City Hall Engages in Sign Battle

Council candidates’ campaign signs posted on city property will be promptly removed and taken to a dump. This message was given to candidates when they began the process of running for a council seat. In some prior elections, city hall allowed candidates to retrieve their signs. The retrieval process kept everyone busy, with city contractors taking signs down and candidates quickly getting them back on the street.

In Mission Viejo, candidates can expect their signs to disappear from public property. However, overzealous contractors take signs from private property as well, including retail space and homeowner association property.

Candidates and other campaign workers saw an aggressive level of sign removal in the June 8 Primary Election. Several days before the election, a citywide sweep took place. In one day, most signs throughout the city were taken from public and private property. The signs were never seen again, as city hall had also invoked a new policy for the June 8 election, disallowing retrieval of signs.

Why did the policy change for the June 8 election? For one thing, the council majority and city staff strongly opposed Measure D, the land-use initiative giving residents the right to vote on zone changes. Those supporting Measure D didn’t have mailers or much else in the way of campaign collateral, but they did have signs. That is, they had signs until the city contractors took them. The few remaining Measure D signs were either pulled up and tossed aside or destroyed. Any opponent can pull up a sign, but it takes an unusual person to rip it to shreds.

Twelve candidates are running for three council seats in the current election, and all but two of them are posting signs. Challenger Sam Mamola told a citizen group early in his campaign that he wouldn’t have signs, and recalled councilman Lance MacLean’s signs haven’t appeared.

As soon as one candidate places a sign on a corner, a half-dozen more surround it, effectively canceling each other out. A day or two later, the corner is swept clean.

Candidates – primarily the challengers – have pleaded with the city to leave the signs alone for 30 days prior to the election. The cost of constant sign removal is high for taxpayers and enormous for candidates. City hall administrators have made their message clear – they’ve worked hard to “count to three,” and they don’t want anything to change.

Capo Tops State’s Large School Districts
by Ken Lopez Maddox, Trustee, CUSD

Capistrano Unified School District tops California’s large school districts, but powerful unions are attempting to take over the district on Election Day.

Student achievement in CUSD has soared to its highest levels. In fact, the State Superintendent of Public Education just announced CUSD was the State’s highest-achieving large school district, according to the state accountability system.

Just as impressive is our successful narrowing of the achievement gap that had existed in CUSD schools with large minority populations. San Juan Elementary increased their API 66 points, bringing them to 752. Marco Forster Middle School increased their API to 798. This is something we can all be proud of.

Our No. 1 ranking demonstrates CUSD has effective leaders.
CUSD’s API ranking is important because it provides parents, taxpayers and the state with objective proof our school district is providing a first-rate, excellent education to our 50,000 students.

CUSD’s ranking also provides voters with confirmation that your seven elected Reform Trustees have kept their promises and successfully brought positive change and reform to CUSD. Despite continuous opposition from union leaders, we 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
• fought to keep smaller class sizes and to save every teacher's job

All this positive progress is now threatened.

Powerful union leaders and their supporters are campaigning to take control of our school district on Election Day – seeking to replace your 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 your 7 school board votes.

The teachers’ union and their allies do not want to be held accountable -- not to taxpayers and not to your elected Board representatives. In fact, the President of CUSD’s California School Employees Association just admitted on their union website they consider this election their chance to “elect their own bosses.”

Unions Are Seeking to Take Control of Your School District. 

Three of your 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 thousands of dollars to place an early recall election on the November ballot for two more of your Reform Trustees – CUSD Trustees Mike Winsten and myself.

As a result, if the union succeeds in electing at least four pro-union candidates to the Board, they will have effectively taken control of your school district in one election.

The teachers’ union has long controlled the district, placing their own salary, benefits and retirement packages before the best interests of our students.

You Can Help Stop the Union Takeover.

Voters will have a clear choice on Election Day – your conservative Reform Trustee incumbents or the Pro-Union challengers. We need a school board that is willing to stand up to these powerful unions. For the sake of each student and taxpayer in our district, I urge you to:

• Re-elect 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.”

Learn more: www.CUSDfacts.com

FACEBOOK: Capo Kids First!

Group Invites Community to Taste of Capo

The Capo Valley High School Foundation is sponsoring a “Taste of Capo,” a community-wide event filled with food, fun and music. The organizers are inviting families and friends to come out and enjoy the evening while supporting Capo Valley High School. The event will be held on Thurs., Oct. 21, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., in the CVHS Mall.

Taste of Capo is an event where approximately 20 local restaurants will provide samples of their best recipes for you to taste. Will-Call tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Each ticket will allow you to try each restaurant's sample one time.

Tickets may be purchased at the CVHS front office, in the CVHS Capo Corner Store during lunch or by emailing the foundation. Be sure to include your name, phone number and email address. You may also purchase tickets at the door for $20 each.

The event will include music and an opportunity to win great prizes. Local merchandise vendors will be selling their goods.

Participating restaurants include Berkeley Dog, Boosters Sports Grill, Cosmos Italian Kitchen, Donna B's, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Hanna's Restaurant  Bar, House of EJ's Chicken and Ribs, Jersey Mike's, La Rana Authentic Mexican Food, Paradise Bakery and Cafe, Piccolino Ristorante, Southern California Pizza, Tortilla Flats and Yama Sushi & Grill. New listings will be added weekly.

Prizes include Angels baseball tickets, a $500 Lorin Backe Family Beach Portait Session (including 8 x 10), golf for four at Arroyo Trabuco Golf, $200 NFL Shop gift certificate, BBQ Dinner for Four at Fire Station #9 in Mission Viejo and much more.

Restaurants interested in participating may contact the Foundation at CapoFoundation@gmail.com . Applications are still being considered for merchandise vendors. Vendors include Scentsy (wickless candle warmers and scents), Honey by Janene (African inspired clothing and jewelry), Tina Maries (Tustin-based clothing and jewelry store), Beth Kukuk Handcrafted Jewelry, Cookie Lee (fine fashion jewelry), Paige Pea Photography, Flutter Frog (photo memory books), Empower Me Photo, Blingtastic (rhinestone "Bling" t-shirts) and NYR Organic (skincare and makeup). Vendors are being added weekly. A special thank you to Top Hat Balloons for providing the evening’s festive balloon decorations.

Anyone interested in volunteering to help during the night of the event should contact the Foundation at CapoFoundation@gmail.com .Volunteers will only be required to work from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. or 7:30 to 9:00 p.m.  All volunteers will need to purchase a Taste of Capo ticket. Volunteers will earn community service hours, be provided reserved parking and will be entered into a drawing for prizes.

Questions may be emailed to capofoundation@gmail.com Visit our website at  www.cvhsfoundation.org  for more information. All proceeds will benefit the CVHS Goundation, a 501 (c)(3) organization.

ACT for America Hosts DeVore

The Mission Viejo Chapter of ACT for America will hold a general meeting on Mon., Oct. 11. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. The meeting will start promptly at 7:30 p.m., ending at 9:30. Guest speaker will be Chuck DeVore, California State Assemblyman for the 70th District. His topic will be “Protecting America from Islamic Sharia Law”.

Chapter Leader Bruce Mayall writes, “Chuck DeVore is a dedicated, knowledgeable and brave patriot. He has represented Orange County’s 70th District of the State of California since 2004. He is a common-sense conservative who is willing to tell the truth about our enemies and their threats to our way of life. DeVore will speak for about 45 minutes, followed by 20 minutes for questions and answers. A $5 donation is appreciated to help cover our meeting room costs.”

The meeting location is Norman P. Murray Community Center, 24932 Veterans Way, Mission Viejo (Sycamore B room).

The Buzz

What does it take to win a council seat in Mission Viejo? In 2004, a Big Lie was the centerpiece of a slick campaign. Frank Ury ran on a promise he would bury power lines in north Mission Viejo. Shortly before the election, the California Public Utilities Commission ruled that new lines would be added above ground. Ury missed a deadline to appeal the CPUC’s decision, but his mailers continued to proclaim he would bury the lines. The Big Lie worked so well in 2004 that Ury used the same approach in his 2008 reelection brochures, stating the Crown Valley widening project was finished. The construction mess on Crown Valley continued long after Ury won his reelection bid. In a slick campaign, lies trump accomplishments.

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How did it work out for conservatives who carried Ury around in 2004? One of his first moves after being installed on the council was to appoint Peter Bastone, CEO of Mission Hospital, as his planning commissioner. Whenever the issue of affordable housing became contentious at city meetings, a staff member from the hospital would make public comments touting welfare housing. The hospital has a large contingent of cleaning and maintenance workers who can’t afford market-rate housing. Kommissioner Bastone would apparently like taxpayers to make up the difference by providing affordable housing compounds “within walking distance” of the hospital. Bastone wrote a letter to the OC Register, published Oct. 3, objecting to government interference in healthcare. No problem, however, with government interference in the housing market.

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Will Mission Viejo’s Measure D become an issue in the city election in November? Opponents of Measure D are threatening to cause a stir over “property rights” to keep the current council majority intact. In the June Primary, voters rejected the measure, also called the Mission Viejo Right To Vote. The housing industry funneled more than $100,000 into a campaign to defeat the measure – tricking voters into thinking they should vote against voting. If passed, Measured D would have enabled voters to make the final decision if a council majority ruled in favor of rezoning a major parcel of land. The measure would have empowered voters to reject such changes as rezoning the Casta del Sol Golf Course to housing or adding apartments on top of stores at La Paz and Marguerite.

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A potential new campaign could be launched against any council challenger who supported Measure D. County operatives who benefit from housing development claim that Measure D interfered with property rights of owners wanting their property rezoned. What about the property rights of the city’s 30,000-plus homeowners who don’t want the character of their neighborhoods changed, for example, with apartment complexes replacing closed schools? Somehow, “property rights” in the eyes of developers and lobbyists don’t apply to homeowners. For a fact, residents do not have “property rights” to turn their homes into anything they want. In the eyes of housing developers, the residents should have no legal standing to object to changes that reduce their property values or their right to enjoy their property.

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Buzz reader response – lengthy but a powerful summary: What specific improvements have current CUSD board members implemented after the old Fleming regime was removed? Here’s a short list:

• Board meetings are now audio-recorded and posted to the district website.
• Agendas are now online. Previously, agendas were available only at the CUSD office.
• Public comment cards can be completed at the board meetings instead of making prior arrangements at district office before the close of business.
• The budget and check register are online instead of requiring a public records request.
• Prior the last negotiation with the union (when the teachers went on strike) all parities at the labor negotiating table benefit from the raises they negotiated (from the superintendent to the district negotiating team to the union members).
• Prior to the current trustees being elected, citizens could only address the board on two agenda items per meeting.
• Prior to the current trustees being elected, citizens could only address the board on the same topic twice in one year.
• Until the last collective bargaining with the teachers union and other employees of CUSD, salary raises paid were for with increased class size grades 4-12.
• There was lack of budget or planning for projects that have nearly bankrupted the district. San Juan Hills High School in San Juan Capistrano was built with no budget and the District Office [taj mahal] was approved with no budget, no plans and no competitive bids and was funded with Mello-Roos and Redevelopment money (all funds could have been used for school maintenance and projects). Under the current trustee leadership, an investigation was conducted and the district acknowledged that the community had been misled regarding how the district office was funded. The prior board and union went along with the lie.
• The present board instituted an anti-nepotism policy.
• Under California law, the trustees in CUSD may be paid $1,500 per month. The current trustees have imposed a stipend of $350 per month.
• The first-ever CUSD facility needs assessment and plan was approved under the reform trustees.
• Under the current reform trustees, old portable units have been removed.
• Under the current trustees, students are no longer forced to eat on locker room and shower floors during rainy weather.
• The current trustees “sunshined” (eliminated) the “job well done” retirement bonus given to every administrator when they retired.
• Under the current board, CUSD implemented the requirement that the administrative departments create and adhere to budgets (the school sites each had a budget but the district administration did not).
• Prior to the Current Board, CUSD held secret Saturday Board meetings where they discussed general CUSD business including Future Parcel Taxes and how to keep certain people from speaking at board meetings.
• Under the current board, the CUSD implemented job performance evaluations.
• Under the current board, there is now a procedure/process in place to get certification on all the facilities projects that were closed out in the past without DSA certification. Twenty-six projects have received this certification under the current board. Not having the certification meant that new projects could not be started just jeopardizing school improvement and/or maintenance work.
• The current trustees have balanced the budget in light of the fact they have had to cut more than $100 million since being elected.
• The current trustees have significantly cut administrative costs at the district office.
• Under the current board, the district has automated the District’s Use of Facilities process. This more efficient electronic approval process will eliminate paperwork and increase accountability and revenue for use of our district's facilities.