Measure D: Residents vs. Outsiders

Battle lines have been drawn for Measure D, the initiative that Mission Viejo residents qualified for the ballot more than a year ago. If approved in the June 8 Primary Election, Mission Viejo voters will have the final word on major zone changes in the city.

Supporting Measure D are the residents. Opposing Measure D are outsiders. They include Councilman Frank Ury’s financiers from the city of Orange, the South Orange County Chamber of Commerce (located in Rancho Santa Margarita) and the Board of Realtors in Laguna Hills.

All three anti-D entities have a financial stake in rezoning decisions. Some Realtors want more housing in a city that’s already built out and congested with traffic, and residents should take note of which Realtors have taken this position. Ury’s financiers include developers and property owners who would gain from flipping commercial zones to high-density housing. Ury’s developer friends also align with the Chamber folks in their desire to support the Ranch’s wish to complete the 241 toll road. They’re the same group (developers, financiers, Ranch consultants and Chamber associates) who opposed the recall of Lance MacLean. MacLean is an outspoken advocate of high-density housing and the banner carrier for the developers’ proposed toll-road route, which was rejected by the Coastal Commission and the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

Mission Viejo resident Dale Tyler is advocating an alternative to the developers’ failed route, and that’s enough to make him a target of the outsiders. He favors using the proposed Cow Camp connector to the I-5. This alternative would serve Ladera Ranch and the development of Rancho Mission Viejo, and it would relieve traffic on Oso, Crown Valley and Ortega.

The Transportation Corridor Agency is having trouble letting go of the route that’s been rejected. Having developers and their money on one side and Tyler on the other also explains why outsiders wanted to keep him off the city council.

The outsiders are again taking aim at Mission Viejo residents, and Tyler can count on being attacked as the author of Measure D. Just in case residents didn’t get enough nasty mailers from Ury’s friends during the recall, more are likely coming.

Ury has managed to fool a few residents into leaving rezoning decisions up to the council. A Casta del Sol resident demonstrated her confusion by signing Ury’s ballot statement against Measure D. She signed it prior to a Superior Court judge’s ruling that Ury made false or misleading claims. Ury also wrote his opinions, which are false or misleading, but lies aren’t illegal as long as they’re stated as opinions. Among Ury’s lies that were removed by the judge, he said housing could NEVER be built on the Casta golf course because it’s in the flood plain. Sunrise Development planned to build housing on a portion of the golf course that isn’t in the flood plain, demonstrating Ury’s lie.

Most Casta residents understand that the golf course is for sale and in jeopardy of being rezoned for housing. Unless residents take the power to rezone away from the council with Measure D, all it takes is three council votes to build housing on the golf course.

Ury’s associates (who are apparently not his friends) say he’s responsible for the web site that maligns supporters of Measure D. Ury likes to keep his hands clean, and he’s managed to get other people to put their names on it.

Who is doing Ury’s dirty work against Measure D? Incredibly, two ex-council women, Sherri Butterfield and Susan Withrow, are leading the parade. The two women, who were found guilty on multiple counts of violating the Brown Act, voted to rezone a commercial parcel to high-density housing over the objections of 7,000 voters who signed a petition. Even after being removed from office by a landslide in 2002, Butterfield and Withrow still don’t get it.

More Streets Need Repair

City watchdogs began raising awareness about the poor condition of streets three months ago. The list of streets needing repair has grown to more than 200. Volunteers are documenting the damage by driving through neighborhoods, taking pictures and measuring the width and depth of large cracks. City administrators say they have no employees who routinely inspect streets. Residents are responsible for reporting potholes and other damage.

While a large area in the northwest section of the city is due for street resurfacing this year, many streets in poor condition are outside that area. Adding to the list this week, 18 streets are not scheduled to be resurfaced until Fiscal Year 2013-2014. The area isn’t uniformly in need of immediate attention, but it demonstrates that streets cannot go seven years without resurfacing, as is the city’s current plan.

Many Mission Viejo residents can see a street in poor condition by walking out in front of their house. On streets in worst condition, horizontal cracks extend the width of the street in front of every home. Exceptions are in a southwest portion of the city, which was resurfaced within the last year or two. This area (in good condition) is west of Marguerite Pkwy, bordered on the south by Avery and on the north by La Paz Road.

The most recent additions to the list of streets needing repair are south of Oso and east of Felipe. A few streets in this area are worn but not cracked. Nearly all of the streets need a slurry coat, and water is permeating the asphalt with each rain. Most streets are rough and showing signs of deterioration, with routine maintenance three to four years away.

• Ambia: intersection of Ambia and Ambia has an extensive network of cracks.
• Barbadanes at Ambia: intersection has a horizontal crack with a pothole forming.
• Baronet and Ashford: intersection has mosaic-like cracking.
• Bridgeton and Baronet: intersection has mosaic-like cracking.
• Camden: entire street has a network of cracks, some are wide.
• Celenova: network of cracks, some wide ones; patchwork resulted in uneven road.
• Corsica: most of street has a network of cracks (hairline to wide); worn and rough.
• Durham: extensive network of cracks, some hairline.
• El Retiro (north of Felipe): Intersection of El Retiro and Trasmiras has an extensive network of cracks; repaired cracks are reopening. El Retiro and Barbadanes intersection: pothole.
• Esteban and Barbadanes: intersection has a pothole; some cracking on Esteban.
• Marsala: network of cracks entire length of street, hairline to moderate.
• Maside: worn, some cracks and the cul-de-sac is cracked up.
• Mikanos: cul-de-sac is cracked up.
• Milano: all cracked up, hairline to wide cracks; cul-de-sac is cracked, rough and uneven.
• Ridgemark: most of street has a network of cracks; worn and rough.
• Sotelo: rough and worn; cul-de-sac is cracked, and weeds are growing in the cracks.
• Trasmiras: Areas in best condition have only hairline cracks; entire street is cracking, and the cul-de-sac is cracked up.
• Via Mondelo: cracks are hairline to wide; entire length of street is cracked.

Yes on Measure D
by John Adams <voter.united@yahoo.com>

Hello, Mission Viejo Voters:

In the very near future, we voters will be asked to vote on the “Right-To-Vote” Initiative (Measure D) on the June 8 Primary Election ballot. This is less than two months away.

As Mission Viejo voters, we signed a petition to put this initiative on the ballot.

Remember why this initiative surfaced: It was because of the pending sale of Casta Del Sol Golf Course to Sunrise Senior Living. The City Council at no point during that time put in writing that they would never rezone the property for anything other than the golf course.

Homeowners moved to their homes near the golf course, paying a high price for their properties and foresaw that they would lose significant market value on their homes if the golf course were rezoned.

The council put into play a moratorium of short duration, forestalling any immediate action from Sunrise Senior Living. Sunrise Senior Living, however, did proceed in surveying the acreage where they planned to locate the senior housing and appeared to be ready to start earthmoving work when they announced they would halt the project because of economic conditions.

However, the golf course is still for sale. The moratorium has expired, and the homeowners are still in limbo with a free-spending City Council majority.

The timing of my letter to you is backed up perfectly by information on the Mission Viejo Dispatch (Mission Viejo Councilman Frank Ury Found Misleading By Superior Court Judge), http://missionviejodispatch.com/?p=15820 . It describes the court judgment on the information by Councilman Ury that has been circulating throughout the city as being misleading. Also from the Mission Viejo Dispatch (Mission Viejo Right-To-Vote Initiative Frank Ury’s Ballot Statement Lie Exposed By Councilman John Paul Ledesma) was the forerunner of the court action and provides additional insights we should be aware of http://missionviejodispatch.com/?p=15209

At this time, there are numerous Realtor and other groups associated with real estate interests that would prefer not to allow the citizens to be involved in zoning decisions. They, however, have nothing to lose in real estate transactions that would erase the investments made by the general citizenry.

Each of our votes on the June 8 election are extremely important and will be greatly amplified if you can pass this on to other residents of our city. Thank you for your support.

CUSD Update

The teachers’ strike began on Thurs., April 22. Comments on blogs over the weekend indicated that teachers and other union supporters were pleased with low attendance figures in schools on April 22 and 23. Some parents commented about the difficulty they had getting their children to school, including crossing picket lines.

A CUSD parent commented to this blog’s staffers, “Prior to the strike, the teachers were just teachers. Now, those taking part in the strike are union members.”

Another CUSD parent forwarded the following to this blog:

“Information about unions is a real eye-opener regarding the current Capistrano Unified teachers union strike. Material was created by the National Education Association (NEA) to assist local unions with strategies for ‘labor negotiations’ and striking. The union is using this strategy to the letter.   

“The teachers have the union but our kids only have us parents (and in this case the CUSD Board of Trustees). If parents join in supporting the union, who is advocating for the students?

“Keep in mind the words of Albert Shanker, union president of United Federated of Teachers (1964 - 1984) and American Federation of Teachers (1974 to 1997). He said, ‘When school kids start paying union dues, that’s when I’ll start representing the interests of school children.’”

See Shanker’s quote here: http://books.google.com/books?id=32CClXOYeScC&pg=PA33&dq=albert+shanker+children+start+paying+u nion+dues#v=onepage&q=albert%20shanker%20children%20start%20paying%20union%20dues&f=false   (page 33)

To read additional information, click (here).

Also, see our Editorial Cartoon for another take on the Union’s view.

The Buzz

Residents can quickly find out about earthquakes in Southern California by going to the USGS Caltech Seismic Net. The map showing the most recent big one (on Easter Sunday, April 4) can be viewed at http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Maps/116-33.html . Mission Viejo is on another map, http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Maps/117-34.html . Maps are updated within approximately 5 minutes of an earthquake or once an hour.

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Councilman Frank Ury and other city officials who don’t support Measure D (Mission Viejo’s Right-To-Vote initiative on the June 8 ballot) have been busy calculating the cost of elections as part of their anti-Measure D campaign. The cost of elections cannot compare with city hall’s talent for spending money. The Rose Parade float cost more than $400,000 for less than two minutes on TV. Two remaining council members who bestowed lifetime healthcare on themselves (Trish Kelley and Frank Ury) will receive benefits of approximately $275,000 each if they stay in office for one more term. The $275,000 in benefits Lance MacLean would have received, had he remained in office for another term, offset the cost of the special election to recall him.

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Ury’s political acquaintances from other cities continue to confirm that he’s sitting on the Mission Viejo City Council until he can run for higher office. That’s no surprise to those who have observed his council performance since he was first elected in 2004. Until the year he served as mayor, he opened his laptop on the dais and answered emails during meetings. According to his out-of-town acquaintances, Ury’s aspirations for higher office include the State Assembly and OC Board of Supervisors. He has a long wait for Assemblyman Jeff Miller and OC Supervisor Pat Bates to term out. It probably seems like an eternity to a councilman who isn’t real interested in Mission Viejo.

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The Capo USD teachers union (CUEA) says it will end the strike if the school board agrees to make the 10 percent pay cut temporary instead of permanent. The trustees are accused of being insensitive toward teachers because they can’t predict that the financial picture will improve within two years. If anyone wants to blame trustees, why not remember the former board members (hand-picked by ex-Supt. James Fleming) who failed to save for a rainy day? The old regime insisted that the district must have a $50M administration center and a $150M high school (“dump high,” built next to a landfill in SJC). The district couldn’t afford either project, even during good economic times.

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Is it true that city administrator Keith Rattay has a vision of turning Mission Viejo into an art community? The city already has an image of being family- and fitness-oriented, and perhaps Mission Viejo residents like things the way they are. The concept of an art colony might be a new way to sell city hall’s old obsession with the shopping center across the street (Big Lots, CVS, Stein Mart, Trader Joe’s, etc.). Instead of razing the stores and rebuilding them with ordinary apartments on top, city hall could promote the idea of having artists living in lofts above the stores. Doesn’t it sound exciting to have no-income artists living on the top level of “downtown” Mission Viejo?