The Buzz

Did City Clerk Karen Hamman try to cover up a $2,000 donation for council challenger Wendy Bucknum from the billboard developer at Kaleidoscope? Hamman posted a last-minute check from Sentinel Development in a manner whereby the information was obscure and difficult for the public to find (link to PDF). Bucknum received the $2,000 check on Nov. 5, reported at 4:45 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 6.

***

From information forwarded to this blog by a watchdog: “Council member Cathy Schlicht and businessman Ed Sachs were warning the voters that should Frank Ury and Wendy Buchnum get elected [on Nov. 6] we would see the council majority approving 6 or 7 huge 20 x 60 foot electronic billboards on the Kaleidoscope complex owned by Sentinel. Once approved, if that included off-site advertisements, we could not have input on ad content while this would also open us up for safety and environmental issues. The master-planned bedroom community would be forever changed to introduce visual blight that not only would impact Mission Viejo but our neighboring cities that expressed opposition to this proposed Signage Ordinance District.

***

On Election Night, the editor of Mission Viejo’s Patch.com knocked on the door of the home where supporters of Cathy Schlict were watching election returns. When he asked Councilwoman Schlicht for a quote, she declined to comment. She added, “I have no respect for your publication,” which was published on Patch.com. Patch presents itself as a news outlet, yet it thrives on personal attacks and name-calling against watchdogs and other conservative Mission Viejo residents. It recently published a personal attack calling Larry Gilbert a Nazi, which should end any illusion Patch’s mission is to report news.

***

City Hall has distributed thousands of cheap “recyclable” bags, with a pretense of going green. The bags are emblazoned with City Hall’s dead tree logo, which has become a symbol of city officials’ unconscionable waste of taxpayer dollars and disrespect for the environment. City Hall’s bags not only compete with local businesses trying to sell similar products, city officials’ bags are all made in China – adding insult to injury against taxpayers.

***

Comment from a blog reader: “A friend gave me one of the City Hall bags when she was returning items to me – I otherwise would not have had it. When I used it later, it broke as I was crossing a busy street. The handle came loose, and a seam ripped as the bag hit the pavement. The contents were strewn on the street. I could neither reach all of them nor stop traffic. A good Samaritan got out of his car to stop traffic so I could pick up everything from the street. I had a strong impulse not to accept the bag in the first place, since the bags made in China are shown to be laden with bacteria and lead. I did learn a lesson from the experience.” What’s made in China should stay in China.