Is YLRRR on the wane?

Does dwindling attendance at public meetings sponsored by the grassroots group Yorba Linda Residents for Responsible Redevelopment signal that City Council members are weathering the political storm resulting from their ill-conceived Old Town redevelopment plan?

Of course, we won’t know the final answer to that question until the votes are tallied on the Right-to-Vote on Land-Use Amendments initiative--which appears as Measure B on the June 6 ballot--and for the two council positions scheduled for the Nov. 7 election.

But some of the city’s longtime low-density advocates might be feeling a bit complacent because the council rescinded the unpopular Town Center zoning ordinances in February and restricted the Redevelopment Agency’s despised eminent domain authority in March.

Only 44 residents attended an April 19 YLRRR gathering and 46 picketed the Building Industry Association’s annual fundraising event at the Nixon Library the next evening. The picketing represented YLRRR’s kick-off campaign event in support of Measure B.

Those numbers are down significantly from the concerned crowd of more than150 residents who participated in the group’s February meeting, which included spirited debate about proposals to recall two, three or all five council members.

However, board member Ed Rakochy told the sparse April assembly, “We’ve got the council on the run,” as he outlined several strategies to win support for Measure B, which would require a public vote on major changes to the city’s key planning documents.

Clearly, YLRRR members face a challenging task as they try to turn thousands of petition signers into voters who will support low-density measures and candidates.

The group gathered 8,647 signatures for the Right-to-Vote initiative in two months last summer and 9,790 names against Old Town rezoning in only 21 days in December and January. Now these residents must be motivated to support Measure B with their ballots.

YLRRR has a message that should resonate with Yorba Lindans who are concerned about high-density growth and remember that council members’ election-year promises to preserve the town’s low-density heritage haven’t always been kept.

A successful initiative will make developers accountable to the public-at-large, not just five council members, who use donations from developers and others associated with the building industry to help pay for campaign mailers touting soon-to-be ignored low-density pledges.

With about a month to go before the election, battling voter complacency might be as important as answering arguments presented by Measure B opponents in an expected wave of developer-funded campaign literature.

A FINAL NOTE

Former Councilman Mark Schwing participated in the county Republican Central Committee’s recent ruckus regarding official party backing for Sheriff Mike Carona.

Schwing said he supported handing Carona the committee’s endorsement for a third term at a March meeting, but that ballot fell one vote short of the necessary two-thirds margin.

Carona finally was endorsed at an April meeting--by one vote--but this time Schwing opposed the action because he said the second vote violated the GOP group’s bylaws.

Schwing is seeking a fifth two-year term as the committee’s only Yorba Linda member. He’s up against eight other candidates on the June ballot for the six positions representing the 60^th Assembly District, which includes eastern Yorba Linda.