a special election.

If the city truly has $28 million to spare, then bring on the election. And if the city doesn’t have $28 million in discretionary reserves as MacLean says is his recall rebuttal, then voters have another reason to recall him. If MacLean’s fans are concerned about the cost of an election, then they should persuade him to resign.

Parents Advocate League Update
by Julie Collier

Dear PALs,

There was a Capo USD board meeting on Mon., Aug. 10. Items 30 and 35 took the most time to discuss.

Item 30 was about the Pacifica San Juan community that was abandoned by developers. Only 60 out of 400 homes are occupied with only 10 children attending CUSD. At stake is a high tax the residents must pay. You can read more in the OC Register article: 

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/juan-capistrano-san-2525368-tax-residents

Item 35 was about changing the way CUSD constituents vote for the trustees. Currently, we vote in an at-large election (vote for every trustee). A parent group led by Erin Kutnick wants to change it to voting by trustee boundary only. In other words, we would vote only for the trustee that represents our area. I am working on providing more information. In the meantime, please read the following article from the OC Register. It provides more details and the cost that the district will incur.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/school-district-trustees-2524937-board-county

The board also voted to change the board meeting schedule from Monday nights to Tuesday nights. You can read why and find out the new schedule in the following OC Register article:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/meetings-capistrano-board-2526547-unified-mahler

Enjoy the last weeks of summer. Remember, if you were fingerprinted and TB-tested last year, you qualify for a district-issued badge with your picture on it. Classic Photography is going to different schools to make it more accommodating for parents to get their volunteer badges. It took me less than five minutes. Please contact the district for more information, 234-9200, or check the Website.

Please take time to read the articles mentioned above for more details of the board meeting. Don't forget to read the blogs below each article. It is interesting to see other points of view.

Julie Collier
Parents Advocate League
www.parentsadvocateleague.org

The Buzz

Word traveled among community activists that Capo school district last week settled a lawsuit filed by some of the constituents on former supt. James Fleming’s “Enemies Lists.” Fleming and other top district officials compiled the lists, mostly of parents who supported the attempted recall of all seven CUSD trustees in 2005. One of the lists resulted from an email distributed to key recall supporters. A second list was compiled by two CUSD administrators who visited the Registrar of Voters office to view recall petitions. The signed petitions are protected by law from such viewing, and only the proponents had the right to see them. In a separate action, Fleming and another former administrator, Susan McGill, have been charged with felonies for their part in interfering with the recall. Litigants in last week’s settlement were advised not to discuss details or talk about dollar amounts. No current Mission Viejo residents are involved in the lawsuits.

***

A Mission Viejo political group is planning a Town Hall Meeting in late September. Watch this blog for announcements, including the date, time and location.

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The Aug. 14 Saddleback Valley News featured an article and a front-page photograph of “Mission Viejo’s Night Out.” The event was held at Florence Joyner Olympiad Park on Aug. 4 to “educate the public about crime prevention and awareness.” Has OC Register reporter Niyaz Pirani had a sampling of City Hall’s Kool-Aid? Given the absence of people in the photos, Mission Viejo residents apparently spent the night at home. A watchdog who attended the event said “it wasn’t under-attended, it was unattended.”

***

Mission Viejo is called one of the nation’s “safest cities” for a couple reasons. First, the residents are, for the most part, law-abiding. Second, crimes are often unreported despite residents’ calls to the police. The constant hype about the safest city in the universe can lead people to believe there are no risks. A neighborhood near the lake has recently been hit with “crimes of opportunity” – thefts from unlocked cars.

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Mission Viejo residents who want to sound off to their U.S. Senators can write to Barbara Boxer, 112 Hart Senate Office Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20510 and Dianne Feinstein, 331 Hart Senate Office Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20510. Some political advisors recommend snail mail, saying it has more impact than faxes or email.

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City Manager Dennis Wilberg didn’t have much to say about city hall in his Aug. 7 issue of “The Week That Was.” He wrote about a new kiosk being added at the Shops at Mission Viejo that will sell Swarovski crystals. Wilberg also wrote about an arrest following a bank robbery. The only mention of city activities was about the annual street resurfacing project. Residents who want to know what’s happening in city hall can read the blogs, including MissionViejoCA.org, MissionViejoDispatch.com and the county’s premiere blog, OrangeJuiceBlog.com.

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Brad Morton published a letter on MissionViejoDispatch.com that’s a lot more enlightening than Wilberg’s description of city streets. Read the letter at http://missionviejodispatch.com/?p=10760#comments . Mission Viejo resident Allan Pilger calls Wilberg’s bluff that Mission Viejo streets are in better condition than the streets of a neighboring city.