The following report is from the Mission Viejo Dispatch. Earlier this morning I spoke to Editor Brad Morton commending him for this coverage and advising him that I was going to post it on the Juice. It’s sad when the selected stakeholders in making this decision were hand picked to almost represent “push polling” to avoid watchdog scrutiny or feedback. Some have even questioned whether or not this was on a regular city council Agenda BEFORE the Contract was issued. Larry
Mission Viejo Dispatch
The most complete news for America’s premier planned community
Anatomy of Agenda Secret: Public Input Blocked On New Slogan & Logo
December 17, 2007 by MissionViejoDispatch.com
Residents are asking why public discussion was non-existent when the City Council (4-1) quickly adopted a new slogan and logo on behalf of the community. The slogan, “Making Living Your Mission,” is supposed to capture the essence of the city; the logo, a tree trunk with scrollwork replacing foliage, is supposed to symbolize and differentiate Mission Viejo. Following are the Dispatch’s findings regarding the selection process:
The proposed slogan and logo were not disclosed to residents prior to the consultant’s presentation and the council’s vote on December 3, thereby precluding public comments, verbal or written, prior to the vote.
The proposed slogan and logo were not included in the council’s advance study materials.
The slogan and logo were presented to City Staff several days before the meeting, as confirmed by the City’s Director of Public Works, Keith Rattay. The information was not included in the agenda materials available to the council or public, however, and no press release or other disclosure of the slogan and logo was made to the media or residents.
The consultant’s spokeperson, Laurie Shiada, defended the secrecy to the Dispatch because 28 people were interviewed during the consultant’s study process. The Dispatch reviewed the names of the interviewees; all were selected by Staff and were current or former officials, city staffers (most living outside Mission Viejo), business owners/operators, with one associate of a special interest. No independent residents or families, without such conflicting interests, were included. Ms. Shiada confirmed the proposed slogan and logo were never presented during the interviews.
Ms. Shiada also defended secrecy by contending the slogan and logo needed to be accompanied with an immediate verbal presentation to provide an adequate understanding – which seemed to beg the question: If the slogan and logo don’t have obvious appeal and significance without immediate explanation, are they appropriate?
Mr. Rattay defended the secrecy, expressing frustration with public “complaints” which have impeded his vision to make the city more “relevant.” He also asserted the consultant’s need to provide a verbal explanation at the time of disclosure.
During the council’s discussion of the slogan and logo, Councilman Ury warned his council colleagues against allowing public input to inhibit concepts for changing Mission Viejo.
The slogan and logo were agendized for the last meeting prior to Christmas, a tactic referred to as “agenda management” if timing is used as a tool to advance potentially significant or controversial matters while the public is distracted during the holidays.
No council member asked to continue the item to receive public feedback. Only Mayor Reavis voted in opposition to re-branding.
After the vote, each council member received a gift of his or her photo portrait in a frame bearing the just-adopted city slogan.
Posted in Council Votes, Re-Branding & Mixed Use | 1 Comment
One Response to “Anatomy of Agenda Secret: Public Input Blocked On New Slogan & Logo”
on December 17, 2007 at 11:31 am1 Joe Holtzman
This type of stealth action will continue until we have a city council that listens to and respects all of the citizens of our city. The Re-Branding morphed out of the Crown Valley widening project–which by the way is very much behind schedule.
As to Mr. Rattay’s vision of Mission Viejo it is an unacceptable action to send the California Promise to the guillotine. He is not a resident of the city and has taken other very objectionable actions in the city to achieve “his vision. Example: Removal of the signature rocks the Mission Viejo Company placed on key corners in the northern part of the city. The rocks should have never been removed.
A basic tenant of freedom is complete and unfettered access to information. It would appear that unfettered access to information is lacking from both our city council and city administrators.
Joe Holtzman
Mission Viejo -26 years
Keith Rattay has been working for years to inflict his bizarre ideas on Mission Viejo taxpayers. The two former councilwomen dethroned in 2002 were also trying to promote Rattay’s “visions.” Can’t we all just get a bong?
Current council members have it exactly backwards. During the Dec. 3 selection of the 2008 mayor, Trish Kelley proclaimed she was best suited to be mayor because she has nothing else to do but attend every meeting, free lunch and Berith in town. Council members were NOT elected to represent city hall to the residents, which is all they’re doing.
In Mission Viejo’s voter revolt of 2002, council winners were elected with a mandate to clean house at city hall. They couldn’t close the deal. Hell – they couldn’t even close a door. Former city manager Dan Joseph ran amok for another 18 months, and his hand-picked lackeys are still on the payroll running amok. Just as in 2002, anger among voters is rising.
Who is the City Manager now, and why is the Public Works Director driving the train?
Anon #2.
The current city manager is Dennis Wilberg. He previously served as our assitant city manager and director of public works.
As to your second question we are baffled. There have been rumors of questionable actions but without hard evidence will remain strictly rumors.
We, the residents of Santa Ana feel your pain and understand your feelings of betrayal. At the very least we should have transparent and open government. The voice of those who are constituents needs to be heard prior to decisions not after. I hope that those who live there will express their concerns to those who they elected and employ.
Remember politics is about pain and pain avoidance. If you cause them enough pain, they may reconsider. Or at least remember they don’t want to do it again. My suggestion is to write a letter to them, call them and read it to them, fax it to them, email the same letter, and finally print it out and send it via snail mail. The hope is that they will actually get the message via redundancy. You also have the satisfaction of knowing that you are driving them just a bit crazy in the process.
We wish it was simply a logo and slogan the city council pushes through by fiat.
Carl.
Thank you for your comments.
Generally speaking every one of my posts is emailed directly to one or more members of our city council and staff. In this case the distribution was extensive. Directly or indirectly they are getting the message. The good news is that, unlike the local reporters, they have no control of the content of these blog posts.
Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas holiday and a Happy New Year.
One question. Why does Francis Holtzman think it is necessary to place his years of residency next to his name. Are we to be impressed? Nice little “starter” home he lives in! Paid off or not
The slogan, “Making Your Mission Living” …..???
What rot! How does stuff like
this happen? Our apologies to
those self appointed motto makers in MV for our editing.
More like “Mission Impossible..
Duh, Duh, DA, Duh…..
You can certainly tell that your
MV b-crats are not great marketing
types. Who OK’d this great work?
Tell us this is not final…final.
Monsanto used: Modern Life through
Chemistry..in 1955 when Disneyland
opened.
Thank goodness Newport Beach has
not had the temerity to use some
benign euphemism motto like:
“Millions for Real Estate..but not
one cent for Tribute!” or “Lexus,
Mercedes, Ferrai…..Range Rover!”
or…well, you kinda get the idea.
Geez, what a lame slogan. The logo is ok, one of the nice things about MV is all the beautiful trees we have. But the slogan is horrible, it sounds like a reminder not to just wither away and die. I hope there is room on all the literature and signs bearing our slogan for the explanation of the meaning behind it. But wait, isn’t a slogan supposed to be a short snip that captures the essence of whatever the slogan is advertising? How embarrassing for us.
Annon #6
Yes —-be impressed. I understand it was paid off–a long time ago.
But back to the subject Moron–stay on the subject.
Not impressed!!!