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Rancho Ortega Blog discusses matters of public interest in South Orange County, including the communities of San Juan Capistrano, Ladera Ranch and Rancho Mission Viejo.

The writings of Don Juan Ortega on the Rancho Ortega Blog are the personal views of the author. This blog is not authored by nor does it have any affiliation whatsoever with any other person, place or entity using the name "Rancho Ortega" (or any similar name).

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Categories

Archives

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/3975

Happy Birthday, Mission Viejo!

On this day in 1987, the City of Mission Viejo votes to incorporate as a City.

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/4858

LAFCO Presents Local Governance Options to Rancho Mission Viejo Stakeholder Working Group

Below is a presentation on local governance options published for the RMV Stakeholder Working Group by Orange County LAFCO:

The presentation lays out the different governance options available to the Rancho Mission Viejo Study Area (which includes Ladera Ranch and the Ranch Plan area). Among those potential governance options are:

County Service Area

A [...]

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/4713

Union Market Bringing Food Hall Concept to South County

The OC Register has published an article focusing on “food halls” — high end food courts with small and boutique food vendors using shared facilities and communal eating spaces. A recent and successful example is the OC Mix in Costa Mesa. The proprietors behind the OC Mix are also responsible for Union Market, a similar [...]

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/4580

Happy 4th of July!

First and foremost, we hope that everyone out there enjoys a safe and happy 4th of July holiday. God bless America!

We’ve already given you the details on fireworks shows in Ladera Ranch and San Juan Capistrano. There are plenty of other fireworks shows scheduled in South Orange County tonight. Courtesy of the Orange County [...]

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/4538

LAFCO Convenes Stakeholders for Rancho Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita Local Governance Study Areas

We have frequently mentioned LAFCO, Orange County’s Local Agency Formation Commission, in articles relating to South County governance and cityhood. After all, “LAFCO is the most important government agency you have never heard of.” There have been a couple recent developments at LAFCO that illustrate how much the agency is thinking about Rancho Mission Viejo [...]

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/4478

A Topographical View of Planning Area 2

Google Maps has a cool new feature where you can tilt the map and get a topographical view of an area. We decided to have some fun and lay the boundaries for Planning Area 2 over a topographical map of the region. Below is the result — note the boundaries aren’t perfect. We were just [...]

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/4331

Congratulations to Five Distinguished CUSD Elementary Schools

Congratulations to the five Capistrano Unified School District Elementary Schools that were named California Distinguished Schools for 2014:

Bathgate Elementary, Mission Viejo Chaparral Elementary, Ladera Ranch Don Juan Avila Elementary, Aliso Viejo Oxford Preparatory Academy, Mission Viejo Vista del Mar Elementary, San Clemente

Congratulations to the faculty, students, staff and parents at each of these [...]

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/4189

Mourning the Passing of former Mission Viejo Mayor and Founding Father William Craycraft

Don Juan Ortega’s real life alter-ego had the privilege of knowing former Mission Viejo Mayor William “Bill” Craycraft. Mayor Craycraft passed away last Thursday. He was 70 years old. One of the founding fathers of Mission Viejo, Craycraft was first elected to city office in Mission Viejo during the same election in which voters elected [...]

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/3584

Visions of South County Cityhood Dancing in our Heads

Susan Wilson is the Chairwoman of the Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission. What is LAFCO? Well, if you’ve been reading our blog, you would know that when it comes to South County local governance and cityhood, LAFCO is the most important government agency you’ve never heard of. Wilson has written a guest opinion piece, [...]

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/3545

Mission Viejo Releases 2013 State of the City Video

Mission Viejo Mayor Rhonda Reardon has released her 2013 State of the City video. From the City’s web site:

The video, which premiered during Monday’s City Council meeting, received rousing applause. Infusing personality and humor, Mayor Reardon covers some of Mission Viejo’s major accomplishments over this past year. Those include construction of the new dog [...]