The Buzz

In the lawsuit City Attorney Bill Curley filed without council approval on Sept. 8, he charged that Saddleback school district had engaged in “impermissible piecemealing” by closing O’Neill Elementary School and then reopening it as an adult education center. Isn’t impermissible piecemealing a common practice among Mission Viejo city staffers to avoid council votes and public disclosure? Among City Manager Dennis Wilberg’s many piecemealed projects, he’s directed a grading project in Lower Curtis Park for at least eight years. What account is being billed for all the grading at this point and who approved it?

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Reader feedback from Mission Viejo resident L.C.: “Those who are guessing the cost of the Crown Valley Parkway project have left out an important item. While all those palm trees cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase and plant, no one has talked about the maintenance contract that goes on forever. What is the cost for all that? When I drove down Crown Valley last week, I was surprised to see thousands of new plantings, and in a severe drought. Is anyone paying attention?”

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Former Capo school district administrators James Fleming and Susan McGill appeared in court on Sept. 25 for a pretrial hearing. Jury selection could begin on Oct. 13. The pair will answer allegations that they used public funds to interfere in the 2005 attempted recall of all seven CUSD trustees. McGill also faces felony charges that she lied to a grand jury about her participation.

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Those who have seen the official numbers from the Registrar of Voters’ recall tally are asking what happened to Councilwoman Trish Kelley’s campaign to get voters to rescind their signatures. Did she not get even one person to rescind? After trying to keep the information confidential, city employees may have slipped up and accidentally revealed that very few rescission requests were attempted. Part of the problem for Kelley was her erroneous instruction to her email distribution that signatures could be revoked by emailing the city clerk. That’s not right, and a councilwoman who has been in public office for more than six years should have a grip on procedures by now.

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On their blog, a group of lobbyists connected to the county’s good ol’ boys incorrectly predicted after recall signatures were submitted on Aug. 24 that the effort would fail for lack of signatures. Were they banking on their influence with Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley? Kelley is currently being sued for taking sides on behalf of Capo school trustees facing a recall attempt in 2005. If the lobbyists approached the registrar, perhaps he chose to avoid more heat after doing such a sloppy job of covering his tracks in 2005.

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Why is MacLean lately requesting info from city staff members about “sports facilities” in South County cities? Is he still pushing for “his” gymnasium after failing to get traction during all his time in office?