The Buzz

Huntington, WV, won the “Bark for Your Park” contest sponsored by PetSafe. Huntington won $100,000 for a dog park after receiving the most votes in an online contest, which ended Aug. 5. Mission Viejo was among cities vying for the cash. Although PetSafe didn’t announce runners up, Mission Viejo was 12th among 15 finalists when the vote totals were last publicized. Huntington is approximately half the size of Mission Viejo, and $100,000 should be enough to build a dog park … in a normal city.

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For an analysis of Mission Viejo’s elusive dog park, go to Brad Morton’s blog, http://missionviejodispatch.com/animals/mv-loses-dog-park-contest . Various Mission Viejo dog park enthusiasts have been trying since the 1990s to get the city to build a dog park. City Hall has never supported a dog park, and city administrators set the estimate so high – $1 million – that the cost is a deal breaker. Ex-councilman Lance MacLean tricked dog park supporters into thinking they would get a dog park if they joined his anti-recall campaign in 2009. After MacLean was recalled, his replacement on the council, Dave Leckness, became the new barker for the phantom dog park. His new friends are so busy going to meetings and entering contests, maybe they haven’t noticed – only politicians (not residents or their dogs) are benefiting.

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The OC Register may have hit a new low on Aug. 6 by publishing an advertorial and calling it news. The story, “First Ridge homes ready in Mission Viejo,” advertises condos for sale in the high-density housing compound next to Target on Jeronimo Road. The story also misses an important point about how the city got into hot water over affordable housing in 2006. The state doesn’t demand that cities build affordable housing; it does, however, mandate that cities have a plan to meet affordable housing goals. Mission Viejo had a plan in progress when city clowncil members Frank Ury and Lance MacLean threw away the work that had been done. Their action put the city in jeopardy – not because it didn’t build affordable housing but because it didn’t have a plan. The state then took Mission Viejo to the woodshed and made it an example, showing that defying the state can result in demands to rezone parcels to high-density residential, available for affordable housing projects.

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Wasn’t it the goal of Ury and MacLean in the first place – to bring in a conga line of developers – more housing, more payoffs and more campaign contributions from special interest? Additionally, developers have paid big bucks to the city to get out of their obligation to build affordable units. Thus, City Hall has a steady stream of play money. Several months ago, Ury may have thought he was speaking confidentially when he stated his priorities: to get the former Kmart building torn down (UDR Inc.’s property, originally approved for condos and recently changed to apartments) and to develop the Casta del Sol Golf Course. These two parcels are adjacent to the Palmia and Casta del Sol gated communities. Ury is up for reelection in 2012 – is anyone paying attention?

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From a WSJ article, forwarded by D.S.: “The president has been obsessing on Ronald Reagan the past few months, referring to him in private and attempting to use him to buttress his position in public. They say Republicans can't get over Reagan, but really it's Democrats who aren't over him, and who draw the wrong lessons from his success. Reagan himself never bragged about his ability to convince the American people. He'd never point a finger and say: "I'll go to the people and grind you to dust." He thought speaking was a big part of leadership, but only part, and in his farewell address he went out of his way to say he never thought of himself as a great communicator. He thought he simply communicated great things—essentially, the vision of the Founders as applied to current circumstances.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903454504576488632437362352.html

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Bumper stickers for 2012, forwarded by G.P.:

Don’t blame me – I voted for the American.

01-20-13 – the end of an error.

Obamacare – call us when you are shovel ready.