The Corrupting of Lake Forest

“Corruption is a form of dishonest or unethical conduct by a person entrusted with a position of authority, often to acquire personal benefit. Corruption may include many activities including bribery and embezzlement, though it may also involve practices that are legal in many countries. Government, or ‘political’, corruption occurs when an office-holder or other governmental employee acts in an official capacity for personal gain.”

If you give money to a Council member for him to vote in favor of your contract or ordinance, it’s bribery. If you give him money after he votes for your contract or ordinance, it’s a payoff. Both are illegal. BUT, if you give the money to his campaign committee, it isn’t illegal.

This week we saw corruption at work in our city. Meritage Homes wanted to get commercial land re-zoned to residential, which means much greater profits to the developer (although when asked directly by Dr. Jim Gardner, they refused to tell us just how much more they would make). In anticipation of this vote, they spent $10,000 on 10/23/2014 to send out campaign literature to help elect Scott Voigts and Andrew Hamilton, both of whom voted for the re-zoning. Dwight Robinson voted for it too, and Robinson has been the beneficiary to nearly $100,000 in developer money since he started in 2012.

All totaled, Voigts, Robinson, and Hamilton (aka ”The Gang of 3”) received more than $150,000 from developers and have never voted against any proposal from a developer, regardless of how badly it impacted the City. Here are some examples –

05/19/2015 – Baker Ranch gets approval to build 200+ homes in the 30 acre commercial zone opposite the Sports Park, an area considered by staff to be one of the finest areas for commercial development. These homes are approved despite 4,000+ more new homes having been approved with the result that the Foothill Ranch and Portola sections of the City will literally double in population. This is the worst possible location for new homes, as it is literally surrounded by busy streets and the 241 tollroad.

04/21/2015 – The Council votes to allow developers to use “in lieu” fees to avoid building affordable homes on site. This creates a greater profit for developers, but means that the City gets far fewer affordable homes. In financial terms, it’s the equivalent of the City losing millions of dollars when even small developments are approved. To date, the Council has allowed 3 such developments (Brookfield, Trumark, Baker Ranch) to go forward on this basis.

06/17/2014 – Council votes to allow Brookfield Homes to reduce the size of their tandem garages. Tandem garages were already outside the code, and shrinking them in size ensures that they will be used even less, creating overflow parking into the surrounding streets. For a more in-depth description of tandem garages, click here.

04/01/2014 – Council votes to allow Brookfield Homes to raise the height of their walls, despite the new height being outside code limits.

08/20/2013 – Council approves Trumark Homes being built in commercial zone (Auto Center) and dispossessing thriving local business.

Here is a brief illustration of how money flows from the developers and the building industry in general into the coffers of Voigts’ Robinson, and Hamilton’s campaign committees.

Brookfield, Trumark, and Associates
• 1/15/2012 - $500 to Scott Voigts
• 8/10/2012 - $2,500 to Dwight Robinson
• 8/12/2012 - $500 to Dwight Robinson
• 12/9/2013 - $500 to Scott Voigts
• 10/31/2014 - $500 to Scott Voigts

Commercial Real Estate PAC
• 3/3/2015 - $500 to Andrew Hamilton
• 12/15/2011 - $500 to Scott Voigts
• 8/27/2012 - $1,000 to Dwight Robinson
• 8/30/2012 - $250 to Scott Voigts
• 6/8/2014 - $1,000 to Scott Voigts
• 6/25/2014 - $500 to Scott Voigts
• 10/3/2014 - $1,500 to Scott Voigts
• 2/21/2015 - $1,000 to Scott Voigts

The Building Industry Association of Southern California (BIA) has a PAC which they describe as “…one of the largest and most active local building industry PACs in California.” Their goal is to “identify” and “support candidates for elected office…who are supportive of the building industry…”

BIA members on a nationwide basis consist of people from the building industry who receive contracts from the City. Directors of the BIA have included individuals who represent the following companies, all of whom do business with the City, either through contracts (Stantec - who designed Saddleback Ranch Road, LSA Associates) or through developer agreements (Shea Homes, Meritage Homes, Brookfield Homes, Taylor Morrison). The BIA, in turn, has been very generous to the City Council members -

BIA PAC Contributions

• 8/24/2012 - $1,000 to Dwight Robinson
• 10/25/2010 - $500 to Scott Voigts
• 1/30/2012 - $500 to Scott Voigts
• 6/20/2014 - $1,000 to Scott Voigts
• 10/11/2014 - $1,000 to Andrew Hamilton
• 10/16/2014 - $1,000 to Andrew Hamilton

Needless to say the BIA showed up at the Dec 15 Council meeting to urge the Council to vote for the Meritage project, and to remind the Gang of 3 about just how much money the BIA has given them.

This is how corruption works. This is why Dwight Robinson, Scott Voigts, and Andrew Hamilton vote for adding more and more homes, and according to Robinson, he will continue to vote for more homes. No one yet knows what the impact of these nearly 5,000 new homes will be, but with no regard to the well-being of the residents, the Gang of 3 keeps approving more and more homes.

Only a recall will stop this process from continuing. There is little we can do about the 5,000 homes already in the pipeline, but before they approve another 5,000 let’s vote them out and get in good, honest people who will put the welfare of the community above their financial gains.

If you would like to be a part of the positive revolution for Lake Forest, please:

Join us on Facebook at “A Better Council For Lake Forest”, or
Email me at Lakeforestrecall@hotmail.com and
Visit http://citizenstoendcorruptioninlakeforest.org/