Mission Viejo Buzz - 06/22/13

The Buzz

Community members who want to learn about Common Core Curriculum are invited to attend SOC912’s informative meeting on Wed., June 26, 7:00 p.m. The program topic will be “Common Core – National Education Program – Not Good for America!” Common Core involves a federal takeover of public education. The meeting will be held at the Norm Murray Community Center, 24932 Veterans Way, Mission Viejo. http://www.meetup.com/SOC912/

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June hasn’t been a good month for Orange County’s incestuous power club. Despite the money boys promoting the restart of Southern California Edison’s San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, SCE announced its closure on June 7. Another setback to the paid political performers came on June 19. The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board denied a permit for the 5.5-mile extension to the SR-241 toll road. http://www.sanclementetimes.com/blog/2013/06/20/water-board-denies-241-toll-road-extension-permit/

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This blog’s editors are not opposed to nuclear power, but they believe SCE should have first addressed safety issues. Instead, SCE’s PR campaign enriched shills who downplayed safety concerns. This blog also supports building and maintaining infrastructure, including road repair and traffic solutions. However, it does not support the money boys’ “education campaigns,” including full-page newspaper ads that don’t address Mission Viejo’s primary transportation needs. A representative who serves on the Transportation Corridor Agency finally revealed factual data from the dais. During the June 17 Mission Viejo City Council meeting, Councilwoman Rhonda Reardon talked about financing the toll roads and said the TCA’s bonds are one step above junk bonds.

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In another challenge to the toll road extension, a lawsuit filed by the California Attorney General in May alleges the road is being built in piecemeal fashion, which is prohibited by the California Environmental Quality Act. Toll road advocates responded the piecemealing claim isn’t true. However, Mission Viejo Councilman Frank Ury said from the dais the toll road will be finished “incrementally.” Watch the video, Item No. 24, where he states how the TCA will proceed, http://missionviejo.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?clip_id=ece3ebb3-87ec-4417-b6cb-6c22f46ae4c1&meta_id=4cc9710f-ea8d-4b05-adff-d07efbc56044

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A Mission Viejo watchdog sent word that Justin McCusker replaced Roger Faubel on the Santa Margarita Water District Board of Directors. The appointment was predicted last week in an article on OCPoliticsBlog.com. From the June 22 blog update following McCusker’s appointment: “We reported on June 13, 2013, that consummate OC political insider Justin McCusker would be appointed to replace his pal Roger Faubel on the board of the Santa Margarita Water District. They demurred but today a press release was issued admitting that our inside source was right. You can bet that this guy will be a giant conflict of interest as he appears to be quite beholden to developers and no, we won’t be able to count on him to do the right thing.” Read the rest of the article, including information about a related fiasco, Cadiz Inc., at http://ocpoliticsblog.com/developer-shill-justin-mccusker-appointed-to-the-smwd-board-of-directors/

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OC Politics blog highlights another member of the power club, Lucy Dunn: “Ruh roh! It looks like Lucy Dunn, the President of the Orange County Business Council (OCBC), really blew it when she sent out an email promoting her pal Kris Murray, who is running for re-election to the Anaheim City Council. You see the OCBC accepts taxpayer money and as such they are not allowed to endorse candidates. They have a Political Action Committee that is supposed to do that.” Continue reading: http://ocpoliticsblog.com/did-lucy-dunn-blow-it-while-shamelessly-promoting-kris-murray/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OcPolitics+(OC+Politics)

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Conservatives who watched the June 17 council meeting were likely in shock that the budget was passed with almost no discussion. Only Councilwoman Cathy Schlicht asked questions about staff recommendations. By the way, the charging stations for electric cars are covered in the budget, with only Councilwoman Schlicht objecting. This is the tip of the iceberg as the budget goes, but a typical example of how things are done in city hall. The charging stations were budgeted without any needs analysis whatsoever, and the city apparently thinks it should compete with private enterprise by entering this market.