Mission Viejo Recall Forces Open Office, Plan ‘to Go Full-Bore’ Soon

Foes of City Councilman Robert A. Curtis launched the final phase of their recall efforts Tuesday, opening a campaign office and digging in for two months of intensive campaigning to unseat the councilman.

“We’re putting both feet in the water as of today,” said Helen Monroe, chairwoman of the Coalition to Recall Councilman Curtis. “We’re in business, and we’ll be looking to go full-bore very soon.”

Curtis, who wastes few chances to blast his recall opponents, called them “paid political mercenaries” Tuesday and said he was ready for a hard battle to turn back the effort.

Although the recall organizers began their efforts last May, both sides predict that the major fighting will take place in the next two months. The election will be held Feb. 27, pitting Curtis and his backers against a well-financed and professionally guided campaign.

Monroe said the coalition--with a war chest of more than $150,000--is continuing to raise money, has hired a full-time office manager, and is preparing to finance phone banks, precinct walks and mailers.

“A lot of educating the public needs to happen between now and the end of February,” she added.

Proponents of the recall say they are dissatisfied with Curtis because he is rude to constituents and because he supported a controversial, unsuccessful annexation proposal last year. Curtis, however, claims that the recall is prompted by his advocacy of controlled growth, and he points to big developer contributions to the recall effort as evidence that he has become a target of the development community.

In particular, the Mission Viejo Co., which developed the planned community, has taken a high-profile role in the recall campaign. The company has contributed more than $35,000 and has loaned a political consultant to the effort. The consultant, Lynn Wessell of Burbank, recently has begun polling Mission Viejo residents about the recall.

“Developers are spending an obscene amount of money to get rid of one independent councilman,” Curtis said, adding that he does not expect to spend more than $25,000 to fight the recall. Curtis has held one fund-raiser, which he said raised “a few thousand dollars.”

The differences in fund raising have led the two camps to approach the campaign with vastly different strategies. Curtis, for instance, says he will pay none of his campaign workers and will use the money instead for advertising and possibly a mailer.

The pro-recall forces, by contrast, have paid petition circulators and are expected to pay workers who man their phone banks and manage the office.

Monroe said recall supporters plan to install phones this week in their new headquarters at 26945 Cabot Road.