Laughs: Mayor Immitates Councilman at Business Breakfast

When you think of a business breakfast, you probably don't think about comedy.

But Mayor Rhonda Reardon changed the game Thursday morning, delivering business news from an e-mail sent to her by Councilman Dave Leckness.

Leckness is known for his sense of humor, and for his larger-than-life personality. (See this video of the councilman explaining how he hates golf).

Reardon had some serious points to make as well. She explained what the theme of the breakfast—Champions of Business—meant to her.

"Champions are people with courage and the willingness to take risks," she said.

State Sen. Mark Wyland also spoke at the breakfast, listing some of the local, national and international obstacles facing small business.

The keynote speaker was Lucy Dunn with the Orange County Business Council.

Dunn said the popular image of Orange County residents is untrue.

"They all think of us as white, rich and living on a beach," she said. "The reality is no one ethnicity dominates here."

Dunn's council encourages Latinos to pursue education in addition to hard work, she said.

And she said Sacramento is preventing Orange County from retaining its top-10 spot on Forbes' list of the best metro areas to do business in the United States.

She said state government is "tamping down our business community" with excessive regulation.

Here's more from the mayor's speech:

"Our economic development committee at the city is currently looking towards the future. We are asking ourselves -what will the future look like in five, ten twenty years? We're studying the trends, will it be in technology, will it be retail or will the trend be medical services? We encourage your input, the business people of Mission Viejo. We need your help, we can't do it alone. It's critically important that we understand the needs of local businesses.
We are positioning city staff to be more proactive and consistent in areas of business attraction, business growth and business retention. Greater things are still to be done in this city. The greatness of Mission Viejo is in it's future."

What do you think of Mission Viejo's small business community? Tell us in the comments below.