Meaning of Measure D’s Defeat

In the June 8 Primary Election, Mission Viejo voters rejected Measure D, also known as the Mission Viejo Right To Vote. As of June 11, the tally was 6,671 Yes (38 percent) to 10,889 No (62 percent). Among votes still to be counted by the Registrar of Voters are the provisional and paper ballots cast on Election Day.

Had voters approved Measure D, any major zone change (involving a parcel of more than 2 acres) would have required final approval by a vote of the people. The measure specified that the developer (or other entity requesting a major zone change) would pay for such an election.

As one interpretation of the measure’s defeat, those who campaigned for the Right To Vote said the opposition’s mailers confused voters. The mailers contained outright lies about Measure D, including false claims it would prevent the hospital from adding an oncology wing or it would stop a school from adding an auditorium. Such statements are obviously false because they don’t involve land-use changes.

As another interpretation of the measure’s defeat, those who campaigned against it say voters like the status quo. As things are, developers wanting to build more housing in a built-out city only have to persuade three council members to approve their project. As a result, high-density housing projects coming before the council in recent years have been approved over the objections of entire neighborhoods.

Developers and builders could claim that residents “overwhelmingly” said on June 8 that they don’t care about preserving Mission Viejo as a planned community. Council members wanting to approve a zone change could also refer to the vote as general approval to make changes.

In the way rezoning decisions are made, nothing has changed. The next time a neighborhood is threatened with a high-density housing project, it will still be up to the residents to mobilize and get as many people as possible to attend council meetings to stop the project. Thus far, the developers have won every fight.

Central Committee Race Is Decisive

The Central Committee for each political party is its countywide policy-making group. Committee members also oversee such party functions as voter registration, fundraising and Get Out The Vote activities. They recruit and organize volunteers to keep the party going. Six representatives from each Assembly District are elected to serve on their party’s Central Committee.

In many elections, Central Committee candidates are scarce. On June 8, Democrats had only one contest in the entire county when seven candidates filed for six seats in the 72nd Assembly District.

On the Republican side, the number of candidates filing for the June 8 race became such a countywide phenomenon that activists took note. In the 71st Assembly District (which includes Mission Viejo), 13 candidates ran for six seats. While the group of challengers didn’t talk about their connection to each other, word came out that a woman who lives in Irvine intended to take control of the Orange County GOP Central Committee with a slate of candidates in each Assembly District race. Activists generally didn’t support the challenger slate, partly because of the secrecy of the group. As an additional factor, the incumbent committee members appeared to be doing a good job.

None of the slate of challengers won in the 71st Assembly District. Of the six incumbents (Todd Spitzer, Jack Anderson, Tony Beall, Marcia Gilchrist, Mark Bucher and John Williams), only Williams lost. Replacing him is Jon Fleischman, a longtime political activist and consultant who previously served on the Central Committee.

Following are totals for Republican Central Committee candidates in the 71st Assembly District. The top six won seats.

Todd Spitzer, 17,179, 16.1%
Jack J. Anderson, 12,159, 11.4%
Jon Fleischman, 11,837, 11.1%
Tony Beall, 10,718, 10.0%
Marcia Gilchrist, 10,271, 9.6%
Mark William Bucher, 9,264, 8.7%

Mark Dobrilovic, 7,008, 6.6%
Linda K. Barnes, 5,905, 5.5%
Jesse Petrilla, 5,439, 5.1%
John Williams, 4,810, 4.5%
David R. Duringer, 4,644, 4.3%
Edward “Ed” Sachs, 4,451, 4.2%
Colleen Connell Trujillo, 3,259, 3.0%

Do the Rules Apply to Ury?
Letter to the Editor

I challenge Councilman Frank Ury to publicly address his actions of flouting the council’s directive on meeting with the identified trash haulers after the council gave its directive on meetings, their location, and requirement to record.

Ury should address this in an open forum, not just a haughty remark from the podium where he cannot be questioned by the public.

All meetings with the trash hauling bidders after the moratorium were, by a 5-0 vote, directed to be at city hall and recorded. Ury traveled after this decree to Athens with Joe Sloan. The meeting with Athens was not recorded, and the travel time in the car to Athens with Joe Sloan was not recorded.

Both Frank Ury and Joe Sloan knew these rules! Both Frank Ury and Joe Sloan should be removed from further involvement in this contract. The city attorney should also be held accountable on this issue!

Joe Holtzman
Mission Viejo

SRA Hosts Michael Ramirez

Michael Ramirez, who has twice won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize, will speak about his work on Thurs., June 17, in Mission Viejo. Saddleback Republican Assembly will host Ramirez as its featured speaker during its regular meeting. The group meets at Atria Del Sol, 23792 Marguerite Parkway, in the first-floor dining room. The meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m.

Ramirez is Senior Editor/Editorial Cartoonist for Investor's Business Daily. His topic will be “Editorial Cartooning, Journalism and a Citizen's Responsibility in a New World Order.” Ramirez combines an encyclopedic knowledge of the news with a captivating drawing style to create consistently outstanding and highly incisive satirical cartoons.

Those attending the meeting are invited to arrive a little early to get a good parking place and enjoy refreshments before the meeting begins. Extra parking can be found on the south side of Casta Drive in the parking lot of the swim facility.

Admission is free and guests are welcome. For additional information, call SRA Vice President Dale Tyler, (949) 360-1717

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.