While I have no issue with anyone earning an honest living to support their family, I just found out that Mission Viejo vice mayor Frank Ury could in fact have a conflict of interest that may not have been shared with the residents of Mission Viejo. The key question relates to timing. He aggressively promoted our addition of WiFi technology in MV beginning in our city hall chambers. At that time I do not recall his ever revealing that his is the contact person for Viejo Technology Group whose web site lists him as the sole contact. According to their web site Viejo Technology Group consults on WiFi deployments. The following text is taken directly from their web site.
If he was involved in the Viejo Technology Group he should have recused himself from any WiFi discussions held in Mission Viejo. That did not happen. The city council, city manager and city attorney will each receive copies of this post for their feedback and comments.
I do recall his involvement with the County and perhaps being assisted by Orange County Business Council’s Lucy Dunn in promoting WiFi at the County level.
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“Viejo Technology Group
Technical consulting with an eye on today…
and a vision for tomorrow
The Viejo Technology Group specializes in advising and representing local business and governments (municipalities, county, special districts) in all aspects of strategic technology deployment.
Areas of focus include municipal and regional WiFi deployments, WiMAX, eCommunities, employee productivity, enterprise, and the creation of technology plans that reduce obsolescence including:
Strategic goal setting
Evaluating strategic considerations
Creating the strategic plan
Municipal use
Cost savings, city productivity gain
Emergency operations, police, fire, ambulance
Mobile workforce
Defining the business and municipal case
Working with business groups, messaging, partnerships
Business cost savings
Seamless use
Constituent messaging
Consensus building
Evaluating proposals
ISP negotiations
Equipment evaluation and recommendation
Costs, business models
Deployments (pilot, scaling)
· Technology
WiFi and protocols
WiMAX
Security
Operating models
Ubiquitous usage
Seamless operation
Standardization
Easement uses (light standards, utilities discussions, etc)
RF Propagation analysis
Enterprise technology
Government regulations
Grants
Tracking State and Federal Legislation”
trying to shoot the messengers has not won frank many points. it makes him look more at fault.
can we get back to the point of this post, which was a question about a conflict of interest?
if frank is within legal compliance, has he not broken the principles behind the law?
Following this logic then-Councilman Mark Leyes would have been conflicted out of ever voting for any permits for restaurants, doughnut shops, 7-11’s or vending machines when he was on the Garden Grove City Council.
It also conflicts out Gail Reavis from any senior issues because she is a dried up old shrew.
Just because you are in an industry or have a specialization doesn’t conflict you out of votes or city decisions. You have to have a financial interest.
anon 2:49 p.m.
Did you read my post? Frank Ury potentially can be compensated if the city council, on which is the vice mayor, votes to award a citywide WiFi Contract. If he is connected in any way to the firm chosen to provide said service there is the financial link that you agree would be improper. He must revise his statement of Economic Interest from Intel, for whom he is no longer employed, to reflect his new firm that is in the WiFi consulting field.
I don’t want to rescue the horses after the barn is on fire. It’s called preventative action. While promoting the expansion of WiFi he has never publicly commented on his involvement in that industry. That includes his peers on the council.
At our December coucil meeting where we rotated our mayor and mayor pro-tem chairs, Councilman John Paul Ledesma stated that he opposed Frank becoming mayor in saying “he didn’t trust him.” I would say that JP has been on our city council since 1998, worked alongside Frank since he was elected in 2004, served in the CA Republican Assembly for many yearsand has a long history of every political player in Mission Viejo. He has participated in numerous local elections, where Frank has participated and is quite qualified to make that comment.
Almost two years into his newly elected position, Frank leaves his position with Intel and starts a consulting firm that “specializes in advising and representing local business and governments in all aspects of strategic technology deployment.”
Cronyism pays dividends. Paul Glaab, a Laguna Niguel council member and a director for the OCTA, is a consultant and he has a public relations firm. Last May, the City of Mission Viejo awarded Glaab a non-bid contract to promote the ATS Wireless Master Plan. Glaab’s clients include ATS and OCTA.
As a council member, Frank Ury also has an inside track to peddle his wares and exploit his position.
This November, the voters will decide if they feel comfortable re-electing a public official who is using his office to enrich himself.
Larry, now you are showing you are absolutely and totally ignorant of the law. It is illegal for Frank Ury to be linked in any way with any company doing any work in Mission Viejo.
Ury cannot be compensated by any company doing anything in Mission Viejo.
He can promote anything he wants as a councilmember, he just cannot have financial ties to any company doing any work in the city. Do you understand that? Unless you have proof of such a link with Mission Viejo, shut up. Is there a contract? Evidence? You are simply promoting your ignorance on this blog at this point.
Also, quote Ledesma all you want, but Ury was the President of the OC Coordinating Republican Assembly some years ago, on the State and OC Central Committees, Cofounder of the Education Alliande, OC GOP Local Elected official of the year in the mid 90s and on some state appointed commissions.
But hey, if Ledesma is your man, go for it.
Reavis should worry about her re-election instead of hand ringing over Ury’s employer. How Ury makes a living won’t be an issue to the voters of Mission Viejo, but suing the city for 25 million dollars and then asking for their vote 3 years later is obnoxious. But is anyone really surprised?
Lack of transparency, indiscretion and major misjudgement on Frank’s part are rightly to be questioned.
I agree with Frank’s Orange Juice Blog supporters in the argument of evidence.
To my awareness, there is currently no concrete evidence that Frank has engaged in any direct business dealings with the city of Mission Viejo, while he openly promoted and assured us that Mission Viejo would go Wi-Fi.
Frank is way, way, WAY too smart to ever implicate himself in this manner or leave a trail. And his fellow councilmembers appear way too dull minded to ever have made the connection.
If Frank were to use his position as a city insider to further his financial gain, we might say he is merely following a 300 year path of political favors, corruption, and capitalistic exploitation.
It’s the American dream. After all.
Maybe all of us are just envious because Frank pulled it off.
Readers.
This entire post was about the topic of “transparency.” On yesterday’s (and today’s) city of Mission Viejo bio for Mayor Pro-tem Frank Ury, which reflects the council change from December, the second paragraph reads:
” A California native, Frank was born in Long beach and raised in the midwest (Texas and Kansas). After earning his BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, Frank moved back to California and begun work in the high tech industry. He then went on to complete his MS in Electrical Engineering at the University of Southern California and his MBA from UC Irvine. He currently is an Engineering Director for Intel Corporation.”
Let me remind readers that I sent copies of the original post to the city manager, city clerk, city attorney and council.
As the city web site was updated to reflect his now serving as mayor pro-tem was the statement of his being an Engineering Director for Intel Corporation an oversight, deception, or simply an “act of omission.” Was he responsible for proof reading his own furnished bio. One would think so.
We have 100,000 residents in our city. Some actually read the pages on our web site that is updated frequently. If I was unaware of his new position I would think that he still was the Engineering Director of a billion dollar corporation.
OCGOP attorney.
It’s nice to have friends come to your defense. I quoted John Paul at a city council meeting that you can all watch on our city web site.
Hearing that statement from one of your peers, who has won every time he ran for office, says a lot. John Paul has been more active in the CRA than Frank Ury has been in the CRP.
Deflecting the “transparency deficiency” of this story will not satisfy most of the readers.
I know he can’t be compensated directly. For legal reasons I will not play out a what if scenario.
10:57 p.m.
When did council member Gail Reavis enter this post? Did she participate in this debate?
As I have stated many times while I have supported all five I will not grant them a pass solely on that relationship. And no, I am not working behind the scenes for her re-election. My sense is that this anonymous post is from one of our council members who is using this story to attack her.
Focus, if you can, on the post if you plan to continue making your arguments.