Mission Viejo Anti-Drug Plan Rejected

Mayor William S. Craycraft’s vision of a “drug-free zone” throughout Mission Viejo was rejected Monday by a sharply divided City Council.

After two hours of heated discussion, the council trimmed what was originally a broad anti-drug ordinance that would have banned convicted drug felons from subsidized housing in Mission Viejo.

Instead, by a 3-2 vote, the council settled for establishing a city commission on drug abuse. The commission will tackle drug-related issues in the community.

Proposed by Craycraft at a citywide anti-drug rally last month, the ordinance also would have forced residents with felony drug records to register with police and given local authorities the power to slap liens on residences where drug trafficking occurs.

Part of an effort to declare Mission Viejo a “drug-free zone,” Craycraft’s ordinance included a 24-hour hot line for tips and called for establishing a city commission to fight drug abuse.

But his proposal began to crumble at the meeting when the council released a confidential report from City Atty. Scott Field that called portions of the proposed ordinance a duplication of the state Health and Safety Code.

The report noted that police already can place liens on property where drug trafficking has taken place.

“We do that kind of abatement routinely under state law,” said Lt. George Johnson, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman. He added that people convicted of felony drug offenses are now required to register with the Sheriff’s Department.

“In evaluating it, it is a hollow statement,” said Councilman Christian W. Keena. “Let’s not just give lip service to this issue.”

With Field recommending that forced registration be dropped from the proposed law, Craycraft reluctantly modified his proposal to go along with the city attorney’s opinion.

“I feel somewhat taken back that something that should be the No. 1 priority in our community is being massaged and taken apart point by point,” the mayor said. “We are either for drugs or against drugs; there is no black and white.”

But council members and citizens attending the meeting believed that the ordinance was too harsh.

“This a law that absolutely provides for lifelong labeling and lifelong discrimination . . . for individuals that have gone through a rehabilitative program,” said Councilwoman Victoria C. Jaffe. “Does that mean I support drugs? Absolutely not.”

Keena, a lawyer, said afterward that the law “would have done absolutely nothing to help law enforcement. All the modifications denuded (Craycraft’s) proposition. What was left didn’t assist the Sheriff’s Department.”

The councilman said he would be “willing to support the mayor in what he wants to do, but it has to be more doable than this ordinance.”