Update: Recall of Mission Viejo councilman Lance MacLean

At the Nov 2nd Mission Viejo council meeting David Allen protested the recall of councilman Lance MacLean. In his remarks he states that these are “unfounded charges.” He also claims  that the allegations were “voted on by the entire city council.”
In industry we call this “cherry picking.” This post will focus on but one of the multiple charges in the recall petition. Perhaps David can add his comments on the following which is one of the well documented charges. In fact it is the first charge in the recall petition, which no one opposing the recall wants to discuss:
“You violated your responsibilities to voters, showing yourself unfit to serve as a City Council member by exhibiting:• Violence when you were arrested by Police for assault and battery on a co-worker.”

This relates to an altercation at UCI in which charges of assault and battery were brought against Lance MacLean while serving as mayor of Mission Viejo.

I seriously doubt that council member Trish  Kelley would ever attempt to pin a fellow UCI Director against a wall at a celebration placing both of her hands around McManus’s neck and shoving him against the wall. “Four nearby officers intervened and ordered MacLean to let go, but he refused, prompting them to forcibly separate the two. MacLean, who is 6-feet-five inches and 200 pounds according to the police report, resisted their orders several times and continued to struggle until an officer directed him to a prone position and handcuffed him.” Source: New University press.

The OC Weekly account of the altercation quotes from the UC Irvine Police Department crime report dated Oct 26, 2007.
“After a short verbal altercation (about 30 seconds) between the two men, MacLean [sic] took a step forward and bumped [Jack] Mc Manus against the chest. MacLean then extended both his arms out and placed his hands around McManus’s neck. MacLean then shoved McManus against the wall and started to life McManus up with his hands were still around McManus’s neck.”
“The police report then says it took four cops to break MacLean’s grip, wrestle him to the floor and handcuff him over snarls of “Get the fxxx off of me; get the fxxx off of me.” Source: OC Weekly, Mar 4, 2009.
One source states that Lance even lied to a reporter about his official name and age to hide his true identity.

No, this is not a description of any actions or offensive language that you could ever link to council member Trish Kelley.
 Mr. David Allen. This charge is not shared by any other council member.

 UCI spokesperson Jason Mednick said that UCI’s police department had conducted a criminal investigation of this altercation.

Juice readers. If Lance was innocent of all charges, why would he take an “early retirement” from a great university position and career after 27 years as Associate Executive Director for Student Government without having a new job to go to?

As head of household he had the responsibility to be a provider for his family. As providers for our families men generally do not take early retirement from a job before having a new one to take its place unless you are ending your working years. As reported in the Register he told the reporter that “he has taken an early retirement from UCI and plans to begin a second career in public relations.” New career? Another source reports Lance commenting that he is “having a hard time getting a job.”

Note: Lance, who now has job with the FDIC, was unemployed for all of 2008 as confirmed by his form #460. That official document submitted by Lance reports that  his employer and occupation for all of 2008 as being “retired.”
 
University California Irvine’s New University story headline reads “Former ASUCI Director Charged with Assaulting Fellow Employee,” it states in part that “the university was in the process of conducting an administrative review of MacLean at the time of his leaving.” What else have we not seen that was included in his personnel file?
The $64,000 question. Was Lance asked to resign? 

Gilbert note: This post is being written and published on the Juice prior to the next Mission Viejo council meeting in that we will be out of town on that date. I felt it was important to refute Mr Allen’s testimony before next month.
Mr. Allen. The ball is in your court!