Non-government Events

A blog reader commented on the shortage of Mission Viejo events on the non-government list, and the point is well taken. It is a challenge to find private sector events when a city’s government has usurped the role of entertainment provider.

City hall is fully engaged in offering “free” movies, “free” classes and “free” meals – at taxpayer expense, of course. Even when attendees pay to attend city events, the admission is often a token amount that doesn’t cover taxpayers’ cost.

Here’s a sampling of non-government events:

“Ballast: The Ceramic Art of Don Ryan,” Soka University, opening reception Jan. 20, 5:30 to 8:00 p.m., no admission fee, (949) 480-4237, http://www.soka.edu/default.aspx

“Replace Your Lawn with Native Plants,” Tree of Life Nursery, Jan. 22, 10:00-11:00 a.m., 33201 Ortega Highway, San Juan Capistrano, no charge to attend, (949) 728-0685, http://www.californianativeplants.com

Sherman Gardens Camellia Show, Jan. 22-23, 2647 East Pacific Coast Highway, Corona del Mar, 92625, 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, (949) 673-2261, http://www.occamellias.org/gpage1.html

Lyon Air Museum, “Cars & Cockpits Day,” Jan. 23, 10 a.m. to noon, John Wayne Airport, vintage military aircraft and automobiles, general admission $8, seniors $6, ages 5-17 $4, under age 5 free, 19300 Ike Jones Road, Santa Ana, 92707, (714) 210-4585, http://www.lyonairmuseum.org

“Meet Michael Reagan,” Richard Nixon Library, Jan. 25, 7 p.m., lecture and book signing, (714) 993.5075, 18001 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda 92886, http://events.nixonfoundation.org/category/events/month

Art Exhibit, “Preservation: New Sculptural and Mixed Media Works,” featuring David Limrite, through Jan. 31, open Wed. through Sun., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., JoAnne Artman Gallery, 326 North Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, (949) 510-5481, http://www.joanneartmangallery.com

Holiday Ice Rink, through Feb. 21, outdoor skating rink, open for an extended holiday season. Call or check the website for prices. 71 Fortune Drive, (949) 748-8280, http://www.skatespectrum.com

Lewis & Clark Exhibit, Mission San Juan Capistrano, Mission Museum Exhibit, through March 2011, 26801 Ortega Highway, San Juan Capistrano, 92675, (949) 234-1315, http://www.missionsjc.com

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Jan. 21 through Feb. 20, South Coast Repertory, Segerstrom Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, (714) 708-5555, http://www.scr.org

“Ocean Friendly Gardening,” hosted by Surfrider Foundation, Feb. 19, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., Tree of Life Nursery, 33201 Ortega Highway, San Juan Capistrano, 92675, (949) 728-0685, http://www.californianativeplants.com

Who Deserves This Government?

 “In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve.” Joseph de Maistre wrote it in 1811, but Alexis de Tocqueville often gets credit.

The council election is over, and those sacking the city can safely reappear. The council majority is intact – Frank Ury, Trish Kelley and Dave Leckness – and developers wanting high-density housing are counting on their votes. Prior to the Nov. 2 election, this blog pleaded with voters to reject council members and challengers who wouldn’t defend Mission Viejo’s Master Plan.

Potential sites for apartment compounds include the following. Two condo projects have been approved, but the current housing market doesn’t warrant condo-building.

• The former Kmart property on east Los Alisos Blvd., near the Palmia gated community
• A parcel near the former Kmart property on Los Alisos Blvd.
• The shopping center at La Paz and Marguerite (Big Lots, CVS, etc.)
• Casta del Sol Golf Course
• Undeveloped land near the animal shelter
• The parcel adjacent to Target on Los Alisos Blvd.
• Closed elementary schools: O’Neill and La Tierra
• The Unisys Property on Jeronimo Road near Los Alisos Blvd.
• Viejo Elementary School (CUSD has discussed closing this school)

Homeowners had an opportunity in the June Primary to protect their property values by supporting Measure D. If the measure had passed, voters could have overturned bad land-use decisions. A campaign to defeat the measure – fooling voters to vote against voting – was funded with large donations from a Realtor PAC.

The assault on the Master Plan has resumed, including an attempt to increase the density of a project that was previously approved. Refer to Brad Morton’s blog, http://missionviejodispatch.com , for a review, particularly of Ury’s effort to help his developer friends.

As an example from the Registrar of Voters’ ballot tallies, Palmia residents overwhelmingly reelected Ury in 2008, defeated Measure D in June 2010 and reelected Kelley and Leckness in November 2010. Without Measure D, homeowners will have to rely on their so-called representatives on the council to protect their safety and property values from high-density projects. Council decisions are imminent, and Palmia residents could be the first to learn how their decisions at the ballot box will work for them.

If anyone is so delusional to think there’s no difference between a low-density neighborhood and an apartment compound, just ask any policeman in Mission Viejo where the biggest problems occur.

When apartments are built on the abovementioned sites and traffic is at a standstill, perhaps some people will remember the watchdogs who held signs on street corners prior to the November 2010 election: “No Incumbents.”

Movers and Takers

No majority member on the current city council won his or her first election by directly attacking Mission Viejo residents. In the 2002 election, Trish Kelley said she wouldn’t participate in negative campaigning.

Frank Ury’s first city campaign in 2004 centered on his promise to get powerlines buried. He ranted about the blight in north Mission Viejo, but he forgot about the lines after his victory party.

Dave Leckness postured as Mr. Nice Guy to replace Lance MacLean in the recall election of February 2010, coming up with such programs as “Wave at a Cop.” He wanted to use city resources to promote small businesses, which would include his own business.

After their election, Kelley and Ury dropped the facade of representing residents. Ury answers to such special interest as lobbyists, union bosses and developers. Kelley takes “campaign donations” from outsiders and then votes on their behalf. Both council members become vitriolic toward anyone who doesn’t agree with them. Mayor Hee-Haw Leckness follows directions of the city staff regardless of costs or negative consequences. Attack dogs surrounding Leckness regularly malign Mission Viejo citizens. The city staff has attracted its own group of noisemakers who applaud more bureaucracy, bigger handouts and restricted public participation.

Rewards for bad behavior were dispensed during the Jan. 3 council meeting. Kelley received a plaque for her year as a self-serving mayor. Various spewers of city hall’s vitriol were appointed to commissions.

The key to prevention of bad behavior is for voters to recognize it before it appears in the rearview mirror. Commissions are stepping stones to council seats. While it is no surprise when blatantly corrupt council members appoint blatantly corrupt power-seekers, it is a disappointment to see other council members make equally bad appointments.

On Jan. 3, Ury switched Peter Bastone’s appointment from the planning commission to the city’s financial advisory commission. Bastone missed enough planning commission meetings during the past year to raise the ire of those who believe attendance is meaningful. Bastone wrote an opinion piece for the OC Register in which he touts affordable housing. As CEO of Mission Hospital, he wants his employees to receive taxpayer-subsidized housing “within walking distance” of the hospital. As a planning commissioner, he would have a conflict if he voted to rezone property for the benefit of his employer. Residents who live near the hospital should be forewarned of what’s coming.

Voters should also be forewarned there will be a lot of pushing and shoving among commissioners prior to the next city election.

Documents Demonstrate Conflict

This blog has many times addressed Councilwoman Trish Kelley’s conflicting statements. During the Jan. 3 council meeting, Kelley denied any impropriety when she was reappointed as the city’s representative to the Orange County Fire Authority, her son’s employer.

The following letter was distributed by Mission Viejo city activist Joe Holtzman in response to an article on another blog, http://missionviejodispatch.com

You stated that Trish Kelley sent you an e-mail that my article in the Mission Viejo Dispatch about her Nepotism related to the OFCA was in every sentence but the first sentence ---was a lie. Trish Kelley has continued her subterfuge of the truth. The Woman of Character—has no character!

Attached you will find:

• The document that the City Attorney addresses to Trish Kelley about her having to remove herself from any vote to do with Medix—as her son Mark had gone to work for Medix. See this document.
• Also attached is a document that young Mr. Kelley filled out for The Character Program—that specifically cites him as being an EMT. Note it is in his handwriting. See this document. (2MB)
• Also attached are various documents noting that the current OFCA Board—which Trish Kelley is/was a member of that effectively dusted our volunteer fire fighters—so that the “Union” guys would have those jobs.
  Also attached please note that the city erected and paid for the monument in front of Fire Station 24---a county-owned facility. As you recall, that caper cost $54,000-plus with the landscaping—which the city is now maintaining. This expenditure NEVER came before the city council from my memory and research. See these documents. (10MB - be patient)

So the facts are—Trish Kelley’s son works as a fireman—(you can guess how he got that job ) and Trish Kelley has a big conflict of interest.  She covered that employment up—and when exposed, she is running for cover—throwing off flak to cover her story. 

Trish Kelley is NOT being honest with Mission Viejo, and this is not the only issue she has been “shading the truth.”

Joe Holtzman
Mission Viejo

The Buzz

On Jan. 11, the OC Board of Supervisors elected Bill Campbell as chairman and John Moorlach as vice chair for 2011. The next BOS meeting will be Jan. 25 at 9:30 a.m.

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Mission Viejo’s library received a $15,000 grant from the state of California to offer “free” (taxpayer funded) workshops on how to get a job. Here’s information (at no cost to taxpayers) that would be even more beneficial to those seeking jobs or trying to stay employed. City hall should stop rezoning commercial properties to residential, thereby preserving potential businesses and jobs in Mission Viejo. Presenting taxpayer-funded workshops to help people compete for fewer jobs is not the best plan.

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From Mission Viejo resident R.D.: “Please help spread the word. Of the 27 Amendments to the Constitution, seven took one year or less to become the law of the land – all because of public pressure. The proposed 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: ‘Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States.’"

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The Saddleback Republican Assembly is having its first meeting of the year on Thurs., Jan. 20, at 7 p.m. The location is Atria Del Sol, 23792 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo, in the first-floor dining room. The featured speaker will be Chuck DeVore, former California State Assemblyman for the 70th Assembly District. Guests are welcome; no admission charge. SRA President is Matt Corrigan, (949) 830-8088.

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Forwarded by Tea Party Patriot Linda Dorr: Who said the Founding Fathers are dated? Quotes like this one from James Madison show the wisdom of these men. "It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood." Do Madison’s words apply to our new healthcare bill or that atrocious finance bill?