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What Have the Incumbents Done for the Citizens? To hear the incumbents talk, they have saved the city from criminals roaming the streets, built up our reserves, balanced the budget, saved all kinds of money, blocked development of the Casta Del Sol Golf Course and walked on water (OK, maybe not the last one). However, all three, Kelley, Leckness and Sandzimier (KLS), have a very interesting way of bending the truth and taking credit for things they had nothing to do with. Most of the good things that happen here in Mission Viejo have little to do with what the city government and employees do and much more to do with us, the citizens of Mission Viejo. KLS claim on their campaign literature that[delete space] they are responsible for Mission Viejo being one of the safest small (<100,000 population) cities in the United States. While it is true we live in a very safe city, this is because we, the people of Mission Viejo, are relatively affluent and surrounded by similar communities. There are fewer major crimes here because criminals prefer to prey on those whose neighbors are likely to ignore a broken window or a stranger on the street. [delete space]We look out for each other in Mission Viejo, and that is what makes our crime rate low, not city hall. Of course, the Sheriff's Department is important as well, but there is no connection between Mission Viejo city government and the day-to-day operations of the Sheriff, except the checks that come from our taxes. Next, KLS claim they have cut city expenses $5M, reduced staff and required employees to contribute to their pensions. They use the words “safeguarding the City budget through the economic storm.” These statements are intended to mislead the citizens into thinking that we are better off than we were in 2006. However, this is completely untrue. Since 2007, the city has spent $8.9M more than we have taken in. Here are the deficits: The City reserves have steadily declined since 2006 from $37.4M to $24.2M. Keep in mind that almost every penny of these reserves is allocated to replace aging structures and to maintain city property. There is no “cushion” left if something major happens. Reserves should be measured against expenses, not income. Otherwise, as incomes falls, reserves look better and better, just when they are really needed to cover expenses. KLS say that thecity has maintained reserves at over 50 percent of general fund revenues, but this is only correct in a limited sense. As stated above, almost all of the “reserves” are actually allocated for needed replacements. In addition, their statement fails to account for the fact that reserves were much higher 5 years ago and that if they use the proper measure, percent of expenditures, our total reserves, including already spent funds, are less than 50 percent. We all know that when we spend more in our households than we have coming in, nothing good will result. Yet, the city has spent more for the past four years, and KLS expects no one will notice. The city even spent money on projects that were not planned or justified, like the “shade covers” for certain soccer fields and ball parks. This was done to provide the illusion that “everything is fine” and to draw attention from our failing city infrastructure, such as our slopes and streets. KLS tout the fact the Mission Viejo has an AAA bond rating. One wonders why they mention this, unless it is their intention to borrow at lot of money at taxpayers’ expense. The fact that the city has such a high bond rating has almost nothing to do with the City Council or city staff. The bond rating agencies look primarily at the value of taxable real estate in a city. They know that the cities can raise taxes to cover bond debt by claiming that the city will have to “cut fire and police services” and bullying citizens into bailing out the free-spending city government. Thus, despite years of deficit spending, we have an AAA rating, allowing KLS to “run up the credit card.” KLS claim in their campaign literature that they “saved the Casta Del Sol Golf Course.” However, this flies in the face of their own prior statements claiming that they never met with the developers nor took any official action on developer requests. KLS even claimed at one point that nothing could be built on the golf course, a misstatement of fact that was later struck down by a judge. There is no evidence whatever that KLS or anyone at city hall “prevented” anything. What really happened is that the bottom fell out of the real estate market and the proposed project no longer made economic sense. Kelly, Leckness and Sandzimeir have done very little of any substance over the past four years to improve the condition of the city. All they have done is to go on a spending binge designed to make citizens think everything is fine with the city, while ignoring slope and street maintenance in the neighborhood roads. We need new people on the City Council to turn our city's finances around by really cutting spending and improving the accountability of the City Manager, City Attorney and city staff. |
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