2 Cities at an Awkward Stage

Mission Viejo and Dana Point have reached the awkward age. At 15 and 14 years old respectively, they are past the first flush of heady infatuation with local control but not yet into a mature mode of operating.

Still, adolescence for these cities has been gawkier -- and more full of rebellion and noise -- than necessary in recent months. Controversies have shown a small-mindedness centered around personalities rather than policies.

In Mission Viejo, a gadfly group came together in response to the city’s failed minor-league baseball team and other legitimate concerns, and helped elect a new majority on the council.

The group, the Committee for Integrity in Government, represented a shift in empowerment toward informed voters that should be welcome in any city, but the resulting divisiveness has led to embarrassing incidents and willful displays of power and anger.

A brouhaha erupted over a councilwoman who engaged in petty expense-account finagling. The ouster of the longtime city manager caused so much division and rancor that it led to allegations that he had been slandered and that the CIG was wielding undue influence.

It didn’t help when some CIG members threatened a recall campaign against one of their own candidates who showed an independent streak.

Taking a balanced approach, Lance MacLean had worried about the call to fire several seasoned city staffers and sat out a too-hasty vote to strip the names of previous council members from public facilities.

Now an opposition group to the opposition group has formed -- unsurprisingly, calling for a new era of civility. In an embarrassing symbol of how badly civility is needed, members of the new group said they were confronted by CIG members who complained, of all things, about the newcomers taking front-row seats at a council meeting -- seats the CIG members were used to occupying.

For some reason, a brand-new Dana Point council decided last year to follow Mission Viejo’s lead by relabeling a community garden named for a local nurseryman who had donated and tended plants throughout the town for many years. Within weeks, a public outcry forced the redfaced council to reconsider.

Now the council has hired as its $90,000-a-year city clerk a longtime friend of the mayor whose professional background does not meet the job’s minimum requirements.

Council members say they doubt they could find a more qualified person -- but they didn’t bother searching for one. Admittedly, the city has had trouble keeping the position filled -- 12 city clerks in 14 years.

The council would do better by investigating why so many clerks are eager to leave a well-paying job in a beautiful city, rather than hire a questionable candidate without an outside search.

Adolescence is a necessary part of life, but city leaders should remember that we’re meant to grow out of it. Teenage snits aren’t the stuff of good government.