Mission Viejo Buzz - 02/02/13

The Buzz

The Mission Viejo Chapter of ACT for America will hold a general meeting on Mon., Feb. 11, at the Norm Murray Community Center in Mission Viejo. Doors open at 6:45 p.m., and the meeting starts promptly at 7:30 p.m. Guest speaker Jamie Glazov’s topic will be “United in Hatred for America: The Left’s Dangerous Romance with Tyrants and Terrorists.” Glazov is the author and editor of Front Page online magazine. The Community Center is located at 24932 Veterans Way, Mission Viejo. Note the venue change to the Palo Verde Room. Sign up for ACT for America chapter announcements at www.act4oc.org

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Council candidates filed their campaign finance information last week, reported as Form 460. According to candidate Wendy Bucknum’s report, she spent $54,629 to lose, ending up with 15,614 votes. An email from city watchdog Larry Gilbert sheds light on Bucknum’s special interest financiers. Larry listed only contributions of $500 or more:

  1. 3-28 CA Real Estate PAC $1000
  2. 8-27 CA Real Estate PAC $9000
  3. 5-1 OC TAX PAC $500
  4. 10-24 OC TAX PAC $500
  5. 1-9 BIZ PAC $500
  6. 3-2 Associa PAC $500
  7. 6-22 BIA (Bldg Industry Assn) $1000
  8. 10-8 Appt. Assoc. of CA PAC $500
  9. 10-8 Rancho MV $500
  10. 10-7 Committee for improved public policy $1500
  11. 9-14 OC Auto Dealers $1000
  12. 10-12 OC Auto Dealers $1000
  13. 10-8 Townsend Public Affairs $1000
  14. 1-27 Americare Ambulance $1000
  15. 11-5 Sentinel Dev (Kaleidoscope) $2000
  16. 10-27 South Coast Appt. Assn. $1000
  17. 9-17 Roger Faubel (connection to Kaleidoscope) $1000

              18.  

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City Hall watchers say Councilman Frank Ury had a hand in the new right-turn lane at Alicia and Olympiad. Ury lives in Stoneridge (on Olympiad), and his wife works at a school in Rancho Santa Margarita. Apparently, some drivers coming out of Stoneridge need to get to Rancho Santa Margarita and cannot possibly wait a few seconds at the corner before making the turn. The bike lane was removed – compromising safety on a road renamed for its role in the Road Cycling Events in the Olympics. A story emanating from City Hall says Ury’s neighbor, Pat Imburgia, one of Ury’s appointees to a city commission, also wanted the right-turn lane.

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A column in the Feb. 1 Saddleback Valley News demonstrates why residents stopped reading SVN long ago. A photo of Councilwoman Trish Kelley appears above the column, giving a false impression she wrote it. City Hall has a corps of fluff writers who do NOT put their names on their own drivel. Their writing shows up in newspapers below the names of Register reporters as well as such council members as Kelley and Leckness. The two council members’ emails show they can’t put a simple sentence together.

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The material in City Hall’s article with Kelley’s name on it touts the city’s 25th anniversary and the community’s 50th year as a housing development. It’s a giveaway about City Hall’s next spendathon, another month-long party for the city staff. The article also talks about the city’s budget “surplus.” Watchdogs have repeatedly pointed out that the surplus exists only on paper – there’s no money. City staffers underestimated revenue – they were wrong, but the real problem is that they spent $5.3 million more than was taken in ( http://missionviejodispatch.com/budget/5-3-million-mvs-fifth-consecutive-deficit/ ). Only in government can anyone go $5 million in the hole and call it a surplus.

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If this year marks the city’s 25th anniversary, then it’s Easelgate’s 5th anniversary. This blog should publish a special issue commemorating City Hall’s 20th anniversary flop, including the fiasco of the “world’s longest photo gallery.” City Hall handed out hundreds of cameras to residents, who supposedly were to take pictures around town and return the cameras so the city could display the photos. Almost none of the cameras were returned. Instead of admitting it was a very bad idea, the city handed out more cameras – to city employees, who phonied up the display by taking pictures of things like rocks and leaves. Happy anniversary, Mission Viejo … Banning … Buffalo … or wherever. With pictures of rocks and leaves, it could have been anywhere. The day after the exhibit ended, hundreds of pricey, custom-built easels were trashed on a hillside, and that was only the beginning.

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Mission Viejo taxpayers paid $33 million from 2005 to 2013 for landscaping contracts. As residents look at the city’s many barren slopes, they should ponder how much it actually costs to maintain dirt and weeds. The city also targets specific areas to plant, replant and overplant inappropriate foliage and then tear it out. Even when vegetation is thriving, it is torn out anew with the excuse that drought-tolerant vegetation must replace it, plus change orders run up enormous bills.