Council Preview - Dec 2

Here’s a list of some of the topics of interest coming up at the next City Council meeting (7 pm Tuesday night) on Dec 2. You can view the entire agenda by going to the City’s website. Click here.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD (Items 1 to 6)

Sitting Council members Kathy McCullough and Dave Bass will depart and newly elected Andrew Hamilton and Jim Gardner will be seated. Scott Voigts was re-elected. Gardner, Hamilton, and Voigts will join Dwight Robinson and Adam Nick whose terms are up in 2016.

SELECTION OF MAYOR (Item 7)

Following comments by the departing and arriving Council members, the new Council will select a Mayor and a Mayor Pro Tem.

RECOGNITION OF OUTGOING COMMUNTIY SERVICE DIRECTOR (Item 8)

Gary Magill is retiring. During his 8 year tenure Gary oversaw an ambitious $8 million park renovation and helped design the new Sports Park. He’s been a valuable staff member and he’ll be hard to replace.

ADMINISTRATIVE CITATIONS (Item 12)

At the last meeting the Council approved an “Administrative Citation” program that will allow the City to move forward on certain code violations without having to resort to the formal legal process. This is anticipated to save time and money for everyone involved.

The ordinance calls for some hefty fines, beginning at $100 and going up to $200 and then $500 for subsequent violations. Section 1.16.080 (c) calls for doubling the fine if not paid within 60 days and Section (D) calls for interest at the rate of 10% per day after that.

To modify these seemingly harsh conditions the ordinance does provide for appeals (Section 1.16.090 b) and a “hardship waiver” (Section 1.16.100) as well as a “right to Judicial Review” (Section 1.16.120).

CITY FINANCES

For the year ended June 30, 2014 -

• General Fund revenues came in at $40.6 million compared to estimates of $40.0 million
• General Fund expenditures came in at $34.7 million compared to estimates of $37.9 million

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is Councilman-Elect for the City of Lake Forest. The Brown Act prohibits him for commenting on public policy in advance. If you want to leave your comments for him to read, go to Facebook and log onto Lake Forest Town Square.