The Buzz

The city’s party of the month during March was “Up in the Air.” According to City Hall, “thousands attended.” Since the claim appeared alongside photos – a few close-up shots with virtually no one in the background – it raised questions about the turnout. A citizen responded with the rest of the story. Folks were in the area, but they weren’t there for Up in the Air. The adjacent sports fields were the attraction.

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The city’s schedule of events and classes (“Leisure Time”) shows that an amazing number of activities are funded with tax dollars. Not all of the classes listed are actually presented because of low interest. A recent musical program in city hall may have been similarly disregarded by the community. Why else would a large purchase of tickets show up on the city’s check register? There were two such large purchases of tickets. The explanation of the ticket purchases was “tickets were given to volunteers.” When the city is paying for a concert, why else would it buy tickets from itself except to fill otherwise seats?

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Mission Viejo residents found a new paper thrown in their driveway on Fri., Mar. 29. Called “Community News,” it consists of reprints of material from Saddleback Valley News, which contains reprints from the OC Register. On the plus side, OCR’s new owners have created a lot of jobs. Several months ago, the new owners stopped the free distribution of SVN in hopes of getting subscribers. With the advent of a new free paper published by OCR, its owners seem to have a plan that’s so sophisticated no one can make sense of it.

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On Mar. 27, the Capo USD board of trustees voted to request fee waivers to allow the district to exceed the state’s maximum class sizes. Such waivers will enable the district to request elimination of penalties for exceeding the limits. Cheers to Trustees Ellen Addonizio and Jim Reardon for opposing the decision, voting in the 5-2 minority. The waivers are actually extensions of waivers voted on in school years 2011 through 2013. While the union-backed majority has been directing funds to employee salaries, the district’s estimated cost of needed repairs has reached $500 million.

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According to the city website, City Manager Dennis Wilberg’s total annual compensation is $293,202. In a prior issue of this blog, Wilberg’s salary was stated as approximately $200,000. However, that number includes only regular pay, which a blog reader pointed out as an incomplete picture.