City Council - 2018 vs. 2019 (Part 1)

The Council has a lot of routine functions that keep government working. Most of these occur at periodic times of the year and are usually unanimously agreed upon and most often appear as “consent” items on the agenda. Beyond that, though, a good Council can do many things to improve the quality of life for our citizens and also improve the way that government works. We live in times that are changing rapidly, and what worked even a few years ago may no longer be applicable. Therefore it’s incumbent on a City Council to stay up-to-date, to innovate and offer new solutions to new problems, or look at old problems and come up with better solutions given the changes in our technology.

We have a new Council. How are they doing? Let’s compare their accomplishments in their first months against what we accomplished last year during a comparable time period.

In 2018 the Council voted to delay electing a Mayor since there was a special election and three of the Council members hoped that Andrew Hamilton would not be recalled. He was! With an overwhelming 72+% of the people. In January 2018 I was unanimously elected Mayor, which seemed funny since Voigts and Robinson had opposed my appointment only a few weeks earlier. In 2019 Tettemer was appointed Mayor at the first meeting in December. I took office in January so the comparison for 2018 vs. 2019 is comparing the first two months of my administration in 2018 (Jan and Feb) vs. the first two months of Tettemer in 2019 (Dec and Jan).

During the first 2 months of 2018 we accomplished the following –

To improve the way government works,

• On 1/16/18, at our first meeting, we approved monthly updates from Council members on their actions on committees. Later this was changed to be quarterly written reports available to the public. (Recall that in past years Scott Voigts was in the habit of showing up at Vector Control meetings, making the roll call and receiving his $100 per diem fee, and then leaving. He never gave any reports about what was happening)
• Also at our first meeting we re-scheduled the Strategic Planning meetings, which were later held and a revised and much improved plan produced.
• Again, at our first meeting, to avoid problems of mis-behavior on the part of Council members, we approved discussing an Ethic subcommittee, which was later formed and a new policy enacted.
• To avoid problems of one group of Council members ganging up on another group, we changed the way that appointments would be made to Commissions. 2/6/18

To improve public safety,

• We introduced a new “Child Exploitation and Internet Safety Workshop” that was well attended and well received. 1/16/18
• We asked the Police Chief to update us on active shooter protocols (2/6/18) and later followed-up by meeting with SVUSD Superintendent.
• We undertook a proactive traffic study on Normandale and Regency Lane. This resulted to changes in the signing policy and also traffic management policies. 2/6/18.

To improve our quality of life,

• We began negotiations with the Boys and Girls Club to possibly establish a facility in the City. 2/20/18. Those negotiations are still ongoing.
• On 2/20/18 we initiated discussion of a Traffic and Parking Commission which eventually was formed and began working in September.
• On 1/16/18 we agreed to look for alternatives to the County animal shelter, including our own local shelter as well as partnering with our neighbors. We affirmed this on 2/6/18. That process is still in motion and discussions are taking place with Mission Viejo now that Irvine has opted out.
• In a related manner, we approved looking at an Animal Welfare Committee which was subsequently established as an “advisory group”. They met several times but as yet produced no recommendations. 1/16/18

To improve our financial situation,

• To avoid a costly lawsuit, possibly reaching into millions of dollars, we concluded the district transition process. 2/6/18
• We awarded contracts for grant consulting services to see how much extra money the City could earn. Though well-intentioned, this measure was not successful.

To improve communication,

• We adapted Facebook Live to allow full participation by residents in City Council meetings. We later extended this to cover other major meetings. We were the first City in the world to do this. Comments started coming in and were part of the official record on 2/20/18.
• We authorized a Mayor’s HOA Council and held several well-attended and productive meetings with HOA staff and Board members. 2/6/18.
• We initiated the Mayor’s Minute and subsequently produced 40+ weekly video segments. 2/20/18

Looking back now it’s an enormous amount of positive, innovative, and proactive actions – more than a dozen actions that resulted in positive change impacting the quality of life in our City. Some were realized quickly (e.g., FB-Live, HOA Council, Mayor’s Minute, Traffic and Parking Commission, Quarterly written reports) and some are still in motion (e.g., local animal shelter, grant consulting, Boys & Girls Club).

Now let’s consider what the current City Council has accomplished in their first two months. That will be the topic of the next article.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is a former City Council member and Mayor. He is one of the organizing members of Lake Forest Community Action Network. 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