Mission Viejo Buzz - 01/16/10

The Buzz

The Feb. 2 recall election is two weeks away, and the Registrar of Voters had received 5,626 absentee ballots as of Jan. 15. That’s an unusually high number for a special election. Recall proponents are estimating the return could be 20 percent to 25 percent of the city’s voters. Approximately 62,000 Mission Viejo residents are registered to vote.

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Check out an excellent analysis of the recall election on Brad Morton’s MissionViejoDispatch.com: http://missionviejodispatch.com/?p=14023 Letter-writer Allan Pilger describes the two replacement candidates as “Lapdog Leckness vs. Watchdog Tyler.” Candidate Dave Leckness supports MacLean and the status quo, including lifetime medical benefits for part-time council members, wasteful spending like the Rose Parade float and pillars on Crown Valley Parkway and cutting corners on maintenance of infrastructure. Pilger suggests the heavy rains predicted this week might remind voters of the city’s precarious situation resulting from overspending on frills while ignoring needs for street repair and slope renovation.

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Out-of-town financiers of recall target Lance MacLean funded another wave of phone survey calls to potential voters last week. The survey essentially asked residents how well MacLean is doing in distracting voters from reasons he’s being recalled.

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While recall supporters have no phone surveys to measure voters’ opinions, they’ve noticed a shift in MacLean’s campaign tactics after each poll conducted by his backers. During the past week, MacLean’s entire support group was seen on the corners of La Paz and Marguerite. Instead of waving signs for MacLean, they were holding up a banner for Leckness. A MacLean supporter was observed by recall proponents when she took a “YES on Recall” sign from an intersection, and they said she put it inside her SUV. The YES on Recall signs are popping up next to Leckness signs. While Leckness has stated he opposes the recall, his supporters are evidently trying to confuse voters by associating his name with a YES vote to remove MacLean.

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City Manager Dennis Wilberg’s insider newsletter (“The Week That Was”) continues to focus on happy talk. His “Business Tidbits” summary of commercial news only describes businesses that are opening. No balance is provided about diminishing revenue. Apparently, city hall still has immunity from any negative news, including loss of jobs, closing businesses and a meltdown in the global economy.

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A public input meeting is scheduled at 7:00 p.m. on Jan. 19 at city hall to discuss a possible dog park site. New emphasis has been placed on Lower Curtis Park, which has consistently been rejected by the city staff for more than seven years. The city staff only needs to give an appearance of considering a dog park until Feb. 2. If MacLean can manage to hold on to the “dog park vote” until after the recall election, dog park supporters can then be dismissed with a perfunctory “thanks for your vote for MacLean.”