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Today is Election Day! Polls close at 8:00 PM. Find your polling place here. Dear Fellow Yorba Lindan,
When I moved to Yorba Linda in 1976, the only drive-thru was the dairy. There was a park, a freeway, and an elementary school named for Richard Nixon. There were five churches, no bars, and the closest place to go to the movies was at the Orange Mall. I rode my horse to McDonald's. I rode my horse to the feed store. I rode my horse in the lakebed and in the vacant lot across the street from the brand new Linda Vista School. Other children and I spent hours riding, sitting, and racing our horses. No one told us not to ride through their Orange Grove, no one told us to wear helmets, and the few cars that passed us knew well enough to slow down and stay back. I have changed a great deal since then; Yorba Linda has changed a great deal since then. We must embrace and be proud of our past, but we must also plan for our future. We've grown to a population of over 60,000 people with the highest per capita income in our state. We now have our own high school, a magnificent public golf course, and a presidential library. Our city has expanded 5 miles to the east, and the northern hills are almost completely developed. The city has changed, but have we improved and kept up with the changes? At this time we have a city council who rode into office on a wave of rhetoric about hope and change. In the past four years, our city has had four city managers, three parks and rec directors (now searching for our fourth), and we've replaced 25% of our city department heads in the past year. This kind of dysfunction is not a mystery, nor a normal part of business administration; it is a huge problem. It is not a normal part of business to have this rate and magnitude of turnover, it is a glaring sign of a toxic environment. With budget shortfalls and the worst economy in decades, how many more feasibility studies do we really need? Or do we really need to hire quality people in our city management and allow them to do their job? We are facing issues with water and sewer, we must deal with the issues at black gold, we must develop a cohesive and palatable plan for the Town Center. We must explore and develop funding and revenue sources to forward with performing arts and equestrian centers. Leadership in our City Council should be providing vision, encouragement and enthusiasm, and direction to city management. Leaders must be the architects, and managers must be the builders. Ronald Reagan said that the scariest words in the English language are: "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." I'm not from the government, but I am here to help. I have been a lawyer for 14 years, and a businesswoman involved in the economics of our community for more than 20. I think that I can bring the leadership and enthusiasm that we currently lack. It will require some more rolling up our sleeves and getting to work, a few less feasibility studies, and some actual plans, but together we can get these things moving. I recently hiked to the 10,000 foot summit of Mt. Baldy. It was difficult, long and exhausting, but it struck me as similar to the work we have at hand here. You have to take the first step, then you have to take the next step, and if you keep it up, eventually you have taken all of the steps to reach the summit. This is the first step in improving our city, but there are many more steps. If we stay the course, we can go a long way. In order to make this journey, I will need your vote and your financial support. You are reading this today because you know and understand the seriousness of the problems in our city, please make sure you are talking to your friends and neighbors about these things, please contact me to find out other ways in which you can help. Brenda McCune
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