Recall Update

Mission Viejo residents got their first taste of Councilman Lance MacLean’s effort to avoid being recalled in the Special Election on Feb. 2. MacLean’s anti-recall signs appeared on the corners of several intersections on Wed., Nov. 25.

A political newcomer emailed a reaction to this blog: “I saw MacLean’s red and black signs on the street corners. For his colors, he chose red for violence and black for darkness! I won’t have any trouble remembering who he is.”

Others who saw MacLean’s signs mentioned his peculiar message, essentially, “Keep MacLean – No new taxes.” Since MacLean was an advocate for the largest proposed tax in the city’s history (Measure K on the November 2004 ballot), when did he become an opponent of tax increases? He even wrote the ballot argument for the tax, which voters rejected in the election.

Following last week’s revelation of who signed the nomination paper for candidate Dave Leckness, longtime council watchers expressed surprise. One of the city activists discovered on Nov. 23 that former councilwomen Sherri Butterfield, Susan Withrow and Sharon Cody were three of the first four signatories for Leckness.

A recall volunteer who gathered signatures said it was puzzling that Butterfield opposed the recall and then signed the nomination paper for MacLean’s replacement. The volunteer said, “Sherri was fighting the recall at storefronts throughout the summer. She threw a fit on several occasions in front of Pavilions and tried to stop residents from signing the petition. She was defending Lance and saying how wrong the recall was. Now, she’s promoting her own candidate. I wonder what voters will think when they find out that Sherri and Susan are involved in the campaign of Dave Leckness.”

When Mission Viejo voters threw Butterfield and Withrow out of office in 2002, the message was clear. Both incumbents lost by a landslide, getting 5,487 and 4,781 votes, respectively. To put their totals into perspective, the candidate who finished last in the 2008 city election received more than 7,000 votes. Following their humiliating defeat, Butterfield and Withrow kept a relatively low profile until Butterfield was at storefronts fighting for MacLean last summer. Ironically, MacLean was among the candidates who unseated her in 2002.

While MacLean wasn’t always among Butterfield’s political friends, she has consistently been at odds with city watchdogs. The only other candidate running in the recall election to replace MacLean, Dale Tyler, was among those who led a legal challenge in 1999 in which Butterfield and Withrow were found guilty of violating the Brown Act. Former Councilman Bill Craycraft was also found guilty, but he didn’t sign Dave Leckness’s nomination paper.

From results of the phone survey of Mission Viejo residents last month, Butterfield may have learned that MacLean has no chance of surviving the Feb. 2 recall election. Is that when she decided to recruit her own candidate? With Butterfield, Withrow and Cody being three of the first four signatories on Leckness’s nomination paper, did they push him into the race?

In an interview on OrangeJuiceBlog.com, Leckness demonstrates his lack of familiarity with issues (described in another article on this week’s blog). He’s already indicated he doesn’t know about city business or current events. Perhaps he has no idea why he shouldn’t trust three women who seem to know so much about city politics.