City Council Race Update

Council incumbent Dave Leckness may have been first to post campaign signs along Mission Viejo’s main drags. His signs appeared last week near city hall. Challenger Fred Carr’s signs popped up a day later along arterials near the lake. A few signs belonging to other candidates have been posted on private property, including Neil Lonsinger’s at the gas station at Marguerite and La Paz.

The number of signs this year probably won’t surpass the record number that appeared in 2006 when 10 candidates ran for three council seats. Campaign finance records showed that Trish Kelley ordered 2,500 signs in 2006. Watchdogs estimated 12,000 signs were posted for council candidates in Mission Viejo. A homeowner near Mission Viejo high school spoke out against the sheer number, saying, “I’ll vote for the three candidates with the fewest signs.”

Two events last week showcased some of the candidates. The Casta Democrats interviewed candidates on Sept. 15, and Saddleback Republican Assembly held an endorsing convention on Sept. 16. Neither meeting included incumbents Trish Kelley and Dave Leckness or their slate mate Richard Sandzimier. The county Republicans on Sept. 20 will revisit the issue of OC GOP endorsements, and emails are already flying – for and against – Trish Kelley. Her opponents say she shouldn’t be endorsed by the Republican Party after she supported a Democrat, Dave Leckness, in the Feb. 2 recall as well as in the current election. Her supporters sending emails have no issue with her supporting Leckness, as they also campaigned for him.

Economic Downturn ‘Saves’ Casta Golf Course

The Casta del Sol Golf Course is still for sale. The status is the same as it was in 2007 when Sunrise proposed an assisted-living complex where the clubhouse now stands.

Rezoning the property to residential requires the approval of only three council members. Is it true that Sunrise thought it had three votes lined up? Throughout the yearlong, relentless effort to build, the developer ignored outcry of the neighbors, petition circulators and every other obstacle posed by residents who wanted to preserve the golf course.

Then, in early August 2008, Sunrise abruptly withdrew its proposal. Those observing the process suspected it was temporary, but the developer didn’t return.

Following is a paragraph from the 1-24-08 issue of this blog:

“A Mission Viejo resident who lives near the Casta del Sol Golf Course forwarded a Nov. 10 [2008] article from CFO.com, ‘Default Clouds Hover over Sunrise Senior Living.’ Here’s the link: http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/12585301/c_12583719?f=home_todayinfinance
According to Stephen Taub of CFO.com, Sunrise Senior Living Inc. ‘reported a $68.7-million third-quarter loss, versus a $38.2-million profit a year ago.’ The article states, ‘Sunrise Senior Living Inc. warned that it does not expect to be able to satisfy some financial covenants under its amended bank credit facility by year-end. As a result, on Jan. 1 it may no longer be able to borrow unless it receives an additional wavier from lenders.’’

Related articles on CFO.com about Sunrise in 2008: “Sunrise Fires Three More Top Executives,” “Sunrise Tripped Up by Real Estate Errors,” “Ex-CFO Says He Won’t Be the ‘Fall Guy,’” and “SEC Launches Formal Sunrise Probe.”

With the housing market still in the tank and a council election 45 days away, the golf course has officially been declared safe from homebuilding.

The Sept. 7 Mission Viejo Dispatch reports about Councilwoman Trish Kelley’s ballot statement, “Kelley is said to falsely take credit where it isn’t due. Observers cite the Casta Golf Course, where she claims to have stopped a developer, but the Council’s temporary actions expired, leaving the Course now open to the same potential high-density housing threats posed in 2007.”

Any temporary reprieve for the golf course should be credited to the housing slump and worldwide economic downturn.

SRA Endorses Council Candidates

On Sept. 16, members of Saddleback Republican Assembly held an endorsing convention at Atria del Sol’s community room in Mission Viejo. The group endorsed city council candidates for the cities of Aliso Viejo, Laguna Hills, Lake Forest and Mission Viejo.

Prior to the meeting, candidates seeking the group’s endorsement responded to a questionnaire on a variety of issues. Each candidate gave a three-minute speech and then spent three minutes fielding questions from the audience.

Candidates needed a two-thirds majority vote to receive the group’s endorsement. Receiving endorsements were Bill Perkins of Aliso Viejo; Ali Djowharzadeh and Melody Carruth of Laguna Hills; Scott Voigts of Lake Forest and Rhonda Reardon of Mission Viejo.

By receiving SRA’s endorsement, candidates are also endorsed by the California Republican Assembly (CRA).

Press Release: CUSD Endorsements

The California Republican Assembly has officially endorsed the entire Capistrano Unified School District Reform Slate, which includes the following:

• Support the re-election of the “ABC Reform Trustees” (Addonizio, Bryson & Christensen)
• Vote “NO” on the Recall of Mike Winsten
• Vote “NO” on the Recall of Ken Lopez-Maddox
• Vote NO on the Union’s “Measure H”

Chartered in 1934, the CRA is the state’s oldest and largest Republican volunteer organization. Earlier this year, the CRA officially commemorated its 75th Anniversary. The CRA works to support and elect candidates who stand for conservative Republican principles. The CRA is an official ancillary of the California Republican Party. President Ronald Reagan called the CRA "the conscience of the Republican Party."

Powerful union leaders and their supporters are campaigning to take control of the Capistrano Unified School District on Election Day – seeking to replace the existing conservative Reform Trustees with a new pro-union majority, and with their ballot initiative known as Measure H, to literally take away from every voter 6 of our 7 school board votes.

Unions Seeking Control of the Board
Three conservative Reform Trustees are up for re-election in November – the “ABC Reform Trustees” (Ellen Addonizio, Anna Bryson and Larry Christensen). Union sympathizers are campaigning aggressively to replace each of these well-respected trustees.

However, the union doesn’t just want to gain three seats – they want to gain control of the seven-member board in one single election.

That is why they spent months and thousands of dollars to place an early recall election on the November ballot for two more conservative Reform Trustees – CUSD Trustees Ken Lopez-Maddox and Mike Winsten.

As a result, if the union succeeds in electing at least four of their pro-union candidates to the Board, they will have effectively taken control of the school district in one election. This is bad. But it gets worse.

Measure H – Union Seeking To Take Away 6 of Your 7 Votes.
The unions also spent months working to get Measure H on the November ballot – they want to reduce the board’s accountability to voters throughout the entire school district by changing the way school board representatives are elected in the future.

Today CUSD voters get 7 votes -- 1 for each of the school board members. If the union’s Measure H passes – voters will lose 6 of their votes.

Passage of Measure H would diminish the voice of every voter and reduce board accountability – your vote will only influence 1 board member (not 7).

Voters could lose the right to vote for the trustee representing the area where their children attend school – or the area where their Mello-Roos taxes are spent (resulting in taxation without representation). 

No other Orange County school district elects their school board this way – but dysfunctional L.A. Unified does.

Local control by voters would be severely diminished – while union influence would be increased. 

Unions spend more on politics than anyone – it is not in the best interest of students or taxpayers to increase their power.

The CUSD Board Has Implemented Many Positive Reforms.
Over the past three consecutive elections, voters elected each of the seven current conservative members of the CUSD Board of Trustees to restore honesty, integrity and accountability to CUSD – and they’ve accomplished much.

Bringing reform and positive change is especially difficult in a district which spends approximately 85 percent of its budget on salaries/benefits for public employees – most of whom are represented by powerful union leaders fighting to preserve an unsustainable status quo.

Despite continuous union opposition, they have successfully balanced the budget; stopped deficit spending; refused to increase taxes; reduced bloated administration; reduced union contract expenses by 10.1 percent; enacted strong anti-nepotism policies; created a district-wide facilities assessment; promoted conservative fiscal policies and family values; and fought to keep smaller class sizes.

This year, student achievement in CUSD soared to its highest levels. In fact, this year Capistrano Unified was the State’s highest achieving large school district!

To learn more about these important issues, please visit our website at www.cusdreform.com

Committee to Reform CUSD

The Buzz

Linda Dorr, a Tea Party Patriot, reports, “We contacted the OC Register to make sure schools in the area were planning special events for Sept. 17, Constitution Day. In San Clemente, we recorded fifth graders spelling out the word ‘Constitution’ and using each letter to tell a story about the U.S. Constitution. U.S. Marines from Camp Pendleton were invited to raise the flag in honor of this day. Lobos Elementary included their daily event of the Pledge of Allegiance and a patriotic song. The OC Register local paper will have pictures and a story this week of Lobos Elementary.” The Register’s Sept. 18 Local section included an article with photos about Constitution Day.

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The Mission Viejo Environmental Association, the city’s largest homeowners association, will hold a celebration and neighborhood update on Sun., Oct. 3. Members are invited to learn about the HOA’s beautification plans for common areas and slopes. The get-together will be held at Tortilla Flats Restaurant from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. RSVP to donna4RE@yahoo.com by Fri., Sept. 24.

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From Stephen Frank's Sept. 18 California Political News and Views about an item on the November 2 ballot: “Prop. 22 is a disaster. If you support it, that would allow local government to continue stealing land through eminent domain. Then local government would be allowed to give private property, stolen from its owners, to their friends--as these do today. If Prop. 22 passes, it stops the State from stealing money from the local redevelopment agencies, local organized crime. Which is worse, crime on the local level or crime on the State level. Which set of criminals do you support?  That is really what Prop. 22 is all about. As for me, I am voting NO on Prop. 22 – we need to stop the local organized crime agencies, and use of the ballot box stop the State level gang.

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Forwarded by Carl Schulthess, founder of MissionViejoCA.org: “I believe that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.”

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Within a week of the tragedy of two young people dying after they fell asleep on train tracks in Mission, an alarming article appeared in the news about teens in Colombia deliberately risking their lives by lying on railroad tracks as a train approaches. They roll to the middle of the tracks as a train passes over them. The tragedy in Mission Viejo has left a lot of people wondering how this could have happened.

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/World/2010/09/19/Teens_cheat_death_with_train_game_51515 1.html