Tuesday night at the City Council we moved forward on various issues -
VILLAGE POND PARK
The $2.1 million contract was unanimously approved. Fences to go up soon. Construction to begin shortly and finish in 9 months. New park to be opened by early 2018. Wildlife being inventoried now. Will be relocated. Company asked to liaise with Lake 1 HOA to work closely with local residents who are concerned with the well-being of the wildlife. No changes, for the moment, to wildlife enforcement program (which is basically no enforcement at all).
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ON-STREET PARKING
Ordinance unanimously approved. Code enforcement officer to be discussed at budget meetings.
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CITY COUNCIL COMPENSATION
To be discussed in 2018 as required by City resolution, which was enacted in 2006 but not implemented since 2008 (FWIW - Lake Forest Council compensation is among the lowest in the County). Councilman Robinson suggested that we let the voters decide whether or not Council compensation should be raised. Long-time resident Cherie Anderson recommended that no pay be given to Council members Voigts, Hamilton, and Robinson. Councilman Hamilton voted against obeying the law (Resolution 2006-20) and against allowing discussion of residents approving compensation increases for Council members; it was the only non-unanimous vote in the evening.
(FWIW - Like the idea of residents voting to decide if Council members should get pay increases, but I'm not so happy about being lumped together. If we go in that direction I would like the voting to be individual and residents could decide who should or should not be increased.)
DISTRICT VOTING
At my request, majority consensus was achieved to discuss at a future meeting. This will allow Council members to be elected by district instead of citywide. In OC some cities have 5 districts and a few have 7 districts. I’m also recommending that the Mayor be elected citywide but that Council members be elected by district. Right now I like the idea of 6 districts (plus a Mayor elected citywide) since this IMO would be more democratic, and specific areas of the City could be better represented. I've asked the staff to inquire among the cities with 7 districts to see whether or not having 7 districts is a problem
TOWN HALL MEETINGS
At my request, majority consensus was achieved for all representatives for U.S. and State offices to be invited to conduct a town hall meeting here in Lake Forest to keep us informed. Let's see who agrees.
ANIMAL CARE
At my request, majority consensus was achieved to send a letter to the County requesting citizen participation at heretofore secret City Manager meetings.
At my request, majority consensus was achieved to invite the County’s new Director of Community Services to come to a future Council meeting and receive feedback about animal care.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
At Mayor Pro Tem Basile’s request, consideration of an ordinance will be discussed at a future meeting to forbid companies doing business with the city from contributing, directly or indirectly, to any City Council campaign. FWIW – Former Councilman Nick and I introduced a similar ordinance a few years ago and it was defeated by Hamilton-Voigts-Robinson. FWIW - Councilmen Hamilton-Voigts-Robinson accept campaigfn contributions from companiues doing business and/or seeking business with the City while neither Leah Basile nor I (nor former Councilman Nick) do so. In recent years the following companies have contributed tens of thousands of dollars to Councilmen Hamilton-Voigts-Robinson - CR&R, Athens Services, Great Scott Tree Services, Griffin Structures, Farino Construction, Cox Communications, The Whitaker Professional Group, Marina Landscape, Waste Management, and CARE Ambulance.
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.
