Repercussions from Mike Duvall's resignation

Now—with television comics and radio hosts finished with Mike Duvall and his
15 minutes of national fame faded—is an appropriate time to assess the political consequences of the legislator’s self-inflicted fall from grace for Yorba Linda residents.

First, the incident drives another nail into the coffin representing the reputations of all political leaders. The cynical statement “Duvall just got caught by an open mike” is a telling comment about the level of trust the public has in today’s elected officials.

I hope faith and trust is still possible, but such a belief is becoming increasingly difficult to hold, given the revelations about so many politicians recently.

Second, aspirations of other Yorba Linda leaders for higher political office are dealt a severe setback. Duvall was the first City Council member to win a state office, and potential future candidates from the council will suffer due to the association.

In Yorba Linda’s historical milieu, Duvall’s resignation might be likened to Richard Nixon’s departure from office. Nixon lived in Yorba Linda only nine years, but he frequently invoked the community’s rural roots and values in his speeches.

Duvall is a 40-year resident who associated his name with the community’s rural values in his council and Assembly campaigns, thus raising some doubt about the merit of those values.

Third, what’s next for Duvall? I left a note for him at his Lemon Drive insurance agency two Fridays ago, asking for an interview. I thought he might want to offer an explanation to his friends and neighbors, and he always answered my questions in the past.

But I haven’t received a response yet. I’d like to know what he has to say to Yorba Lindans who placed their faith in him for so many years, and I wonder what he plans to do with the $66,732 he reported in his 2010 campaign account as of June 30.

He should offer to return cash contributed by constituents, with the rest going to a community-wide charity, such as the financially strapped Boys and Girls Club.

Here’s what I reported in a 2007 column, based on comments Duvall made at his only Town Hall meeting in Yorba Linda, held a year after his first election to the Assembly:

“Although Duvall’s a sure bet to win two more two-year Assembly terms, and he’s bought a house four miles from the Capitol, the genial lawmaker looks to return to Yorba Linda when his legislative career ends.

“Unlike some in the Sacramento crowd, Duvall explained, he has non-political ties to his hometown, including a successful insurance firm and a thriving business he and his wife Susan recently purchased from her father.”

And now, with Duvall’s political career over, he owes Yorba Lindans some straight talk.

Town Center, ethics policy on council agenda

Two items of importance this week:

First, public participation in the latest round of Town Center redevelopment planning has yet to match the number of residents who turned out to comment on the 2004-05 effort at various community meetings held four and five years ago.

The most recent meeting last week drew 44 residents and assorted City Council members, city staff and consultants to a session designed to explain planning status and gain public input. An August forum audience started with 54 residents and ultimately dwindled to 32.

By contrast, residents packed the Community Center’s Yorba room at council-sponsored meetings and the Masonic Lodge at developer-run workshops in 2005, and a 2006 Yorba Linda Residents for Responsible Redevelopment meeting attracted more than 150 people.

Eventually, the 2004-05 plan collapsed after opponents gathered 8,647 signatures on a petition calling for the public’s “right-to-vote” on major changes to zoning regulations and 9,790 signatures to overturn council’s higher density zoning for the Old Town area.

Current planning is conducted in open forums with no closed-door meetings of council members, city staff and developers as in the past, and it’s a bit strange to hear normally conservative Yorba Lindans describe how the city could develop other people’s property.

Next opportunity for public input is at a joint council-Planning Commission study session scheduled Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. at the Community Center.

Second, chances are good that at least three council votes can be mustered for a strong ethics ordinance. Council scheduled a study session on the matter Sept. 30 at 6:30 p.m.

A law preventing council candidates from accepting campaign contributions from city contractors and placing time restrictions on donations from individuals and businesses whose interests are affected by council decisions will be on the agenda.

Other topics include a code of conduct for elected and appointed officials, “whistle-blower” protection, closed-door sessions, ethics training and taping closed meetings.

A written definition of ethics might gain new support in light of former Mayor Mike Duvall’s reported Sacramento behavior. Fortunately, the state Assembly has a formal ethics policy, so Duvall should be held accountable after an appropriate investigation.

Interestingly, at a 2007 Town Hall gathering, Duvall told a small group of 24 Yorba Linda constituents, “When I first got to Sacramento, I didn’t have a clue what to do.”

He said his family moved to Yorba Linda when he enrolled at Valencia High School in 1969, and he described himself as “a red-necked businessman turning into a libertarian.”

My Nov. 1, 2007, column noted Duvall’s meeting comment, “One of the things I hate in government is screwing the good guy and rewarding the bad guy.”

Yorba Lindans come home for high school

This week’s opening of Yorba Linda High School marks a significant step in community history, with several factors explaining the 98-year gap between dedications for the city’s first elementary school and first high school.

Chance, unforeseen circumstances and a good dose of local politics played roles in the longtime division of Yorba Linda among three different school districts.

Early on, northeast Orange County was home to several small elementary school districts. Placentia and Yorba opened in 1878, Olinda in 1898, Randolph in 1902 (renamed Brea in 1903), Commonwealth in 1911, Yorba Linda in 1912 and Richfield in 1915.

Each district’s graduates attended Fullerton Union High School, until the Brea and Olinda districts merged, withdrew from Fullerton and opened Brea-Olinda High in 1925.

Similarly, the Commonwealth, Placentia, Richfield and Yorba districts combined, withdrew from Fullerton, formed the Placentia Union School District and opened Valencia High in 1933. (El Dorado opened in 1966 and Esperanza 1974.)

The Yorba Linda district, which eventually included Yorba Linda Junior High and Linda Vista, Mabel Paine and Rose Drive elementary schools, remained independent until 1989, sending grads to Fullerton High before the Troy campus opened in 1964.

But the same economic factors that led the other districts to merge also affected Yorba Linda, so trustees explored joining Brea-Olinda in 1925 and Placentia through the ‘30s.

Again in the ’50-‘60s, Yorba Linda trustees looked at joining Brea-Olinda or Placentia, as well as forming a K-12 district with Buena Park, Fullerton and Yorba Linda schools.

Also proposed was unifying the Yorba Linda district within its own boundaries, a move that made little financial sense but was probably a ploy to make joining Placentia easier because the Fullerton Union High School District opposed losing Yorba Linda students.

At one time, Fullerton trustees considered building a high school on 28 acres in central Yorba Linda they purchased in 1968, but the district sold the site to developers in 1984.

However, in the 1980s, a plan to merge the Yorba Linda district with Placentia and allow high school students to continue at Troy was accepted by Fullerton, which feared closing Troy due to a steep enrollment decline.

Meanwhile, the Troy faculty built a strong magnet program, which ensured the school’s survival, and the Fullerton and Placentia districts agreed to boundary changes putting all Yorba Linda students in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District in 1993.

At first, PYLUSD said attendance forecasts didn’t justify a fourth comprehensive high school, but a new regime saw conditions differently and YLHS planning began. Now, the challenge is to sustain enough enrollment to keep four campuses viable.

Responses to renaming idea are mixed

Responses to my call for comments on naming a city facility for 30-year City Council veteran Hank Wedaa were refreshingly civil, a sharp contrast to anonymous Web blogs by residents who label those with differing views “crazies,” “schmuck” and “whack job.”

Wedaa’s eight-term council tenure was at times controversial, but the pro and con responses were thoughtfully stated, with no name-calling and only one not signed.

Three weeks ago, I requested reader reaction to a suggestion by Councilwoman Jan Horton to name the Community Center for Wedaa, as one way to honor his service.

Tony D’Amico, Claudine Lynch and Bill Rolling politely questioned Horton’s interest, since she opposed Wedaa’s appointment to a vacant council seat he later won in a 2007 special election that cost the city $140,000 for 8,362 ballots cast.

Rolling and Lee Day noted Wedaa’s name on dedication plaques around town, including at the library, City Hall and Community Center. “That’s enough, for now,” Day offered.

But Chuck Rosen suggested, “While people may disagree with his style of local politics, he has been a mainstay… . It’s time we rise above politics and salute accomplishments.”

Mark Abramowitz, Jay Bradley, Linda and Jack Horn and Pat Tormey favored recognizing Wedaa now. “We have always believed people should be honored when they are alive…and know how much they have been appreciated,” the Horns stated.

Tom Croom demurred: “I thought…we put term limits in place…because of Hank Wedaa I am strongly opposed to spending any time and money to honor any public official when they are…degrading our fine city in the name of budgeting and cost savings.”

James Prather noted Wedaa’s World War II service as a B-24 bombardier as well as his civic work: “The love he has for the city and the country is in his very fabric and soul.”

Shelby Ville stated, “In Yorba Linda, ‘community’ means doing what Mr. Wedaa did his entire life—pitch in”; Christine Norris called rededicating the center “a great idea”; Tom Madracki said, “I agree”; and Sue Fenwick responded, “Yes, absolutely.”

But Delores Van Auken, who noted she respects Wedaa and campaigned for him, explained, “I definitely do not want the name of the Community Center changed.”

Janet Paxton, whose late husband Phil’s name was added to the Buena Vista Avenue equestrian facility last year, commented, “I can’t think of a more deserving person.”

Planning Commission chair Abramowitz said, “No one has ever or will ever do for this city what Hank has done…. Hank is the Lou Gehrig or Joe DiMaggio of Yorba Linda.”