Mission Viejo Residents Form Panel to Study City Incorporation

Mission Viejo residents and civic leaders Saturday officially began the long process to determine whether their scenic south county community should incorporate as a city.

The issue came to the forefront when the Board of Supervisors decided to curtail financial aid to unincorporated areas for services such as street sweeping and park maintenance.

In a spirited two-hour meeting, the five-member Municipal Advisory Council answered questions from 35 residents who came to an open forum to discuss the issue. Many of those present were drafted to join the council members in forming a committee that will study the advantages and disadvantages of incorporation, an assignment expected to take at least several months.

The issue of raising money for local projects was thrust upon Mission Viejo and 14 other unincorporated areas Feb. 13 when the Board of Supervisors voted that the county would no longer provide augmentation funds to offset budget deficits for development and maintenance of parks and recreational programs, street sweeping and other local services. Mission Viejo is the first of the unincorporated areas to tackle the question in the wake of the supervisors’ decision. The augmentation funds now amount to 5% of county tax revenues.

Advisory council member Charles Kenney said the incorporation committee, which will begin regular meetings next month, will determine only whether incorporation should be pursued.

“This is not a pro or con for incorporation, but a study to determine if the committee will make a recommendation for a feasibility study” of incorporation, Kenney said.

Residents’ Decision

Council Chairman Chris Keena emphasized that it will be the residents of Mission Viejo who determine whether the community should become a city.

“The committee will act as jury. It will gather evidence and information. You are the ones who will have to decide,” Keena said.

Before the council began answering residents’ questions, the panel provided an outline of possible alternatives to incorporation, which include a reduction of some non-essential services and the formation of special districts to handle services the county will not fund after the 1985-86 fiscal year.

Establishing those special districts, however, would require a petition signed by 10% of the registered voters in Mission Viejo and then voters’ approval in an election. A decision to incorporate also would require a petition and an election.

Kenney said that even if residents decide to seek incorporation, the entire process could take at least three years and perhaps as many as seven.

Opinions Vary

Although most of those at the meeting appeared not to lean one way or the other regarding incorporation, two expressed strong opinions.

Nellie Baumberger , president of the Oso Valley Homeowners Assn., said that incorporation automatically means “a City Hall” and all the bureaucracy that this entails. She added that instead of incorporating, Mission Viejo residents should supply those funds the county will no longer provide.

“I moved here because I didn’t want to live in a city. I don’t want Mission Viejo to turn into a Hill Street Blues or a St. Elsewhere or whatever,” she said.

But George DeVato, a retired schoolteacher, said he favors incorporation, although he suggested that the committee determine important issues such as how much more in taxes the residents would pay if Mission Viejo becomes a city and how much home-rule power the community would derive from incorporation .

“I like home rule. I like to know who my mayor is. I like my mayor to know who I am,” DeVato said.

Baumberger and DeVato were quickly drafted as committee members.

Norm Murray, another advisory council member, cautioned the listeners that the council, although elected, is really a voluntary group that does its job “as a labor of love.” He also said that although Mission Viejo will not be affected by the recent Board of Supervisors decision until 1986, residents need to determine now what its future should be.

“ ‘85 looks good, but ’86 is critical. There will be bridges to cross then, but we should cross those bridges now,” Murray said.