A councilman turns to anger management

Mission Viejo Councilman Lance MacLean was charged with assault and battery last year and lost his job. Now he's looking for work and taking anger management classes. The councilman hopes the classes will help salvage his reputation. The Register tells his tale of redemption:

About a year ago, the Mission Viejo resident (and, at the time, the city's mayor) was urged to take early retirement from his day job as executive director for UC Irvine's student government. The move followed an incident at UCI in which he was accused of misdemeanor assault and battery against a long-time co-worker. Though MacLean describes the incident as a minor skirmish, and says he was motivated by what he perceived to be a threat to student safety at a concert attended by hundreds of people, his outburst made headlines. The phrases "Lance MacLean" and "city councilman" and "assault" pop up on Google, even though other news related to the event –- that the charges were dropped last April –- aren't. What remains, for MacLean, is a reputation that he describes as "damaged" and court-mandated anger counseling. "At first I couldn't believe I had to go," MacLean said. "I didn't see myself as a hulking, raving maniac." Most people in anger management don't.