Civility in Lake Forest

The anti-recall movement has been active lately. They sent out a letter called “Lake Forest Civility” signed by 8 residents, most of whom were Hamilton appointments and campaign contributors to the Gang of 3. What I found most curious about this letter was –

Where were these people when a senior citizen was viciously assaulted by an anti-recall supporter?

We got no letters then. None of these people appeared at the City Council and asked for “civility”. In fact, at least one of them called the man who rescued the senior citizen from even more serious damage a “thug”. Was that civil?

Where were these people when Councilman Adam Nick was being attacked in a vicious, racist and scurrilous “Nick is Nuts” newspaper?

We got no letters then. None of these people appeared at the City Council and asked for “civility”. In fact, several of them piled on in social media. Was that civil?

Where were these people when residents were being threatened by Hamilton with Police action, being told to stop talking or laughing, and being cut-off in mid-sentence if they said anything Hamilton didn’t want to hear?

We got no letters then. None of these people appeared at the City Council and asked for “civility” even though the rights of our citizens were being threatened.

Apparently civility only applies when Mr. Hamilton is being recalled.

By all means, let's be civil. Let's just look at the facts. Don't recall Mr. Hamilton because he is "evil" or a "bad person" or a "phony" or use any language like that. That's what the anti-recall people did last time against Councilman Nick.

Let's not put his head on a sexy model to make fun of him, as the anti-recall people did last time against Leah Basile.

Let's not attack his family, as the anti-recall people did to me, last time and again a few weeks ago.

Let's just look at the facts and decide if these facts are sufficient to warrant recalling him. You can start with my latest article - Click Here. These are just 10 facts about Mr. Hamilton's performance. There are dozens more waiting to be published. Look at these facts. You might decide that they are not sufficient to warrant recalling someone, and that's your right as a citizen. Or you might decide that this isn't the way you want your elected officials to act, and these are not the types of decisions you want your elected officials to make.

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.