Gift of the MUKsters

Gift-giving will extend beyond Christmas this year. Council majority members (Lance MacLean, Frank Ury and Trish Kelley – MUK) have until the Feb. 2 Special Election to persuade the community not to recall MacLean. Many of the “gifts” being doled out by the MUKsters are overdue payments or sudden attention to residents’ longtime needs. Did it take a recall to awaken them?

In October, MacLean attempted to court a group advocating a dog park. Requests for a dog park had generally been diverted, and city staff members gave reasons to reject all previously proposed sites. Several years ago, MacLean made his opinion clear, saying in anger to city activist Bo Klein, “You will never have a dog park in Mission Viejo.” When MacLean surprised everyone and put a dog park on the council agenda a couple months ago, he blatantly was buying votes with taxpayer dollars. Some of the homeowners near the site, Oso Viejo Park, went to considerable expense – including attorney fees – to push the project back out of their neighborhood.

The dog park is again in limbo, with discussion of Lower Curtis Park as a possible site. This is the location Klein suggested in 2003, and the answer was no. Klein speculated the city simply has other plans for Lower Curtis and doesn’t want a dog park anywhere. Had it not been for the recall, would a dog park be a topic of discussion?

In November, Ury proposed bleacher shades for baseball fields. The estimated cost of $150,000 could buy a few votes to keep the MUK majority in charge, and the proposal could be scrapped after the Feb. 2 recall election. A city with less than $400,000 in discretionary reserves might find it cannot afford $150,000 for shades at this time.

During the closed session of the Jan. 4 council meeting, the city will consider acquiring the neighborhood park in Timberline. Neighbors and the HOA have sought for years to have the city take over maintenance of Turf Lane Park, which technically belongs to the county. The city has consistently rejected maintaining the park. Never mind the neighbors – taxpaying Mission Viejo residents – whose property values are affected by the small parcel that has become an eyesore. If the matter is suddenly resolved, did it take a recall to get the council majority’s attention?

The MUK majority members are in lock step, and they like it that way. They pass around the title of mayor among themselves and keep titles and privileges away from others. Plum appointments to agencies (the appointments that pay council members to attend meetings) are largely reserved for MUKsters. When Gail Reavis was a councilwoman, the MUKsters bypassed her for almost everything else but Vector Control. She proudly accepted the appointment that no one among the MUKsters wanted.

MacLean has three council meetings prior to the Feb. 2 election. With more than 61,000 voters in Mission Viejo, he will run out of time as well as taxpayer money before he can give everyone a gift. Most of the voters with an empty stocking and no representation on the council can decide whether or not MacLean deserves 10 more months of self-service.