MISSION VIEJO : Measure A Backers Form Committee

Supporters of a plan to require citywide approval of all major annexation proposals announced on Monday that a Citizens Committee for Mission Viejo Measure A has been formed.

Led by City Councilman Norman P. Murray, supporters of the measure said they hope to run their campaign on a shoestring, raising only a few thousand dollars between now and Feb. 27, when the proposal will appear on a special election ballot. The same ballot will include a proposal to recall Councilman Robert A. Curtis.

But support for the annexation proposal appears to be as widespread as opinion is divided on the recall measure. The annexation measure passed the council last fall by a unanimous vote--Curtis was absent--and no one has emerged to draft ballot language opposing it.

“If somebody disagrees with us, they haven’t come forward,” Murray said at an afternoon press conference.

Under the proposal, which Murray introduced, all annexations of more than 100 acres would have to be submitted to city voters for their approval. In some cases, such as an annexation initiated by petition and forwarded from the local Planning Commission, the election would be merely advisory, but supporters say its results would probably carry great weight with planning commissioners.

“Our main reason (for supporting the proposal) is simply to be very, very careful and very, very cautious about our boundaries and our way of life,” Murray said.

Last year, the City Council grappled for months over a controversial move to annex Aegean Hills, a community with a population of 7,000 on Mission Viejo’s western border. Murray and other backers of Measure A acknowledged that the Aegean Hills experience helped prompt their drive, but they noted that the current proposal would apply to all major annexations, not just Aegean Hills.

About 20 Mission Viejo residents joined Murray for the announcement Monday, and several pledged $100 campaign contributions.