City Sues Saddleback Valley School District

During the Sept. 8 closed session of the city council meeting, the council majority approved suing Saddleback Valley Unified School District. The lawsuit followed the district’s reuse of O’Neill Elementary School without conducting an environmental impact report.

City Attorney Bill Curley announced the council’s decision. Unanswered questions include who is driving the action or what the city hopes to gain by suing the district. SVUSD stakeholders are paying attorney fees on both sides – suing as taxpayers of the city and being sued as residents of the district.

According to a Sept. 10 OC Register article, “Mission Viejo argues that it asked the district in March to keep the elementary school open and then in July asked it to conduct an environmental study if adult programs were offered there.”

Is it true the council asked SVUSD to keep the school open? By the time O’Neill supporters came to council meetings, only Councilwoman Cathy Schlicht made suggestions for keeping the school open and asked for discussion on how the city could help. Councilman Frank Ury said teachers should take a pay cut and give a portion of their salaries toward saving O’Neill. His suggestion followed the council majority of MacLean, Ury and Kelley giving themselves lifetime medical benefits last fall. Approximately a year ago, council majority members also voted to double their council stipend.

Residents who live near O’Neill say it could be worse. For example, the cash-deficient district could sell the property. With the council majority’s record of rezoning property to high-density housing, neighbors are right to be concerned. If the city continues to provoke SVUSD with an attitude of punishment and deplete the district’s funds with lawsuits, the district could sell. Councilwoman Kelley has made clear that she intends to protect “her” Capo school district from any more affordable housing projects by forcing all new affordable units into SVUSD.

The council majority bypassed the opportunity to help the district a long time ago. Ury has shown disdain for SVUSD ever since he was thrown off the school board in the mid-1990s. When the city was deliberating how to sue both CUSD and SVUSD over busing and alternative fuel issues, MacLean made his infamous remark that the city should “throw the kitchen sink” at the schools.

Mission Viejo taxpayers and school district residents are not going to benefit from a lawsuit, and the city should stop antagonizing SVUSD.

Recall Update

The Registrar of Voters has 30 business days to find 9,393 valid signatures on the petition to recall Councilman Lance MacLean. Proponents of the recall turned in nearly 14,000 signatures on Mon., Aug. 24. The Registrar of Voters’ deadline to announce results should be Tues., Oct. 6.

With the RoV doing the counting, almost anything can happen – just ask the proponents of the 2005 effort to recall all seven Capo school district trustees. The number of days could be subject to interpretation, and whether registered voters count or not could become a matter of opinion. The RoV’s projected costs of a special election are already off the charts (approximately twice the cost of any other comparable election).

One subjective factor in counting signatures is whether or not the RoV will allow some voters to rescind their signatures without following the law. On July 22 – after signature gatherers had achieved a reasonable margin of safety to qualify the recall for the ballot – Councilwoman Trish Kelley began a campaign to get voters to revoke their signatures. Kelley’s email to her distribution made false claims, including a statement that proponents of the recall were using misinformation to persuade voters to sign the petition. In fact, signature gatherers quoted from public records (including MacLean’s council votes and his statements from the dais during council meetings).

Kelley erroneously advised in her July email that voters could remove their signatures from the recall petition by emailing the city clerk. Her exact quote: “You may simply email Karan Hamman, the City Clerk at:  khamman@cityofmissionviejo.org and state that you signed the petition and wish to have your signature removed from the petition.  You must include your address.” Misspellings and other errors are Kelley’s.

According to state election code, the legal process of rescission involves providing an original signature, which cannot be sent by email or fax. Recall proponents doubt that Kelley’s rescission campaign made much difference, as her fans wouldn’t have signed the petition to remove her council ally in the first place.

MacLean could still resign from the council to save himself the embarrassment of being recalled. However, if he and his backers were truly concerned about the cost of a special election, he should have resigned prior to Aug. 24 when recall proponents submitted the signatures. Once signatures are submitted, the clock begins. If the RoV determines that enough valid signatures were gathered, an election to replace MacLean must take place.

The RoV should not stretch out the counting process to the legal deadline or continue evaluating signatures after finding 9,393 valid ones among the 13,915 submitted on Aug. 24. The total of 13,915 is more than 25 percent above the minimum, a threshold enabling containment of costs by sampling instead going to a full count. Exaggerating costs and then running up the bill should be called what it is – fleecing the taxpayers.

TEA Partiers Rally in San Juan Capistrano

Patriots attending the Sept. 12 TEA Party in San Juan Capistrano filled Cook-La Novia Park. Some estimated the event drew a crowd of at least 1,000. Canopies lined two sides of the sports fields where the rally convened. Several political candidates and numerous organizations set up tables and distributed literature. Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who represents the 70th State Assembly District and is a candidate for the U.S. Senate, was among the speakers.

View a slideshow at http://www.meetup.com/OC-The912Project/it/calendar/10859961/
 by scrolling down to photos provided by Shawn Lynch.

Mission Viejo residents who attended said the rally was a spirited protest as well as an opportunity to voice opinions against big government and nationalized healthcare. Attendees signed letters of protest to elected officials and carried signs opposing more taxes, bailouts and government takeovers.

During the rally, one of the organizers announced that 60,000 people were concurrently attending the TEA Party in Washington, D.C. The Drudge Report posted an article on Saturday with pictures, stating the size of the crowd had taken government officials by surprise: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/us/politics/13protestweb.html

Mission Viejo’s organizers of several TEA Parties throughout the spring and summer opted to attend the San Juan Capistrano event rather than having one of their own. Saddleback Republican Assembly members will support a Mission Viejo town hall meeting on Sun., Sept. 27, beginning at 4:00 p.m. Congressman Gary Miller will moderate the event hosted by the Casta del Sol Republican Club at Casta’s Rec Center 1. Those residing outside the Casta gates may call Beverly Cruse, (949) 770-3368, to get on the guest list.

Fun With Chalk Fundraiser

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 20 percent of the tab to Fun With Chalk. Those wanting to participate should print the flyer available here and present it when ordering. Flyers will not be available at the restaurant.

CPK is located at 25513 Marguerite Parkway in Mission Viejo, and the phone number is (949) 951-5026. The offer is valid for dine-in or takeout.

The Buzz

Did residents receive the latest Mission Viejo Outlook magazine on Sept. 12? The cover story announces the Readers’ Festival, which took place on Sept. 12. The timing demonstrates more than poor planning, as this nonfunctional puff piece is precisely the type of waste residents oppose. BrandStrata, the consultant “credited” with bringing about the city staff’s dead tree logo, is listed under art direction in the current edition. The latest issue contains an article, “Mission Viejo Makes Commitment to Becoming Greener.” The greenery involved in mailing a pricey PR piece to every address in the city apparently refers to the color of money, not anything about the environment.

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A comparison of the current Outlook magazine with one from 2008 reveals several changes. The city’s official seal has been taken off the cover, and the new format includes obvious upgrades in materials. The current magazine looks like a glossy corporate brochure with no consideration of expense. During an economic downturn, city officials apparently believe taxpayers won’t notice that the city’s aging infrastructure is subject to deferred maintenance while city hall’s spinmeisters waste money.

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In responding to the obvious decline in city revenues and reserves, this blog has questioned the council majority’s decision to make its first and deepest cuts in public services. First to feel the pain was the city library, with a 75-percent decrease in its budget for materials. Residents have long remarked about the lack of books and other materials that can be checked out. Who made the decision to have two library employees spend two years orchestrating the Sept. 12 Readers’ Festival? What was the cost of the festival and who approved it? While some residents may have enjoyed meeting authors and illustrators on one day out of the year, what about the other 364 days at the library?

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Steve Greenhut offers commentary in his Sept. 13 OC Register editorial regarding former State Assemblyman Mike Duvall who resigned last week. Greenhut muses over whether Duvall’s claims of affairs with lobbyists were real or fantasized. Readers might be more interested in finding out why it took so long for the news to break. Duvall made his comments into a “live” microphone as an Appropriations Committee hearing was opening on July 8. Why did the story take two months to surface in newspapers? Check out the links in OC Weekly, which broke the news that brought down the assemblyman: http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/breaking-news/oc-assemblyman-in-bed-with-lob/
 Also, note a post on Orange Juice for additional insight about the political wrangling behind the scenes: http://orangejuiceblog.com/2009/09/jon-fleischman-drops-fight-against-open-primary/

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Saddleback Republican Assembly will host Dr. Michael Kennedy at its meeting on Thurs., Sept. 17, beginning at 7:00 p.m. Kennedy will discuss the proposal for nationalized healthcare. SRA meets in the second-floor community room of Atria del Sol, 23792 Marguerite Pkwy, Mission Viejo. Atria del Sol is located on the northeast corner of Marguerite Pkwy and Casta Drive. The meeting is open to the public, and guests are welcome.