Not Exactly an Endorsement That Makes Me Very Comfortable

We have quite a cat fight here in Mission Viejo with a recall underway of the councilman who will also be our mayor this year. Lance MacLean has made a lot of people mad during his years in office and some local citizens are leading an effort to toss him from office in a special election in February. You can read about the issues in the race here.

Hizzoner just released a letter with an endorsement from the Apartment Association of Orange County. I don't know about you, but this is not an endorsement that makes me feel very comfortable. The only reason an organization like this would involve themselves in this election is if they believe the candidate will make the city more amenable to new apartment complexes.

That's the last thing we need around here.

We have enough issues with traffic and congestion without adding additional high density housing and the transient population that brings with it. This city has routinely been ranked among the safest cities in the nation and adding high density housing will not improve that record.

For the most part the apartment complexes in this city are well maintained and decent quality, but you don't have to drive far from here to see what happens when apartment complexes are allowed to develop in large numbers and are not maintained in an acceptable manner (see Lake Forest, CA). Unfortunately, they don't attract the best of our citizenry.

For anyone who feels the endorsement from the Apartment Association represents something positive for the city, I have one question: Are you afraid our crime rate isn't high enough?