"Can we all get along?" Not the Mission Viejo selection of mayor and mayor pro tem

Nothing is easy when it comes to Mission Viejo politics. And last night’s city council meeting was no exception. Although some might believe in a rotation between the five council members to sit in the center chair as mayor that simply has become the exception rather than the rule. I think back to the days when we had a “party of three” rotating the top two positions among themselves. Council members Bill Craycraft, Susan Withrow and Sherri Butterfield locked out the newer members until we chased them from office. Did their departure lead to civility? Are we better off today now that they are gone? I’ll let you decide.

Last night’s selection of Mission Viejo’s mayor and mayor pro-tem warrant some background.
In 2006 councilman Frank Ury was actively supporting three newcomers who were first, second, and third on the ballot. During that city council campaign he said he wanted to dump the three incumbent members up for re-election. Well, folks. It didn’t happen. All three of those he chose to support went down in defeat. I must admit that I took an active role in that election and supported at least one member who came very close to upsetting incumbent Lance MacLean. A last minute campaign donation to the incumbents by southern CA Edison may have made the difference in the final outcome where we lost by less than 100 votes.

Fast forward to last night where late in the Agenda was the item dealing with the selection of next year’s mayor and mayor pro tem. Mayor Gail Reavis recommended that John Paul Ledesma, mayor pro tem, be elevated to the center seat as we rotate the mayor and vice mayor every January. Considering he currently serves as mayor pro tem it sounds reasonable to me but not with this friendly group. John Paul seconded Mayor Reavis’s nomination which was immediately followed by councilman MacLean nominating Frank Ury for mayor. Yes, the same Frank Ury who actively worked to dump Lance, Trish Kelley and John Paul Ledesma in 2006.

Gail than proceeded to share the history of JP’s first election in 1998 and “the election of Trish and Lance in 2002 where they said they wanted to promote rotation.”
She went on to say that “two years ago Mr. Ury worked very hard to get rid of three members on this city council and I would expect no less of him in the next election So…There is a certain amount of respect and camaraderie that has to go on and I think it has to be earned.”

John Paul spoke next pointing out that “I see nothing wrong with me having a second term as mayor” and actually, logically I would have been mayor in 2007 but passed due to time constraints. Paraphrased.

“When it comes to councilman Ury..being quite honest..I simply do not trust him.”

The next to speak was member Ury who stated that “When it comes to trust that is something up to the voters.” He added that “You know I didn’t think we were going to go in the direction of talking about last year and the fact we did is fine. Because while we’re talking about how the campaign went and everything like that there’s a 10,000 pound moose? on the table. “One of our colleagues sued the city for $10 million dollars” at which point mayor Reavis responds saying “liar liar”–it was not a law suit. Frank continued to say that she was hoping to get $10 million dollars from the citizens. Gail again said “it was not a law suit” and that over the past six months she has been paying attorney fees on behalf of two other council members. She charged Frank for his failure to remove lies about her from his web site repeating that “I did not sue the city.”

OK. Let’s vote. First. Gail’s Motion for John Paul to be mayor. Final score 3-2 with Gail and JP voting YES, Frank, Lance and Trish voting NO.

All right, let’s vote on the second Motion made by Lance for Frank Ury to be mayor. While Lance and Frank vote YES, Trish surprises everyone and joins JP and Gail voting NO blocking the appointment.

Seeing that surprising vote Mayor Reavis says: Hey, that’s interesting. All right–I’ll nominate Trish Kelley for mayor which was seconded by Lance. Trish says she will accept the nomination. Gail proceeded to speak highly of Trish adding “I will support her.” The vote was taken with John Paul and Frank voting NO resulting in Trish Kelley being selected as mayor of Mission Viejo for 2008 commencing next month.
The final vote was to select the mayor pro tem Lance nominated Frank Ury which held on a 3-2 with Gail and John Paul voting NO.
So much for camaraderie within the ranks. At times I must question the effectiveness of our retaining the services of a facilitator whose main objective was to bring the troops together to better serve our citizens. Not this year.

And that folks is the end of the story. Note: While I attempted to transcribe the commentary from a tape of our televised council meeting you can view and listen to this exchange yourself when it is posted on our city web site. Simply go to the video of Dec 3rd and “Jump to” Agenda Item #32, Election of mayor and mayor pro tem.

As Rodney King said in 1991, “can we all get along.” Not with the lack of trust within this group. We know who the winners are. Let me tell you about the losers. Us. The voters who put them in office.

About Larry Gilbert