Rearranging the Chairs

An article on another blog http://missionviejodispatch.com touches on the makeup of the new council:

“When Rhonda Reardon is sworn in as a new Mission Viejo City Council Member on Dec. 6, a new era of Mission Viejo politics begins. This opinion piece looks back over the past dozen years of the fall of one City Council majority regime, and the rise of another that also defends big, secret government with heavy-handed tactics.”

When Reardon replaces Councilman John Paul Ledesma on Dec. 6, is it a new era if the direction remains the same? The old majority members are changing chairs, not sides. To borrow a line from reform activist Bob Serrao, it’s like rearranging the chairs on the Titanic. Even if Reardon has the principled iron will of Tom McClintock, the majority members won’t follow her.

Here’s a second opinion from Rebecca Burgoyne (California Family Council analyst) about what took place on Nov. 2 throughout California:

“The Election Day tsunami that swept the nation stopped its westward swell at the Sierra Nevada Mountains. … While other parts of the nation experienced electoral upheavals, the status quo carried the day in California, where not a single [state-level officeholder] incumbent was unseated. In a total of 153 district elections – 80 in the Assembly, 20 in the Senate, and 53 for Congress – only one seat changed party hands.”

In Mission Viejo, incumbents Trish Kelley and Dave Leckness easily retained their seats. While Kelley is a Republican and Leckness is a Democrat, neither is fiscally responsible. With Councilman Frank Ury’s vote, they’re on a roll to continue the big, secret government and heavy-handed tactics. The great revolution of deposing Susan Withrow and Sherri Butterfield in 2002 resulted in even worse council members, Trish Kelley and Lance MacLean. After the realization the revolution replaced personalities but not policies, many residents disengaged from the frustration of city politics.

Any implication Leckness will become a swing vote is illogical. Refer to Politics 101: elected officials sell out their constituents, not their financiers. In Dave’s case, his financiers and supporters are in the same camp. On the opposing side, the reform-minded citizens haven’t fared well with most candidates they helped into office. So-called conservative council members sold their votes to Audi, Steadfast, UDR Pacific, Sunrise’s PR agent, trash haulers and so on. City staff, lobbyists, developers and special interest – all the money and power – are on the same side. The reform-minded folks have nothing to offer except their friendship, support, energy, ideas and so on.

During the past decade, only Councilwoman Cathy Schlicht hasn’t sold her votes. While her votes aren’t consistently conservative, she’s not for sale. With the new council, the best hope for reform-minded citizens is gridlock. Given personalities on the new council, what should residents expect from three strong-willed women? Ury will continue insulting, attacking and making fools of those who get in his way. He has intimidated Trish Kelley to the point she won’t oppose him. Leckness predictably takes direction from the city staff.

For the council majority, the word of the month – every month – is hypocrisy. Kelley ran on a promise she’d be fiscally responsible, but she’s worse than the old gals she replaced. She said she’d listen, but she listens only to city staff. Sometimes, she can’t remember long enough to repeat their words from the dais. She has to ask them again to explain their reasons in public so she can cast her vote without having to say anything.

Leckness would be a good guy to go drinking with – he’s easygoing and he likes to have fun. But on the dais, Mr. Fun makes about as much sense as a drinking buddy at 2 a.m. The council is not his thing, and his lack of bearing will be painfully clear if he becomes the next mayor. He ran on a platform of helping businesses in the city, and he’s helping them go out of business. The city staff stridently competes with private-sector services and kills sales with taxpayer-funded giveaways while Mr. Fun looks on.

Among other voids, there’s no reform-minded activist group to resist the “back to basics” politics of power and money. The watchdog group dissolved in 2003 when a few chose to continue supporting wayward council members who sold out. A sub-group first followed Trish Kelley into the mire and then carried Frank Ury around until their legs buckled under his weight. The same sub-group in 2010 adopted an unprincipled kid as their “reform candidate,” and he made fools of them before they could reach the Nov. 2 finish line. After he lied to them during his vetting interview, lied to Saddleback Republican Assembly members when he tried to get their endorsement and lied to the entire GOP Central Committee, his supporters who knew what he had done still had his campaign signs in their yards. Perhaps they didn’t grasp Brian Skalsky’s campaign slogan, “back to basics” as the power and money of politics.

While council members fight among themselves, an unfettered city staff continues its important work of birthday parties and erecting white tents around the community center. Contractors began in October wrapping every tree near city hall with “holiday lights.” A city staff that can’t fix a road or manage a project now owns holidays. A Halloween party, formerly held at the mall, has become an exclusive city government event. Santa Claus, in cities that are sane, arrives at shopping centers, not at city hall.

A moment of truth or hypocrisy will help define the “new era” when council members appoint commissioners. Will lyin’ Brian Skalsky be reappointed as a commissioner? He and his former campaign manager are still posturing on blogs as reform-minded activists, and that’s laughable. If Skalsky can stay on a commission, it will leverage his unending quest for a council seat in 2012 so he can run “with” (against) Cathy Schlicht when only one seat will be in play.