Time To Say Goodbye
Guest Editorial

Yes, it’s time to say goodbye to our incumbent city council members who have demonstrated that they, like many, many politicians, serve their backers (the backers with money) instead of the voters who elected them.

As is demonstrated every day, these officials make decisions, assumingly for our benefit, that are “in our face.” Those decisions “give” to a small percentage of citizens beyond what we authorize them to do.

The purpose of our governing city is to assure us that we have the ability to pursue some of our “wants” within the confines of being fair to all taxpayers “needs.” There is a large difference between “wants” and “needs.” Our governing city’s responsibility is to provide a mechanism for its population to use in the pursuit of their “wants.” It is not the purpose of the city to provide those “wants,” unless of course the “want” happens to be related to maintenance of security, education, parks and roads. The city’s job is to “promote the general welfare – not provide it.”

We should be wary enough about city operations to insist they do what is right for us citizens in light of our existing facilities and the “actual real need” for future facilities.

A prime example of this is the planned renovation of the Marguerite Tennis Center. How a 255-member tennis club could convince the city council that the city should pay for the addition of one more tennis court (at the cost of $3.7 million) is beyond belief. It is beyond belief because from past experience we can always expect to overrun a project of this magnitude anywhere from 50 to 100 percent. Kind of how the city of Bell’s city council members let themselves be swayed into approval of funds that should never have been spent.

And did you know?…….. that quite a few Mission Viejo residents are completely unaware that the city wants to spend $3.7 million on an additional tennis court. We have to inform them.

Our city council seems to have been swayed by their own backers to spend this money regardless of its actual need. When MacLean was removed from office, he stated publicly that this renovation was “desperately needed.” When members of the public requested that the city council explain the reason for the desperately needed additional court, there was no answer. We wonder why. And how they can justify spending money on an unnecessary project in the face of reducing city workforce and city service is beyond belief.

Through the years of planning this renovation, three members of the city council always voted for it…..you know them as the MUKs….MacLean, Ury, and Kelley. Kelley is up for re-election and MacLean is trying to get back in. Ury is still in place. Ury also reminds us that the money is in the budget. So What! Budgets can be modified, especially when there is a high chance of reduced income from the state and property taxes. In the words of the people against Measure D….”.we should save money by waiting for the November elections to vote out anyone we didn’t want in office.” Well, November is almost here and we have the opportunity to correct what we unfortunately created when we voted the MUKs in. Note that Leckness is also running for re-election and has so far sided with the MUKs.

We have always said that the cost of the additional tennis court should be funded with private funds. A good example of this process has recently surfaced regarding the dog park that dog owners “want.” Organizers of the effort to bring a dog park to the city said their drive was to show the community that proponents aren’t looking for handouts from the city. Yes, they believe rightly that it’s the city’s job to promote the general welfare – not provide it.

Thank you dog owners! It’s now the task of the tennis players to step forward and fund their “want.” The city should promote such action.

Until then we do not need to keep our incumbents in place to continue their effort to get themselves re-elected. Think about this, think about the city of Bell, think about our state’s representatives, and think about our nation’s representatives. We have to change our representatives starting at the grassroots level…….and that is Mission Viejo.

Thank you, thinkers.
Voters United

Shine the Light on Distractions
Letter to the Editor:

Our city leaders were most likely too involved with easels, Rose Parade floats, Way Finder Signs, Village Greens, words of the month, catfights, cat houses, Bunny Days, bunny hutches, dog parks, dog-do and sprucing up county-owned fire stations, so I guess you can't blame them for letting this get by them. 

The Brea solar system dwarfs the potential Mission Viejo city hall solar installation.

See the following: http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2010/07/city-of-brea-to-save-13-million-in-energy-costs-by-generating-solar-power

Joe Holtzman
Mission Viejo

CUSD Update

On July 27, Saam Alikhani of Dana Point announced his candidacy for the Capo school board. As a resident of the district’s Area 4, he’ll be running against incumbent Anna Bryson in the November 2 election.

In a July 28 OC Register article about Alikhani’s candidacy, Dana Hills High School science teacher Norm Townsend suggests that voters should look at the depth of what Alikhani represents and what he’s done.

Saam Alikhani is 18 years old. Depth and accomplishments aside, a Capo mom responded, “I wouldn’t leave a teenager alone in the house for a weekend.”

CUSD has an operating budget of $364 million. Trustees are facing the challenges of budget deficits and deep cuts, and school board meetings are a battleground between the teachers union and reform-minded parents.

Alikhani served as the student representative on the Capo school board last year. The position provides an opportunity for one student from the district to sit on the dais with trustees. During conflicts, Alikhani has sided with union members.

The July 28 OCR article says Alikhani’s campaign will likely be bankrolled by the political organization Children First. According to the article, the teachers union was the primary source of funding for Children First candidates in the November 2008 election.

While the union might be sending a message that a child would do a better job than the incumbents, perhaps they couldn’t find anyone else to run against Bryson. The district is practically bankrupt, and more budget cuts are coming. The incumbents have balanced the budget and drawn the line with the union. They’ve endured behavior from union members who attacked them from the public microphone and marched on their homes.

Maybe no one could do a better job than the incumbents, and the union has made the job so unpleasant that almost no one else wants it.

Council Candidates Line Up

Last week, three more Mission Viejo residents took out nomination papers to begin the process of running for three open council seats in the November election. The filing period began on July 12, and candidates have until Aug. 6 to file.

Donna Bourassa, Rhonda Reardon and Bill Barker brought the number of potential candidates to 15. They join Trish Kelley, Brian Skalsky, Dave Leckness, Neil Lonsinger, Steven D. Sperling, Sam Mamola, Mark Dobrilovic, Ken Golemo, Richard J. Sandzimier, Fred Carr, ex-councilman Lance MacLean and Daniel Avery.

As of July 30, candidates who completed the filing process were Kelley, Skalsky and Leckness.

Kelley and Leckness hold two of the seats that will be up for reelection on Nov. 2. Councilman John Paul Ledesma is terming out of office.

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

The Buzz

Why is the council race attracting a stampede of challengers? Could it be that residents want change? With a week to go before the Aug. 6 filing deadline, 15 residents have shown interest by pulling nomination papers. A watchdog’s comment: “I’m going to be holding a sign on a street corner that says NO INCUMBENTS. That’s something we can agree on.”

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OC Supv. Bill Campbell’s newsletter talks about the County Redistricting Committee. Campbell writes, “The Board approved the formation of an ad hoc committee comprised of myself and Chair Nguyen which will be tasked with developing the initial preparations for the County’s redistricting process. The committee’s duties will include the evaluation and recommendation of issues which will include ensuring an open and transparent process, identifying meeting locations and communities of interest, composition of the final redistricting committee, and population data trends. The committee will report its preliminary findings to the Board within 90 days.”

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Email from a parent about a movie, “Waiting for Superman,” to be released Sept. 24: She says of the movie’s theme, “We are letting this happen to OUR kids. This is a movie soon to be out on education reform. The trailer is a must-watch.” http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=62632 . From the Plot Summary: For a nation that proudly declared it would leave no child behind, America continues to do so at alarming rates. Despite increased spending and politicians' promises, our buckling public education system, once the best in the world, routinely forsakes the education of millions of children.” The film touts innovative approaches, reform and charter schools.

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City watchdog Liz Mimm reports that her son Greg recently won a gold medal and two silver medals in the National Senior Olympics. Greg is a gifted athlete and a Mission Viejo resident. Liz said, “I don’t suppose news like that will be in the Saddleback Valley News. Instead, we can read about a cow tank being drug down the street. Mission Viejo’s float was in the newspaper constantly for three months before and after the Rose Parade.”

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Forwarded by Carl Schulthess, founder of MissionViejoCA.org:
“They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it has worked for more than 200 years, and we're not using it anymore.”