Mission Viejo Buzz - 08/20/11

The Buzz

A Mission Viejo homeowner who lives near the UDR, Inc. property on east Los Alisos has asked the city to see that the property is cleaned up. UDR isn’t in a good financial position to pour money into the vacant property – constructing apartments, demolishing the existing structure or taking care of landscaping. Residents continue to speculate UDR will sell the parcel to another apartment builder.

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Councilman Frank Ury revised history during the Aug. 15 council meeting in an attempt to divert attention from his causing the city to be sued in 2006. He had prepared a slide show of documents that contained the names of city activists who objected to two controversial housing development plans. Steadfast and UDR each purchased commercial property and asked the council to rezone it to high-density residential (which the council approved). Ury falsely claimed the activists caused the city to be sued by defying the state over affordable housing. What was he talking about? The citizens of Mission Viejo – whether they are activists or not – have no say about affordable housing. All decisions came from the council, so how did residents cause a lawsuit? Councilwoman Cathy Schlicht responded from the dais, saying Ury is delusional.

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Few people in the audience on Aug. 15 attended council meetings back in 2006 when the city was sued. On Jan. 3, 2006, Councilmen Ury and MacLean took the affordable housing issue into their own hands by forming an ad hoc committee. By doing so, they took the job away from Planning Commission members who had been diligently working on the city’s affordable housing plan to meet state goals. Ury and MacLean immediately threw out the plan. Since both of them appeared to be affordable housing fans, it is likely they knew it was a sure way to have the state react and demand more affordable housing. If they didn’t initially know it, they were surrounded by attorneys, city staff members and advocacy groups to inform them. On April 26, 2006, the Public Law Center filed its lawsuit against the city. The damage of the lawsuit wasn’t just monetary. To this day, the city is paying for Ury and MacLean’s irresponsible act, which destroyed commercial zoning (jobs) and undermined the Master Plan.

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For another perspective on Ury’s big lie, read http://missionviejodispatch.com/city-aestheics/urys-planned-attack-against-residents

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Tune in to LONG LIVE AMERICA, the Southern California Tea Party show on KCEO AM 1000 in San Diego and Orange County from 8-10 p.m. PST or listen online at www.longliveamerica.com . Call in at (760) 931-1604.

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Watch out for those 44-cent stamps. For anyone who thinks the “hearts and butterflies” are cute, the rest of the stamp is in Arabic. The new USPS 44-cent stamp commemorates the Islamic holidays of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. Post office customers can just say no to “honoring and remembering” the Muslim holiday season.

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Rasmussen’s Presidential Tracking Poll reports daily on Barack Obama’s numbers: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking _poll . Local volunteers who register voters around the county say they poll constantly to find out which presidential challengers are popular. They found Romney was locally the most popular before Rick Perry announced his candidacy, with Michele Bachmann closely behind Romney. Perry quickly moved into first place.