Civility in Lake Forest - The Silence

We’ve been examining the case being made by the anti-recall supporters, most of who are campaign contributors to the Gang of 3 and/or were appointed by Hamilton to City Commissions/Advisory groups.

In my first article I wondered when I read their pleas for civility, where Andrew Hamilton’s supporters were when a senior citizen was being assaulted, when racist and sexists attacks were made on Councilman Nick and Leah Basile, when attacks were being made on my family, and when our residents were being threatened with Police action.

In my second article I exposed some of the lies in their literature, specifically –

• They lied when the said they were going to do more about encouraging civility in the City. They did nothing more than ask you not to recall Hamilton and then ask you to help pay for the campaign.
• They lied when they said the recall group was upset that Hamilton voted to "partner with the County". According to the petition, the recall group was upset that Hamilton (a) voted against creating a no-kill shelter and (b) voted to spend $600,000 on the County shelter and receive no equity.
• They lied when they said the decision was "near unanimous". As reflected in the official City minutes, the decision was 3:2
• They lied when they said the new County shelter would "save our city millions of dollars". The truth is we will spend millions of dollars extra, and already spent or budgeted nearly $750,000 more.

Today I want to look at what they didn’t say.

HAMILTON’S RECORD

Over the past month or so I’ve produced dozens of facts about Hamilton’s behavior (missing meetings, missing events) and his voting record, and what fascinates me is that no one is defending Hamilton’s behavior or his record. The “Civility” group is silent on these issues. Even Hamilton is silent on these issues.

• No one denies that Hamilton threatened residents with Police action, put them in time-out, cut them off in mid-sentence, etc.
• No one denies that Hamilton voted against a no-kill animal shelter, against Meals on Wheels, against a Community Foundation, against a Traffic Commission, etc.
• No one denies that Hamilton‘s votes have cost us millions of dollars, either in lost savings or in extra costs, and might have cost us even more.

Even Hamilton is silent. On the recall petition Hamilton had the opportunity to defend himself. He didn’t. He simply wrote over and over again

“Falsehoods, Whoppers, Lies, Distortions, Denigration, Untruths, Fabrications, Dishonesty…”

The only one “defending” Hamilton is “James Ross”, whom many believe is actually Hamilton writing under a false name. Ross is not a registered Lake Forest voter nor even a Lake Forest resident, and has never appeared in public, despite several challenges. Yet even Ross doesn’t defend Hamilton, but instead attacks me on a personal level.

The silence in defense of Hamilton’s behavior and record is deafening.

RECALL COSTS

Another thing the “Civility Group” isn’t talking about is that the recall this time is against only one person, not 3, and so the costs of verifying signatures will be significantly less. They won’t give you the cost, but here it is – 10,000 verified signatures will cost the City $34,000.

With his votes, Andrew Hamilton has cost the city millions of dollars and potentially an additional $7,000,000 had Councilman Robinson not joined with Mayor Pro Tem and I in not fighting a lawsuit that everyone said we couldn’t win. Click Here for the details. Hamilton wanted us to fight that lawsuit

Investing $34,000 to save us Millions of Dollars is one of the best investments we could make.

ANTI-RECALL COSTS

Another thing they aren’t telling you is that for every postcard you send in to the City, it will cost the City $3.40 to have it verified. The City is obligated to have these verified even if you didn’t sign the original petition.

SUMMARY

Lies and Mis-information fill the very brief letter from the “Civility Group” and their sparsely populated website.

No one is defending Hamilton’s behavior or his voting record.

By all means, lets’ be civil. But being civil has nothing to do with recalling Hamilton. We can be civil and recall Hamilton at the same time. Let’s look at some truths and some full disclosures.

If you want to know how Hamilton behaved and how he voted, click here.

If you want to know the economics of the recall, click here.

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.