Here’s what’s coming up Tuesday night –
CANDIDATE STATEMENT (Item 27)
The current system provides for a 200 word candidate statement. Some people have asked whether or not the statement can be increased to 400 words, especially helping non incumbents who may be less well-known to voters. The costs for the statements are paid for by the candidates, not the City.
TERM LIMITS (Item 27 A)
An issue we managed to get on the November ballot is –
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“Shall the measure proposing an ordinance limiting the terms of Lake Forest City Council Members to two (2) consecutive four (4) year terms be adopted?”
We currently allow Council members to stay for 24 out of 26 years. Seriously!? 24 out of 26 years!
DISTRICT ELECTIONS (Item 27 B)
Here are the two motions proposed for the November ballot on district elections –
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Ballot Measure #1
“Shall the Lake Forest ordinance authorizing the City Council to return to at-large City Council elections if the California Voting Rights Act is successfully challenged in court, thereby permitting the City of Lake Forest to change back to at-large City Council elections without threat of litigation and financial exposure under the California Voting Rights Act, be adopted?”
Personally this sounds badly written and hard to understand. Here is my revision –
"If the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) is successfully challenged in court, thereby permitting the City to change back to city-wide Council elections without threat of litigation and financial exposure under the CVRA, shall the Council vote to change from district elections to city-wide elections?"
FWIW - no city that ever changed from city-wide to district elections ever voted to change back, and no city ever given the option to vote to move to district elections ever voted district elections down.
Ballot Measure #2
“Shall the Lake Forest ordinance authorizing the City Council to return to at large City Council elections, with the understanding that doing so could lead to litigation and financial exposure in the millions of dollars under the California Voting Rights Act, be adopted?”
The language here is much better, but the idea is much worse. District elections are good because they will seriously reduce the influence of special interests, and they will make some members of the Council more responsive to their constituents. Spending millions of taxpayer dollars to return to city-wide elections so that special interests can once again control the destiny of the city, seems ironic and fool hardy.
Tomorrow we'll discuss the Strategic Business Plan and the Veterans Park updates.
PS - Don't forget that you can log on to Facebook Live and participate in our City Council meetings.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest where he serves as Mayor. 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 Twitter handle is @DrJimGardner. 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 Aug 16 at 7 pm at the Lake 1 Clubhouse (Ridge Route).
