City Council Preview for May 16

Tuesday evening will be a hodge podge of items. Here’s a brief review -

OCFA

There has been talk about the City of Irvine leaving the County’s Fire Authority (OCFA) and how our City might have to handle the situation. Rather than wait until it happens, I asked for a preparatory discussion. We've also had information that Lake Forest may have unfunded pension liabilities if OCFA folds up, so that's an additional concern.

PURCHASING GUIDELINES

As a contract city, nearly 70% of our funds are spent on outside contracts, so our guidelines are important documents. The document itself is more than 100 pages long. (Click Here) For me, some of the important items are

• We should give preference to companies in Lake Forest. Other cities give 3% to 7% preference. IOW – if a Lake Forest business has a $100 price and a business from another City has a $98 price, we go with the higher price because it is in Lake Forest, helps our people keep jobs, generates sales tax, etc. I previously asked for this and was voted down. I'll ask again. Helping our citizens surely should be near the top of the list of things we do.

• We need to have competitive bids on all contracts, except where there is a monopoly (e.g., electricity, water). I asked for this previously and was shot down, but once again, it's worth asking. Generally speaking we do get competitive bids, but there are some notable exceptions. Unless we are constricted by the law or timing is critical, I see no reason for exceptions.
• No company that has a contract with the City should be allowed to make campaign contributions to Council members or candidates, or independent expenditures impacting our election. This is what we usually call a “bribe” except that government allows it, since the laws are written by politicians who depend on this dirty money. But we can object to it as a City.
• By extension, no company seeking a City contract should be allowed to make campaign contributions or independent expenditures within 2 years of applying. Once more, I've asked for this and been voted down, and once more I'll ask again.

VPP ANIMAL RE-LOCATION

The company that was contracted to do the animal relocation for Village Pond Park is asking for the City to nearly double the costs, from $25,000 to $46,717. Quite frankly, I thought that $25,000 was a high price to pay, but that was only my impression. I had no real evidence one way or the other.

According to staff, animal relocation had to be done within the guidelines of California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and in cooperation with El Toro Water District (ETWD) but that was known before the bids were submitted. Now the company is asking for more money because meeting CDFW and ETWD standards was apparently more difficult that they thought it was going to be.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

The Lake Forest Chamber of Commerce is requesting another $15,000 from the City as part of our annual contribution to their operations. The chamber puts on workshops and seminars all year long, and they are generally well attended and highly praised. They also help sponsor the Taste of Lake Forest, Shop and Dine, and the Meet the Mayor events. They also participate in the many ribbon cuttings we have in 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 on May 27 at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.