Recall Review

With slightly more than a week to go before the recall supporters have to file 7,882 verified signatures, it’s worthwhile to review the charges and counter-charges.

WHY SHOULD THE GANG OF 3 BE RECALLED?

The recall supporters have a number of reasons they’ve listed for wanting to recall Council members Voigts, Hamilton, and Robinson. You can view these more extensively at their website, but I’ll summarize them briefly here –

Corruption – These 3 men received more than $200,000 from people and companies doing business with the City and 100% of the time they gave these people and businesses whatever they asked for, regardless of whether or not residents or staff were in favor. This means that decisions are not being made in the best interests of the City but in the interests of the people and businesses giving money to the Gang of 3.

Cronyism – These 3 men appoint their friends and campaign contributors to City positions with no regards to the qualifications of the people to serve, often refusing to appoint better qualified people. This means we do not operate as effectively as we should and it also limits the diversity of those people involved in government.

Collusion – These 3 men vote the same 80% to 90% of the time, while Councilman Nick and I vote together about 50% of the time. This means that instead of having 5 independent people looking at the issues, we have a block that votes together.

Conduct Unbecoming – These 3 men yell at residents, make fun of people when they speak at Council meetings, interrupt speakers, and order the audience to refrain from laughing and even speaking to each other. Mayor Hamilton routinely puts the entire room in “time out” wasting valuable time and costing the City thousands of dollars.

Lack of Compassion – These 3 men voted against helping seniors who are in need of Meals on Wheels services, and voted against looking for an alternative to using the disgraceful OC animal shelter. When warned that changes to Saddleback Ranch Rd were going to endanger people living in Portola Hills, they refused to do anything about it (until the recall was started).

Phony Conservatism – Though they claim to be “fiscal conservatives” they vote themselves expensive hardware and software, spend $350 a night of taxpayer money at expensive hotels, refused to cut the fat from the City’s $42,000,000 budget, gave a $10,000 bonus to the City Manager who gets $300,000 in compensation, etc. etc.

All these claims are extensively documented at the recall website, along with dates, names, amounts, votes, etc.

WHAT IS THEIR DEFENSE?

The Gang of 3 has been so busy attacking Councilman Nick, and more recently, me, they really haven’t offered much of a defense to respond to these allegations. “Nick is Nuts” and “Gardner is a Kook” seems to be their main defense.

If you check the recall website, you’ll find that all the allegations against the Gang of 3 are true.

• · They did take the money and they did deliver the votes 100% of the time.
• · Almost all their appointments are for people identified as campaign contributors or friends.
• · They do vote together more than 80% of the time.
• · They have voted against seniors, pets, and Saddleback Ranch Rd.
• · They are big spenders who refused to cut the budget.
• · They have acted horribly toward the residents.

You may decide that politics is such a nasty arena that this type of behavior is to be expected. But for a moment, let me suggest that this isn’t the case.

• · Councilman Nick and I refuse to accept money from special interests or from companies doing business with the City. When we vote we vote our conscience and owe a favor to no one.
• · Councilman Nick and I vote together only 50% of the time – that’s chance. We don’t collude and look at every issue independently. Sometimes we agree and sometimes we don’t, but you get two independent points of view from the two of us. Anyone who’s been to a Council meeting can see this.
• · Almost all the people I voted to appoint were not friends or campaign contributors, and none of the people Councilman Nick voted has ever appointed were friends or campaign contributors.
• · Councilman Nick and I voted for the senior program, voted for looking for an alternative to using the County shelter, and voted to stop construction on Saddleback Ranch Rd to avoid harming people. We care about the people in our City. In every one of these cases, Councilman Nick and I were outvoted by the three.
• · Councilman Nick and I spent no taxpayer money on travel. Nick doesn’t even accept a salary. We both asked to look at ways to save money.

So it’s possible to be an elected official and not succumb to the worst side of political life.

IS THERE A POWER PLAY?

Behind the slanderous, insane and racist attacks by the Gang of 3 is a consistent theme that Councilman Nick is trying to take over the City Council. Recently they added me to the list, so now the argument is that Nick and I are trying to take over the Council. The fact that Nick and I vote together only 50% of the time is apparently lost on the conspiracy theorists.

What is true is that Councilman Nick and I are looking to have three honest independent people sitting next to us on the Council. It’s pretty clear that the Gang of 3 do not qualify. The fact that Nick and I and THOUSANDS OF RESIDENTS are upset with the behavior of the Gang of 3 doesn’t mean that Nick and I are in a conspiracy, nor is it possible for us to “take control” of the Council. When the Gang of 3 is recalled, the people get the democratic opportunity to vote in 3 new people. Those 3 people, along with Nick and I, will create a new Council and it is my sincere hope that there are no Gangs in this new Council. Every issue should rise and fall on its own merits, and not because of some block, or some back room deals, or campaign contributions.

Tomorrow let’s talk about what a City Council would look like without the Gang of 3.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a Town Hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be on August 13 at 2 pm at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.

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