Road to Reelection Has Potholes

The Nov. 2 election is less than 70 days away, and council incumbents are running out of time to look good. The city is very busy resurfacing streets, filling potholes and trying to cover barren slopes. Oso and La Paz are undergoing major work, and traffic is held up on Marguerite because of landscaping.

For some residents who live in the heart of Mission Viejo, arterials on three sides of their neighborhoods are impacted. For city hall to repair Oso and La Paz at the same time shows egregiously poor planning.

Two weeks ago, this blog reported city hall’s careful consideration in the maintenance of the civic center parking lot. City Manager Dennis Wilberg stated, “The Public Services Department coordinated the efforts in advance with the many affected City staff, City Hall and Library patrons to determine the least intrusive days for the efforts to occur.”
http://www.missionviejoca.org/News/2010_Q3/2010-08-14/article1/article1.html

Apparently, city administrators (who don’t live in Mission Viejo) don’t like to be inconvenienced when parking their vehicles next to city hall. Meanwhile, some residents encounter traffic snarls no matter which way they turn when trying to leave their neighborhood.

The landscape work along Marguerite Parkway last week also drew fire from drivers. One resident commented, “When I was driving on Marguerite, I saw [city administrator] Keith Rattay standing out there with all the landscape workers. I rolled down my window and yelled at him, ‘What a waste of money!’ The street in front of my house has cracks two and three inches wide, and the city is tearing out landscaping and replanting it. Are new plants supposed to make me feel better?”

Between city council elections, taxpayer dollars are wasted on a Rose Parade float, easels, festivals and an electronic message board flashing character words. After neglecting the infrastructure during the non-election years, city hall is switching gears before voters can hit the reject button.

Just prior to the 2008 city election, a colossal example of incompetence was the Crown Valley widening project. After years of mismanagement, the city vainly tried to wrap it up prior to the election. When it couldn’t be done, council incumbent Frank Ury falsely proclaimed in his campaign literature that the roadwork was finished. Apparently, lies wrapped in glossy campaign mailers do the trick, and he was reelected.

The nationwide battle cry is “vote them out.” In Mission Viejo, council incumbents up for reelection are Trish Kelley and Dave Leckness. Also running is ex-incumbent Lance MacLean, who was recalled on Feb. 2. Joining Kelley and Leckness on their slate is Richard Sandzimier, who is MacLean’s appointee on the planning commission. With eight challengers running against these four, voters will have plenty to choose from.