The Buzz

The Mission Viejo Chapter of ACT! for America will hold a General Meeting on Mon., Jan. 13. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. The meeting starts promptly at 7:30 p.m. and ends at 9:30 p.m., at the Norman P. Murray Community Center, 24932 Veterans Way, Mission Viejo. On the program, author John Steinreich’s topic will be “Persecution of Non-Muslims in Islamic Countries: What It Means to Americans.” Steinreich is an expert on Islam vs. Christianity.

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Assemblywoman Diane Harkey threw a party on Dec. 17 at Norm Reeves Acura in Mission Viejo. Coverage in the Dec. 18 OC Register included a photo of protesters who stood outside the event and held signs. A summary from one of the protesters was forwarded to this blog. He said he had requested the newspaper coverage because a member of his family lost money in Dan Harkey’s real estate deals. He said he wanted to call attention to why Diane Harkey should not run for another political office. To Diane’s allegation in OCR that the protesters were supporters of her political opponent Mark Wyland, the protester indicated it was false. He said, “I have never met Mark Wyland nor have I talked with him. I called the Register reporter on my own.”

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Mission Viejo City Manager Dennis Wilberg has said he might leave his job by the end of 2014. Residents who watch the council meetings notice Wilberg is generally silent. If asked a question, he either says he doesn’t have an answer or he defers to a staff member. For being in charge of city hall, he gives the impression he doesn’t know what’s going on. As another explanation, his responses have gotten him in so much trouble he has become a man of few words.

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Article from ocpolitical.com: “Mission Viejo’s Public Records Retention Policy, Or Lack Thereof, Needs Review,” posted by Greg Woodard on December 17, 2013: The Public Records Act, along with the Brown Act, are the two most important state statutes that are supposed to provide open and transparent government from local city councils, boards, and other agencies.  Mission Viejo needs to review its document retention policy to determine whether it is being as transparent as possible. On October 24, 2013, Mission Viejo resident Larry Gilbert made a simple Public Records Act request for all communications between Dennis Wilberg, the Mission Viejo City Manager, and the city managers of Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente regarding Gilbert and the Community Common Sense newspaper from August 1, 2013 to the date of the request.  Gilbert knew Wilberg had sent an email on September 12, 2013 to the San Juan Capistrano City Manager referencing Gilbert and Common Sense because he had received a copy of it from a friend.  However, even though Gilbert made the request just over 40 days after Wilberg sent the email, the City responded that it had no documents responsive to Gilbert’s request.  At the December 2, 2013 City Council meeting, when pressed by Gilbert about his request, Wilberg stated that he had deleted the email so it was no longer available for production. Continue reading at http://ocpolitical.com/2013/12/17/mission-viejos-public-records-retention-policy-or-lack-thereof-needs-review/

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Post from Larry Gilbert: While the White House continues to provide cover for their incompetent senior members, while Rep. Issa continues in his role of Oversight Committee leadership. The upside of all this is that unlike Benghazi, Fast and Furious, or monitoring members of the press, the Affordable Care Act reaches every American. While the vast majority is no longer paying attention to those key events, they are seeing their health coverage either disappear or find spikes in premiums with the possibility of losing their doctors. The health care topic has legs. This effort of socialism by POTUS should result in a major movement of the chairs in Congress next Nov. where every member of the House and one third of the Senate are facing re-election. His [Obama’s] legacy legislation should also be his downfall. http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2013/12/12/issa-to-sebelius-on-obamacare-probe-this-is-criminal-obstruction-of-justice-n1761577

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From CNS News, 47 million Americans are on food stamps, and isn’t that great news? The White House says this is helping the economy. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/wh-food-stamps-are-boosting-economy#