Mission Viejo and Cityhood

A letter printed in The Times (Aug. 2) purports that cityhood is the only way to go for Mission Viejo. This totally biased view was offered by an officer of the Mission Viejo Citizens for Cityhood committee, omitting his title and claiming to be a proud resident of Mission Viejo. He is proud, I am proud and so are 60,000 other residents of our community. The writer claims his opinion is based on “strong, undeniable, current political winds in the valley.” These winds emanate from a small committee (about 35 members) and from members of the Municipal Advisory Council.

There has been, and still is, a total disregard for the voters. The will of the people was never considered when a feasibility study was ordered by political proponents of cityhood, and since then there has been a constant litany of promises to produce facts. Whatever facts are to be seen, we can rest assured that another layer of government could be foisted on us, and political dreams of MAC members will be realized. Politics is the name of the game, even at the expense of the voters.

Our beautiful parks and recreation programs, including the world-famous Nadadores, as stated by the writer, does not lend testimony in favor of cityhood, but does make the statement that Mission Viejo should be left exactly as is. We do not need power-hungry politicians. Nor do we need the eventual city hall (mayor, council, manager personnel), police station and all the headaches that come with cityhood.

Home rule is fine but only when the residents voice in advance the need for it. As proposed, and as presented to the residents of Mission Viejo, there is only one way to go: total rejection of cityhood and maintaining the status quo.

ARTHUR KATZ

Mission Viejo