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.

Clutter Detracts from Nature Walk
Letter to the Editor

For those who have not walked the Oso Trail lately, more nonsensical chotsky has been added to the nature trail by city administrator Keith Rattay. 

This just might be the result of money or a grant received via Congressman Gary Miller. Or I might say more federal dollars wasted.

The additions include large poles with a street-sign type of indicator telling you (guess what) you’re on the Oso Trail! These "Way Finder Signs" also include the dreaded dead iron tree (clip art) on top of them. Remember that Rattay is trying to change the signature logo depicting Mission Viejo’s mission bells to the dreaded sign of the Iron Tree.   

Wow! I didn't know I was on the Oso Trail until the addition of these "Way Finder Signs.” Also, another kiosk has been added (it is not done yet), but hang on, nature trail walkers. I am sure all those nature lovers will be delighted with more intrusion onto these trails.

Although the recently passed senate version of healthcare reduced your Medicare benefits, we do have "Way Finder Signs" on our urban nature walk. Also, while the city-owned slopes in many cases are in deplorable condition, we do have "Way Finder Signs" on the Oso Trail!

Joe Holtzman
Mission Viejo

Recall Update

Mission Viejo residents are seeing TV ads opposing the Recall of Councilman Lance MacLean. Many are amazed at the cost MacLean’s out-of-town financiers are incurring to keep him in office. To view a list of his backers, go to MissionViejoDispatch.com ( http://missionviejodispatch.com/?p=13470 ). The list is a small sampling of MacLean’s big-money ties to those who don’t live in Mission Viejo.

With out-of-town supporters paying for advertising, MacLean’s handlers are trying to improve his image. No matter how they dress him up, he’s still a self-enriching politician with a history of violence.

MacLean isn’t the first Mission Viejo council member to be targeted with a recall. In 1990, developers and other money boys donated approximately $250,000 in an attempted recall of Councilman Bob Curtis. Ultimately, voters saw that developers intended to crush a councilman for his audacity to disagree with them. Curtis prevailed in a lopsided vote (3,898 “yes” to 8,809 “no” on the recall), demonstrating that even a sleepy electorate notices when big money lines up against residents.

The current recall is similar, with MacLean in the pocket of outsiders. He voted on their behalf, and they’re returning the favor. It’s not so much a favor as an investment, with nine months until the November election if MacLean can continue sacking his own city.

A particularly odd partnership is unfolding on TV with the OC Sheriff’s Dept. paying for MacLean’s anti-recall ads. Does anyone find it ironic that OCSD is supporting a politician who was charged with assault and battery at his workplace and caught on tape verbally abusing a councilwoman during a closed-session meeting?

In mid-December, a group of city watchdogs contracted with the Casta del Sol Courier (HOA monthly newspaper) to place a “Recall MacLean” flyer in the Jan. 1 edition. Recall replacement candidates placed flyers in the Courier’s October and November editions, demonstrating a precedent for such political advertising. However, the Casta board of directors barred the “Recall MacLean” flyer at the last minute, causing the newspaper publisher (Farmer Publications) to breach its contract with the activist group.

At least one Casta HOA board member has been an outspoken advocate for MacLean, who met privately with Sunrise Development in 2008 to build housing on the Casta golf course. Most Casta del Sol homeowners correctly understand that MacLean favored the developer’s housing plan. Additionally, Sunrise was proposing to build a basketball gymnasium on the south side of Casta Drive – an apparent concession to MacLean for his vote to carve up the golf course. Sunrise ran into financial problems in August 2008 and voluntarily withdrew all its plans.

Casta del Sol residents will likely receive the “Recall MacLean” flyer in the mail instead of in the HOA’s newspaper. In addition to creating the contract dilemma for Farmer Publications, the HOA board appears to have violated the activist group’s First Amendment rights.

Big Brother of Over-watering

Any homeowner with a lawn sprinkler system could be subject to fines if irrigation water is running off their property. On Dec. 16, the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board added strict runoff regulations, and Mission Viejo is within their jurisdiction. The city has 30 days to appeal the decision.

Brad Morton’s Dispatch, http://missionviejodispatch.com/?p=13413#comments , provides a photo showing an example of minimal runoff, which will be subject to fines with the new regulation.

According to the regional water control district, the city will be responsible for issuing violations to homeowners. The Mission Viejo City Council has until Jan. 15 to appeal the new rules.

With new restrictions in place, Mission Viejo residents could be served with notice for slight over-watering. But what about water use on medians and other public property? The most likely place to get a “car wash” is while driving down a thoroughfare when the sprinklers are going. If water conservation is the objective, what about the excessive planting along Crown Valley Porkway, including the addition of 400 trees?

Several weeks ago, a Buzz reader commented, “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."

CUSD Update

Mission Viejo residents who live in the Capistrano school district will have an opportunity in the June Primary Election to vote on how their school trustees are chosen. Currently, voters get to select all seven CUSD trustees. On the June ballot is an opportunity to decide if voters should choose only the trustee who represents their geographic area. While it is uncanny to think voters would want to limit their power to decide on the entire board, a group of San Juan Capistrano residents is driving this method of selection.

Currently on the board, all seven trustees ran on a reform platform to oust the former regime of ex-superintendent James Fleming. While many constituents don’t follow board politics, they knew something was wrong with Fleming and his hand-picked trustees who voted in unison on nearly everything. The San Juan Capistrano group wanting to change trustee selection was supportive of Fleming, and they have the backing of the teachers’ union. If they prevail in the June Primary decision, they’ll improve the chances of getting their group members on the board of trustees in the November 2010 election. CUSD challengers would be more likely to unseat incumbents if they didn’t have to campaign district-wide.

The San Juan Capistrano group enlisted the OC Department of Education to change the method of selection. After the county agency ruled that voters should decide in June, the trustees filed a lawsuit on Dec. 15, saying the $500,000 election costs could be eliminated by waiting until the November election. Three trustees are up for reelection in November.

As another legal matter, the lawsuit filed by ex-superintendent A. Woodrow Carter has been dismissed by an Orange County judge. Carter asked to be paid $487,425 after being fired in March. Carter said he was entitled to compensation for the remaining 18 months of his three-year contract. After hearing the judge’s decision that he would receive no additional compensation, Carter said he was undecided about revising and refiling his lawsuit.

The Buzz

In February 2009, the council voted to extend a phony moratorium to “protect” the Casta del Sol Golf Course from housing development. The moratorium, which was extended for 12 months, will end days prior to the recall election. Mission Viejo residents who want to preserve the 73-acre parcel should note that only three council votes are needed to replace the golf course with housing. The sham moratorium contains a loophole benefiting developers, and it could have been lifted at any time with three council votes. The primary factor currently protecting the golf course is a depressed housing market. With the moratorium ending soon, what new trick will the MUK majority (Councilmembers Lance MacLean, Frank Ury and Trish Kelley) offer to give an appearance of saving the golf course? Voters have the power to remove the biggest threat to the golf course by recalling MacLean in the Feb. 2 Special Election.

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The city staff has pressured Mission Viejo business owners into paying for unwanted features on their property. One example is a $10,000 toy car in front of the Sonic drive-in at Los Alisos and Jeronimo. The property owner added the rust-covered sculpture at the urging of the city, not because of a free-will decision to absorb the expense of city-directed decoration. At stake was the city’s approval of the owner’s building plans. At least two property owners (one in the Pavilions center and another in Gateway) wanted to make tenant improvements but walked away from the process after encounters with city staff members. Residents who shop at the centers could enjoy more upgraded and refurbished stores if the process weren’t compromised by city government.

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An alert resident sent an email report about another example of city staff interference in the business community. The resident is aware of a property owner who wanted to repair damages after a truck wiped out two large steel poles filled with concrete near La Paz and Marguerite. The accident left the poles at 45-degree angles. When the property owner tried to proceed with repairs, the city intervened by refusing permits. The resident alleges that the city insisted on the installation of expensive wheelchair lifts next to ramps on the property. The ramps were already ADA compliant. The resident said the property owner decided the poles would remain at a jaunty angle instead of bowing to the city staff’s demands.

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The Superior Court of Orange County is seeking applicants for the 2010-2011 Grand Jury. The deadline to apply is Jan. 8, 2010, for the term July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011. For information, call the Grand Jury Hotline at (714) 834-6747, including instruction for downloading application papers. Applications are also available at the Jury Commissioner’s Office located in the Central Justice Center, 700 Civic Center Drive West in Santa Ana during regular business hours.

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Support Fun With Chalk on Tues., Dec. 29, by enjoying a meal at Elephant Bar Restaurant. The location is 24155 Laguna Hills Mall, Suite 1055, Laguna Hills, and the offer is good for lunch or dinner. The restaurant will donate 20 percent of the tab to Fun With Chalk when customers present the flyer coupon to servers. To print the flyer, (click here). Elephant Bar’s phone number is (949) 454-9530.