Mission Viejo Buzz - 05/08/10

The Buzz

A comment in last week’s Buzz column about the April 23-24 Fun With Chalk festival questioned the irrelevant activities alongside it. A Buzz reader responded, “I got a good laugh about the paper chain Trish Kelley was carrying around at the festival on Sunday afternoon. I saw her walking with about 20 people in front of the community center. When they were walking along the Oso Creek trail, they picked up a few more people. They had enough that they were blocking foot traffic on the trail, and someone complained that 35 people were blocking the trail. Then I read the city spin that 1,000 people were walking the chain around. It made me laugh out loud.”

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Still needing help: Buzz readers are invited to support the wives of deployed Marines by contributing to gift baskets for the May 29 Camp Pendleton Appreciation Luncheon. Anyone wanting to help can donate items for a basket, money to support the effort or creating a gift basket. Suggested items include bath and hair products, gift certificates, jewelry, movie tickets and gift cards that can be redeemed at restaurants on the base. Please email cam.fam@cox.net for additional information. Please respond this week.

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The Mission Viejo Chapter of ACT for America will hold its monthly meeting on Mon., May 10. Doors open at 6:45 p.m., and the meeting starts at 7:30. Guest speaker will be Mano Bakh, who will speak for approximately 50 minutes, followed by Q & A. The meeting location is the Norm Murray Community Center, 24932 Veterans Way, Mission Viejo. Chapter leader Bruce Mayall sent the announcement, adding that the meeting is free and open to the public, but a $5 donation will be appreciated to help cover costs.

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In the Commentary section of the Or. Co. Register on May 9, Steve Greenhut’s column is titled, “Referendum on unions in OC.” Greenhut describes votes by the OC Board of Supervisors in 2001 and 2004 that gave retroactive pension increases to deputy sheriffs and county workers. Currently, the supervisors are pursuing a lawsuit to roll back the 2001 retroactive increase. The deputies union, AOCDS, has jumped into a Primary Election contest in the Fourth District, supporting a candidate, Harry Sidhu, who wants to drop the lawsuit. Sidhu’s opponent in the race for supervisor is Shawn Nelson.

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In the Feb. 2 special election to recall Lance MacLean from the city council, AOCDS threw in more than $100,000 to oppose the recall. Working behind the scenes to prop up MacLean was Councilman Frank Ury. The common tie to the money is Ury’s financial backer, John Lewis, a lobbyist who resides in Orange. The AOCDS mailers supporting Sidhu use the same format, style and syntax as those opposing the recall. Lewis is Sidhu’s campaign consultant.

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Despite outcry among some voters that all politicians should be thrown out of office, a few good men (and women) deserve to be reelected because they’re doing a good job. The OC GOP Central Committee is one such example. Mission Viejo Republicans have the option of keeping all six of them (Todd Spitzer, Jack Anderson, Marcia Gilcrest, Mark Bucher, Tony Beall and John Williams). Two challengers also have impressive credentials and a long history of activism for the GOP. These challengers are Jon Fleischman of Rancho Santa Margarita and Mark Dobrilovic of Mission Viejo.