This week we have a special meeting on Monday that is a closed session in which we’ll try to choose between the two finalists in our City Manager contest. Stay tuned.
Tuesday starts off with another closed session most of which is concerned with legal issues. The public session has a few interesting items
CITY HALL OPERATING HOURS
Our City closes its doors on Fridays every other week. That‘s great for staff but not so good for residents who are denied services 1 out of every 10 days. It’s true that more and more services are being provided over the Internet, and our City is way ahead of most other cities in moving in this direction. But there’s nothing like face-to-face service, in my opinion.
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It’s true that some cities do also have the 9 days’ work schedule, but many other cities still provide service 5 days a week, week after week. Some cities even provide service on Saturday morning.
How can we provide 5 days a week service and not upset the staff who are accustomed to 3 day weekends twice a month? A harsh analysis would say we’re not in the business of making staff happy, only residents. That’s a little naïve so I’m going to pass over that one because unhappy staff don’t provide good service (Some might say even a happy staff may not provide good service, but let’s leave that one aside too).
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Some staff may wish to go back to a 40 hour week so there’s no problem for them. By allowing other staff to remain on a 9/10 (working 9 of 10 days) schedule and switching the days around we can provide 10/10 service. In this scenario, some staff will choose to have their day off on any day of the week they choose. Some may keep Friday, some will switch to Monday, and others may choose whatever for their own reasons.
This idea was suggested by Mayor Pro Tem Basile and I supported it.
DISTRICT ELECTIONS
This item was scheduled for the last meeting and was discussed in the last preview (Click Here). Our collective minds had turned to jelly by 11 pm last time so we put it off until this meeting.
My personal belief is that district elections are more democratic and responsive to the needs of the people. I advocated for this when it was first presented by Councilman Nick and I made the motion to put this on the agenda. Mayor Pro Tem Basile and Councilman Robinson supported me.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REGULATIONS
Similar to District Elections, this item was scheduled for the last meeting and was discussed in the last preview (Click Here).
You can’t pick up a newspaper or watch TV without hearing someone talk about “campaign finance reform” People on all sides of the political spectrum know that the current system is deeply flawed. Special interests are running our government at the federal, state, and local levels. They do this with money which flows directly, indirectly, and surreptitiously into the campaign coffers of politicians without the courage to say “no”. Even in a City as small as Lake Forest, getting elected to office can cost more than $50,000 (which is what the Mayor and his friends spent last time).
Let’s take an example. Andrew Hamilton received more than $50,000 in campaign contributions and independent expenditures to put him in office and keep him there. By my calculations, less than 1% came from ordinary Lake Forest residents. The rest came from developers and the building industry in general (47%), politicians (26%), and companies doing business with the city or seeking City contracts (15%). Hamilton’s record shows he votes 100% of the time to approve anything that his campaign contributors ask for, including contracts, contract extensions, zoning changes, variances, etc. For example -
Hamilton took over $25,000 from developers and building industry and voted to
- Approve developer agreement for Baker Ranch (1/6/15)
- Approved Baker Ranch project (5/5/15)
- Approve Meritage project (12/15/15)
- Approve Toll Brothers request to add extra floor to homes (9/20/16)
He never met a developmnent agreement or proposal he didn't endorse!
Hamilton got nearly $10,000 from companies with city contracts and voted to
- award street sweeping contract to Athens (5/19/15) who gave him $1,000 (6/8/15) and $1,250 (9/30/15)
- not to recommend alcohol license to a gas station that refused to put up his campaign signs (2/17/15)
- landscape contract to Marina Landscape (4/19/16) who gave him $500 (9/30/15)
- support OCSD contract (6/7/16) after independent expenditure on his behalf of $10,000 from Police Union
- award one year extension to CR&R contract (2/21/17) after $1,000 (1/31/15) and $1,000 (9/30/15).
Hamilton says that he votes his conscience and the fact that his conscience agrees with his campaign contributors 100% of the time is mere coincidence. But almost every moral and ethical code, including the ones adopted by the City of Lake Forest, requires elected officials to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.
In any event, this is not a forum to discuss Mr. Hamilton or any other elected official, but rather an opportunity for the City to make changes to our campaign finance regulations.
Next time I’ll talk about the Civic Center and the Boys and Girls Club – both of which are on the agenda for Tuesday.
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 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 on May 20 at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.
