The Buzz

ACT for America will meet on Mon., Nov. 4. Note the change of date to first Monday of the month for November. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. The meeting starts promptly at 7:30 p.m. and ends at 9:30 p.m. Guest speakers Ron Williams and Dr. Manny Tau will present “Identifying and Deterring Potentially Deadly Behavior.” The speakers are threat-management experts who will share tactics on survival. Williams served in the United States Secret Service for 22 years and supervised all divisions of the Los Angeles Field Office. Williams is CEO of Talon Companies, providing security consulting, including critical infrastructure protection requiring Top Secret clearance. ACT for America meets at the Norman P. Murray Community Center, 24932 Veterans Way, Mission Viejo.

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SOC912 will meet on Fri., Nov. 8, 6:45 p.m. to 8:45 p.m., Norm Murray Community Center, 24932 Veterans Way, Mission Viejo. From the announcement: “Learn how to sign up and use Facebook and Twitter! Learn some of the tools like hashtags, which is the pound symbol #.
Learn why it is important to use it - it can change opinions and reach more people than you can imagine. Let's discuss the risk, too, but why it is important. Bring your cell phone and/or laptop. We'll try to get you going right away. Invite your friends and other like-minded patriots.”

A $5 donation at the door will help pay for costs; free to first-time visitors and young people through age 24. http://www.meetup.com/SOC912/events/145277542/

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OC Weekly has selected 30 of Orange County’s Scariest People for 2013 http://www.ocweekly.com/2013-10-24/news/scariest-people-2013-dorner-spitzer-moreno/. The article contains OCW’s trademark humor mixed with its usual obscenities

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No. 3 on OCW’s scariest list is OC Register owner Aaron Kushner. The paper could have folded by now if not for Kushner’s infusion of cash and his concept of journalism – substituting advertorial for news. Kushner’s primary impact on Orange County is to save OCR readers a lot of time. They can read the entire paper in less than 5 minutes.

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It’s official. Professional lobbyist Wendy Bucknum announced she’s running again for Mission Viejo City Council. Bucknum lost in 2012 despite a campaign funded largely by special interest and those who don’t live in Mission Viejo. Just before Election Day in 2012, she made a personal loan of $8,000 to her campaign, and she’s still trying to get her money back. In February, her attempt at a debt-reduction party was a bust. On Nov. 6, she’s having another one, this time calling it a fundraiser (or maybe a debt raiser, depending on the outcome) for her re-launched candidacy. Her party hosts are her clients as a lobbyist – elected officials who sell their votes.

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Two months ago, this blog asked if city hall would roll out the red carpet for Community Common Sense, a monthly newspaper expanding into Mission Viejo. Founded in San Juan Capistrano several years ago, CCS began distributing 10,000 copies in Mission Viejo in August. Following the decline of such newspapers as Saddleback Valley News, CCS fills a void by covering the community and exposing corruption in city hall. By contrast, SVN city reporters put their names on press releases written by city employees. There was no ribbon-cutting ceremony for CCS in August, and City Manager Dennis Wilberg took a shot at the newspaper in an email last week.

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The expansion of Community Common Sense in Mission Viejo helped to expose the cost of a dog park, now at $1.4 million in Phase 1. Those watching the project are predicting the final cost will be $3 million. Last week, city staffers asked the council for an additional $190,000 to pay for irrigation that was “forgotten” in the design. This is the same approach used by the staff in remodeling the Marguerite Tennis Center, where the irrigation system had been “forgotten.” The city hall amnesiacs also “forgot” the dog park will need lighting, as it is open until 10:00 p.m.