New Mission Viejo Activists Seek Balance

Mission Viejo City Council meetings resemble old-fashioned town hall gatherings where everyone knows each other by name and seat location.

But that seating chart was thrown into disarray last week by the appearance of new faces at City Hall, prompting raised eyebrows, steely glares and terse exchanges from the old guard.

Who were these political newcomers, campaigning for a councilwoman to become mayor when it wasn’t her turn to rotate into the ceremonial post?

They are a loose band of teachers, nurses, college professors, soccer moms and Little League coaches who call themselves Concerned Citizens, with capital Cs. They total about 20, no small number in the world of suburban political activism.

They say they want to bring balance to the political landscape, dominated by the larger and older citizens’ activist organization, Citizens for Integrity in Government. But the appearance of the upstart activists suggests an emerging competition over which group can more effectively shape public policy in this 15-year-old city of 100,000.

“We are simply offering an alternative voice in the public dialogue in our community,” said Hamid Bahadori, a member of Concerned Citizens. “The most dangerous monopoly is the monopoly on speech. For the last few years, a small group has monopolized public debate.

“We have not formed this group to fight CIG,” said Bahadori, a transportation engineer with the Automobile Club of Southern California.

But the emergence of Concerned Citizens nonetheless took on the appearance of a showdown last Monday night.

The members marched into council chambers and some boldly sat in the first two rows, triggering complaints from CIG members who would normally sit there.

The novice gadflies stepped to the lectern to make public comments, some of them promoting councilwoman Patricia Kelley’s candidacy for the mayor’s job. Others criticized Mayor John Paul Ledesma and Vice Mayor Gail Reavis for paying attention only to the concerns of CIG, which claims Reavis and Ledesma as members.

Each of the Concerned Citizens speakers pleaded for civility, tolerance and a respectful exchange of ideas -- a plea that was rejected within minutes when a CIG member attacked Kelley for daring to compete with Reavis for the mayor’s job. The council elected Reavis mayor and Kelley vice mayor.

Mark Petracca, a UC Irvine political science professor who wrote a book about interest groups, said it is not surprising that CIG’s activism has spawned a new citizens group.

“It’s entirely expected,” Petracca said. “People understand that to be politically influential, you’re much better off being part of a group, because you end up having weight. When you really have an organization that has some kind of structure and a division of labor, then you have the ability to mobilize people and the ability to mobilize resources, such as political campaign money.”

Larry Gilbert, a founding member of Committee for Integrity in Government, said he welcomed Concerned Citizens.

“I hope they stay vigilant and watch what goes on in the town like we do,” he said.

Kelley, who was encouraged to run for mayor by Concerned Citizens but at the last minute decided against it, said it was a pleasant surprise to see new faces in the chambers.

“It felt good,” she said. “I thought it was really healthy. I think a lot of these people were essentially the silent majority, the average Joe on the street. I hope they take their group a step further and keep coming to the meetings.”

That’s the plan, say members of Concerned Citizens. But they say their group will be much more loosely organized than the 6-year-old CIG, which meets monthly, has a mission statement, a Web site, newsletter and surprising name recognition for a collection of only about two dozen gadflies.

“We have no agenda, no president and no regularly scheduled meetings,” said Concerned Citizens’ Tina Neukirch, a marketing manager for Toshiba and a mother of five. “But there is a commitment by our core people to take turns attending meetings, and speak up when necessary. Our only agenda is not to be caught napping again. With the events that have unfolded in the past year, we’d be silly to think things are going to be fine now.”

The tumultuous year at City Hall was highlighted by a hefty payout to longtime City Manager Dan Joseph in order for him to leave his job prematurely and not sue the city alleging defamation of character and other charges.

The City Council agreed last month to pay $221,000 to Joseph, who denied accusations by Reavis that he was having an affair with a staff member.

Concerned Citizens was born during the final days of Joseph’s protracted departure, when several residents said they worried that the city’s reputation was being tarnished by the public airing of City Hall acrimony.

“We were embarrassed about the way our city was being portrayed,” said Karen Caiozzo, a pediatric nurse. “We began to take it personally.”

Her husband, Vince Caiozzo, an associate professor of medicine at UC Irvine, organized two meetings that attracted about 20 people. They complained that CIG had become disruptive, too negative and too heavy-handed in its City Hall lobbying.

Joseph, a target of CIG attacks, said last week he valued citizen activism but was disappointed that it had to gain its voice through an organization.

“It’s unfortunate that citizens have to form groups to have their voice heard. But because of the precedent CIG has set in this town, groups have become necessary,” Joseph said. “It’s the old adage: There’s strength in numbers.”

The Committee for Integrity was formed in 1997 by three people to protest a high-density housing development in the southern part of the city. The group now claims about 30 core members and a mailing list of 1,500. CIG has railed against part-time politicians for excessive spending and campaigned for more open government.

Most citizens groups don’t last more than a few years, Petracca said.

“[Alexis de] Tocqueville said Americans are joiners,” said Petracca, referring to the 19th century French author. “We create factions. It’s in our nature to organize and be politically active.

“But eventually what happens is these groups lose the issue that motivated them in the first place, or there is a passage of time. Then you have these groups searching around for new issues or they go out of existence.”

Gilbert said there is too much at stake for CIG to quietly dissolve.

“I care about my community,” said the former CEO of a sales and marketing agency. “A lot of us are retired executives. The council members are part time, and they are busy, so they’re simply tapping into our experience for some help and guidance.”

Concerned Citizens’ members admit they won’t be nearly as active as CIG. “We have lives and families we’re trying to raise,” Karen Caiozzo said.

“But I think we represent the more average resident. By networking and working together, I think we can create more balance and hopefully make CIG more of a minority voice.”