Recall Update

While the council was setting the recall election for Feb. 2, Councilman Lance MacLean was taking new steps to ensure his own defeat.

On Oct. 5, MacLean, with the help of city staff and $258,000 in taxpayer dollars, decided after 10 years of opposing a dog park to take credit for building one. Throughout the summer, dog park enthusiasts gathered 1,100 signatures on an informal petition to put pressure on the council. MacLean erred in thinking he could swing 1,100 votes his way by jumping out in front as the dog park hero.

Among 1,100 people signing the petition were children, non-residents and some residents who genuinely want a dog park. When recall proponents worked alongside the dog park group (and signed their petition), they observed that public opinion about a dog park is mixed. One general aspect is clear: homeowners don’t want a dog park near their homes.

With no acceptable plan for a dog park location, MacLean chose Oso Viejo Park. At the Oct. 5 council meeting, residents who live near the park voiced strong opposition to the project. MacLean’s motion for a dog park in Oso Viejo Park passed with a 3:2 vote (Ledesma and Schlicht dissenting). By the Oct. 19 council meeting, the homeowners had mobilized to fill the council chamber in protest of the council majority’s decision.

MacLean has already antagonized more than enough people to ensure he will be recalled He has attempted to characterize those who support his recall as “ten people with a radical agenda.” Fifty-one proponents and at least 100 others collected 14,000 signatures to recall MacLean. Watchdogs and volunteers who campaigned for him in 2002 are among the folks who are joining together to remove him.

On Oct. 15, the Saddleback Republican Assembly board of directors and its membership unanimously endorsed the recall. They stated in a recall resolution that MacLean had broken his campaign promises and abandoned SRA principles of small government, which he espoused in 2002 to get their endorsement. As MacLean’s spin from the dais on Oct. 19, he said SRA members have changed their values.

MacLean’s definition of a radical is evidently anyone who wants him out of office. “Radicals” include SRA members, community watchdogs and others who follow city politics. Add to that, anyone whose neighborhood has been impacted by MacLean’s failure to represent them. Some of Mission Viejo’s newest radicals include residents who live near Oso Viejo Park.