Red-faced Bloggers Take a Swing

Councilman Frank Ury alternately supports and opposes Councilman Lance MacLean, depending on his usefulness. When MacLean ran for reelection in 2006, Ury campaigned for candidates who tried to unseat all three incumbents (Lance MacLean, Trish Kelley and John Paul Ledesma). Ury now wants MacLean to remain on the council, and Ury’s friends who write a county blog made an odd prediction that the recall won’t qualify for the ballot.

During his first two years in office (2004-2006), Ury sat at one end or the other on the dais and couldn’t get a second for his motions. That changed after his slate of candidates lost in 2006. Behind the scenes, Ury evidently persuaded both Lance MacLean and Trish Kelley to get over his attempt to destroy them. A strange alliance developed, forming the current majority of MacLean, Ury and Kelley (MUK). Ury, who pretends to be a far-right Republican and fiscal conservative, has become a big spender, voting with two social engineers who also tried to raise city taxes with Measure K. Do the ignoramuses in the county GOP not know that Ury has no discernable ideology other than self-advancement? A politician who understands Ury emailed this blog, “It would be hilarious to watch Ury throw McLean overboard as the recall moves forward.”

A central figure among Ury’s political ties is his longtime friend, John Lewis, a lobbyist from Orange. Lewis pulled strings to funnel out-of-town money into Ury’s 2004 campaign. Lewis is tied to a county blog, Red County, which presents itself as a conservative Republican operation. The organization is a front for lobbyists and hacks who are currently promoting a Democrat, Tom Daly, for County Supervisor Chris Norby’s seat. After a series of publicly noticed gaffes revealing its true nature, the discredited Red County organization became known as Red-faced County.

Red-faced County bloggers are lately taking shots at those who organized the effort to recall Lance MacLean. Why would lobbyists who don’t live in Mission Viejo care who serves on a city council? As a couple examples, McLean sold out Mission Viejo’s interests (resulting in inadequate compensation for future traffic solutions) to the ranch and pushed for completion of the 241 toll road. Many Mission Viejo residents realize that extending the toll road as planned would neither alleviate the city’s current traffic problems nor would it provide adequate relief as communities to the east are built out.

Developers and their lobbyists are entitled to make a living – no argument there. However, Mission Viejo residents are entitled to representation on their city council, and that’s not what they’re getting from Lance MacLean. Instead of representing Mission Viejo to outsiders, MacLean represents developers, lobbyists and other special interests to his constituents. If Red-faced County bloggers are so enamored with MacLean, they can have him. Hire him as a lobbyist, help him move and put him into office in THEIR cities. MacLean has been representing them for years, and they can start paying him up front instead of buying his votes from afar.

Putting Lipstick on a Pillar

City administrators’ “Parkway Gallery” on Crown Valley has been harshly criticized by the gallery’s financiers – Mission Viejo taxpayers. Sixteen pillars pork up the parkway – crammed together among dozens of palm trees.

A drive through a couple other communities might shed light on the origin of the porkway mess. In Anaheim near Disneyland, similar structures are on the medians. Young children might ask if Anaheim’s mirror-embellished posts were dropped there by Tinker Bell.

On El Toro Road in Laguna Hills, the same oddities (without mirrors) erupted on medians between the freeway and Valencia. Located near the bad-driving capital of the world, the pillars are more like temporary road hazards, which the city will likely remove after being sued by drivers who can’t seem to avoid them.

Did landscape architects from around Orange County go out drinking together? Tinker Bell posts near Disneyland are one thing, but the grotesque pillars on Crown Valley Parkway are quite another. If other cities don’t fall for this hoax, perhaps they have council majorities that are sane.

City administrators would now like to “engage the community” in their fiasco on Crown Valley. On Sept. 1, the city invited residents to submit photos that demonstrate “the spirit of thankfulness and caring” in Mission Viejo. The photos will be placed on the pillars.

If this sounds familiar, remember what city administrator Keith Rattay foisted on taxpayers with his 20th anniversary photo gallery. He ordered 500 custom-built easels and invited residents to use the 500 taxpayer-provided disposable cameras to take pictures “around town.” Although almost no residents returned the cameras, city hall claimed residents provided 500 pictures. Watchdogs discovered that city hall employees took almost all of the pictures. The day after the exhibit ended, city contractors trashed the pricey display by breaking the easels and throwing many of them in a county dump. After the truth came out, Rattay wrote a memo to City Manager Dennis Wilberg with yet another whopper, “the project really engaged the community.”

If photos by residents are placed on the pillars, will Rattay consider himself galvanized against criticism? That’s what he’s done with the resident-decorated travesties along Oso Trail. Whether or not any residents accept Rattay’s invitation to put lipstick on a pillar, everyone should have seen it coming.

Mission Viejo Group Hosts Town Hall Meeting
Press Release

Mission Viejo, CA, Sept. 4, 2009 – Casta del Sol Republican Club will host a town hall meeting on Sun., Sept. 27, beginning at 4 p.m. Congressman Gary Miller has accepted the group’s invitation to moderate the meeting and answer questions.

Event organizer Jan Anchell said, “The decision to host a town hall meeting was an obvious one for our group. Our summer meeting is traditionally a poolside party, and we’re changing the meeting format but not the location. Congressman Miller will be sharing the spotlight with residents who want to ask questions or send a message to some of our elected officials.”

The meeting will be held outdoors near the swimming pool in Casta’s Rec Center 1. Those arriving from outside the gates (Saddleback Republican Assembly and Aliso Viejo RWF members) should enter Casta Drive from Marguerite Parkway and proceed to Gate 1. To get on the guest list, those residing outside Casta del Sol may call Beverly Cruse, (949) 770-3368. Casta residents need not RSVP to attend.

Congressman Miller was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1998 to represent California’s 42nd Congressional District. He serves on the House Financial Services Committee, which oversees U.S. banks, stock exchanges, the real estate market and insurance industry, and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which oversees the nation's highways, railroads, airports and water infrastructure. Miller’s district includes portions of Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

CUSD Update

The next Capo school board meeting will be Tues., Sept. 15.

Recent newspaper headlines include two former Capo superintendents – James Fleming and A. Woodrow Carter – who await court dates. Fleming’s criminal trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 13 after being delayed seven times. A jury trial to determine whether Carter is entitled to back pay could begin on June 7, 2010. Carter was fired in March 2009.

Fleming and former assistant superintendent Susan McGill face felony charges regarding the creation of Enemies Lists. Some litigants whose names appeared on the Enemies Lists recently settled lawsuits with the district. A participant in the recall effort commented, “At least with the lawsuits, there are results. I’m interested in seeing what will happen in the next phase, where the Registrar of Voters office and Neal Kelley are named in the lawsuits. Unless information comes out in Fleming’s trial, it might be the public’s last opportunity to find out who persuaded Kelley to break the law and allow CUSD officials to view signatures on the recall petitions.”

Regarding Carter’s lawsuit against CUSD, a Sept. 4 OC Register article stated that a jury could be asked to decide whether or not Carter should receive $490,000 in severance pay after the district fired him. The district says it owes Carter nothing, and he was dismissed as an insubordinate employee who tried to influence an election and double-bill the district for travel expenses. Carter also made “adjustments” to his contract without the full board’s approval, giving himself 18 months’ severance pay if he were fired.

For several months, the board appeared to be split over firing Carter. By the time the board voted in March, the decision to dismiss him was unanimous. The district issued a 54-page report listing the reasons for his termination.

The Buzz

Mission Viejo residents who want to attend a TEA Party on Sat., Sept. 12, won’t have to go far. The San Juan Capistrano TEA Party will be held from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Cook-La Novia Park, 31611 La Novia, San Juan Capistrano. Following the SJC party’s 1:30 closing time, organizers say they will caravan to another TEA Party location, the Los Angeles “mega party,” which will run from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Los Angeles Federal Building, 11000 Wilshire Blvd. in L.A. Visit the Website to find out more about Sept. 12 activities in Southern California: http://912west.org.

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The wait will get longer at Mission Viejo’s Post Office if San Juan Capistrano’s only Post Office closes. The MV Post Office already accommodates many people who drop in from Ladera Ranch, Laguna Niguel and San Juan Capistrano. Postal Service officials are saying no decision has been made about closures, but the recession and trend toward email transactions have created a grave financial position for the Postal Service. SJC is on the list of potential “consolidations,” but no locations will be closed without studies and public meetings.

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Which days are busiest at the Post Office? Patrons say Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays are big days. Thursday afternoon is an example of a not-so-busy time.

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Can OC Sheriff Sandra Hutchens survive even one more departmental scandal and still maintain that she’ll keep her job after the 2010 election? Each conflict or challenge she’s faced since the Board of Supervisors appointed her in 2008 has rocked her. When Sandra lately is making the rounds at events, a lot of people appear eager to get the heck away from her.

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So, city hall can afford a $400,000 Rose Parade Float that’s on TV for two minutes, and city administrator Keith Rattay is already changing out the horrendously expensive (and just plain horrendous) “gallery” on Crown Valley Porkway. The city “can afford” to go forward with non-essential, multimillion-dollar capital improvement projects during a recession and never cut back on employee parties. But the city “can’t afford” a recall election, according to those receiving emails with talking points from Councilwoman Trish Kelley.

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Fun With Chalk fund raiser: supporters of Fun With Chalk are asking everyone to plan on patronizing California Pizza Kitchen on Tues., Sept. 15, by enjoying a meal there. CPK has agreed to donate a portion of the tab to Fun With Chalk.