City Council Preview for March 21 (Strategic Plan, Duck Patrol, Affordable Housing)

Yesterday we discussed the new Planning/Traffic Commission and the Civic Center. Today we’ll discuss the Strategic Plan, the proposed Duck Patrol, and Affordable Housing.

5 YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN

Every 2 years the City reviews the 5 year strategic plan. In 2014 we brought together members of both Commissions as well as past Council members. This year the plan proposed is

• May 16, 2017 - Workshop to gather ideas
• June 6, 2017 - City Council vetting of workshop ideas
• July 5, 2017 - Draft Five-Year Strategic Business Plan
• July 18, 2017 - Final Five-Year Strategic Business Plan

Effective strategic planning is vital to any organization, and even more critical as an organization gets bigger. With over $100,000,000 in financial assets, an equal amount (or more) in fixed assets (our parks, buildings), and a $40,000,000+ annual budget, we need a strategic plan that will bring us forward into the next decade.

DUCK PATROL

The City plans to discuss the idea of a “duck patrol” to educate and dissuade residents from feeding the ducks. The real issue, everyone knows, is the City’s refusal to enforce the ordinance. In nearly 2 years we have only 3 citations, despite the city’s own admission that more than 3,000 people were “educated” about the ordinance. Imagine if we gave out tickets for running a red light with such efficiency? Let’s have the Police stop 3,000 people who run red lights and educate them, give out 3 tickets, and then see what happens!

All the duck patrols in the world won’t be as effective as giving some tickets.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

The developers of the 930 home Portola Hills project want to fund part of the cost of the affordable housing element (57 multi-family units restricted to low income seniors in the giant monolith that will be built at the intersection of Glen Ranch and Saddleback) through $13,000,000 in tax exempt bonds issued through the California Municipal Finance Authority. There is no cost or obligation to the City.

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 in May.