City Council D2: Clear Differences Between Morper, Moatazedi

The Lake Forest City Council candidate forum of Oct. 4 was kind of predictable when it came to sizing up the District 2 candidates. The election pits Sonny Morper against Neeki Moatazedi. It’s like pitting an owl against a fox.

Moatazedi, the fox, had expressed concern over fairness of the questions leading up to the Sun & Sail Club event -- and over the assurances that there would be no hanky panky that would treat her unfairly. Understandably, she wanted a fair shake (the same thing residents who supported the recall of Andrew Hamilton wanted on items that came before the council). Yet even Moatazedi couldn’t find fault with the questions or performance of the moderators.

Why is this important? Because Moatazedi didn’t know the moderators, Justin Villwock and Jim Richert. She didn’t know the quality of individuals, didn’t know their levels of integrity, didn’t know that this was not Richert’s first rodeo. And that’s part of the problem with her running for City Council. Moatazedi has no institutional knowledge about Lake Forest or the district she’s trying to represent.

She is a three-year resident who has never sat on a commission who is endorsed by sitting council members who have a proven track record of being supported by special interests and giving in to their every whim.

Why is she endorsed by Dwight Robinson (whose business contributed $1,000 to her campaign) and Scott Voigts and the special interests that control them? They want to regain power. We’ve seen this hand-picked act before, Francisco Barajas in 2016 and Andrew Hamilton in 2014. Barajas was beaten, but Robinson, Voigts and Hamilton voted together with such eye-opening regularity that something was fishy; their collective decision to not even allow immediate discussion of the dangerous Saddleback Ranch Road was a clear indicator that they were more interested in protecting special interests than residents. That’s why there was a recall attempt against them.

Moatazedi’s role in city government is to align herself with the beliefs of Robinson and Voigts -- and Mark Tettemer in District 4 is going to be the same thing -- so that they control the power. This is not about agendas; if it was, Robinson would have at some point brought one of his campaign promises before the Council for consideration, or he would have voted for his campaign promises when they were brought forward by someone else.

Moatazedi’s rally cry is that she wants “to end political favoritism,” but political favoritism is why she has been endorsed by the political action committees and pro-developer associations who are taking their cue from the likes of Robinson’s financial contribution or his outright endorsement.

Moatazedi’s agenda doesn’t include anything that doesn’t already have a mechanism in place or is already part of the public discussion. She wants to improve Lake Forest traffic; Morper is on the Traffic and Parking Commission.

Moatazedi’s comments, the few times she has spoken before the City Council and at the candidate forum, are indicative of her lack of insight. I don’t doubt that she’s well-meaning, but strip away the rhetoric, who is she here to help? When the issue of contributions by special interests came up at the forum, Moatazedi responded rather defiantly that she was simply playing by the rules and if you didn’t like it, take it up with your federal officials.

And how far do you think that would get you? Not very. “Hello, Mimi, please create campaign finance reform at the lowest levels of government. Hello? Hello?”

Morper, the owl, has refused to take money from developers and agencies of special interests.

Moatazedi’s conclusions come off as false, the voice of inexperience and naivete. Her Form 460s are, if my source is accurate, at the end of the month going to show that developers Baker Ranch ($5,000) and Toll Brothers ($15,000) have contributed to her campaign either directly or through a political action committee; we’ll find out in a couple of weeks. That’s quite a large donation to a newcomer on the scene.

If it hasn’t already, by now a light bulb should be going on above your head.

A CLEAR DIFFERENCE

The difference in the candidate responses to moderator and audience questions by Morper made a clear distinction between the owl and the fox. Truth is that I would vote for Moatazedi if she was running straight up against Voigts, Robinson or Tettemer. Voigts is a liar, Robinson can’t be trusted, and Tettemer is seeking validation for his recent master’s degree in public administration; he’s also already had two terms in office and now he’s coming back for more. Term limits, anyone?

Toll Brothers, Baker Ranch and the OC GOP have gotten behind Moatazedi. Ask yourself why they would back such an inexperienced candidate who’s barely gotten to know how to spell Jeronimo? Morper has lived in Lake Forest for 40 years, at least four years longer than Moatazedi has lived, period.

It’s clear Morper is more knowledgeable about the community and the district. He has a positive plan for addressing traffic and the Nakase Nursery property development that actually includes pushing back against developers to the benefit of existing residents.

He has documented evidence of leadership, especially in the community and professionally. Moatazedi, not so much.

In the three years she has lived in Lake Forest, Moatazedi has never attended even one of the eight City Leadership Academy workshops offered free to citizens annually; instead, her only two leadership resources appear to be Robinson and Voigts. To my knowledge, Moatazedi hasn’t led any community groups of any type in Lake Forest. She has never even attempted to be elected to her HOA board of directors. By comparison, Morper has been elected nine times, four as president on his HOA board of directors. That’s not the definitive measure of suitability, but ask yourself why Moatazedi wants to go straight to the top?

Moatazedi’s campaign cry is “results, not rhetoric.” She’s an articulate speaker, but she doesn’t yet have demonstrated results in Lake Forest. In District 2, she is the embodiment of rhetoric.

Moatazedi’s youth and inexperience goes against any well-meaning credentials she tried to present at the candidate forum. Instead of knowing how to get the best plans developed with community opportunities for input, she came across as a rubber stamp for special interests, big builders and politically influenced by those entities or those who have accepted money from them. She’ll take money from anyone.

Looking ahead to leadership even within the city council, Morper has a working relationship already established with all the council members. Moatazedi’s working relationships -- and it probably can’t even be called that yet -- are limited to Robinson and Voigts.

That’s why the theme of “Not Neeki” resonates.

Inexperience, no plan for community involvement, no community involvement of her own, and lack of civic leadership are her true credentials. And that doesn’t discount her role as a project manager for the Southern California Gas Company -- which stands to make a lot of money from her blindly rubber-stamping with Voigts and Robinson any development that comes her way. Not only has she taken special interest money, she works for a special interest, an agency that stands to benefit financially from the votes that she casts. Cramming 800 homes onto the Nakase Nursery property is going to make her employer money month after month after month ... forever.

I’m sure her master’s degree in film served her well at the E! Television Network, and if the focus of city council were to make a movie, I’d endorse her 100 percent. But that’s not what this job is. And though she is a project manager at the Gas Company -- a position not without responsibility -- she has not provided any meat and potatoes as evidence of a civic solution provider. She hasn’t even shown an understanding of what a council person can and cannot do. Complaining to the City Council at its meeting of Sept. 18 -- less than a month ago -- about the format of the candidate forum was a perfect example; the Council had nothing to do with the forum and it couldn’t do anything about it. Likewise, one of her campaign promises is to “build new schools in Lake Forest” even though the school district operates independently and the city council (or the planning commission, as she suggested) doesn’t have any negotiating leverage. But if schools are what you want, the candidate with nearly three decades in education is probably be better choice for getting a seat at the table -- and that’s Morper.

Moatazedi is untrained, inexperienced and has come across with an unnecessary poor-me attitude. That has been the public face she has presented.

Since getting 517 votes in the special election (about 9 percent) on Jan. 2, Moatazedi has done nothing to create a valid resume of training, leadership and experience in community matters. As harsh as this may sound, at this time she is of no political value to citizens in Lake Forest except as an unproven option to proven failures of trust such as Robinson and Voigts; unfortunately, that’s not a viable option in District 2. Moatazedi’s candidacy is an example of delusions of grandeur on her part, and sadly, she is being used. There is guilt by association; she’s Hamilton 2.0, the inexperienced third vote to make Robinson and Voigts the majority again. That would be a disaster. They would be making lifelong decisions pushed by the agendas of outsiders; we know that because they have done it in the past.

WHY MORPER?

Morper has a wealth of community leadership, the ability to bring the council into a goal-oriented legislative body that citizens can take pride in. Morper was a school principal for 28 years, and used knowledge from his masters’ thesis in contract negotiations to reach satisfactory solutions with various opposing stakeholders. As an HOA leader he understands development of programs and services that will translate to the city. Working with focus groups to address community interests and plans for the future strategic plan in his HOA is only one experience asset he brings. His strength is working with people of all persuasions, including those who are on the opposite side of the aisle.

Morper has already had meetings with each current council member to find common ground and to defray the council’s history of overt acrimony. Note to Sonny: If you want to prevent acrimony on this council, make Robinson keep his word and Voigts tell the truth.

Morper says he wants “Peace in the Valley.” Aside from being a very good Elvis Presley song, that’s also campaign rhetoric; the council members don’t have to get along. I don’t mind “acrimony” when its cornerstone is built on one side trying to keep the other side honest (literally, honest). The acrimony or divisiveness on this council is because Robinson and Voigts don’t want to be held accountable by their peers. And they certainly don’t want to be held accountable by their constituents. Why is Lake Forest government not more transparent than it is? Because Robinson and Voigts didn’t support it.

Robinson and Voigts -- one can’t be trusted, the other can’t be believed -- are endorsing and giving money to Moatazedi because they need another vote. They want Tettemer to beat Mayor Jim Gardner in District 4, and they're hedging their bets by supporting Moatazedi.

Morper is endorsed by lame duck Councilman Col. Tom Cagley, who provided an independent vote despite accusations by Voigts and Robinson supporters -- and Moatazedi herself -- that he would be a puppet for the other side. Morper is endorsed by Mayor Pro Tem Leah Basile, who has clearly been the most empathetic representative on the dais and the most responsive to residents. Morper is endorsed by Mayor Gardner, who has made it his point to hold elected representatives accountable for their words and actions, and to seek solutions for which Robinson and Voigts want to sit on their hands.

From where I’m sitting, Robinson and Voigts don’t command respect, either from their peers or constituents. They are getting behind the inexperienced, impressionable, three-year resident Moatazedi, whose primary purpose will be to support development in Lake Forest to the benefit of the OC GOP and her employer.

Morper is an acknowledged leader within the community and a 40-year resident of Lake Forest who has a vision from 30,000 feet.

Morper is the wise old owl. Moatazedi the sly young fox doing what she can to get into the hen house.

Who do you trust, because that’s who deserves your vote.

About the author: Martin Henderson won several Los Angeles and Orange County press club awards while an editor at Patch in 2012-13. He is a resident of Lake Forest.