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The Buzz The Mission Viejo Chapter of ACT! for America will meet on Mon., Mar. 10, at the Norm Murray Community Center in Mission Viejo. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. The meeting starts promptly at 7:30 p.m. and ends at 9:30 p.m. sharp. The program topic will be “How Islam's Glorification in Our Textbooks Threatens Our Liberty: an Activist's Mission to Preserve Truth, Equality and Fairness in Our Classrooms.” The guest speaker will be David Whitley, author and conservative political activist. *** The latest issue of Community Common Sense was published last week. The paper is delivered to 20,000 Mission Viejo doorsteps, and it can also be found around town in restaurants, shops and the Mission Viejo Library. The monthly watchdog newspaper began in San Juan Capistrano in 2009 and expanded into Mission Viejo last year. *** Residents who watch council meetings know something went wrong when the city staff organized the wheelchair tennis tournament (International Tennis Federation – ITF) last November. Councilwoman Cathy Schlicht has been asking for financial data on the event, which went so far out control no one had a handle on it. As an example of City Manager Dennis Wilberg’s attempt to keep residents in the dark, he’s been describing the “tremendous community support” for it. Follow this link, http://cityofmissionviejo.org/photos/itf *** The cost to taxpayers for grandstand rental for the ITF tournament was $6,000. How many seats were needed to accommodate the entire audience? From the photographs, fewer than 10 people were in the grandstands. The city staff could have saved most of the rental expense by setting up a few folding chairs. *** The OC Register has published articles about a great big party organized by the city staff in Costa Mesa http://www.ocregister.com/articles/city-604268-documents-grp.html . As costs went out of control, the city continued writing checks until the amount reached $518,000. The case is remarkably similar to Mission Viejo’s tennis snafu – with one notable exception. The Costa Mesa council majority had the wisdom to call for an investigation, which is now in progress. When Mission Viejo Councilwoman Cathy Schlicht asked during the Feb. 17 council meeting for an investigation of city hall’s weeklong tennis party, other council members attacked her or said they didn’t need additional information http://www.missionviejoca.org/html/article1107.html *** Mission Viejo watchdogs who are compiling data say an investigation is warranted. When the council approved (on July 1, 2013) hosting the tournament, city staffers indicated it would cost taxpayers nothing. A “budgeted amount of $55,000” was an advance payment, to be reimbursed through sponsorships. The city staff is admitting that costs of the event were approximately a quarter-million dollars, but getting financial records from them is like pulling teeth. The staff has not disclosed how many city employees were working on the event or the number of hours involved. During a council meeting when Wilberg was bragging about support for the event, he said the city’s chief financial officer, Cheryl Dyas, “volunteered” by giving tennis guests rides to the Mission Viejo mall on shopping excursions. When Wilberg was later pressed to disclose financial records, he said Dyas was way too busy working on other things to hand over the information. City employees who “volunteer” for city parties are either paid if the activities take place during the workday or they receive comp time for after-hours “volunteering.” *** The wheelchair tennis tournament is an international operation – a for-profit organization with corporate sponsorships. Mission Viejo city employees seem to have been fooled by the organization into using taxpayer-owned facilities and tax dollars for the tournament. Wilberg touted Mission Viejo as the first city in the United States to “win the bid” for hosting the tournament. Is he delusional? No other city was stupid enough to fund the for-profit organization’s event. There was no competition except for being the most gullible city in the nation. *** The city’s check register sheds light on Wilberg’s claim he’s reducing the number of staff members. The latest release of the city’s check register shows payments for “pre-employment” medical exams for seven people. The number of employees is approximately 275. The city is old enough that employees are retiring. Retirement costs eventually will severely impact the amount of funds for essentials like streets, police services and maintenance of city facilities. *** Post from Kelly Hubbard about a Laguna Hills council member who has announced he’s running for governor: “His name is Andrew Blount and very little is known about him other than information gathered from his short two-year stint as Councilman/Mayor of Laguna Hills. In 2012, he barely beat out Tea Party candidate Bill Hunt and another candidate for city council. Blount started a software firm back in the nineties and has been a local entrepreneur and businessman ever since. Believe it or not, this guy's major claim to fame locally is an elaborate Christmas display he and his family put together at their home every year. It's been said to be a major tourist attraction in Laguna Hills during the holidays. The major theme of Blount’s campaign thus far appears to be reversing our state's burdensome regulatory climate and the boiler-plate message of bringing more jobs and companies back to California. “Nothing extraordinary jumps out about Blount, and I can't image he'll be a major threat to any of the top contenders, including Donnelly. Call me cynical, but I think it's entirely possible that the reason Blount is in this race is to make a smoother path for Kashkari and a bumpier one for Donnelly. The establishment has a history of putting well-financed Republican contenders in a primary race, who initially appear conservative, to distract from the true conservative in the race, which in this case is of course Tim Donnelly. I encourage folks to do their own homework about Blount. I wasn't able to gather much information about him, and I would be curious to hear what others have to say. Read and watch below.” http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2014/03/laguna-hills-mayor-joins-race-for-governor-hits-raceway.html |
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