Andrew Hamilton - MIA from City Events (Again)

(Please note – This article was prepared before Councilman Hamilton was served a notice of recall)

Last year when he was Mayor, Andrew Hamilton was known for two major accomplishments – (1) he spent less time at City events than any other Mayor before (Click here and here), and (2) his harsh manner earned him the title of "worst Mayor ever" (Click here and here). Hamilton cut speakers off in mid-sentence and threatened to turn the Police on people who talked or laughed, all the while preaching “kindness” and complaining that he was being bullied. During the recall Hamilton harassed signature gatherers and surreptitiously took pictures of them and posted them on the Internet. This earned him more than 6,000 signatures from registered voters asking for him to be recalled. Hamilton got more verified signatures to leave office than people who voted for him when he was elected.

It’s a new year and it’s always good to see what Hamilton is up to. Among all other City Council members, Hamilton, once again, is the MIA (Missing in Action) King. Of more than a dozen city events, by my count Hamilton showed up at less than a handful. Mayor Voigts and Mayor Pro Tem Basile attended more than twice as many events as Hamilton did, and I attended more than twice as many as they did.

You could argue that Hamilton holds a job (Mesa Water District in Costa Mesa) and therefore it’s difficult for him to attend City events, especially those that occur during the day. But many of the events occur on weekends (e.g., 5 park workshops) yet he manages to miss those too. It’s also instructive to note that Councilman Robinson attended twice as many events as Hamilton did, and Robinson works in Long Beach, which is considerably further away.

Hamilton is the MIA champion two years in a row and you can’t blame it on his work or the timing of the events. We can speculate why this is so - Most of Hamilton’s money for his campaigns doesn’t come from Lake Forest. It comes from developers and companies that do business with the City or are trying to do business with the city. Here’s a small sample –

The developers and builders

• Meritage Homes - $10,000 (Corona)
• Baker Ranch Properties - $2,500 (Laguna Hills)
• Shea Baker Ranch Associates - $1,000 (Scottsdale, Arizona)
• Building Industry Association - $2,000 (Los Angeles)

The City contractors

• CR&R - $2,000 (Stanton)
• Athens Services - $2,250 (City of Industry)

With more than $50,000 going into his campaigns (according to his Form 460s filed with the City), I can trace only $550 that came from Lake Forest residents, and $250 of this came from a lobbyist. Of course I'm not counting Councilman Dwight Robinson, who keeps Hamilton close to his breast by feeding him a continual source of funds through Robinson’s Long Beach business. Is it any wonder that Hamilton votes with Robinson more than 90% of the time? Compare that to the 50% agreement I had with Councilman Nick or with Mayor Pro Tem Basile.

So what does it matter whether or not Hamilton participates in the life of the community? He gets his money from developers, builders, and companies with or seeking city contracts, along with Councilman “Big Daddy” Robinson. As long as he keeps them happy, the money will keep flowing, and as long as the money keeps flowing Hamilton can remain in office.

Hamilton’s failure to attend City events is not the only sign that he is detached from the City. Next time I’ll go through his record of participating in the legislative process.

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 in May.