The Buzz

The end of redevelopment is changing City Hall’s game plan in a big way. City Manager Dennis Wilberg and the council majority members will no longer have redevelopment funds to influence developers and property owners to build high-density housing projects. Locations of potential housing projects have included the shopping centers at La Paz and Marguerite, the former Unisys property at Jeronimo and Los Alisos, the Casta Del Sol Golf Course and closed schools. However, given the council majority of Ury, Kelley and Leckness, residents should remain vigilant.

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Is there a reason City Hall plants, replants the overplants the same locations near the Community Center while neglecting other parts of town? Except for property maintained by homeowner associations, many slopes and roadsides have barren dirt and weeds. Areas of obvious neglect include segments along Los Alisos, Trabuco, the northern portion of Jeronimo, the area surrounding Trabuco High School and large sections of south Mission Viejo. If the occupants of City Hall ever ventured beyond their offices and the Community Center, perhaps they’d notice.

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Mission Viejo residents should tune in to the council meeting on May 7. Those who think they voted to put fiscal conservatives on the council should expect to see some defining moments. Following are agenda items residents should watch:

• Item #9 - UDR has a new proposal to create a windfall for itself. UDR wants concessions from the city to remove affordable units while retaining the high density.
• Item #10 – another amendment to the tennis resort renovation to RJM for irrigation and landscaping preparation for bid plans.
• Item #11 - this is the Dog Park Land Swap deal with Orange County and the federal government. The land swap previously failed on a 2-2 vote with Kelley abstaining. She has since resigned from the OC Parks Commission so she can vote on this item. The drawings of the dog park are missing from the backup materials. What has also been omitted is the 11-23-2011 letter from the United States Department of the Interior, requiring the city to restore native grassland and to submit a grassland restoration plan to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service with an ongoing financial obligation to maintain and monitor the progress of the restoration.
• Item #12 - the $358,344 library room remodel is back on the agenda.
• Under City Manager Reports, Item #20 - RDA Successor Agency, amending the payment schedule that was rejected by the State Dept. of Finance.
  Under Council Comments Frank Ury has re-agendized the Marguerite Tennis resort project to approve a $357,585 change order for an irrigation system.

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Thanks to blog reader K.C. for forwarding the quote of the day: "Apparently, I'm supposed to be angrier about what Mitt Romney does with his own money than what Barack Obama does with my money."

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The OC Register has at least one writer who seems obsessed with so-called declining unemployment figures. Since she has a job, how about getting a second opinion about the rosy job market from those who are out of work? Kevin Jackson reports 54.3 percent of young adults age 18 to 24 can’t find a job. http://theblacksphere.net

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Obama’s three-and-a-half-year losing streak has gone from Hope and Change to hype and blame. Here’s a sampling of Obama’s record of moving the country backward.

Obamacare
Sagging economy, high unemployment
Dismantling the Constitution
Crushing debt
Food stamps, foreclosures, high gas prices
Fast & Furious debacle
Dependence on foreign oil
Solar energy company failures at public expense
Lack of support for Israel
Czars and radical associates
Unsecured borders and illegal immigration
Weakened national defense
Loss of family values
Gaffes and apologizing for America
Globalism, progressivism
War on Christianity
Rejection of Keystone pipeline
Class envy; war on the rich
$825 billion stimulus
Burgeoning growth of government
Restraint of free enterprise