City Business as Usual

Following years of neglect, city hall put street resurfacing into high gear before the Nov. 2 election. Residents shouldn’t expect the process to continue. For one thing, funding doesn’t exist to bring all streets up to good condition. More than a year ago, a city employee estimated the cost at $85 million to meet the current need for resurfacing.

Streets still needing work can be found in large residential developments that haven’t been touched. Additionally, streets resurfaced during the past two years are already cracking and losing chunks of asphalt. Current roadwork that should have been done during dry summer months is now being interrupted and delayed by rain.

Streets in poorest condition can be found in neighborhoods west of Olympiad, south of Jeronimo, east of Marguerite and north of La Paz. Another neglected area is west of Felipe between La Paz and Oso. A resident reported, “If homeowners didn’t call city hall and ask for repair of damage at a specific address, their streets weren’t patched. No one should get the mistaken impression that city employees are coming out to inspect streets.”

Instead of staying focused on road improvement during the election, the city staff engaged in a debate over the history of street repair. Documents show that the city proposed and approved a plan during the 1990s to implement a 5-year cycle for street resurfacing. Instead of acknowledging that the current 7-year plan is inadequate, the city staff wanted to argue about whether or not the 5-year plan had ever been put into effect.

Despite a national trend of incumbents losing their jobs in the November 2 election, Trish Kelley and Dave Leckness received enough votes to stay on the city council. Uninformed voters tend to choose incumbents on the basis of name recognition, which benefited both Kelley and Leckness. Both incumbents also had collected ample vendor money and other donations from out-of-town and special interest to wage an air war of mailers.

With the reelection of two incumbents – maintaining the council majority of Kelley, Leckness and Frank Ury – residents should expect more of the same. The status quo includes neglect of infrastructure, diversion of funds to feel-good activities and continuation of mismanaged capital improvement projects.

While Kelley and Leckness together received 27,422 votes, the 10 challengers amassed 57,423 votes. The city election outcome should not be interpreted as voter satisfaction with what the incumbents are doing.

Ballot Count is Nearly Complete

With 11,089 ballots still to be counted as of this writing, the turnout for Orange County is 55 percent. Mission Viejo’s turnout is currently 58.9 percent, which is the highest of Orange County’s larger cities. Mission Viejo’s turnout in this election also exceeds the large majority of smaller cities in Orange County. Sample cities near Mission Viejo include Laguna Hills (58.4 percent) and Rancho Santa Margarita (56.5 percent).

As of 3 p.m. on Nov. 14, the vote count in the Mission Viejo City Council race is as follows:

* PATRICIA "TRISH" KELLEY 15,947 18.8%
* DAVID "DAVE" LECKNESS  11,475 13.5%
RHONDA REARDON       11,320 13.3%
RICK SANDZIMIER       8,380 9.9%
BRIAN SKALSKY        7,420 8.7%
NEIL LONSINGER       7,268 8.6%
BILL BARKER         5,973 7.0%
FRED CARR          4,654 5.5%
MARK DOBRILOVIC       3,925 4.6%
LANCE R. MACLEAN      3,755 4.4%
KEN GOLEMO         2,473 2.9%
SAM MAMOLA         2,255 2.7%
* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any

In a close race for Rancho Santa Margarita’s third council seat are incumbents Gary Thompson (6,823 votes) and Neil Blais (6,809 votes). In Laguna Hills, 74 votes separate two incumbents for the third council seat, Randal Bressette (3,875 votes) and Craig Scott (3,801 votes).

ACT Offers Training

The Mission Viejo Chapter of ACT! for America will present ACT! 101 Basic Training on Wed., Nov. 17, 7:15 p.m. to 9:15 p.m., at Marie Callender’s, 15363 Culver Drive, in Irvine. The restaurant is located between Irvine Center Drive and Deerfield. Please RSVP to Steve at victory@act4oc.org

The purpose of the training is to learn how to become an effective ACT! activist. ACT! for America is rising in defense of our security, our liberties and our values. We need your help to stop the Islamization of America. This introductory class will answer all your questions about ACT! for America. You will learn essential information about how you can make a positive difference in our “home-front war” against Radical Islam and Sharia Law.

Learn how you can use your unique skills and resources to help ACT! for America achieve positive change in our laws, policies and educational system.

This informal group setting will allow you to get to know other ACT! for America members while you learn how we can create effective legislations in Washington and educate our fellow citizens here in Orange County. An extensive handout will be provided. Join us for dinner at 6:30 p.m. prior to the meeting.

SRA Meets Nov. 18

Saddleback Republican Assembly is having its regular meeting on Thurs., Nov. 18, at 7:00 p.m. It will be at Atria Del Sol, 23792 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo. 

The speakers will be a panel of newly elected SRA-endorsed City Council Members: Rhonda Reardon of Mission Viejo, Scott Voigts of Lake Forest, Melody Carruth of Laguna Hills and Jesse Petrilla of Rancho Santa Margarita. 

They will be speaking about their intentions, expectations and what they perceive as challenges to their conservative goals in leadership with their cities.

Admission is free, and guests are welcome. For more information, contact SRA President Matt Corrigan at 949-830-8088.

The Buzz

From the Nov. 12 issue of Saddleback Valley News, page 2, “Mission Viejo is offering free reusable shopping bags to residents in an effort to reduce the city’s carbon footprint.” How did “reducing the city’s carbon footprint” become an essential service of city government? Additionally, if taxpayer dollars were used by city hall staff members to pay for the bags, they’re not free. Stores throughout the city sell reusable bags. Residents who want bags can buy them, and residents who don’t want bags shouldn’t be forced to pay for someone else’s bags. Essential city services are funded with dollars from sales tax, and residents should not expect to continue receiving essential services when city staffers reduce sales tax by competing with the private sector. Instead of the bags being imprinted with “paid for by city taxpayers,” the city staff stamped the bags with their own logo – the mark of the iron tree. Those who inquired about the bags discovered that almost anyone could take them, including non-residents. The bags were imported from China, so what does that say about the city staff’s carbon footprint?

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Councilman Dave Leckness ran on a platform of improving business in Mission Viejo. How would he like it if city hall began offering “free” copying and printing services? If residents went to city hall for their “free” copies, how would that work out for his copy shop business? If residents were to look through the list of activities and so-called freebies offered by city hall, how many examples would they find where government has become confused and ventured into areas that have nothing to do with public service?

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Forwarded by G.P., “The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified since Nov. 2, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop illegal immigration. The recent actions of the Tea Party are prompting an exodus among left-leaning citizens who fear they'll soon be required to hunt, pray and to agree with Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck. When liberals are caught, they're sent back across the border, often wailing loudly that they fear retribution from conservatives. Rumors have been circulating about plans to build re-education camps where liberals will be forced to drink domestic beer and watch NASCAR races.”

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From www.restoringpatriotism.com : “The Statement of Votes in California is completed 39 days after each statewide election and the Supplement to the Statement of Votes is completed 159 days after each statewide election. This means Californians must wait up to five months before we know the actual count. How do we stop voter fraud when it takes five months to find out what the actual vote count is?”

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Craig Alexander, president of South Orange County Republican Assembly announced that the next SOCRA meeting will be Jan. 13. No meetings will be held during November or December.

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South Orange County NRA Members Council will host a shooting event for all who are interested. The dedicated men and women of the Members Council work to provide a safe, instructional and fun environment for local citizens to learn about shooting, gun safety and marksmanship. They have a dedicated range, instructors, teachers and a safety officer. They provide all of the firearms, target ammo and eye and ear protection. All participants need to do is show up with a good attitude and desire to learn! The cost is usually less than $20 per person (usually, it is closer to $10). When: Monday, Nov. 22, 7:00 p.m. Where: On Target Shooting Range, Laguna Niguel. RSVP to bigmarkod@gmail.com