There are a number of items of interest coming up Tuesday but none as important as district elections.
DISTRICT ELECTIONS
About two years ago, Councilman Adam Nick and I asked our colleagues to explore the idea of moving to district elections. District elections differ from our current system because they partition the City into meaningful districts of approximately the same size, and a representative is elected from that district. This is the same way that we elect Senators and Representatives on the State and Federal levels. It's also the way we elect County Supervisors.
Where possible, districts are identified by their geographic and demographic similarities.
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Several cities in Orange County already have district elections, and from what I've heard, no City that ever changed to a district system changed back to the old way of electing people. Some cities put the issue on the ballot and every time it was placed on the ballot, people voted for it.
Unfortunately, my colleagues (Hamilton, Voigts, Robinson) didn't want to consider the change. That's not unusual. These three Councilmen consistently vote against any type of change. They voted against considering competitive bidding for our major contracts, against creating almost every new Commission or Advisory group suggested, against cutting the fat from the City's $40,000,000 plus budget, against campaign finance reform, against helping Meals on Wheels, against creating our own no-kill shelter, etc.
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But now, their vote against district elections has come back to bite the City. We are being sued by a law firm that alleges that we are violating the California Voting Rights Act and discriminating against minorities. They argue that by keeping the city-wide voting system we do not give a fair opportunity to minorities to win elections to the City Council. It's hard to agree with that assertion and this isn't the forum to do that. But it does mean that the failure to move to district elections when first addressed by Councilman Nick and I is going to cost the City a lot of money in legal fees.
District elections can be done in many different ways. At the moment my preference is
- A city-wide election of Mayor (like they do in many cities)
- District elections for 6 districts (giving us 7 City Council members)
- Requiring that the person elected in a district actually lives in that district
How exactly to draw the lines for the districts is up to demographers who will be given the task of identifying areas of similar size, geographic and demographic status. Prior to this the City will have at least 2 public meetings. Then the proposed map will be drawn up, publicized and then residents can give us their input in at least 2 more public meetings. After input from the public and a final review by the demographers and the lawyers, we can enact an ordinance and district elections can start in 2018.
NEW CITY MANAGER
I've pleased to say that the Council unanimously voted to give the City Manager position to Debra Rose. Under the previous City Manager Debra was a "good soldier" and carried out his orders and pretty much stuck to his ways of doing things. Since he left, Debra has come into her own. She's improved the process of communicating with the Council, opened up the City to be more responsive to residents, and helped lighten the mood around City Hall. In the past four months we are doing more and doing it better, and we are understaffed when you consider that we are down two major people.
We looked at dozens of resumes, interviewed six very capable people, and Debra stood out as the #1 choice for all of us.
I'm looking forward to a new era 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 20 at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.
