Mission Viejo Buzz - 06/12/10

The Buzz

TEA Partiers will reunite on July 4th in Mission Viejo. Organizers say they’re ready to rally on Independence Day. Watch this blog, the Mission Viejo Dispatch and OrangeJuiceBlog.com for announcements about time and location.

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One year ago, a member of the Mission Viejo Activities Committee stood at the public microphone during a council meeting and criticized activists for setting up voter registration tables outside the city’s Street Faire gates. In case the speaker would like to bring it up again this year, here’s a reminder of why activists won’t register voters inside the gates. The last time activists paid for a booth inside the Faire, they specified as part of their contract that they would have a sign in their booth about the political candidates who were paying for the booth. The MVAC representative agreed to the terms. Four hours into the event, the representative came to the booth and said, “Your activity is fine, but you need to take down your sign about political candidates.” The MVAC representative was immediately reminded her request violated terms of the contract. She practically ran to her cash box and refunded the group’s money, and they left.

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To get the political lowdown on the city’s negotiation for trash hauling, go to http://missionviejodispatch.com/?p=16793 . The drawn-out selection process appeared to end during the June 7 council meeting with a 3-2 vote for Waste Management, the highest bidder, at $13.74 per month per household. Throughout the process, Councilwoman Cathy Schlicht leaned toward CR&R’s lowest bid of $10.27 per household. Councilmen Frank Ury and John Paul Ledesma had been touting Athens, a Los Angeles-based firm with no Orange County presence. City watchdogs correctly predicted Waste Management would get the contract.

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Political consultants working behind the scenes during waste-hauling negotiations resulted in strange pairings. Backing Athens were lobbyist John Lewis and political consultant Scott Taylor, who are frequently on opposing sides. Athens courted Ury and Ledesma, who are almost always on opposing sides.

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Noteworthy election results turned up in two homeowners associations in the defeat of Mission Viejo’s Measure D. The initiative went down by significant margins in Casta del Sol’s four precincts and Aegean Hill’s five precincts (four Aegean Hills and one Aegean Heights). Given the HOAs’ proximity to targets for housing development – Casta del Sol Golf Course, the Unisys property on Jeronimo and former La Tierra Elementary School site – did stakeholders understand what they were giving up by voting “no” on Measure D, also known as the Mission Viejo Right To Vote?

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The Mission Viejo Chapter of ACT for America will meet on Mon., June 14. Chapter leader Bruce Mayall invites members to bring a friend and arrive early. The group meets at the Community Center, 24932 Veterans Way, Mission Viejo (Sycamore B room). Doors open at 7 p.m., and the meeting runs from 7:30 to 9:30. The program on June 14 will be “The Pursuit of Freedom, an Inspiring Story about Surviving Two Tyrannical Regimes and Escaping to America,” presented by Susanne Reyto, who is an author, entrepreneur and a defender of freedom.