The Real Frank Ury

Councilman Frank Ury runs on Other People’s Money, including campaign donations from special interest and city vendors. He also has the backing of some Republican officials. When Councilwoman Trish Kelley asked the Orange County GOP to endorse her in 2010, they said no, citing that she had twice campaigned for and endorsed a Democrat. Ury not only campaigned for and endorsed the same Democrat in 2010, he campaigned for a pro-abortion candidate in 2006. Since he hasn’t supported the Republican slate or principles of the party, how will Republican officials react to his candidacy for reelection this year?

Following are examples from Ury’s record, including a sampling of his council votes.

• Ury on 5-7-2007 voted against the public’s right to pull agenda items from the consent calendar.
• Ury on 4-7-08 voted to fund a Rose Parade float and in October 2008 voted to move it forward (the expense exceeded $300K) during the same month the city required liquidating two bonds to meet payroll.
• Ury on 7-7-08 (Agenda Item 39) voted for a social host ordinance, an infringement on constitutional rights of due process and probable cause.
• Ury on 11-17-08 (Agenda Item 21, during the meeting immediately after his reelection) and 6-21-10 (Agenda Item 24) voted to bestow lifetime medical benefits on part-time council members who serve three four-year terms, and he rescinded benefits twice (on 5-19-08, Agenda Item No. 30, and 7-6-10, Agenda Item No. 36) to assist campaigns for like-minded majority council members seeking to save their seats. In the final vote eliminating the benefits, Ury cast the sole vote trying to keep lifetime healthcare for himself.
• Ury on 06-22-09 voted to bust the budget after approving it at the same meeting on 6-22-09, taking $4M from reserves to upgrade a tennis club, following three years of deficit spending.
• Ury on 1-3-2010 supported taking $1M from reserves to spend on a dog park. On 3-19-12, he voted to proceed with a land swap as a site for the $1M park, in which the city would get only 2.71 acres in return for giving the county 7.18 acres.
• Ury on 2-1-2010 voted to remove from the city manager’s contract a misconduct clause, whereby the city manager cannot be fired, even if convicted of certain felonies.
• Ury’s endorsement of a Democrat occurred in the 2-2-10 and 11-8-10 city elections.
• Ury voted for pension reform while simultaneously voting for pay raises (5-17-2011, Agenda Item 21).
• Ury on 1-3-2011 voted against reappointing Mark Dobrilovic (GOP Central Committee alternate) as a city financial advisory board member, saying Dobrilovic “needs to focus on other things.”
• Ury on 1-3-2011 voted to stop audio taping closed sessions.
• Ury on 2-21-2011 authored and voted to approve establishing the city’s Housing Authority, following his seven years of consistent support for the Redevelopment Agency.
• Ury on 8-15-11 presented a PowerPoint presentation attacking all residents who commented against a high-density apartment project, falsely claiming they had caused a lawsuit against the city over affordable housing. Since residents have no vote on such projects, they could not have caused a lawsuit. Ury’s action of dismantling the city’s AH plan by turning affordable housing over to an ad hoc committee on 1-3-2006 triggered the state’s decertification of the city’s housing element, which was the basis for the 4-26-2006 lawsuit against the city.