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Clowncil Members Crash Gate Nov. 6 was a solemn night for many voters. Mission Viejo residents supporting Cathy Schlicht anticipated her reelection as a bright spot as they gathered at a lakefront home after the polls closed. Cathy’s numbers improved throughout the night. The first report came shortly after 8:00 p.m. when the Registrar of Voters posted totals for early absentee ballots. With two seats open, incumbents Frank Ury and Cathy were leading, and Wendy Bucknum was in third place, 33 votes behind Cathy. The totals for the early absentees reflected Ury and Bucknum’s mailers to that group of voters. However, Cathy had the best ground game of all candidates, with precinct walks and other activities gaining votes for her in the final days before the election. Two doors down from the gathering of Cathy’s team on election night, another lakefront homeowner was hosting a party for Wendy Bucknum. The two groups were aware of each other. As some of Cathy’s team members were leaving at 11:00 p.m., five of them were inside the house near the entrance. To their surprise, a man they didn’t know opened the door without knocking. He acted as if he were sneaking in, sticking his head inside and looking around. He had an ear-to-ear grin on his face, and he proceeded to come in, with Dave Leckness (beer in hand) and Trish Kelley right behind him. They were clearly out of line, and they were told to leave. Trish Kelley called Cathy Schlicht the following morning and apologized. At the point the three pranksters showed up, Frank Ury had been bragging on another blog, giving his theory on why he expected Cathy would lose because of the early absentee votes. The intruders from Bucknum’s party were not coming in to congratulate Cathy on being 33 votes ahead after the first report but acting like bullies toward the opponents they thought they had vanquished. When all polling place votes were counted, Cathy’s margin over Bucknum grew to more than 300 votes. Following are the numbers as of this writing, with approximately 4,000 late absentee and provisional votes still to be counted: CITY OF MISSION VIEJO Member, City Council Vote Count FRANK URY CATHY SCHLICHT WENDY BUCKNUM ED SACHS RICHARD W. COLEMAN DESI J. KISS |
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SRA Meets Nov. 15 Saddleback Republican Assembly will meet on Thurs., Nov. 15, at 7:00 p.m. at the Norman P. Murray Community Center in Mission Viejo. Dr. Barbara Stone will be the featured speaker. Dr. Stone is a professor emeritus of political science at Cal State Fullerton, where she taught for 25 years. She was Educator of the Year in 2001 at CSUF and the 1995 Woman of the Year for California Federation of Republican Women. Dr. Stone is a popular speaker, and she enlightens as well as entertains with an incisive political analysis. SRA meets on third Thursdays (except in December, July and August) at the Norman P. Murray Community Center, 24932 Veterans Way, Jacaranda Room-B, Mission Viejo. Meetings are open to the public and admission is free of charge. For information call SRA President Dale Tyler, (949) 360-1717. |
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ACT for America Reminder – the Mission Viejo Chapter of ACT for America will hold a General Meeting on Mon., Nov. 12, at the Norm Murray Community Center. Doors open at 6:45 p.m., and the meeting starts promptly at 7:30 p.m. “The Afghanistan Diaries” will be presented by an American soldier who will reveal what’s really going on in the war with the Taliban. Jesse Petrilla recently returned from Afghanistan where he served as a Liaison Officer to an Afghan government intelligence agency. He will share with you his firsthand experiences meeting with some of the most sinister jihadists at America's largest detention facility in Afghanistan. A $5 donation is appreciated to help cover our meeting costs. The group will meet in the Sycamore B room at the Norman P. Murray Community Center, 24932 Veterans Way, Mission Viejo. Sign up for our ACT! for America chapter announcements at www.act4oc.org |
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Non-government Events Following is a sampling of events and activities that are not funded by taxpayers or promoted by the Nanny State. Please support private enterprise and non-profit groups. Veteran’s Day Special Mass, Mon., Nov. 12, 9:00 a.m., St. Kilian Church. All active and former military are welcome to dress in uniform and join the entrance procession. Music, color guard and bugler, 26872 Estanciero Dr., Mission Viejo, (949) 586-4440. Dana Point Turkey Trot, Thurs., Nov. 22, 5/K 10/K walk/run, benefits 5th Marine Regiment, Dana Point Harbor, (949) 496-1555, http://www.turkeytrot.com Lake Mission Viejo’s facilities will be open to members on Thanksgiving Day, Thurs., Nov. 22, 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., including boat rental from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Save the date for Santa’s arrival and the boat parade, Sat., Dec. 8. Call (949) 770-1313, ext. 200, http://www.lakemissionviejo.org Now enrolling, Happy Minds Kids Academy in the Gateway Center, 24000 Alicia Parkway, #35, Mission Viejo. Programs for infants, toddlers, preschool, pre-kindergarten and junior kindergarten, (949) 455-1212, http://www.happymindskids.com Daily Guided Tours at the Mission during the week, Monday through Friday, 11:15 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. No advance reservation required, but a minimum group size is needed to proceed, Mission San Juan Capistrano, 26801 Ortega Highway, San Juan Capistrano, 26801 Ortega Hwy, San Juan Capistrano, (949) 234-1300, http://www.missionsjc.com/ Holiday Ice Rink in Spectrum. Outdoor rink is open daily, skating lessons are available. Check the website for schedule. Giant Wheel Court, Irvine Spectrum Center, (949) 748-8280, http://www.skatespectrum.com |
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Political and Government Events Calendar Moulton Niguel Water District meetings: Engineering and Operations on Tues., Nov. 13, 9:00 a.m.; Finance and I.T. on Wed., Nov. 14, 9:00 a.m.; Board of Directors on Thurs., Nov. 15, 5:30 p.m., 27500 La Paz Road, Laguna Niguel, (949) 831-2500, http://www.mnwd.com/board-of-directors/agenda.aspx Saddleback Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Tues., Nov. 13, 6:30 p.m. District office, 25631 Peter Hartman Way, Mission Viejo, (949) 586-1234, http://www.svusd.k12.ca.us/ Santa Margarita Water District Board of Directors on Wed., Nov. 14 at 7:00 p.m., 26111 Antonio Parkway, Rancho Santa Margarita, (949) 459-6420, http://www.smwd.com Capistrano Unified School District Board of Trustees regular meeting on Wed., Nov. 14, 7:00 p.m., district office, 33122 Valle Road, San Juan Capistrano, agenda and supporting documentation are published on the website 72 hours prior to a meeting, (949) 234-9200, http://capousd.ca.schoolloop.com/ Saddleback Republican Assembly, Thurs., Nov. 15, 7:00 p.m. Dr. Barbara Stone will be the featured speaker. SRA meets on third Thursdays at the Norman P. Murray Community Center, 24932 Veterans Way, Jacaranda Room-B, Mission Viejo. For information call (949) 360-1717. Concert at the Richard Nixon Library, Sun., Nov. 18, Lotus Bud Gu Zeng Academy. Concerts are free and open to the public. Doors open at 1:15 pm, and concerts begin at 2:00 pm unless otherwise noted. Schedule is subject to change. Richard Nixon Library, 18001 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda, (714) 364-1161, http://nixonfoundation.org/concerts/ El Toro Water District meetings: Engineering, Finance, Insurance Committee on Mon., Nov. 19, 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.; Board of Directors on Thurs., Nov. 20, 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. ETWD, 24251 Los Alisos Blvd., Lake Forest, (949) 837-0660, http://www.etwd.com/ South Orange County Community College District Board of Trustees, Mon., Nov. 19. Meeting times unless otherwise posted: open session convenes at 5:00 p.m., followed by adjournment to closed session, open session reconvenes at 6:00 p.m. or 6:30 p.m., adjournment by 9:00 p.m. Ronald Reagan Board of Trustees Room, Room 145, Health Sciences/District Offices Building, Saddleback College, 28000 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo, (949) 582-4999, https://www.socccd.edu Orange County Board of Supervisors will meet on Tues., Nov. 20, 9:30 a.m., Board Hearing Room, First Floor, 333 W. Santa Ana Blvd., Santa Ana, (714) 834-3100. http://egov.ocgov.com/ocgov/Government/Board%20of%20Supervisors/Meeting%20Schedule |
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The Buzz Did City Clerk Karen Hamman try to cover up a $2,000 donation for council challenger Wendy Bucknum from the billboard developer at Kaleidoscope? Hamman posted a last-minute check from Sentinel Development in a manner whereby the information was obscure and difficult for the public to find (link to PDF). Bucknum received the $2,000 check on Nov. 5, reported at 4:45 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 6. *** From information forwarded to this blog by a watchdog: “Council member Cathy Schlicht and businessman Ed Sachs were warning the voters that should Frank Ury and Wendy Buchnum get elected [on Nov. 6] we would see the council majority approving 6 or 7 huge 20 x 60 foot electronic billboards on the Kaleidoscope complex owned by Sentinel. Once approved, if that included off-site advertisements, we could not have input on ad content while this would also open us up for safety and environmental issues. The master-planned bedroom community would be forever changed to introduce visual blight that not only would impact Mission Viejo but our neighboring cities that expressed opposition to this proposed Signage Ordinance District. *** On Election Night, the editor of Mission Viejo’s Patch.com knocked on the door of the home where supporters of Cathy Schlict were watching election returns. When he asked Councilwoman Schlicht for a quote, she declined to comment. She added, “I have no respect for your publication,” which was published on Patch.com. Patch presents itself as a news outlet, yet it thrives on personal attacks and name-calling against watchdogs and other conservative Mission Viejo residents. It recently published a personal attack calling Larry Gilbert a Nazi, which should end any illusion Patch’s mission is to report news. *** City Hall has distributed thousands of cheap “recyclable” bags, with a pretense of going green. The bags are emblazoned with City Hall’s dead tree logo, which has become a symbol of city officials’ unconscionable waste of taxpayer dollars and disrespect for the environment. City Hall’s bags not only compete with local businesses trying to sell similar products, city officials’ bags are all made in China – adding insult to injury against taxpayers. *** Comment from a blog reader: “A friend gave me one of the City Hall bags when she was returning items to me – I otherwise would not have had it. When I used it later, it broke as I was crossing a busy street. The handle came loose, and a seam ripped as the bag hit the pavement. The contents were strewn on the street. I could neither reach all of them nor stop traffic. A good Samaritan got out of his car to stop traffic so I could pick up everything from the street. I had a strong impulse not to accept the bag in the first place, since the bags made in China are shown to be laden with bacteria and lead. I did learn a lesson from the experience.” What’s made in China should stay in China. |
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