City Is at a Turning Point

The city council election on November 2 could preserve – or erode – Mission Viejo’s hometown flavor. With three council seats at stake, voters can choose among candidates who will draw the line on overdevelopment or continue allowing council members to sell their votes to housing developers and other special interests.

The council majority (Trish Kelley, Frank Ury and Dave Leckness) appear to support unlimited housing development and population growth. When Leckness replaced ex-councilman Lance MacLean in the successful Feb. 2 recall election, he said he would “vote the same way MacLean voted.” MacLean supported proposals for high-density housing and championed affordable and other high-density housing projects.

When Mission Viejo residents voted against Measure D in the June 8 Primary, they preserved the status quo whereby a council majority of three can approve new housing projects and rezone parcels to high-density residential. Some voters said they became confused by the anti-D mailers, and others said the proper way to deal with wayward council members is to vote them out of office. Another factor in the June 8 election was the low turnout. Only 35.6 percent of Mission Viejo’s registered voters weighed in on Measure D.

For those who want to preserve Mission Viejo as a low-density, family-oriented community, voting in the November city election is crucial. Kelley has been consistent in her support for housing development. Leckness consistently demonstrates he has no grasp of any city issue. At the time he was a candidate for the Feb. 2 election, an interview (http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2009/11/interview-of-dave-leckness-mission-viejo-recall-election-candidate) revealed he was unaware of the Right-To-Vote Initiative, and he didn’t know why MacLean was being recalled.

In addition to the 10 Mission Viejo residents who have begun the process to become council candidates, Geoffrey Willis months ago said he would run. Willis, an attorney, became a spokesman of the anti-D group. Mailers against Measure D were funded by a real estate Political Action Committee, and the entire operation appeared to be funded by out-of-town money. Measure D supporters believe the money was lined up by a lobbyist, John Lewis, who resides in Orange.

Lewis has been involved in city elections, at least as far back as the council race in 2002 when he threw special-interest money into a campaign backing Trish Kelley, Lance MacLean and John Paul Ledesma. While a grassroots effort was largely responsible for ousting the old regime of Sherri Butterfield and Susan Withrow, Lewis bragged to his buddies at the county level that he had masterminded the upset. Within a year, he failed to collect on his investment when his client for the city’s ambulance contract lost to Medix, a Mission Viejo business. Lewis was also connected to Athens in the recent negotiations for the city’s trash hauler in which the council voted 3-2 to retain Waste Management.

Contributors to this blog will continue to recommend that Mission Viejo voters reject any candidate who receives the backing of special interest, including campaign donations of developer cash.

In addition to the stampede of candidates taking out nomination papers during the first week of the filing period, other candidates are likely to emerge. One candidate speculated several weeks ago that Willis, Kelley and Leckness would run as a slate. Willis hasn’t pulled papers, and those who know him say he might not run after all. In the short time Willis has postured in city politics, he’s left a paper trail of misstatements and false information, indicating he would be at odds with residents who want responsible representation on the council.

City Compiles Demographic Data

According to the California Dept. of Finance, 2010, Mission Viejo’s population is 100,725. The figure can be found among data compiled by the city.

Major employers (source: Harris InfoSource) include Mission Hospital – 2,800, Saddleback College – 1,250, Nordstrom – 500 and Unisys Corporation – 300. The city has a labor force of 55,900 (source: CA Employment Development Dept., April 2009).

The number of housing units in 2000 was 32,329. In 2009, the city had 34,278 units (Sources: U.S. Census Bureau and May 2009 Revised Estimate, State Dept. of Finance).

From the Registrar of Voters data in 2009, Mission Viejo’s 61,985 voters chose the following party affiliations: 30,986 Republican, 16,748 Democrat, 11,915 Decline To State, 1,450 Independent, 314 Libertarian, 250 Green, 222 Miscellaneous and 100 Peace and Freedom.

Potential Candidates Line Up

Ten Mission Viejo residents “pulled papers” last week to begin the process of running for three open city council seats in the November election. The filing period began on Mon., July 12, and candidates have until Aug. 6 to file.

The list as of July 16 includes Trish Kelley, Brian Skalsky, Dave Leckness, Neil Lonsinger, Steven D. Sperling, Sam Mamola, Mark Dobrilovic, Ken Golemo, Richard J. Sandzimier and Fred Carr.

Kelley and Leckness hold two of the seats that will be up for reelection on Nov. 2. Councilman John Paul Ledesma is completing his third four-year term, and he is ineligible to run because of term limits.

Both Lonsinger and Skalsky have been candidates in previous city elections. Lonsinger ran in the 1990s and again in 2006 and 2008. In 2008, he received approximately 13,000 votes when he finished in third place for two council seats. Skalsky received approximately 4,000 votes in 2006, finishing in last place, when 10 candidates ran for three seats.

Five candidates are serving on city commissions or have served at least one term: Lonsinger (Planning Commission), Dobrilovic (Financial Advisory Commission), Sandzimier (Planning Commission), Skalsky (Community Services Commission) and Leckness (Planning Commission).

Of the challengers whose names are less familiar in city politics, Sperling and Mamola are attorneys, Golemo is a consumer marketing consultant, and Carr is a businessman. They listed their occupation as part of their candidate information when taking out nomination papers.

City watchdogs say they expect at least two more candidates to pull papers.
 

View candidate data at http://cityofmissionviejo.org/ViewDocument.aspx?id=11038

CUSD Update

During the July 13 Capo USD board meeting, the trustees officially decided the recall election for school board members Mike Winsten and Ken Lopez-Maddox will be held on Nov. 2, the date of the General Election. The group organizing the recall has announced replacement candidates John Alpay of San Clemente (Winsten’s area) and Gary Pritchard of Aliso Viejo (Lopez-Maddox’s area).

Read a Mission Viejo resident’s reaction to candidate Gary Pritchard on Brad Morton’s Mission Viejo Dispatch, http://missionviejodispatch.com/?p=17396

Also on the Nov. 2 ballot is an initiative for Capo USD voters to determine if their school board representatives will be elected at large (all voters deciding on all seven board members) or by area (voting for only one board member).

The July 13 board meeting was the first meeting for Superintendent Joe Farley. Read Jonathan Volzke’s report about the meeting and reader comments at http://capistranoinsider.typepad.com/beyond_the_blackboard/2010/07/its-official-recall-election-is-november-2.html

Writers for this blog who follow CUSD say the teachers union has a goal of getting five union-friendly trustees elected to the school board in November. Along with the recall targets (Winsten and Lopez-Maddox), three other seats are up for election. The union would need only four representatives to gain control of the school board and the district’s finances.

Talking Trash and Campaign Donations

Despite contention over the city’s trash collection contract, all five council members voted on July 6 to ratify the final agreement with Waste Management – the highest bidder. The service will cost $11.50 per month for single-family residences. Under its current contract, Waste Management has been charging $14.00 per month for single-family residences.

As part of the process, a consultant (Sloan-Vasquez) was paid more than $100,000 by the city to rate the companies submitting bids. The consultant recommended Waste Management in a rating system that factored price at only 20 percent in importance. While a debate could ensue on the ultimate cost of selecting the lowest bid, the price difference was substantial, with CR&R coming in at $10.27 per residence when Waste Management’s original bid was $13.74.

On June 7, the council majority of Kelley, Ury and Leckness voted to choose Waste Management as the finalist. As part of the negotiation process, Waste Management then had the opportunity to lower its bid. It also negotiated altered terms, eliminating a requirement of spending $9 million for new trucks and carts

While some might point to the lower price as a “savings,” others say residents have been overcharged for years. Waste Management cites its own support of community programs, but the dollars from overcharging residents far exceed any payback to the community. Waste Management also makes a practice of giving campaign contributions to incumbent council members.

The Buzz

Community watchdog Joe Zambito emailed, “Have you checked the price of your home lately? To find out what your house is worth, just put in the address and zip code in Find Homes and Listings at http://www.zillow.com ”

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The city election this year could be similar to the one in 2002 when Sherri Butterfield and Susan Withrow were removed from the city council. In addition to three incumbent candidates, the race drew seven challengers for three seats in 2002, and only Councilman John Paul Ledesma was reelected. Ironically, Trish Kelley and Lance MacLean replaced the old gals and became even worse examples of arrogant politicians. Kelley has earned the name “flip-flop” for changing her votes – again and again – with regard to healthcare benefits for council members who serve three terms.

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If voters remove Ms. Kelley from office, perhaps she’ll take her hypocritical “character” program with her. The character committee is now soliciting “photos depicting any of the 12 Mission Viejo Character Qualities.” What’s the purpose, more bad graphics to stick on the traffic hazards along Crown Valley Parkway?

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Are residents aware that Mission Viejo received TARP money? A community activist said, “Is the odd-looking marker on Marguerite Parkway near Estanciero an example of wasting our federal tax dollars? I am told the marker was purchased with TARP money. If this is true, I am ashamed that anyone accepted the money. It is an example of what’s wrong with government, starting at the federal level and ending with this monument to waste that’s practically across the street from city hall.”

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Check out a video clip of Steve Wynn, a multi-billionaire, hotelier and real estate investor in Las Vegas, Asia and Macau. A blogger who forwarded the clip says, “If you listen to this recent CNBC interview (short and to the point) and nothing else today, you will be better informed than your neighbor about the state of the union.” Here’s the link: http://www.infowars.com/steve-wynn-takes-on-washington