The City Council Candidates - Adam Nick

We’ve been looking at City Council candidates and so far we profiled Barajas, Basile, and Robinson. Today we look at Adam Nick.

Adam Nick is probably the most interesting person we’ve had on the City Council. To some he is a hero and to others he's a villain. But the plain fact is that Nick has evolved and changed a lot over the years, so one can talk about the “old Nick” and the “new Nick” and we’d be looking at two different people. The “old Nick” was aligned with the old Gang of 3. He voted for developer projects and argued with his fellow Council members. Nick could be on the pointed end of harsh attacks. The “new Nick” often opposes the Gang of 3 and votes against developer projects. His tone and tenure are much improved, and in the last two years he’s endured the brunt of vicious and racist attacks forged by the people on the Council he used to call friends.

The “old Nick” wasn’t very involved in community events. The “new Nick” attends workshops, shows up at more community events than the Mayor, and is more supportive of the rights and desires of the residents than anyone else on the Council.

The "old Nick" could ramble on about coming to America, and struggling as an immigrant. After a while it could get annoying, especially after hearing it a dozen times. The "new Nick" still brings it up, but mercifully it's much shorter.

The "old Nick" would go with the consensus and sometimes vote for something he didn't believe in, just to go along. The "new Nick" is fiercely independent, and not afraid to cast the lone vote on issues, as he's done on May 17 (against the high rise in Portola), Feb 2 (clapping from the audience), Oct 20 (PACE programs), etc.

Though there is an “old Nick”, I’m going to focus on the “new Nick” as this is the man who is in front of us now.

KEEPING PROMISES

Last week I did an analysis of Robinson vs. Nick in their promise keeping. In 2012 Robinson made 6 promises, kept none of them, and most of the time even did the opposite of what he promised. Nick, on the other hand, made 7 promises and kept them all.

CHAMPION OF REFORM

No one on this or any other Council has been more concerned with reforming the way the government works. Nick has been successful in changing the way variances are granted (no longer in back rooms), got term limits on Council (though it’s not the 8 years he wanted) and helped redevelop our City website so that more information is now available than ever before. I’d venture to say we now have more than twice as much information available to the public, and Nick has been the driving force behind this change.

Not everything he championed has come to fruition, especially the campaign finance and ethics reforms which have been consistently voted down by the new Gang of 3, especially Robinson.

FOCUS ON THE PEOPLE

While the Gang of 3 focuses on special interests, especially developers, Nick has been relentless in his fight for the individual citizen.

• · He’s defied the City officials by pushing hard to get Village Pond Park rehabilitated.
• · He went with me to visit the OC Animal Shelter and since that time has done everything he could to bring a no kill local shelter into existence.
• · He and I were the only ones to pay attention when the residents of Portola Hills worried about the dangers of the Saddleback Ranch Rd fiasco.
• · He helped get the Bennett Ranch homeowners requests for permit parking back on the City agenda.
• · He listened (and voted) to support the requests from Portola Hills people to reduce the size of the 60 foot apartment building that was being proposed.

Time and time again, when there was an issue of concern to residents, Nick has been the go-to guy. While the Gang of 3 serve as the envoy to the rich and powerful, Nick meets with and assists ordinary people who are trying to improve the quality of life for residents.

Nick was the first Council member (even before me) to hold a Town Hall meeting and he’s held 4 of them. The Gang of 3 collectively has held none. You can find him at the Civic Center workshops, the Senior Resource Fair, the Leadership Academy, etc. He’s the only person to provide his e-mail address and personal cell phone number on his ballot statement. Apart from me, he is the most accessible Council member the City has ever had.

FINANCIAL SKILLS

Nick has used his business experience and financial skills to help guide the City. We recently eliminated the unfunded pension liabilities for our City workers, something very few (if any) other agencies have done. Nick introduced a “super majority” vote to prevent any Gang of 3 from increasing our fees and taxes, and he recently convinced the Council to eliminate fees for the use of the Sports Park for our residents.

Not everything he tried to do has been successful. He tried to get the Council to look more closely at our $43,000,000 annual budget and cut the fat, but the Gang of 3 said “no”. He tried to save the City $250,000 on the street sweeping contract, but the Gang of 3 was in a rush to give it to one of their campaign contributors, so they said “no”.

“ON YOUR SIDE”

Nick’s campaign literature says “he’s on your side”. He may be right. Nick is the only person in City Council history to accept no salary or benefits. He also accepts no travel reimbursements despite that some of the Gang of 3 sleep in $350 a night luxury suites. Moreover, Nick has attended 100% of the Council meetings in his 4 year term, a feat also unmatched in the Council’s history.

FLAWLESS?

The "new Nick" is a much improved version, but still not perfected. He still defers to the staff and the City Manager much more than I think is suitable. And he still gets caught up in the emotional drama that permeates most of our Council sessions. All things considered these are relatively minor faults.

SUMMARY

The “old Nick” would not have gotten my nod, but the “new Nick” is deserving of another 4 years. Watching the transformation in the past 4 years, I can hardly wait to see what happens.

Next time we’ll discuss the other two guys who are running.

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 is not up for re-election in 2016.

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 November at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.