The big news is our celebration of being debt-free. Earlier this year we voted to pay off the unfunded pension obligation, a move first suggested by Adam Nick and Dave Bass, actually carried out in 2014 when I joined the Council, and then finalized earlier this year. That left us with a bond for building Alton Parkway. The 15-year bond was authorized in 2011 and had 8 more years to run. If we didn’t pay it off, we’d spend an additional $1,000,000 in interest payments. So, earlier this year, I suggested to the Council that we pay it off and they agreed.
Our staff has been researching other cities and they have been unable to find a single city in the U.S. of our size or greater that is debt-free. That puts us in rarified territory.
Our celebration will begin at 6 pm at the City Hall.
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As required by law, we will officially notify the bond holders that we are paying off the bond. On December 2 we will actually transfer the funds.
Following the celebration our regular meeting will begin at 6:30. Among the issues –
Find out what's happening in Lake Forestfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
PUT LAKE FOREST FIRST
I have been arguing for years, long before I was elected to Council, that our City needed to give our residents and business owners a preference in getting city contracts and business. As difficult as it may be to believe, each time I managed to get the issue on the table, I was out-voted.
According to staff, a survey of 11 local cities indicated 55% have such a preference ranging from 1% to 5%. There is a California Attorney General opinion that supports this methodology in allowing a county to adopt a procedure which provides a five percent (5%) local business preference. The adoption of a local business preference for the City would be under the governmental purpose of economic development. A policy would only apply to the purchase of supplies, equipment and non-professional services as other procurements are excluded from the application of a local preference due to legal issues.
Hidden from the staff report is the fact that companies from other cities are heavy contributors to the campaigns of some of our City Council members. For example, Councilmen Robinson and Voigts take money from companies in Irvine, Huntington Beach, City of Industries, Stanton, etc. Having a local preference would not be seen as friendly by these businesses.
GENERAL PLAN UPDATE
The City is engaged in a general plan update. Our current general plan is more than 20 years old, and some people thought it was time for a new one. This evening we will have an update on how they have been spending our money. Part of their presentation includes the fact that the second Advisory Committee meeting will be on Oct 4 at the same time that the City Council Candidate Forum will be held.
PARTICIPATE ONLINE
Don't forget that you can log onto the city's website and go to Facebook Live and participate in the City Council meeting. We are the only City that allows citizens to participate fully online.
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 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 Oct 18 at 7 pm at the Lake 1 Clubhouse (Ridge Route).
