Andrew Hamilton and the Recall - Part 2

Last time we listed some disturbing data about Councilman Andrew Hamilton’s performance since being elected to City Council in 2014. We discovered he had

• Worst attendance at City events (Click Here)
• Worst participation in legislative process (Click Here)
• Meager list of accomplishments (Click Here)
• Do nothing approach to government (Click Here)
• Group-think mentality when voting (Click Here and Here)
• Back-tracking on promises to constituents. (Click Here)
• Record of taking money from special interests and then voting 100% of the time in their favor. (Click Here)

All these qualities were measurable. For example,

• In the first quarter of 2017 he attended only 4 city events, compared to the other Council members who averaged more than twice as many. (FWIW – he also had a poor record in 2015 when he was Mayor - Click here)
• Since December 2016 he initiated or supported only 4 of the 15 legislative initiatives passed by the Council – everyone else averaged twice as many.
• Since being elected he votes with Voigts and Robinson more than 90% of the time, nearly twice the rate that I agreed with Councilman Nick or Mayor Pro Tem Basile.
• From 2014 to 2016 less than 1% of Hamilton’s campaign contributions came Lake Forest residents: the rest came from developers (47%), Politicians (26%), companies or people doing business with the City (15%), and Political Action Groups.

When considering whether or not Hamilton should be recalled, we can add to the list a few behaviors which are less quantifiable –

• Conduct toward residents as Mayor
• Conduct toward residents during 2016 recall

CONDUCT AS MAYOR

It is well documented (Click Here and Here) that while he was Mayor Hamilton

• Violated Brown Act provisions
• Cut speakers off in mid-sentence
• Threatened residents with Police action
• Demanded that residents not clap, laugh, or even speak
• Ended meeting abruptly (apparent temper tantrum)
• Put residents in “time-out” for speaking while he spoke

I’m not making this stuff up. It has all been captured on the city’s website and reported by several people (Click Here and Here). It was so offensive to everyone that once Hamilton was voted out of the Mayor’s office his replacement (Scott Voigts) dramatically changed the way meetings were run. Since Hamilton has been out of office, there have been no threats to use Police, no time outs, no meetings ended abruptly, etc.

CONDUCT DURING RECALL

Many people believe Hamilton was behind the racist hate mongering that occurred on flyers and on the pages of The Patch (Click here) in 2016 during the first recall effort. Hamilton was invited, several times, to deny the fact that he was writing under false names, but he refused to answer the questions. In any event, he never repudiated the hateful campaign on his behalf though his colleague Dwight Robinson did.

In addition to the campaign literature, Hamilton was caught harassing signature gatherers and claiming it was his first amendment right to do so. Police had to be called on several occasions. Hamilton was also caught secretly videotaping people and posting those videos online. On at least one occasion, he was told to stop videotaping sexually explicit parts of a woman’s anatomy.

Though the first recall was against Hamilton as well as Voigts and Robinson, neither of his two allies behaved in a similar manner.

Next time I’ll summarize and then discuss the argument to keep Hamilton in office.

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.