I just received the following Press Release from the SRA, a charted unit of the CRA, California Republican Assembly.
Gilbert comment. Although I attended Monday’s Mission Viejo city council meeting, when most of the following occured, I walked out of the council chambers as Mr. MacLean spent upwards of 10 minutes from the bully pulpit attacking the very organization whose members spent tireless hours and money getting him elected in 2002. I still have letters from him thanking me for my cash donation dated July 5, 2002 to his campaign along with his follow-up request dated Oct 21,2002 which closes saying “your generosity is greatly appreciated.”
Press Release
SRA tells MacLean to resign
Mission Viejo, CA, March 3, 2009 – During the Mar. 2 Mission Viejo council meeting, a member of the Saddleback Republican Assembly read a resolution asking Councilman Lance MacLean to resign. Mission Viejo resident Matt Corrigan, who serves as SRA’s first vice president, presented the seven-point resolution, concluding that MacLean should spare residents the ordeal of recalling him. On Feb. 2, MacLean received notice that 51 residents signed a document initiating his recall.
Corrigan read SRA’s resolution, which had been approved by its membership on Feb. 19. The resolution follows.
Saddleback Republican Assembly carefully and deliberately considered Lance MacLean’s candidate statements prior to endorsing him in 2002. SRA finds his performance significantly out of compliance with his campaign promises and written responses to SRA’s endorsing body. SRA holds MacLean accountable for his broken promises, failed leadership and abandonment of conservative Republican principles.
WHEREAS, Lance MacLean authored, promoted and sponsored Measure K, a tax increase, after promising no tax increases, and
WHEREAS, Lance MacLean posed as a fiscal conservative but doubled his council stipend and bestowed lifetime medical benefits on council members at
taxpayer expense after 12 years of part-time service, and
WHEREAS, Lance MacLean exhibited financial mismanagement by voting for budget items leading to $11.8-million in deficit spending last year, and
WHEREAS, Lance MacLean falsely promised to relieve traffic congestion but approved housing projects bringing in more congestion and overcrowding, and
WHEREAS, Lance MacLean said he espoused SRA values but was charged with assault and battery on a co-worker, and he lied to a reporter to hide his identity, and
WHEREAS, Lance MacLean promised to represent his constituents but turned against and maligned them, calling them racists and elitists in the L.A. Times, and
WHEREAS, Lance MacLean has fully revealed his true nature as a big-government bureaucrat who promotes social engineering and supports Redevelopment after denouncing it when he requested SRA’s endorsement,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Mission Viejo Councilman Lance MacLean employed deception to receive SRA’s endorsement in 2002. He should now resign his elected position on the Mission Viejo City Council to save taxpayers the time, effort and expense of recalling him.
Council members generally don’t respond to public comments. MacLean, however, spoke for approximately 10 minutes, claiming he was answering SRA’s charges. He referred to the statements as “rumors, exaggerations and untruths.”
MacLean didn’t mention three of the resolution’s seven points: his attempt to raise taxes with Measure K; the assault and battery charges against him; and maligning residents by calling them elitists and racists in the LA Times. He also failed to address the resolution’s conclusion that he had used deception to get SRA’s endorsement by posing as a fiscal conservative.
MacLean acknowledged two of the charges. He said he was reinstating a former city policy when he bestowed lifetime healthcare benefits on council members after 12 years of part-time service. He said voting to double his council stipend was justified because the city had incorporated 20 years ago. Although he’s served only six years, he indicated the increase reflected 20 years of deferred raises.
As his defense for supporting redevelopment, he said, “I’m not a fan of redevelopment, and I didn’t form the redevelopment agency.” He voted three times to give redevelopment cash to an auto dealer after stating he opposed redevelopment during an interview to get SRA’s endorsement.
To SRA’s charge that MacLean had voted to spend $11.8 million more than the city took in last year, he tried to explain that the community center expansion and the Crown Valley Parkway widening were two-year projects. The definition of “deficit” is to spend more than is taken in within a specific period, which is what MacLean voted to do. The community center expansion ran three times over budget, and the road widening is well over budget and still unfinished after three years.
To the complaint that he has added to traffic problems by voting for high-density housing, MacLean said the housing projects he approved have not yet been built.
MacLean concluded by telling residents they should call the city staff if they have questions about complaints against him in the recall. However, city employees are legally prevented from commenting on recall or other campaign issues.
Following the meeting, Corrigan stated, “MacLean said that Saddleback Republican Assembly didn’t give him an opportunity to respond. This is fallacious since he has had many opportunities to respond after being served with the recall notice on Feb. 2. He has responded to OC Register and OC Weekly, and of course various times using the ‘bully pulpit’ of council member as evidenced Monday night.”
# # (end) # #
For information, call SRA board members Matt Corrigan (949-533-2605), Dale Tyler (949-360-1717) or Michael Ferrall (949-874-3422). SRA is a chartered unit of the California Republican Assembly, the largest grassroots conservative GOP organization in California.
It’s not easy to fight city hall, but power to ’em. Most folks walk away and ignore corruption, malfeasance, unethical behavior and even violence. Then they wonder how their government got so bad. Mission Viejo is lucky to have residents who are willing to make a difference.
While he tried to rebut every point as false and a distortion of the facts, his explanation of the assault charges was conspicuously absent
What happens when someone’s ego is bigger than
their IQ? Lance evidently knows that answer!
Its impossable to keep every promise made . He was a very good Mayor now, because of so called broken promises and some ex . council activities which is used as a wedge, this man is part of a witch hunt.Hear him out, are we all so perfect that we never lose it?
colin brake.
He was a very good mayor? Do you live in Mission Viejo? Have you ever attended any of our council meetings? I do not recognize your name.
Were you part of the team that helped him get elected to know what was said before sitting in the big chair opposite those of us who put him there? Again, I have not seen your name before.
Let me cite one example that was not included in the Recall petition. We asked Lance his position on providing taxpayer funds for redevelopment projects which he said he opposed. After being elected in Nov 2002 an auto dealer wanted the city to ante up $2.1 million dollars for the proposed Gundersdon Audi dealership. This was after our Mall was renovated, we had a successful Lexus dealership directly across the street and the dealership owner had previously received a prior hand out of around $2 million for his Infiniti dealership from a prior city council across the parking lot from the proposed site. During that fight, and it truly was a council battle to fund or not to fund this request, Lance kept saying that the proposed Audi dealership would go elesewhere rather than opening in the Crown Jewel area of our city across the same parking lot from their Infiniti dealership. He would not support any assistance below $2.1 million as requested. This Agenda item resolution became very bitter and divided the activists in Mission Viejo when the council caved under pressure from powerful elected officials such as Dave Cox, Dick Ackerman and Todd Spitzer. The council lowered the “corporate welfare” to $600,000 while Lance told one council member he would buy dinner if the Gunderson’s would accept that small sum.
So at the end of the day activits, and those council members who stood with us, saved Mission Viejo $1.5 million that Lance wanted to give to the Gunderson’s.
End of one illustration of Lance’s fiscal conservative leadership and integrity.
No, I would not call Lance MacLean “a very good Mayor” or councilman. He flipped his position and flipped us off in the process.