Councilman Scott Voigts Caught Violating Campaign Law

We just discussed the fact that since Scott Voigts joined the City Council, the general tenure has resembled a “Nest of Vipers”. The stink of corruption, back room deals and cronyism is ever present, and it seems like the special interests have a permanent seat at the table. Barely a month goes by when some person or some business doesn’t come before the Council and we find out that there are unspoken personal, social, and/or financial relationships with Council members such as Voigts, McCullough, or Robinson.

Only a few weeks ago City Council member Scott Voigts was reported to be falsely claiming he was the “Mayor of Lake Forest” while trying to solicit contributions to his campaign fund. When that information was published several people stepped forward to say that, in addition to using the title in his e-mail, Voigts was going around introducing himself as the Mayor.

While it’s true that Voigts was the Mayor in 2013, he is no longer the Mayor, and while entitled to call himself “former Mayor”, the implication that he is still Mayor is clearly false. Using a false title to solicit money may even be a crime. It certainly is another example of how loose Voigts’ moral principles are. Click here for previous information about Voigts’ behavior.

The most recent example of Voigts’ disregard for the law and his belief that he is “above the law” happened Tuesday night. A few months ago the City passed an ordinance that allowed campaign signs to be placed in the public right of way and on private property beginning 45 days before election day. In a letter to candidates on September 16, the City Clerk made sure that those candidates who were math impaired were aware that the date to put out signs was September 20th.

That didn’t stop Voigts from putting up his signs in violation of the law. Ironically Voigts fought hard for that law and was involved in writing it, so he can’t claim ignorance of the law.

After receiving several complains, Lake Forest enforcement staff ordered Voigts to cease and desist, then went around and documented Voigt’s violations. The Voigts sign in the picture was at the Lake Forest corner of Bake Pkwy and Trabuco. Several more signs were reported on Bake and even more were reported near Rockfield and Lake Forest Drive. There were also signs on the Irvine side of Bake Pkwy, however, those signs did not violate the Lake Forest laws.

When law makers become law breakers, you know you’re in trouble. Next week we will reveal even more evidence of law breaking by City Council members,

About Jim Gardner

Dr. Jim Gardner is running for City Council in Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook. To date, unlike Scott Voigts, Dr. Gardner has violated no campaign sign laws nor is he falsely claiming to be the Mayor of Lake Forest. However he freely admits to be planning to be the future Mayor of Lake Forest