The Buzz

According to the June 29 OC Register, Mission Viejo is among the least likely cities in Orange County to find a job. Mission Viejo is third from the bottom, with 14 unemployed people for every job advertised. ( http://economy.ocregister.com/tag/simplyhired ).

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Over the years, the damage adds up. Council majorities have rezoned parcel after parcel of commercial property. Potential jobs have been eliminated, along with businesses that would have generated sales-tax revenue. During the past 15 years, various council majorities have rezoned nearly every commercial property that’s come before them. The current ratio of job seekers to advertised jobs is just one measure of this costly practice. To the voters who continue reelecting council members like Trish Kelley and Frank Ury, how do you like the decreasing revenue stream, overcrowding and slow-moving traffic that result from all the rezoning and high-density housing?

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The July 6 OC Register published a paragraph about the city’s Character Committee project. The article states the committee had a “fundraiser,” bringing in $3,029 to pay for portable incubators for “infants around the world.” Missing was any information about overhead, including the biggest cost – how many city employees are involved in fundraising on city time? After subtracting this overhead, the result was likely a loss to the taxpayers of Mission Viejo.

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The city has a formal process of distributing funds for charitable causes, which could include infant warmers and cures for disease. Each year, charities and other organizations apply for grants or other forms of support. If the Character Committee wants to give taxpayer dollars to a charitable cause, it should go through the same process and compete for funds with other groups.

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Reminder: UDR, Inc. will present its apartment proposal to the Planning and Transportation Commission on Mon., July 11, at 6:30 p.m. UDR’s condo project was approved by a former city council majority in 2005, but the developer let the permit expire after saying condos wouldn’t be profitable. Residents – particularly neighbors who will get the brunt of increased traffic and police calls that go with apartment projects – are urged to attend.

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From FreedomWorks, “July 10: Get an education on indoctrination. Despite spending the second most per-pupil in the world, America's education system continually ranks near the bottom of industrialized nations when it comes to results. Part of the problem is the lack of a competitive education market for parents and students, something we've tried to rectify at FreedomWorks by supporting successful school choice measures in states like Indiana and North Carolina. And while it has been a banner year for school choice, we also ran into politicians in some states like Pennsylvania, who wouldn't dare take on the entrenched teachers' unions for fear of political retribution.” For more information about FreedomWorks, go to http://www.freedomworks.org