Agenda for 2018

Here are my recommendations for the year ahead.

ACTIVE FOLLOW-UP

We need to actively follow-up on the projects that are already in front of us. Too often we find out too late that things have gone astray. I’m going to ask the City Manager to report on a monthly basis, in writing and as part of the agenda at council meetings. We need to insure we are on time and within budget, and if we are not, we need to intervene as quickly as possible to get back on track. Here are the major projects -

• Civic Center
• Veterans Park
• General Plan Update
• Neighborhood Parks
• Police Parking Update
• Mobile App

COUNCIL MOTIONS

Some of the issues in front of us will require formal Council action. Here are the major ones already approved to come back to us -

• Campaign Contributions - In some manner reduce the possibilities of anyone with financial interests trying to influence local elections by giving money to campaign committees or independent expenditure committees of PACs (e.g., changes to contracts, changes to ethics code).
• Ethics Revision - Set up a Committee (e.g., add independent oversight, put some Teeth into violations, add specific examples to illustrate violations, and define the Process for submitting suspected violations).
• No Kill Shelter - Move toward a local no-kill option (e.g., by Re-opening discussions with neighboring cities, discussions with local Vets, and discussions with the County).
• Traffic Commission -Set up Traffic Commission using resources allocated to Traffic and Planning Commission.
• Term limits -New terms limits to reduce the 2 years off in 24 years. Possible options -(a) 8-year maximum or (b) 12-year maximum with no more than 2 consecutive terms.

MAYOR’S COUNCILS

I want to involve more people in government, and here are some specific areas where we can get input and work together to improve the quality of life in the City.

• Business Council - April 25 kickoff
• HOA Council - March 21 kickoff

If these prove successful I will add Religious, Nonprofits, and Leadership Councils.

NEW COMMITTEES

To get started I'm going to recommend a committee to determine what committees to move forward with and how to best do it. Once this is done, we may move forward with one or more of the following -

• Animal Welfare
• Beautification
• Community Foundation

EXISTING COMMITTEES

The Council members and their designees sit on about a dozen committees many of which have impact on our lives (e.g., Vector Control, Library, OCFA, etc.). But we almost never hear about what's happening. We just approved a change to the way things happen. Every month Committee members will submit a report and this report will be included in the agenda packet so everyone can see what's happening, and people will be able to comment on these reports.

CHANGES TO COUNCIL MEETINGS

Our meetings have not been the model of effectiveness and efficiency. Here are some ways to improve them -

• Host/Greeter for newbies
• Production Assistant -Use TVs to show people where we are in the discussions
• Prioritize order - So high interest items come up sooner, rather than later.
• Tweet - Allow people to tweet in
• Taped introduction for people wanting to speak - May be played at start of meetings but also put online.

CHANGES TO COUNCIL

• Resignation - Replace open position with highest vote getter at last normal election
• Appoint Commissioners - Each Council member appoints one person.
• Rotate Mayor - Any elected person gets chance to serve if he/she wants it.
• Remove Mayor from politics - Neither Mayor nor Mayor Pro Tem may engage in “political” efforts including fund raisers, elections campaigns, etc.
• Pay Raise - Members to get $1000 p/m and Mayor to get $1200 p/m. With this new amount we are still below average compared to other cities.
• Pop-up City Hall -Increase communication with community. Display, staff, plus Council members (Mayor + District member) and events around the city, no more than 1 per month.
• One Minute with Mayor - Weekly one-minute video promoting city events.

CHANGES/OTHER

• Take-One - City flyers, notices, etc. that we want widely distributed at take-away stations strategically placed around the City. Responsibility of district Council members to keep stocked.
• Regional workshops - Work with neighboring cities to create Economic Development workshops on regional basis instead of Lake Forest bearing the brunt.
• School busing -Work with impacted schools (e.g., FHR, Serrano) to see if some joint busing effort can be achieved. Consider Agewell buses. See if it can be done by August (new school year)
• Business licenses -Consider implementing business licenses for better tracking. Consider 1 year membership with Chamber free with license.
• Boys & Girls Club - Find a site from where the Boys and Girls Club can operate

This is a lot to accomplish and we'll have to work really hard to get it all done.

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 twitter handle is @DrJimGardner. 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 Thursday Feb 15 at 7 pm at the Beach and Tennis Club on Ridge Rte.