Challenges Ahead for Lake Forest - Part 1

There has been a major distraction from the issues in this election, and the people doing the distractions are the very same people who have no idea what the issues are. So let’s get back to the issues.

SAFETY

Safety is an issue for any city, but the plain truth is that our crime rate has never been so low. It is down more than 30% since Tettemer left office and since I joined the Council it is down nearly 20%. The last 4 years I have been on the Council are the 4 lowest crime rates in the history of the City. And crime is down this year over last year.

Under Tettemer we had the worst crime record in OC for cities controlled by OCSD. Under me we have one of the best. These are the facts.

In terms of an “issue”, our current record is excellent. We need to keep doing what we have been doing. Under my leadership we

• Added classes on child safety
• Added a seminar on internet predators
• Added a dedicated parking enforcement officer to free up space on our streets
• Put crime mapping and crime information on the city’s website

We are, right now, moving forward on creating an Online Neighborhood Watch program that will lead the nation in using technology to decrease crime.

FINANCES

You probably know that this year I initiated a move to make our City debt-free. That puts us in an enviable position. But there are challenges ahead, and I constantly meet with staff to anticipate the problems and prepare for them now.

Because we have been doing such a good job lately, the demands on our services are going up all the time. Increased demands require increased responses, even if only to respond to the demands. Not only are the demands increasing in quantity, people are demanding better quality. Good for them. I have been talking about this for years.

If we meet the increased demands we are going to spend a lot of additional money we haven’t budgeted for. Last year I promoted a study of our fees because the fees we charge right now are based on a schedule that existed a decade ago. What business can continue by using prices that are a decade old? On the other hand, the alternative to raising fees, even if they are low by comparison, is to work smarter. Last year I directed our Communications Department to explore a mobile app that will put virtually all the city functions on a mobile device. It’s taken some time to get the bugs out of the software, but we are going to release it before the end of the year. This new app may very well increase the efficiency and effectiveness of what we do, but we won’t achieve this by standing idly. It’s going to need leadership and oversight to make this work.

PUBLIC WORKS

Public Works remains a constant source of frustration, and we have a long history of projects that went awry, took too long, cost too much, etc.

• The Sports Park took nearly a decade to build and no sooner did we open the Park than we had to spend an additional $500,000 for landscape changes.
• They built Tamarisk Park and forgot to put in disabled access, requiring extra funds and extra time.
• Veterans Park has gone twice over budget and 50% over time.

The only real success we’ve had in Public Works is the Civic Center which is on time and on budget. That was my high priority when I joined the Council and I have squired this project along the way. But this is a rare example of getting it right.

Going forward, we have lots of new projects, including upgrading 10 neighborhood parks, getting Portola Park off the ground, etc.

In addition to the building aspects, we are continually besieged with parking problems in the City and our “permit parking” policies are not working. We are simply not responding quickly enough, nor are we effective.

Getting Public Works to perform better is a major challenge going forward.

On Monday I'll focus on Traffic, Homelessness, and the Police contract

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest where he serves as Mayor. 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 January.