Mission Viejo Buzz - 11/27/10

The Buzz

With past elections as the basis of comparison, Mission Viejo’s turnout for the General Election on Nov. 2 was a big improvement. This year, 61.4 percent of the city’s registered voters participated. In the most recent midterm election, 2006, Mission Viejo’s turnout was 54.6 percent.

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When asked why they didn’t vote, some Mission Viejo residents said candidates at the top of the ticket didn’t inspire them to go to the polls. On the Republican side, voters complained that Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina were trying to buy their way into office, and both candidates failed to build grassroots support. Some Democrats who didn’t vote said campaigns became too negative, and top office-seekers were unlikable.

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Save the date: The Mission Viejo Chapter of ACT for America will meet on Mon., Dec. 13, at the Community Center. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the meeting runs from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Orientation for first-time attendees begins at 7:10 p.m. The featured speaker will be Jim Horn, Retired Foreign Service Officer. His topic will be “Islam and Corruption in the American Government: Why Our Government is Failing to Protect Us from Infiltration and Terrorism.”

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According to reporter Norberto Santana, Jr., Orange County is still the “Wild West of Lobbying,” http://www.voiceofoc.org/countywide/county_government/article_b94ffe48-ec91-11df-abbd-001cc4c03286.html Santana wrote in his Voice of OC post, “Orange County supervisors on Tuesday [Nov. 9] voted to remain the state’s only large county without any kind of registration requirements for lobbyists.”

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Terry Francke, who serves as the open government consultant for the Voice of OC, sent a warning to the city of Lake Forest with regard to destroying email records, http://www.voiceofoc.org/countywide/who_says_you_can_t_fight_city_hall/article_d5f504dc-f1b2-11df-8a5e-001cc4c002e0.html Cities’ routine destruction of their email messages raises a question about open government laws. Franke wrote, “… before long, these practices are going to be challenged in court. … Californians Aware is on the record as cautioning the city of Lake Forest that it will sue to stop execution of a proposed policy authorizing the routine destruction of most email every 90 days. That city has put such plans on hold until they can be more carefully considered. One way or the other, CalAware is committed to going to court if necessary to halt the wholesale destruction of such key city records.”