Mission Viejo Buzz - 03/16/13

The Buzz

Mission Viejo activist Joe Holtzman sent an article about ratepayers of Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric being charged nearly $1 billion during the past year for an idle nuclear plant. The LA Times published a summary last week: “You probably know San Onofre as the full-figured fiasco overlooking the Pacific Ocean near the Orange/San Diego county line. Beginning in 2004, Southern California Edison, the nuclear power plant's principal owner, oversaw a $770-million project to replace its two aging steam generators with new models. The new units, which were supposed to last 20 years, lasted scarcely 20 months before showing alarmingly severe wear and tear.” Read the Mar. 12 article, http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/12/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20130312

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In the Mission Viejo city election last November, losing candidate Wendy Bucknum used her lobbyist job in the housing industry to get endorsements from her “customers” – also known as elected officials. Assisting Bucknum in Orange County political circles was Assemblywoman Diane Harkey, who endorsed Bucknum early on. Harkey and her developer husband’s bad investment deals might be hampering Diane’s campaign to get on the state Board of Equalization. Is Bucknum more eager to jump Harkey’s ship than passengers on a stranded Carnival cruise? Bucknum attended the March 15 fundraiser for Mark Wyland, who is Harkey’s rival for the Board of Equalization. Bucknum was dressed appropriately in her lobbyist uniform, a company shirt of her employer, Professional Community Management.

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Fun With Chalk, which entertained Mission Viejo residents for years with chalk masterpieces on pavement, has moved its annual streetpainting festival to Soka University in Aliso Viejo. The chalk festival is Sat.-Sun., May 4-5, 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The university’s International Festival runs concurrently on Sat., May 4. Read about the festival at http://www.soka.edu/news_events/International-Festival/default.aspx

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Capo school district ex-superintendent James Fleming, “the Flem,” sued the district in January, asking payment for his legal fees. In 2006, an Orange County grand jury accused him of wrongdoing over the “Enemies Lists,” but charges were dropped by an appellate court in 2011. Last week, an Orange County Superior Court Judge threw out the Flem’s attempt to get his legal fees paid for by the district. Taxpayers should hope this chapter will now end. For the story, go to http://www.ocregister.com/news/fleming-499870-capistrano-ruling.html

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The Saddleback Valley News failed some time ago to maintain readership after removing such community connections as letters to the editor and other input of significance from residents. SVN, despite a recent facelift and larger format, is still the same drivel. Its so-called reporters are putting infomercials on the front page and filling inside pages with reprints from OCR and press releases written by City Manager Dennis Wilberg’s staff. It is a sad day to lose coverage of a local paper, and that day occurred when SVN officials caved in to Wilberg’s demands – if not his threats to pull taxpayer-funded full-page ads from SVN.

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Blog readers might wonder about all the attention the Mission Viejo slopes are getting lately. Residents who are already busy raising children and making house payments might not have the energy to get excited about the condition of city slopes. City watchdogs, however, are following the trail of the $33 million the city has spent on landscaping since 2005. Where did the money go? A recent summary by citizens indicates one-third of city-owned slopes are in poor condition and another third are in marginal condition.

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On Mar. 14, the OC Register reported that a former Mission Viejo Nadadores swim coach has been banned for life from working with young people because of a sex scandal: http://www.ocregister.com/sports/dusenbury-499847-swimmer-swimming.html Among disturbing details is the date – 2006 – and at what point the coach’s Nadadores peers became suspicious but didn’t act to protect a young swimmer.

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A bicyclist died after being struck by a car in Mission Viejo on Mar. 15. As mentioned a week ago on this blog, cyclists are being killed with an average of one fatal accident per month in Orange County. The city of Mission Viejo blatantly put cyclists at risk by removing a bike lane at the intersection of Alicia Parkway and Olympiad Road. Why was this done? To expedite right turns on red for the privileged few who live in Stoneridge – notably Councilman Frank Ury (whose wife works at a school in Rancho Santa Margarita) and a former commissioner appointed by Ury. The bike lane was removed without the proper steps of taking it before the Planning and Transportation Commission, where such a change obviously would have been challenged on the basis of safety.