The Capistrano Insider

More Salvos at Open Space Committee Work

Residents expressing concern about various proposed open space deals have fired a couple more salvos:

This weekend, some of 6,000 fliers questioning whether the committee has been open enough in its work were distributed in neighborhoods in town. The flier took issue with negotiations by committee members that saw OCTA move forward with an MOU that would have allowed double-tracking from Laguna Niguel to La Zanja in town.

The council rejected that.

And then today, some of the same folks -- but not all -- filed a complaint with the City Attorney's Office, saying members of the group have not filed conflict-of-interest reports as required.

That letter was signed by Jim Reardon, former Mayor Roy Byrnes, Kim Lefner, Lennie DeCaro, Helen Welch and Kevin Murphy. Noteable is that those folks were among Mayor Mark Nielsen's strongest supporters when he was running for office: He's now heading up the Open Space Committee and taking their heat.

Here's the letter.

Here's a link to the group's Web site.

Open Space Committee member Tom Lunnen will be at Coffee Chat on Friday, August 14 to talk about some of the potential deals. Coffee Chat is at Metro Java at 8 a.m. Metro Java is across from Wells Fargo Bank on Camino Capistrano.

If you want to tour the 132 acres the city is negotiating to buy from Rancho Mission Viejo, call Cathy Salcedo at 949.443.6317.

Council Roundup: August 4 Meeting

The San Juan Capistrano City Council's August 4 meeting started out in an unusual manner, as supporters of a deal to buy 132 acres of Rancho Mission Viejo land at La Pata and Antonio Parkway -- the Rodeo grounds -- flooded council chambers at 4:30 to comment before the council even went into closed session.

The vast majority of the speakers -- including many equestrians and soccer-league organizers -- urged the council to go ahead with the deal, but at least two homeowners -- Helen Welch Reardon and Kim Lefner -- repeated earlier concerns that the details of the deal should be made public. Both said the property is beautiful and could be an asset to the city, but the city has not disclosed how much they're talking about spending on the property. Capistrano has about $27 million left in the bank from the $30 million open space bond.

There's also a question whether buying the land will prevent construction of already-approved homes and buildings on the Ranch land -- probably not; the Ranch approvals are for units within bubbles, and the approvals for the property allow them to juggle development within the bubbles, so the projects probably don't go away, just move around a bit.

After closed session, the council took a few key actions:

1. Rejected an appeal from the Verizon wireless for a sign on their store off Del Obispo. The store, in Del Obispo Plaza, opened in 2007, but has been without a legal sign. In 2008, code enforcement jumped on them for putting up illegal signs. Even in the days before the appeal went before the City Council, the store had an illegal hot air balloon up as an advertisement.

That angered the council, which noted it several times, before rejecting Verizon's appeal.

Here's that staff report.

2. A staff study says the Catholic Health Enrichment Collaborative (CHEC) which provides social-service referrals out of the city-owned Old Fire Station on La Matanza, does not have a negative impact on the neighborhood. Residents have complained about the center, but the staff report says there's little or no impact from CHEC, although two religious groups that use the facility on weekend bring the most traffic.

Residents complained the center serves illegal immigrants, though, which angered Councilman Sam Allevato. "I'm shocked and dismayed by some of the comments I've heard here tonight." The other council members agreed the issue was actually two discussions: Whether the services impact the neighborhood, and whether CHEC should or shouldn't serve illegal immigrants.

The council decided there was no impact, and the other discussion was best saved for another day.

Here's that staff report.

The meeting ended with a robust conversation during  council comments -- the room was empty as the 11 p.m. hour passed -- about a planned public hearing on another project, the proposed senior development at the north end of town. That deal, which also came out of the Open Space Committee, would see construction of a 750,000 square foot senior community, while the city would pay $10 million (in redevelopment taxes generated by construction of the project) to buy more than 100 acres of open space in the Rancho Capistrano area.

The date for a public hearing on the deal has not been set, but the council debated whether it should include only the development deal or whether the option agreement with the city -- the tax money and other details -- should be discussed then, too. Council members Sam Allevato, Tom Hribar and Mark Nielsen won that battle, to keep the future meeting focused on only the development details.

The proposal has also drawn fire from some residents -- and Councilman Lon Uso -- who contend too much has been negotiated behind closed doors.

Allevato V. Smith Gets Ugly *UPDATED

Updated at bottom (August 4)

Irvine Co. heiress Joan Irvine Smith has attended City Council meetings for quite awhile now, and she frequently crosses swords with Councilman Sam Allevato over transportation issues.

Allevato supported the toll road extension, which Smith opposed, and Allevato has also supported the widening of Ortega Highway, which Smith opposes, too.

Smith owns the Oaks horse ranch at the east edge of town, on the Ortega. Her son also lives in town.

But the usually entertaining back-and-forth got ugly last Tuesday, when Smith took her place at the microphone and accused Allevato and Councilman Tom Hribar of ordering some sort of drug investigation at her Ranch. They denied it -- Allevato was visibly angry -- as did our Chief of Police Services Lt. Dan Dwyer, who'd gone to the ranch to drop off a thank you card for a copy of Smith's book she'd given him.

Oddly, Smith continues to call Dwyer one of the finest law-enforcement officers anywhere.

Smith gave out letters of her allegations, too. I guess the thought is that Smith has become such a pain to transportation projects that they're trying to get rid of her.

I didn't think it warranted a story, but Schelden over at the Register has posted this.

Update from August 4 City Council meeting:

Joan again spoke in the public comments portion of the August 4 meeting; she said as far as she was concerned "the whole matter can be laid to rest."

But she didn't quite apologize.

Councilman Allevato asked whether she was retracting the statement she made two weeks ago.

Joan replied: "I'm not going to retract anything other than what was said."

Coincidentally, and amusingly, the recording from the meeting at which Allevato and Hribar allegedly ordered Dwyer to inspect her property is unavailable; the machine (relatively new digital equipment) didn't work. I was there, though, and didn't see any outburst (over that, anyhow) from the councilmen.

Capistrano Mayor Nielsen Profiled on Web site

From PublicCEO.com

Motown isn’t the only place where the car industry is causing problems.

In San Juan Capistrano, Calif. where car dealerships have long been a mainstay and an answer to the city’s bottom line, it’s time to look elsewhere toward other businesses that could help the city grow, according to Mayor Mark Nielsen.

“The biggest issue we face relates to the long-term financial health of the city.  The recent economic downturn has pointed out the need for our city to diversify its revenue sources. Too much reliance has been placed in the past on new development to keep funding capital improvements.

“We also need to find other retailers to provide future sales tax revenue and not place such a great reliance on new car sales for almost half of our sales tax revenues. While we continue to support our auto dealers, and will do what we can to help them grow their business, we cannot look only to them to keep us healthy in the future.”

A Businessman

The 49-year-old Nielsen knows a thing or two about business, that’s for sure. When he isn’t wearing his mayor’s hat, he is the chairman and director of various software companies and a member of the Executive Committee of Tech Coast Angels (a southern California group of “Angel” investors who are similar to venture capitalists). Both jobs have some similarities, making life a little easier for Nielsen.

“Running a business is easier on a number of levels, especially when it comes to decision-making and planning,” he shares.

For example, he says that in government, there are numerous laws that thwart efficiency in operations and impose long lag times on decisions. For instance, you cannot discuss things with your other council members except in public session and only if the issue was published in advance on the agenda, Nielsen says.

“While this is important for public transparency and participation, it makes it very difficult to quickly and effectively work issues in the way that private industry acts.  The similarities, however, are the need to establish a clear vision and set of priorities, the need to lead by example from the top, and ultimately to make decisions that are in the best interests of the shareholders (or taxpayers), and not merely for the benefit of a select few.”

Better Than Most

Lack of new retailers aside, SJC, like many communities in So Cal, is suffering from the bad economy, but it is doing a bit better than most, says Nielsen.

“San Juan Capistrano is probably in better shape than many other cities.  We have a great staff that has helped us maintain reserves of about 50 percent of our annual operating budget. However, we have made cuts of about $2 million recently for the current fiscal year ending June 30, including cutting back on funding for social service programs and community events.”

He says he is hopeful that SJC will be able to backfill some of these cuts with private funding and new sponsorship opportunities from businesses and residents that see the importance of continuing these programs in difficult times.   

To keep the city moving along, SJC has imposed a hiring freeze and put more of a burden on existing staff to do more. It has also had to cut back on the frequency of various city services, including street sweeping, tree trimming and landscape watering; and it is reducing its support for various programs from the Chamber of Commerce and the Boys & Girls Club to cutting back funds for community events.

Who He Is

No stranger to local politics, Nielsen, born in Chicago, was elected to the city council in 2006 prior to his current post as mayor. He says being mayor is definitely more demanding.

“Finding the time to respond to all of the requests for the mayor’s time while spending quality time with my family and keeping up with my business obligations is a challenge,” he says.  “In addition, it takes discipline and commitment to ensure that you are inclusive of your whole council.  If you have a majority, it is often easy to ignore the minority view.  However, I believe that is a recipe for disaster and in the long run, will make it much harder to accomplish important goals for a city.”   

On the flip side, while serving as mayor, one can more directly influence the tone of meetings, and establish subcommittees that can move issues forward that as a council member one cannot, he says.

Fast Forward

As for what lies ahead for SJC – at least while Nielsen is in office – is to move forward with plans for the downtown revitalization.       

“Revitalizing our downtown is and has been one of my top priorities. There are no other cities in Orange County that have a true central downtown with a train depot and historic Mission all within walking distance,” he says.

SJC has the foundation for a vibrant and unique historic town center that should attract visitor and resident alike with numerous restaurants and shops in a setting that harkens back to the old world charm of the 1800s, he points out.  

“Contrary to what some think, I am not opposed to development in San Juan Capistrano, only that which detracts from the rural, equestrian and historic character of our town.  I have supported development that actually enhances our community and its unique character.  I also have been a great advocate of preserving more of our open space that is a defining asset of our city,” he says.

For example, he mentions that when anyone enters San Juan Capistrano, if driving from the north on the I-5 at night, they will see that it suddenly gets very dark.  Why?

“We prohibit building on our ridgelines and have hundreds of acres of natural land on which wildlife thrives. Recently, our citizens agreed to tax ourselves for a $30 million bond that will enhance and preserve more open space in our city,” he says.

In spite of fellow council members and half of the open space committee thinking they were crazy to pursue a $30 million bond in this economy, Councilman Tom Hribar and Nielsen pushed to go to the voters in November and they agreed by an overwhelming 70 percent to approve the bond.  

“This is a true testament to the seriousness with which San Juan residents take our open space,” he says.

Happy to serve as Mayor of SJC, Nielsen’s term will end in Dec, 2010, but don’t look for him to move up the political ladder at that point.

“Not if I want to keep a happy family and balanced work life,” he says.

City Attorney: Open-Space Deal Legal

San Juan Capistrano's City Council and Redevelopment Agency acted properly when it approved a development deal that would add more than 100 acres to the city's Open Space portfolio, but also allowed a 750,000-square-foot retirement community in the northern part of town, City Attorney Omar Sandoval says in a letter.

Sandoval wrote in response to three homeowners who questioned whether too many of the details of the plan -- which gives the city an option but is not finalized -- were worked out in secrecy, rather than in a public forum.

The development, on 34 acres, is expected to generate $10 million in taxes, which the city would then use to buy 116 acres from the developer, Continuing Life Communities. CLC would buy the 150 acres from Rancho Capistrano.

The letter, from former Mayor Roy Byrnes, Kim Lefner and Jim Reardon, asks the city to set aside the decision and address the issues in open session.

But Sandoval says that's not necessary, because the law allows real-estate discussions in closed session.

Already, though, the residents have responded, with Reardon contending the city misstepped, and the closed-door sessions are supposed to be limited to price and terms of the deal. He says this agreement went far beyond those limits.

Click here to see Sandoval's letter

Click here to see the response.

Here's the original post and letter.