Community News Summary

Community Common Sense released a new edition last week. The newspaper, founded in San Juan Capistrano in 2009, began expanding into Mission Viejo in August. The paper fills a void of local coverage, including city council business. By contrast, Saddleback Valley News skips city news in favor of advertorials, columns and press releases written by city employees. CCS distributes 20,000 newspapers each month in Mission Viejo, and it has an online version, http://www.ccsense.com/

The latest edition of CCS includes four articles focusing on Mission Viejo.

On the front page is “Charitable Giving: Your Decision or the City’s?” by Steve Magdziak. Steve is president of the SOC912 Founders Board, and he serves on the city’s Community Services Commission. His article covers the city’s controversial practice of giving tax dollars to the city’s choice of charities: http://www.ccsense.com/2013/12/mission-viejo.html

On page 8 is Mission Viejo resident Ed Sachs’ article, “The Not-So-Free Freeways – Part 1.” Ed is a business leader with experience in consumer electronics. Read Ed’s article at http://www.ccsense.com/2013/12/mission-viejo_5.html . Officials “shelved” adding toll lanes to freeways recently because of public outcry. Councilman Frank Ury is a candidate for the Orange County Board of Supervisors, and he stated from the council dais that he supports toll lanes on freeways. Elected officials who support toll lanes prefer to bury the subject until after the election.

On page 9, readers will find the “Voting Record of Capistrano Unified Trustee Anna Bryson, Candidate for State Assembly 73rd District,” http://www.ccsense.com/2013/12/mission-viejo_1627.html . According to Bryson’s campaign literature, she’s a reform-minded conservative who is “all in” for kids and education. Her record shows she is all in for the teachers union at great expense to kids, education and taxpayers. Bryson voted with the union-supporting majority to create the district’s current $50-million deficit instead of balancing the budget.

Larry Gilbert applauds residents who take an interest in holding government accountable. His article about the watchdogs of Mission Viejo appears on page 11, http://www.ccsense.com/2013/12/mission-viejo_8941.html . Gilbert acknowledges that not everyone appreciates the watchdogs’ critical review. He writes, “City staff may cringe when we expose waste and abuse of taxpayer monies. But they cannot silence us, which no doubt frustrates them. One person, and certainly a group, can make a difference if you engage in the sharing of information.”