Mission Viejo Buzz - 09/28/13

The Buzz

Save the date, Mon., Oct. 14, for the next general meeting of the Mission Viejo chapter of ACT for America. Guest speaker will be Nonie Darwish, author and human rights activist. The program topic is “Understanding the Turmoil in Syria and Egypt, an Egyptian-American’s perspective on the Arab Winter.” The group meets at the Norman P. Murray Community Center, 24932 Veterans Way, Mission Viejo. Doors open at 7:00 p.m., and the meeting starts promptly at 7:30 p.m. A $5 donation is appreciated to help cover meeting costs.

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SOC912 will meet on Fri., Oct. 4, 7:00 p.m. at the Norm Murray Community Center, 24932 Veterans Way, Mission Viejo. From the announcement, “For this meeting, Dr. Jamie Glazov will be our speaker. He will shed some light on the Islamic/Muslim Brotherhood Caliphate, but his main focus (and field of study) will be on why the Left paves the way for these enemies of America and the American way of life. This is another topic we all need to know more about, something the mainstream media will not discuss. Jamie Glazov is Frontpage Magazine's editor. He holds a Ph.D. in history with a specialty in Russian, U.S. and Canadian foreign policy. He is the author of the critically acclaimed and best-selling United in Hate: The Left’s Romance with Tyranny and Terror. He is host of Frontpage's TV talk show, The Glazov Gang.  His specialty is the Left's veneration (great respect; reverence) of the West's totalitarian adversaries. His latest book is High Noon for America: The Coming Showdown. Frontpage Magazine is part of the David Horowitz Freedom Center.”

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Is it true one of the five candidates for the 73rd Assembly District seat is dropping out? As of this writing, no official announcement can be found. The office is held by Assemblywoman Diane Harkey, who is terming out in 2014. The candidates are Rancho Santa Margarita Councilman Jesse Petrilla, Dana Point Councilman Bill Brough, Rancho Santa Margarita Councilman Steve Baric, Capistrano school district trustee Anna Bryson and former Laguna Niguel Councilman Paul Glaab.

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The 2013 California Republican Party Fall Convention is Oct. 4-6 in Anaheim. Featured speakers will be Governor Rick Perry of Texas, Congressman Greg Walden of Oregon and Republican National Committee Co-Chair Sharon Day. The Tea Party California Caucus will be present during the convention. Tea Party leader Leslie Eastman stated in a Sept. 29 post, “No matter how much the elite media and establishment politicos want to kill off the Tea Party, it seems that we citizen activists refuse to roll over and die.”

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This article nails it: “Orange County’s most powerful men and women are using our local governments, our county government and ballot measures to make us all pay for what developers ought to be paying for. This is why these people run for water district boards, school boards, city councils, and the Board of Supervisors, but it doesn’t stop there. Many of these folks are not elected officials, but they work for electeds, they get appointed to public commissions, and they work as lobbyists and consultants. It is all a big scam. They have effectively gamed the system, and the voters, for the most part, have no idea what is really going on.” Read the article and the names – many of whom are cheerleaders for their guy, Frank Ury, who hopes to win a seat on the OC Board of Supervisors. http://ocpoliticsblog.com/the-powerful-people-that-run-the-o-c-arent-serving-the-public/

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During the Sept. 16 council meeting, a Mission Viejo resident presented information on how much compensation OC firefighters receive. Stephen Wontrobski reported his own research indicating the lowest annual compensation for OCFA firefighters is $212,000. This is in stark contrast to claims by such housing developers as Steadfast, who say firefighters qualify for affordable housing. Wontrobski’s figures help to explain why firefighters aren’t lining up for affordable housing. Firefighters probably are not living at home with their parents, sharing an apartment with multiple unrelated people or trying to “move up” to a condo in Lennar’s affordable housing project at Jeronimo and Los Alisos.

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During council comments at the Sept. 16 council meeting, Councilwoman Cathy Schlicht informed the public that Councilman Frank Ury had violated the Brown Act. She said, “Frank Ury on Sept. 3, under Agenda Item No. 8, after Larry Gilbert concluded his public comments, challenged me with the following statement. Mr Ury stated in part:   ‘… the reality is I am simply trying to point out that if you go on and on saying that there is a constitution issue or there is a Brown Act issue, whatever it might be, which we have done and we have heard many times, I am just waiting for one of those times while I am up here, to be proven correct.’

“Well, Mr. Ury, 88 days ago there was indeed a Brown Act violation committed by both yourself and Rhonda Reardon. Brown Act violations are hard to prove because most violations committed are in the form of verbal communications. The nature of your violation and Rhonda’s violation was a vote by e-mail to accept the city clerk minutes as written.   

“In open session, on June 17, Item No. 2, I had challenged the completeness of my statements as shown for the June 3, 2013, minutes. It was my belief that they were politically written. The next day, June 18, the city clerk forwarded to all council members, including the city manager and the city attorney, what I considered an unbalanced sound bite to support the official minutes to which both Mr. Ury responded with ‘I am fine with minutes as approved,’ and Mayor Reardon responded with ‘The minutes accurately reflect Councilmember Schlicht’s comments. I will not be changing my vote.’

“Those two e-mail communications broadcasted to all council members, signaling a direction to the City Clerk, was and is a flagrant violation of the Brown Act. I am not going to request a demand to cure or correct, because I cured that unlawful conduct by transcribing my own comments in full and adding those verbatim minutes to the record.  At that time, it was my decision not to expose your violations – as I was the target – I was satisfied that the record was corrected with my verbatim minutes. Now the public could decide for themselves if the Official Minutes properly reflected my comments or not.     

“The Brown Act is a cornerstone for open and transparent government. Attorney General Opinion from 2001 (84 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen.30) states that board members of a local agency may not e-mail each other to develop a collective concurrence as to an action to be taken by the board without violating the Brown Act even if the emails are sent to the secretary and chairperson of the agency. Frank Ury and Rhonda Reardon violated our open meeting laws when they sent out an e-mail to the entire council. My comments and the backup material to support this breach of state law will be given to the City Clerk for the Public Record.”