The City Council meets tonight and there is nothing really interesting on the agenda.
WATER AWARENESS
Find out what's happening in Lake Forestfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The City will proclaim May as “Water Awareness Month” which is an irony considering that we are about to build 5,000 new homes in the middle of a drought while the water authorities are worried about supplying enough water to meet our current needs. Imagine what happens when 12,000 more people take baths/showers, cook their meals and water their lawns. Perhaps we should require as a condition of any more new homes, that the occupants be restricted to not more than 1 bath/shower per week and that all lawns be filled with sand until further notice.
Find out what's happening in Lake Forestfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
ELECTION 2014
The city will make 3 “resolutions pertaining to the 2014 general municipal election”. Here are 3 more resolutions they might consider.
Anyone who has been found to have broken more than half their promises in a previous election shall be barred from local politics forever.
Anyone who has been found to have lied from the dais on at least 5 occasions shall be barred from local politics forever.
Anyone who has stuffed their campaign coffers with money from special interests, then voted to give these special interests what they asked for, shall be barred from local politics forever.
Do I hear a second?
VOIGTS VOID
It’s hard to believe, but we are nearly half way through 2014 and only two of the items left over from 2013 have made their way to the dais in 2014. For those of you who missed it, here’s a partial list of issues discussed in 2013 that remain unaddressed -
PROTECTING LAKE FOREST – Now that 2,300+ homes are being built within a mile of the future home of maximum security prisoners, it’s time to develop a system to alert residents when prisoners escape.
SPENDING IN LAKE FOREST - Last year we hit an all-time low in the percent of our annual budget spent on our own people and businesses. Whenever the issue is raised, the City Council member snarl and roll their eyes, but month after month, spending stays at an all- time low (under 2%).
VILLAGE POND PARK - For years the waterfowl have fouled this park, and finally last year the Council signed a contract to get the problem resolved. But then they couldn’t decide on an ordinance to prohibit feeding (despite a substitute ordinance I sent to them) and the consultants devising the Plan did such a poor job that the project appears in limbo.
DOG PARK - Nearly a year ago the Parks and Recreation Commission were given the job of searching for a location for a dog park. They spent 8 months, did just about nothing, and then said they would report their lack of progress to the Council. But we’re still waiting to hear how poorly they did.
REAL TERM LIMITS - Last year the Council passed a bogus term limits ordinance that will be on the ballot in November 2014. It limits their tenure to 24 of the next 26 years. Can the City really survive 24 more years of Scott Voigts or Kathy McCullough? Of course, 24 of 26 years is better than the lifetime appointments people thought they were entitled to.
BBK & OOPS - Isn’t it time we stopped reversing ourselves? How many ordinances do we have to repeal before you get the message? How many meetings and decisions must skirt the Brown Act before it’s clear what’s going on? How many bad recommendations must we have before it’s clear that the City needs to be looking for another law firm?
WEBSITE TRANSPARENCY - We’ve done a good job getting more transparency on the website, but it’s clearly not done. What about salaries not ranges? the worth of the benefit packages? forms for Committees that operate within the City? Etc.
SUNSHINE ORDINANCE - Thanks to Mayor Pro Tem Nick we got a chance for a Sunshine Ordinance last year, but it got shot down. Let’s give it another try. Sunshine Ordinances will make it more difficult for Council members to engage in the type of hanky-panky Lake Forest Council members are now famous for (or should I say “infamous”?).
PCN REVISIONS - What happened to the discussion of the PCN process? That’s the process by which a variance can be issued for “public convenience or necessity”. In April the staff agreed to bring it back for consideration. The current PCN process puts the power in the hands of staff on decisions that should be made at the Council level.
The problem in 2013 is that Scott Voigts did such a poor job as Mayor so many issues never got resolved, event though the meetings went in to overtime on a record number of occasions. Voigts thus earned himself the title of "Worst Mayor Ever", but Dwight Robinson is not doing a much better job - hence the "Voigts Void" remains.
