City Council Review for Feb 19

The Council met Tuesday night and I felt like I was watching a sitcom. Here are the highlights –

DOING NOTHING

The Do Nothing Council or DNC lived up to their name by avoiding doing anything. They had a chance to move forward on the street sweeping problem. Three residents came to the podium to complain and offer suggestions. But the Council did nothing. They accepted the ludicrous plan by the staff to wait until mid-2020 to even start doing anything.

CORRUPTION LIVES

On that same issue, Councilman Voigts remained silent and never disclosed that he has taken money from Athens Street Sweeping, then argued against any new RFP that might take the contract away from Athens. In my own remarks on the subject I specifically mentioned that Athens was a campaign contributor and asked anyone on the dais to whom this applied to disclose the issue. Voigts never disclosed, violating the city’s own code of ethics.

SAYING NOTHING

IRWD Reclaimed Water Manager Mark Tettemer, better known as Mayor Zippy for doing and saying nothing, kept his record intact by saying not a word even when he was extensively quizzed by long-time resident Martin Henderson. Henderson reminded Mayor Zippy that during the campaign Tettemer promised to be responsive to residents and said – “Just ask Mark”. Apparently, he meant that you could “ask” him anything you wanted, but he neglected to say “I ain’t goin’ answer”

ATTACKING RESIDENTS

Neeki (Dumb it Down) Moatazedi once more used the dais to attack residents. In this case she launched attacks against two residents, one of whom wasn’t even speaking. If you recall, both Zippy and Dumb it Down promised to be more “civil” but Moatazedi’s temper tantrums have given us some of the least civil moments in recent times. In fact, attacking a resident who isn’t even speaking seems to be a violation of the Brown Act which allows Council members to respond to comments from residents. Here is the part of the Brown Act that applies

“No action or discussion shall be undertaken on any item not appearing on the posted agenda, except that members of a legislative body or its staff may briefly respond to statements made or questions posed by persons exercising their public testimony rights under Section 54954.3. In addition, on their own initiative or in response to questions posed by the public, a member of a legislative body or its staff may ask a question for clarification, make a brief announcement, or make a brief report on his or her own activities. Furthermore, a member of a legislative body, or the body itself, subject to rules or procedures of the legislative body, may provide a reference to staff or other resources for factual information, request staff to report back to the body at a subsequent meeting concerning any matter, or take action to direct staff to place a matter of business on a future agenda.” 54954.2(a)

Nothing here gives license to attack a resident who is not “exercising their public testimony rights” and who is not the subject of the question or statement.

BASILE TO THE RESCUE

Several residents asked for help from the Council; but only Councilwoman Basile responded. The rest sat in silence. Two of the three requests came from Tettemer’s district, yet he remained silent, refusing to respond to the residents’ pleas.

ROBINSON – TIME TO RESIGN

Councilman Dwight Robinson was missing again. He missed the meeting on Dec 18 and now on Feb 19. That’s 2 of the past 6 meetings which is pretty high absence rate. Recall that both Adam Nick and I served for 4 full years without missing a single meeting.

Robinson has been dis-interested in the Council for some time. Shortly after being re-elected in 2016, by a mere 99 out of 20,000 votes, he expressed his disappointment in being on the Council and said he would not run again. Shortly after that he began a long series of public and private apologies for his behavior in office. In 2018 he served on a number of ad hoc committees, but his contributions were negligible even while his attendance was good.

Robinson used his position on the Council to gain appointment to the South County Air Quality Board which regulates, among other things, truck emissions. Robinson married the daughter of the owner of a trucking company in Long Beach and took over for him a few years ago, so influencing air emission regulations is near and dear to Robinson’s heart.

We have a Do Nothing Council and we don’t need someone who can’t even show up to do nothing. Robinson should resign and be replaced by someone who might do something.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner was on the Lake Forest City Council from 2014 to 2018 and Mayor in 2018. Under his leadership the City became the first debt free city in the U.S. with a population over 25,000 people and the first city to live broadcast City Council meetings that allowed residents to participate online (Click Here). Dr. Gardner is one of the organizing members of Lake Forest Community Action Network. 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