Dennis Does Real Estate

From his June 18 insider newsletter (“The Week That Was”), City Manager Dennis Wilberg comments:

“I was invited to speak to the Orange County Association of Realtors this week, and there were 60 people in attendance. At the Association’s request, I provided a general city overview, showed a short Mission Viejo video, answered questions, and provided a folder with City promotional materials. They were very positive about our community.”

It should come as no surprise that Wilberg is chummy with some of the city’s real estate agents. In the June 8 defeat of Measure D, a Realtors’ Political Action Committee spent a fortune to convince Mission Viejo voters to vote against voting. City Hall – not voters – will continue to have the final word on major rezoning decisions involving parcels of more than two acres.

Wilberg has been accused of using his official position and taxpayer dollars to interfere with city politics, and that’s illegal. As an example, he was videotaped on July 8, 2009, as he harassed activists in front of the library during the MacLean recall signature drive. As a likely consequence of his activity, the former council majority of Lance MacLean, Frank Ury and Trish Kelley approved a new clause in Wilberg’s contract during the Feb. 1 council meeting, on the eve of the recall election. The clause gives Wilberg a pass, and he cannot be fired if he is convicted of a felony unless it involves “moral turpitude.” According to the Encarta Dictionary, turpitude means extreme immorality or wickedness.

And why wouldn’t real estate agents be “positive about our community” as Wilberg states in his newsletter? Several agents, including Terry Yapp and Tony Mazeika, carried the banner to oppose Measure D. The false claims in the anti-D mailers scared some voters into thinking that the hospital couldn’t add an oncology wing and a school couldn’t add an auditorium. Shame on the culprits for blatant lies.

In contrast, ethical real estate agents came forward and supported Measure D. They asked voters to do the same. The Measure would have had no effect on a property owner’s expansion or remodel unless the land use changed (e.g., from commercial to housing). Both the hospital and school district already have the appropriate zoning to add on, remodel or expand their facilities, including an oncology wing for the hospital or an auditorium for a school.

In a slumping real estate market, are some real estate agents so desperate they want more high-density housing in a built-out city? New apartment and condo projects will add inventory, and current homeowners will put single-family homes on the market when they see the high-density projects coming to their neighborhoods.